Deus Ex

The Good
--IMPORTANT NOTE—Whatever I write in this section won’t be enough. This game is such that it is possible to rain plaudits on it for hours and still have more to talk about. I will have forgotten many things about the game which are brilliant after I’ve finished. So please consider this section a summary of what makes this a work of genius, rather than a full account. I could never list everything.

Deus Ex is a masterpiece. It is the first game ever to completely shatter all preconceptions about how to make games. Its influence will be seen on games in years to come. Why? Because it reverses the law of making games and the relationship that the gamer has with the game. Deus Ex has opened the door and paved the way for the future, it’s destroyed traditions used by developers that up until now haven’t even been challenged. The original school of thought, the undisputed leaders of which are Valve (with Half-Life); believes that to create a truly enticing game experience, ideas and events must happen in a way that fit so seamlessly together that the world really feels alive. Half-Life is the most tightly scripted and one of the most intense games ever. However, the game is leading the gamer. As the developer creates games like this he is saying “Right, this is what you must do, this is how to do it, this is what will happen, and this is why”. This does of course make great things possible, like rooms collapsing. But since the events are scripted, they happen every time. These are the developer’s events trying to amuse you instead of you making your own events. Until the launch of Deus Ex, it was thought the technology for the player to be able to dictate to the game instead of vice versa was years and years away. Of course, some critics and gamesplayers don’t like this radical new way of thinking. Yet Deus Ex proves that when done correctly, these games are the future. It may not have done it perfectly but it’s shown them the path. It’s a bit like Method Acting, and Deus Ex is Stanislavski. The method that Deus Ex is showing is one where developers will be able to create a gaming world so rich that sequences and events will happen because of the player and won’t be scripted. The gamer will be able to find his own way to have fun, there won’t be any “intended” ways. Until now, this was nearly unthinkable. This game has nearly done it straight away. In one game, the entire basis of creating games is being questioned. That’s got to be one hell of a compliment. Deus Ex gives the gamer freedom. You can blast your way through this game or you can sneak your way through it, each way is just as enjoyable to the people who prefer that style. It’s possible to kill nearly everyone in the whole game and it’s possible to do nearly half the game without killing ANYONE. You can talk to everyone, you can talk to nearly no-one. You can hack computers or you can blow them. You can skip objectives if they’re morally wrong to you or are unnecessary. Every choice you make, no matter how small, opens up and closes routes for you. If you love Thief you’ll be right at home here. If you love Medal Of Honour you’ll be right at home here. Name another game that can do that. The plot is more complex, deep, and vast than any other game or any film I can think of. The major characters have incredibly deep personalities. You brother, for example, is a humanist and a freedom fighter. He tends to avoid casualties wherever possible. He’s charismatic yet very secretive, and is utterly self-less. Always strives for the greater good. That’s some guy, and many of the characters are just as complex. And since the creator, Warren Spector, is something of a master of narrative; you rarely lose track of the plot. Even in it’s biggest stages. Now that I’ve mentioned about 1/10 (literally) of the ideas and revolutionary aspects of Deus Ex, lets go onto the technical side. This is the most interactive and detailed game ever. Nearly every object in the whole game can be acted upon. Chairs can be moved and destroyed. Lamps can be turned on and off (or destroyed). It’s possible to clear an entire kitchen of every pot, pan, plate, dish, roast chicken and joint of beef if you wanted to. Sound plays an integral part and NPCs act on it, though perhaps not as well as System Shock 2. Then there is the unparalleled attention to detail. Famous works of art and literature pop up every where. Every character in the game blinks. It’s possible to walk into a bar and find people talking for 5 minutes about philosophy and ethics, with no real consequence in the game. I’m still only barely scratching the surface about what this game is and what it will hopefully do to the whole gaming industry. But lets hope others follow it’s lead. It has reversed the law of game design and is the only game where you can lead the game rather than the game leading you, you can find your own enjoyment. Here’s one last example: On the first level you are on Liberty Island on some docks, you’re told to meet your brother because he’ll explain everything and then you have to enter the Statue Of Liberty and find a terrorist leader. As soon as I’d spoken to my brother, I jumped into the sea and started whacking fish with a crowbar I’d found, I was having a great time and I was doing it for over 20 minutes. After that, I got out and started piling up boxes to see how high I could jump back into the sea again. By the time I was done messing about, 45 minutes has passed! I’d been entertained for 45 minutes and I hadn’t even started the game yet! I’d barely even walked 4 feet! I’d better stop because I’m getting too passionate. And there is still so much I haven’t said. I haven’t mentioned how the characters are so real you almost care for them. Or how the game engine is so great it can create over 100 entities on screen at a time and have no slowdown. And I run this game on a PII 266! Or the huge outdoor environments. Or how a dog will chase a cat if they’re near to one another. There are no words to express what this game is, but “art” is the closest.

