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Deus Ex; What a game...
Topic Started: Feb 27 2007, 05:12 PM (530 Views)
Kerr Avon
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For those who've never played Deus Ex, it's an old (2001-ish) PC game, that combines first person shooting with RPG elements in a cyberpunk near-future style world, and does it very well indeed. You play a nano-enhanced secret agent, and you start with his first mission, to liberate Liberty Island (where the Statue of Liberty is) from a gang of terrorists who are intent on stealing a consigment of life-saving plague cure, as the world is currently ravaged by a horrible plague called the "grey death" The game is played out in first person shooter style, but the RPG elements allow you to increase your skill in several areas, such as firearms accuracy, swimming, lock picking, hacking and others.

Unlike in other first person shooters, every shot you fire does not automatically hit the place under your sights - your accuracy depends on your skill with each type of weapon, and you can upgrade your weapons' skills throughout the game, as you can with all other skills. At the start of the game, you are given so many skill points, and allowed to choose which skills to spend these limited points on, so you can choose your character's starting state. Do you want to be proficient in hacking computer systems, or a good shot with a handgun? Or would you prefer sniping skills? And so on, over the eleven (I think) upgradable catagories, each of which has four levels, from Untrained to Expert).

And your character's nano-augmentations allow him to accept nano-canisters, which grant him cybernetic skills, such as super strength, super speed, the ability to see through walls, the ability to appear invisible, and so on. Each of which can be upgraded to three levels. These agumentations use bio-energy when activated, so you can't use them constantly, but you can find bio-energy sources throughout the game.

There are multiple ways to approach most problems in the game, and the locations are very well realised (considering the time of the game's release, and the specs. of the PC it needs to run on).

And the storyline branches in different directions depending on your actions (and peoples' attitudes to you change according to your actions), and it has that rarest of things in the computer gaming world; an interesting story.

To many people, it's one of the best games of all time, and to a lot of people (who presumably haven't played Perfect Dark or Goldeneye :D ) it's the best game ever. And it doesn't require much of a PC to run by todays standards, with the recommended specs. being a P2-450, 128MB or RAM and a DirectX 7 3D card, so most PCs nowadays should run it with no problems. And I think (could be wrong here, though) that it was released for the Apple Mac. It was released for the Playstation 2 eventually. I've never played the PS2 version, but I've heard it was slow, and some levels were cut down to fit in the PS2's memory. I wish it had been released for the XBox, though (I've never had a PS2).




A couple of years later, a sequel emerged. We were all hyped, as we all wanted a game that built on Deus Ex. More of the same, only more so. And fixing Deus Ex's few faults (such as giving us more options when speaking to someone, and giving the NPCs (Non-Player Characters) more realism, so that they have daily routines and they'd behave more realistically when you steal an object from them, instead of just standing there silently, and so on).

Instead they gave us Deus Ex: Invisible War, which added almost nothing, and took a way quite a lot. They took away the RPG elements (unless you count the nano-augs), they took away the body damage mapping for some strange reason (so that a shot to the head causes no more damage than a shot to the foot ), they took away the weapons' "reload" key, they took away the expansive environments of Deus Ex, and gave us confined claustrophobic levels instead, which removed a lot of the "real world" feeling (and they made it feel even more artificial and cyberpunkish too, which increased the feeling of detatchment, sadly).

They took away a lot more, too. Such as the way each weapon used it's own ammunition. Instead we were given a "universal ammunition" system, whereby all weapons used the same ammunition, which makes the game easier, but removes the strategy of having to use only the weapons for which you can spare the ammuntion. This is supposed to be a strategy FPS game, so why weaken the strategy? And they removed the inventory system of DE, where each item took up a given size in your inventory, and gave us a "new" system, whereby each item takes up one slot, and a guided rocket launcher takes up the same space as a lock pick. This would be fine in a pure FPS, but not in a thinking man's FPS, like Deus Ex was.

The generally accepted reason for these changes is that the game was dumbed down for the console audience (it was released for the XBox as well as the PC), and that might well be true. But it was unnecessary, as despite industry opinion, console owners aren't inherently more stupid that PC owners. It's true that many console owners don't have the patience or will power to play "more intelligent" games, but the same is true of many PC owners. And whilst many console owners (yes, probably more than PC owners) were too impatient or too thick to appreciate Deus Ex's more complex features, there were many more console owners who would.

And the orginal Deus Ex ran on a PC that was far inferior to the XBox, so the XBox should have been able to handle a decent sequel to DE. But instead of Deus Ex Plus, we were given Deus Ex Lite. Very Lite.

On the plus side, we were given better graphics and rag doll physics. Woo-hoo Excuse me while I do the River Dance.

