[Scarlett.]

Despite already lugging around the weighty expectations it's already inherited merely from stepping onto the Deus Ex wagon, Human Revolution isn't afraid to pile on more.

Envisioning a world 50 years prior to the events of the original game, Eidos Montreal wants to introduce players to a world on the cusp of collapse. Vast advances in cybernetic technology have placed immortality itself potentially within humanity's reach - providing you've got the wallet to support it.

Dipping into a gorgeously dark realm laced with ethical debate and class politics, Human Revolution puts in you in the shoes of Adam Jensen - a corporate security guard who finds himself being temporarily blown to pieces by a terrorist attack. Gifted a new set of robo-arms by the wonders of science, it's time to investigate the motives and perpetrators behind the attack. Oh, and we'll probably uncover a couple of shocking conspiracies somewhere along the way, too.

Skulking in a dimly lit car park whilst scouting for an entry point into a mysterious facility, we sit back and watch as Art Director Jonathan Jacques-Belletęte guides Adam towards a couple of shady characters in the hope of gaining additional Intel or equipment. The conversation with 'Big Rizzle' is brief, but already we're pleasantly surprised by Adam's understated and dry sense of humour.

Moving on to the task at hand, we watch as Jonathan attempts to infiltrate a FEMA facility without being detected. After being informed that the guards don't follow pre-set patrol pathways, we watch as Adam evades detection by carefully sneaking around behind boxes. Things get sticky a little later on, and it's time to start playing with augmentations; reducing movement noise to a mere whisper, and temporarily becoming almost invisible in order to dash through unnoticed.

Not everything goes to plan, however - and on a few occasions we see Jonathan making use of tranquiliser darts to take down troublesome guards. In the true tradition of stealth gaming, these sleepy soldiers then have to be moved out of sight to avoid arousing suspicion. This isn't a clean over-the-shoulder job, mind you; watching Adam dragging bodies around looks realistically cumbersome - something we'll definitely be bearing in mind when taking out enemies in more open areas.

Using augmented vision to see enemy positions through solid surfaces seems vital if you're planning on sneaking through most of the game - but if you're planning on getting your hands dirty, optical tagging will soon become your visual tool of choice. Having the position and distance of up to six enemies being tracked simultaneously is quite useful, but becomes a hell of a lot more interesting when you're the owner of an assault rifle that can fire around corners.

Opening fire from behind the safety of a metal crate, we watch as the tagged enemies fall off the visual radar one by one - bullets gently curving downwards into the skulls of unseen enemies. It's hard to tell just how useful this ability will be until we're able to get our hands on it, but the trajectory curve seems restrictive enough to ensure it doesn't feel too overpowered.

After mistakenly chugging a bottle of vodka instead of chucking an EMP grenade to deactivate the stairwell surveillance, we see Adam deciding to face the final challenge we saw head-on; squaring up to a deadly-looking 'Box Guard' with a nearby rocket launcher. Handily transforming from their easily transportable cube shape, Box Guards unfold transformers-style into dangerous robotic bastards that don't seem fazed by bullets. Nearby cover doesn't last long against whatever heat the Box Guard is packing, but provides just enough time for Adam to blast a few rockets into its chunky chassis.

Whilst Jonathan decided to showcase the game's stealth system for most of the demo, what we've seen so far seems hugely promising in terms of delivering the scope of choice that fans of Deus Ex are going to expect. Shrugging off a variety of hardcore nuances for the sake of keeping the experience focused and streamlined, one aspect that remains intact is the grid-based equipment screen. Human Revolution clearly offers a huge amount of scope in terms of how you choose to handle each situation - but with limited space for equipment, we'll likely see the game encouraging you to choose your gear carefully - specialising to suit your preferred style of play.

From what we've seen so far - it feels a lot more like Metal Gear Solid than it does Crysis. Whether this will remain the case once we get our destructive little mitts on it remains questionable, but there's one thing we're entirely sure of: More than anything, Human Revolution wants to tell you a story. If knocking the difficulty down a notch and going in guns blazing is the only way you're likely to see their story through, then Eidos Montreal are totally cool with that. Sadistically determined to stay true to the original and avoid conflict at all costs? Don't worry - they've got you well and truly covered too.

We'll be getting our hands on the game very soon - but in the meantime, feel free to activate your cynicism suppression augmentations. Adam Jenson will be taking your desk, Snake. Let us know if you need another cardboard box.