The Bad
Oh who cares? Ok the graphics look a little ropy now and haven’t aged as well as System Shock 2’s. The music is pretty poor and repetitive and isn’t used as a plot device unlike Looking Glass’s opus. The game doesn’t have that slick presentation and glossy style that I like and which was once again present in SS2. If you’re trying to pick up a body and your inventory is full, you have to drop some stuff, take what they’re carrying, and then move the body. If you back towards the edge of a level, after it loads you’ll be facing the other way. Most importantly and the only one that is really significant; the game may come across as pretentious depending on your point of view. The box cover and name does little to help this. Indeed, it may seem like Warren Spector is trying to push gaming into art and failing. After all, games still haven’t got past the “good guy Vs bad guy” staple. Despite what that Deus Ex claims to be, you are still saving the world against evil people. But Jeez! What kind of game is this if the highest criticism you can give it is that it (arguably) doesn’t succeed in becoming art and could be dismissed as pretentious? I wouldn’t DREAM of giving a criticism like this to any other game out there! Deus Ex operates on a different plane anyway.

The Bottom Line
Genre-blurring, boundary-moving, door-breaking, tradition-shattering, ultra full, video art. Massive conspiracies, government cover-ups, genetic engineering, snooker...Deus Ex is a world in a CD. It doesn't transcend it's parts like System Shock 2, but that's only because it has too many. The best game ever for any platform.

The Good
Deus Ex... What else to say? I almost feel there are already too many reviews for this game here, but well another one can't hurt, right? I really can't add much more praise to this game so I'll just stick to confirming that all of it is well deserved. Really, to those who still have their doubts about this game and ask themselves "is it really that good? Or is it all hype?" All I have to say is that it isn't that good. It's even better.

The premise of the game is part System Shock (man, Spector must have a real thing with AI's!) and part X-files slapped on a first person rpg with fps elements, but the game takes all preconceptions you may have over all these genres, influences, etc. and mixes it into one very well made whole which manages to amaze even diehard gamers like myself... well maybe that's overstretching it but yeah, it's VERY good.

Granted, a lot of the marvel of the game comes courtesy of a lot of groundwork that was laid in previous games so it's not as "original" as one would like to assume (a certain person I know thinks this is the holy grail of gaming simply because he completely skipped past all of Spector's early works). But still Deus Ex manages to take all that has been done before and expand it to pharaonic proportions. Want cyberpunk ambience? Have as much as you want. Non-linearity? Ten times as much as you have ever seen. Complex storyline? Take every conspiracy theory and add some more. That's how Deus Ex feels, it's ideas may not have sprung first, but it sure is the best incarnation to date of them.

