I had no hype for it, and only know two people who were excited pre-launch. The series has never been top-tier in terms of reputation. It's kind of a B+ list franchise, not quite an A, but better than a B. The marketing push, at least over in North America, seems pretty heavy. If anything is to blame it's the the terrible boss fights in the original HR combined with the game simply looking unremarkable.
I heard some good things, and had an overall positive opinion of Human Revolution. I was on the fence, particularly as I have nothing to play right now. Then I noticed that expired promotion where you get HR for free with the digital pre-order. The value was diminished by my own negligence, and I couldn't really justify it to myself then because I'm Scrooge McDuck.
I made a comment about how I shot myself in the foot by missing out on the free game, and a really great guy sent a code to my inbox stating that he planned to give it to somebody that wanted it but wasn't begging for handouts. That kind gesture prompted me to put my money where my mouth is and I bought the game. SE owes him a commission.
On a side note: I worked for EB Games when Deus Ex: Invisible War launched. A guy came in, asking for something very much along those lines. I kept recommending Deus Ex to him, but he kept changing the subject or ignoring me. I had no clue what was happening. What he was saying applied heavily to it, so I needed to win him over. After the fifth time, he just loses it and says "I don't play those kinds of games!" I pause for a second, and ask "what kind?" and he borderline whispers "sex ones." I just laugh and say "oh! No, day-us-ex. Not day of sex." He is understandably embarrassed by the misunderstanding, and ended up leaving with some Half-Life set... I'd like to think so he didn't have to tell anybody the name of the game he bought and repeat the cycle.