And these better graphics and rag doll physics helped push the PC versions required specs. through the roof. Still, at least the XBox version of Deus Ex: Invisible War ran smoothly, even with the rag doll physics and real-time lighting.

And the storyline of DE:IW wasn't as good (it was still far better than most, but not as good as DE's), the dialogue was sometimes far worse, and it just didn't have the same immersion.

The one real advance over it's prequel is that DE:IW has better nano-augs, which I really like. They are more powerful, occur earlier on in the game, and seem to be more fun. Although even here a DE fan could find cause for complaint, as they help to reduce the game still further from a stragegic FPS to an action FPS as it's all too easy to use the nano-augs to get through a situation that you'd otherwise have to think your way out of.

Sorry to go about this, but it was a major disappointment to me. It's not actually a bad game at all, it is good, maybe better than good. But the original game was far, far better than good, and DE:IW is a real step backwards from DE. It's still well worth playing, though, if you get the chance. Just don't choose it if you can play Deus Ex instead though.



Oh, and long term fans (me!) waited and waited for news of a Deus Ex 3. There were lots of rumours, but only the most unlikely rumour ever came true...

See, when Deus Ex was released on the PC, it had no multiplayer mode. This was later added in a downoadable patch. I've heard that the PS2 version had no multiplayer mode (don't know about the Mac version). DE:IW had no multiplayer mode. And sometime after DE:IW was released a rumour started to float around that a sequel to DE:IW, DE3, would be released as a multiplayer game. No-one really took it seriously, as the DE games were single player orientated, but eventually Deus Ex 3 was released. Sort of.

It wasn't really officially Deus Ex 3. It was set in (sort of) the same universe as DE/DE:IW, and it had a single player, and you had nano-augs, but that was as far as it had in common with Deus Ex. It didn't even have a Deus Ex prefix in it's name. The game was called "Project Snowblind", and came out on the PC and XBox (I never saw the PC version). It's a good first person shooter, but it has no RPG elements at all. You don't even get a choice as to what nano-augs to install, they're installed into you at set times throughout the game. It's a fun game, but too easy, and lacks a skill setting (ridiculous - when you complete a game that you enjoy, you want to try it on a higher skill setting, but PS has no skill setting at all ). There's no branching storyline, no moral choices to be made, and no mention of the events in the two DE games (though I could have missed them, as the story in PS is no more riviting than in most FPSs). It is a very good game, but it's a pure first person shooter, don't buy it if you want RPG elements or an emotive story experience.

That's the single player mode. I can't comment on PS's multiplayer mode, as I've never played it - it has no split screen ability (for a multiplayer first person shooter, a split screen mode is as necessary as a skill setting in a single player FPS game, but again it amazes with it's neglect of such a basic function), and I don't have XBox Live!, so I can't play on-line.

So that's the Deus Ex trilogy. A superb RPG/FPS, a good FPS with some RPG elements, and a very good FPS.
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niniendowarrior
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If I'm right with Warren Spectre's quotable quotes, Deus Ex 1 was a tacked on vision with limited time and budget and an almost unmodified Unreal 2 engine. Deus Ex: Invisible War is the definitive vision of Warren Spectre's Deus Ex (in other words, the game that Deus Ex was supposed to be).

Invisible War has its moments and its much touted open-endedness seems either contrived or passable depending on how you see it. Deus Ex: Conspiracy, for all its much highly praised RPG elements was too subtle in its RPG work. The actions you did had too little consequence or was too difficult to notice and being a role player, you did not have a real choice in the direction of the game until the last mission.
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StYoung
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My brother bought Invisible War a while ago but I never really played it.
dagoss,Nov 17 2007
05:13 PM
OMG, this is the best topic ever made.  I nominate Steve for God!
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StYoung
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But Kerr Avons post really makes me want to play the original :D
dagoss,Nov 17 2007
05:13 PM
OMG, this is the best topic ever made.  I nominate Steve for God!
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niniendowarrior
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Kerr Avon
Feb 27 2007, 05:12 PM
To many people, it's one of the best games of all time, and to a lot of people (who presumably haven't played Perfect Dark or Goldeneye :D ) it's the best game ever.

In all honesty, I treat Deus Ex as a decent effort which proves you can do more with the Unreal engine that blast heads off, in no way I consider it the best game ever. I think the concepts were half-accomplished but over all, the game is fine.

And I honestly don't feel the roleplaying-ness of the game because as I said earlier, there's little consequence. Sure the lady hates your guts for being a peeping tom, but it didn't factor much to me until I read it on an FAQ.