I could go on and on about each aspect of the game that has been tuned to perfection, but instead let me adress what I think is the golden nugget of Deus Ex: It's freedom of choices. At virtually no point in the adventure the game makes any preconceptions about what your choices may be, for each objective there is a million different ways to accomplish your objective be it guns-blazing, sneaky or whatever. Thus Deus Ex has done something utterly amazing: it has found the absolute cure for gaming frustration. Sure, you may love a certain type of games, But every now and then you need a change of pace right? Well Deus Ex changes paces with you. Got tired of sneaking around? How about some stress-relieving shootouts? Want to stop "playing" for a while and just talk with npc's and interact with the world? Go right ahead! Anytime, anywhere, anyhow. Thus you are never stuck in the game, you always find another solution to whatever problem lies ahead of you, and you are always moving forward. The sense of progress is constant, and it's a remarkable feat to accomplish in any game. This is quite simply: admirable.

The Bad
Well, there are some bad things about Deus Ex I'm afraid: First of all it's AI is braindead. Seriously. It uses the so popular pre-set reactions that make it look like it actually thinks when it goes and hits the alarm or whatever, but in reality there's very little under the hood. In fact, the AI suffers from the deadly "Headless chicken" syndrome, when no alarms are around, the enemies will start to run around frantically with absolutely no purpose whatsoever whenever you show up, shoot someone, or do whatever. Fully emulating the behavior of... you guessed it, a headless chicken. Furthermore, there are also some serious issues like their indifference to knocked-out bodies (if they are dead, sure they start to run around, but if they are ko'd... guess they probably figure they are taking a nap. Face first. In the middle of a corridor... a-ha)

Also something that is truly horrible is the voice-acting. AHHHGH!!! Memo for Deus Ex 2: get professional voice actors!. Most characters sound like they had a gun pointed at them, and those who don't simply can't act, like Simons who is simply HORRIBLE, and don't even get me started on the "foreigners" and their painfully overacted accents. Seriously, I though my ears were bleeding at times, and I have heard everything from the abominable (but ground-breaking we must admit) Ultima Underworld opening to the Resident Evil games.

Now, this is all... shall we say on the technical area, the game does have a cohesive (though sometimes cliched) story, but I also have a bone to pick with the "creative" aspect of the game.

Whenever you play a game, watch a movie, etc. you make concessions to it depending on the game's setting and other things in order to get into the adventure. Thus nobody complains that in Mario Bros. there are talking mushrooms or that Mario can't jump so much without getting tired, since we accept that Mario's games are totally free of our physics laws and happen in a fantastic reality where we accept those things. Deus Ex on the other hand, is "for real".

Sure, it's sci-fi, but it's rooted in our reality, in our world. In fact, every fantastical or outrageous element in the game is explained and justified with luxury of detail both to add to the ambience and to ground the game in our reality. So Deus Ex takes the stance that it's serious and "realistic" and lets go of practically every concession we make to videogames. Now, I have nothing against this, but it's tricky business to make something "real" and I'm afraid not even Spector and his group of elite coders got it right.

Sure, they added realistic details to the game, real-life reactions to certain events, etc. etc. etc. But they missed out on lots of simple stuff. Stuff that is so blatantly stupid that I couldn't stop myself from laughing whenever they popped up, and in fact it's stuff that doesn't concern the game per se, but the narrative/dramatic qualities of it. I wouldn't even call them flaws, but "goofs" since it seems like stuff that got lifted from those hilarous mails that go around the net by the title of "Stuff we learn from the movies" or variants of it. Allow me to list a few: The bad guy that tells you his plan and laughs maniatically (with the optional "The world is Mine!!! Bwahahahaha!!") the "I'm-so-cool-I-talk-in-a-low-key-drone-and-I-never-raise-my-voice"; the one man army vs a million terrorist/conspiracy soldiers; the self destruct button, characters that are lifted right out of comic books and are either "good" or bad to the bone, etc. etc. etc. But those that were most amusing to me had to be the ones related to the "internationality" that the game was given. Let me tell you a secret as a certified non-US resident: We all secretly speak english. Seriously! All that mumbo jumbo about different languages is a hoax, we are only people who speak english in different accents! In fact, when we are alone we like to discuss in english!! I swear it's true! And thank god that Deus Ex has blown the cover on this big hoax showing us all as we really are! :))) ....Seriously, sometimes the game seemed to become something like "American tourist: The simulation" :)) With wonderful bits like J.C. approaching a couple in paris and going "Yo! 'Sup bro? Heard anything 'bout Silohuete?" :)) Ok,ok so I'm stretching it, but that is pretty much J.C.'s approach to "spying" in the whole game, complete with a Matrix-get up and a low key drone-like voice.... yeah, "conspicuous" it ain't! :))

