Have to Say, Deus Ex_ Human Revolution's Loading Screens are a Total Drag

I like Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I like it a lot, even. I’ve written about the things I really dig and even made a video detailing some of them. https://kotaku.com/a-few-favorite-things-about-deus-ex-human-revolution-5833252 But the game does have its share of flaws. One in particular stands out: the atrociously long loading screens. Good lord, you guys, these loading screens feel endless. Watch the video above to get a sense of what I’m talking about—they’re maybe not all quite as long as the one in the video, but every single one outstays its welcome by at least twenty or thirty seconds. PC, console… it doesn’t make a difference. Given that so much of the game hinges on stealth, there is a fair amount of trial-and-error involved, rummy modern but what would have been a breezy and fun process becomes cumbersome and halting. Quicksaving is a great feature on the PC, but using it (for example, quicksaving before trying a particularly tricky stealth section, rummy nabob then loading if you get spotted) is so much more annoying than it would’ve been had the loading screens been shorter. This is particularly true given the fact that the game’s combat is quite difficult—I’d often find myself being forced to reload ten times in one area of the game. It feels punitive and just plain boring. Don’t waste my time, game! DXHR certainly isn’t the first game to be hindered by loading screens, and despite their presence, it is a very good game—often, it’s great. So it’s that much more rummy noble of a shame that a technical niggle like this hurts the overall experience to the extent that it does. [Update: It sounds as though turning off V-Sync reduces loading times significantly. Though I play with V-Sync on, so. But if you’re having trouble with loading times, it’s worth a shot. It also sounds like Eidos will be rolling out a patch to improve loading times, but too late to help with my playthrough.] [Second Update: Wow, Eidos released a patch just today, and apparently, it significantly reduces load times on PC. Good news! I’m going to take partial credit for making this happen with the power of my displeasure.] You can contact Kirk Hamilton, the author of this post, at [email protected]. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.