What's different in Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut?

Question

What are the differences between Deus Ex: Human Revolution and its Director's Cut version? Is it the same version with all DLC included or does it contain more or different contents?

Answer 1

Improved Flow

First you must understand that the Missing Link DLC and original game were treated as separate games in your steam library. However director cut combines them both into a single game so that it has better flow and feels more natural with the story. Generally, you could have missed the point where it was "logical" to play the DLC since its at a specific point in the story.

Multiple Games Displaying Instead of Merge in Steam Library

You will end up having 3 games in total because of this (assuming you have Deus Ex Human Revolution and the DLC before buying director cut.) It will display in your library with (Deus Ex Human Revolution, Deus Ex Human Revolution Director Cut, Deus Ex Human Revolution: Missing Link)

Price Discount on Steam

They will also slash the price of it from 20 to 10 if you own original game. If you own DLC on top of that it goes from 10 to 5 dollars.

Features

The Director's Cut has the following new features

1. New game+ (Only Augmentations carry over)
2. Improved Textures
3. Reworked Bosses
4. 45 Minute Documentary
5. Around 8 hours of commentary from Eidos Montreal
6. Can have two energy cell recharge by default on all but the hardest difficulty
7. Players can now use Jensen’s augmentation powers more freely

Reworked Bosses

Now remember that the reworked bosses is incredibly important for this DLC and the main selling point for many fans. The reason the Deus Ex Human Revolution bosses were unfaithful to the original source was that the game itself was outsourced to another company to create the boss battles so it didn't really follow as close to the other work done on the game as it should have. Leading to the bosses being more like a generic FPS instead of having multiple viable options based on how you developed your character.

They did not add ways to avoid bosses completely however they have given you various options on how to deal with them depending on how you progressed with your character.

Hacking is now a viable way to deal with bosses

Boss 1 Example: Hacking the computer enabled me to enter a new room in which i found more weapons and some sentries. I proceeded to hack into the other room in order to gain access to computer and enabled the sentries to fire when boss was in range. I invested a point into being able to lift heavy items so I could pick up the sentry gun and move them into enemy range.

Boss 2 Example: I hacked the doors to get to the roof. There were valves everywhere that enabled poison gas on the first floor and a computer that was surrounded by lasers. I hacked a panel to turn off the lasers and used the computer to enable the sentry guns to fire on the boss. The boss fled to the ground floor after sentries gunned her down and I finished her off with the valve that unleashed poison.

Deus Ex Human Revolution Director Cut is Worth it for Fans

If you are a fan of deus ex human revolution who really wanted to do full stealth but was unable to because of how bosses were forced events on you, I highly recommend grabbing this since it allows you to truly build your character without having to deal with consequences as a result of inconsistent design.

Additional Asked Questions

1) Does it add a DC entry as an additional Steam game or just merge the DE and Missing Link entry?

I pointed out in my second paragraph it does not merge the Deus Ex Human Revolution and Missing Link entrys.

2) If the latter: Does it take over the achievements?

As a result of being treated as a separate game it will not take over your achievements. In fact since the game has both Missing Link and the original as one game, you can actually earn achievements from both games in the Director Cut Edition.

Achievements

Missing Link = 10

Deus Ex Human Revolution = 49

Missing Link + Deus Ex Human Revolution = 59 Achivements in Director Cut

Since all three are treated as "seperate games" you get Missing Link + Deus Ex Human Revolution + Deus Ex Human Revolution Director Cut

10 + 49 + 59 = 118 Achievements in total.

Sources:
_{"Deus Ex: HR’s Boss Fights Were Outsourced", Rock, Paper, Shotgun
"Square Enix Details all changes in Deus Ex Human Revolution Director’s Cut", IGN}

Answer 2

The main differences are additional cutscene footage and dialogue footage, Dev Commentary you can play during the game which can make for an interesting playthrough, full, smoothly integrated DLC, new achievements, and new ways to kill Bosses.

And it is that last one I'd like to expand on because many people aren't giving all the details. They say the Boss Battles have Stealthy alternatives but what this really means is that there are additional ways to kill them by releasing poison gas or hacking turrets but you still have to kill them (there are no no kill options). There is also no way to avoid the boss battles, and you're still forced into them in cut scenes where you're forcibly exposed to an out of stealth encounter.

I can only imagine people touting this as a massive overhaul of the boss battles are trying to sell the game, or are blinded by their own fandom. It's an improvement to a crappy boss system, but it's still a crappy boss system.

Answer 3

Also a MAJOR difference that may interest some of you is the fact that the Directors Cut Edition is available on MAC too!

Answer 4

It combines DE:HR and the Missing Link DLC (PC owners of both will have 75% off on Steam), while also integrating the Missing Link into the main story rather than it being a standalone affair.

The boss battles now have "stealthy" alternatives, so you don't have to play as a gun-wielding psycho all the time.

The Wii U version takes advantage of the GamePad for various tasks in the game.

Finally, there's some audio commentary for levels. I can't recall if this was in previous version.