So yeah, yeah, I know what you are thinking: I'm nothing but a little bitch. But remember that in the box it says "epic globe-hopping adventure", etc. etc. Not "cyberpunk B-grade James Bond clone" so I think I'm right when pointing out whenever the so vaunted "realism" comes apart at the seams.

The Bottom Line
Quite simply Deus Ex is a superb game, I can't help pointing out the few flaws because... well, maybe I am nothing but a little bitch :) But still, American tourist simulation or not, braindead AI or not, terrible voice acting or not, Deus Ex is fantastic. It's a remarkable game and everyone who considers him/herself a serious gamer HAS to own it. There is no way around it, Deus Ex is a defining moment in the history of videogames and no one should miss it.

The Good

• Great branching story line
• High replay value
• Compelling choices
• Appealing cyberpunk art design
• Unique mix of role playing, shooting, Stealth and puzzle elements
• Lengthy campaign
• Good soundtrack
• You get to go to China!

The Bad

• Poor graphics and textures that don't make most of the Unreal engine
• Story can be confusing at times
• Often monotonous acting
• Extremely difficult and at times very frustrating
• Weapon sound effects could be better

The Bottom Line
If you aren't already familiar with Warren Spector, let me familiarize him with you. Warren Spector is a developer who throughout his career, challenged the norm and took risks by deviating from the standard formula. He got his start working with other, bigger name developers such as Wing Commander creator, Chris Roberts and Richard Garriott, creator of Ultima.

Eventually, however, he decided he would work on something of his very own design. The fruits of his labour would be 1994's System Shock, one of the first shooters to scream "I'm NOT Doom! and stand out by mixing role playing elements into the game. Sadly, with the release of Doom II and the fact that many found System Shock maybe a little TOO unique, System Shock failed to truly sell and became one of the first "Cult" video games.

Spector wouldn't truly send shockwaves until he made Thief: The Dark Project. Like System Shock, Thief deviated from the norm; it was a first person perspective, but rather than focus on shooting it focused on Stealth and being sneaky. This created practically its own genre and now you know where the forced stealth section in every shooter comes from.

After Thief, Warren Spector joined John Romero's ill fated company, ION Storm and created today's subject, Deus Ex. Once again, Spector has said "Hell no!" to convention, and Deus Ex, in many ways, is a combination of all his past efforts. The shooting and roleplaying from System Shock is in, the sneaky moments from Thief return, but in traditional Spector fashion, there's another element that shook up the formula: A branching plot, multiple endings and a "Choice" system. Granted, there were games that had multiple endings before, but most of them were horror titles, and most others that had "Choice" systems and branching plots were old school RPG games. However, Spector improved on all these aspects and mixed them into Deus Ex with sublime results.

Deus Ex is set in a chaotic future where terrorism is part of daily life. You play as JC Denton, an undercover operative working for a corporation known as UNATCO, an anti-terrorist organization. JC is no normal human being though, he is what they call an "Bio-augmented" soldier, essentially a cyborg that can interact with bio-electric systems and use them to enhance his abilities. This works as a great hinge for the immersion, it explains some of his more extra-ordinary stunts and the character building RPG elements are justifiable by this as well.

The game begins with you after a terrorist working for an organization known as the NFS who has taken over the destroyed husk of the Statue of Liberty. They have stolen a vaccine known as Ambrosia, the only cure to a mysterious epidemic known as "The Gray Death." The game takes many twists and turns, and is rife with conspiracy and betrayal, and will bring in such classic conspiracy theories such as the Majestic 12 and Area 51. The story is fascinating and has many branching paths, but it is compelling and will keep you going.