Spoiler:
Ultimately, I wanted to join UNATCO and was forced into NSF?
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Ragedy
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I played it a few years a really enjoyed it. Probably my favourite PC FPS behind Half Life and System Shock 2.
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dataDyne
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I could never get into the game, but then again I was a very impatient gamer back in 2001. I think I've still got the game lying around the house somewhere, I might give it another go in the near future.
Give this man a fish, and he can throw it up eleven times
-alxbly
PSN: LifeIsPreachy
Mario Kart Wii: 0088 - 2869 - 9843
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Deleted User
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I've had Invisble War sitting on my shelf for about two years and I've not played it for more than five minutes.

:-8
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dagoss
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Kerr Avon's posts seem to be getting longer...
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Mop it up
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My ****, Kerr Avon! I sure hope you've submitted this as a review on GameFAQs! Your posts make mine seem small in comparison.

...My posts, that is... <_<
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Deleted User
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Mop_it_up
Mar 1 2007, 06:07 PM
My ****, Kerr Avon! I sure hope you've submitted this as a review on GameFAQs! Your poasts make mine seem small in comparison.

...My poasts, that is...  <_<

Fix'd! Bet you never knew Mop had small poasts. :lol: :blink: :huh:

Anyone else played Invisible War?
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Rapueda (retired)
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alxbly
Mar 1 2007, 12:50 PM
Anyone else played Invisible War?

I own it for Xbox, but like you, I haven't played it hardly at all. One of these days I'll get to it...
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Kerr Avon
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>If I'm right with Warren Spectre's quotable quotes, Deus Ex 1 was a tacked on vision with limited time and budget and an almost unmodified Unreal 2 engine. Deus Ex: Invisible War is the definitive vision of Warren Spectre's Deus Ex (in other words, the game that Deus Ex was supposed to be).

I can't confirm or refute WS's words, but it does seem unlikely that DE2 is closer to his intentions to DE1, as DE2 lacks so much of what I belive he intended to be intergral to the game(s).

>Invisible War has its moments and its much touted open-endedness seems either contrived or passable depending on how you see it.

I personally thought the story seemed too "loose", but far better than most games. Part of the trouble was, you began with almost no background information, which isn't necessarily awful, but in DE1 you began by fighting terrorists who were fighting against your own people, giving you an immediate sense of purpose. DE2 left you almost immediately to choose who to follow/support, which gave an empty feeling. More importantly, though, DE2 didn't give real personality to the people you met. Plus the environments felt artifical and disconnected from (our) real world. Granted DE1's environments weren't too realistic, but at least Hong Kong felt different from New York, for example. Plus DE1's enviroments felt larger and more open. DE2 was clostrophobic, which did nothing to support the "world-wide" travelling storyline.

>Deus Ex: Conspiracy, for all its much highly praised RPG elements was too subtle in its RPG work. The actions you did had too little consequence or was too difficult to notice and being a role player, you did not have a real choice in the direction of the game until the last mission.

All true, but I'd say pretty much the same for DE2. And at least DE1 did have skill points that you could alocate to enhance your chosen skills. DE2 lost the skill points system, the (more) intelligent inventory system, added the universal-ammo system (which to me was detrimental to the gameplay), and went down the first person shooter way of targeting (the bullet always hits the cross hairs (unlike in DE1 where your skill with each given weapon was a factor in it's accuracy).

It seems to me that DE2 suffered from (1) being dumbed down, presumably to enhance sales, and (2) the developers spent more time with things like realistic physics, dynamic lighting and rag-doll physics than actually deciding what made DE1 so good and enhancing it.




>In all honesty, I treat Deus Ex as a decent effort which proves you can do more with the Unreal engine that blast heads off, in no way I consider it the best game ever. I think the concepts were half-accomplished but over all, the game is fine.

Oh certainly it was far from perfect. It lacked many responses you could have wished for (for example (and this is from the beginning of the game, so it's not really a spoiler) a soldier on your side tells you that he's found some ammo and offers to sell it from you, if you have the cash. He's not allowed to do that, so instead of just having the options to buy or not buy, you should also have the options to say "Give me the ammo, or I'll report you to your boss", and also "Give me the ammo, or I'll remove your head" (well, you're supposed to be a super-tough agent), both of which would save your cash).

Also, when many (especially secret) doors are locked to stop enemies getting in, why do the doors remain open for all to see when you've unlocked and used them?

And the NPCs (non-player characters) don't have real lives, they just stand still or walk a few steps and then back again.

These and other flaws do harm the immersion, but you have to remember that DE runs on (relatively) primitive hardware, plus it was a new style of game when it came out. Later games (especially DE2) should have built upon this, but they haven't.

I mean, look how far the FPS genre has come since Doom. And yet in many ways DE1 is still the pinnacle of FPS/RPG hybrids. And that's very bad, considering how popular and how old DE1 is.

Anyway, DE1 is only a fiver on the Sold Out label, and runs on even a modest PC, so it's worth trying for anyone who likes FPSs or minor RPGs. DE2 is very good too, but it's no DE1.
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