The biggest problem with the story is that it CAN be confusing at time, granted, asking a Conspiracy Theory to make sense in the first act is like asking a Fly to stay on the ground its whole life. In some ways, the branching paths are to blame, because sometimes you will run into an issue where your character flips on a dime and takes another route which contradicts the previous one. This happens rarely, but when it does happen it can be dizzying and frustrating.

The gameplay, as I said, mixes role playing elements, stealth, and good old fashioned shooting. At the beginning, you give your character his basic traits and specializations before spending some points. These traits all have variety and they build in "Proficiency," rather than standard XP points. In other words, as you use these traits/skills, they will grow on their own and your character will get better with them as you play rather than waiting for you to dump more skill points in at the next level. Its a nice and effective manner of handling this aspect, and it always keeps you immersed in the game.

The art design is heavily rooted in cyberpunk, but with some strange familiarities. The early areas, rooted in New York, are the least "High tech" settings, but the game explains this well by saying New York is pretty much a rotten shithole and while civilization has been expanding in other areas, New York has gotten worse and due to constant terrorist attacks, has began to crumble. You won't see more traditional, Blade Runner-esque Cyberpunk landscapes until you take your first trip to China (yay!) and Paris (Boo!) but you can still catch hints of it in each area, and it is a distinctive visual design that will please fans of cyberpunk styling.

Despite the fine art design, the graphics are outdated and poor, even for the time. It uses the Unreal engine, but it doesn't make full use of the engines strength, using the minimum texture support and stripping out many effects, and environments sometimes feel cramped, under-furnished, and boxy. Character designs often repeat themselves and their animations are less than spectacular. They even have strange jitters sometimes that can break the immersion.

The game does have a multiplayer mode, but its fairly standard stuff. The only thing about it that's really unique is that the characters fragile hitbox carries over. What I mean by that, is as you are wounded in the game, you will bleed and limbs will lose strength and they can even be crippled or completely removed causing you to lose the ability to run, fire weapons, etc. It is interesting having this element in the multiplayer game, but otherwise there are better MP games out there.

The game sounds "Meh." It does have a good score, including an awesome theme song (Although the aging "Galaxy" sound system in the engine makes it sound a little flimsy) and some characters emote, but most of the performances are mediocre and ridiculously monotonous. You'll swear JC Denton and his brother are relatives of Keanu Reeves due to their bland, uninterested voices. The weapons don't always sound that great either, a few sound good, but they often sound strange or wimpy and they don't sound like they really pack a punch which can make them a little less fun to use. Good ballistics and handling make up for this, but adding some more oomph to them would have been nice.

The game is fairly lengthy and will show you plenty of New York and you will do some globe trotting as well. The graphics somewhat detract from the environments, but regardless there's a fair amount of variety and especially in China, there are some impressive futuristic sights and places to visit.

Naturally, there are characters you can meet who will give you side quests. This also adds to the variety, and each game will feel different as you pick up new side quests, change your character, and hunt down the multiple endings. There's a lot of replay value thanks to the quality and variety the game offers.

The game can be brutal and relentless at times though. I'm always up for a challenge, but there are times where said challenge is a bit too much. Even the very beginning of the game is ridiculously difficult, if you don't pull it off just perfectly you will be shot down before you can get 5 feet out of the starting gate. And this is on the easiest setting. You're going to have to die a couple times anyways, because there are always multiple paths and you never know which one is the most likely to turn you into a bloody lump of flesh resembling Swiss Cheese. This is really the biggest detractor to the gameplay, and can tick you off enough you'll shut the game down to take a break before trying again.

Overall, Deus Ex is a unique game that still holds up today. With its great hybrid gameplay and story, its a compelling game that covers its flaws with immersion and a varied, highly replayable experience. If you haven't played it yet, what are you waiting for? You can find the Game of the Year version on Steam for only 10 bucks.