Deus Ex
Description official descriptions
Some time during the 2050's, the world is a dangerous place as terrorists, drug czars, and outlaw states rule, using violence and subterfuge as tools in their push for global conquest. A deadly virus dubbed "gray death" is running rampant throughout the world and the only known cure is a chemical known as "Ambrosia" manufactured by the VersaLife corporation. However Ambrosia supplies are scarce and world governments, particularly the United States, carefully monitor and control who receives this cure. As protest against these events, French terrorist organization "Silhouette" bombs the historic symbol of friendship between French and American people, The Statue of Liberty. In response to this attack, the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition (UNATCO) organization is formed. Building a headquarters underground at Liberty Island, its mission is to attack terrorism and maintain peace around the world. JC Denton is a nano-enhanced agent who has been primed for UNATCO service. While JC's brother Paul is already an active agent, JC is beginning his first day of service when the National Secessionist Forces (NSF) suddenly raid a supply of Ambrosia at UNATCO headquarters.
Deus Ex is a dark cyberpunk game that combines gameplay styles of first-person shooter and RPG, with elements of stealth and puzzle-solving. The player assumes the role of JC Denton, UNATCO anti-terrorist agent. Pitted against an elaborate global conspiracy, he must interact with characters, pick up weapons and complete objectives. While JC is essentially fixed within the mission-framework of the game, he can be customized in areas such as weapons, technical skills and physical prowess. Completing objectives rewards the player with skill points, which may be distributed to increase JC's proficiencies in eleven different disciplines. The player can choose to increase the damage JC inflicts with various types of weapons, improve his lock-picking or computer hacking abilities, etc. Each such discipline has four levels of proficiency.
Another way of customizing JC is applying nano-augmentations to his body. These cybernetic implants bestow the hero with super-human abilities, and can be installed on different body parts, up to nine at the same time. Along with combat-related benefits, nano-augmentations also grant JC abilities that can be used to overcome certain obstacles within the game world. Examples of those are jumping to extreme heights, swimming, lifting heavy objects, etc. Weapons can be customized as well: their range, accuracy, and magazine sizes can be increased, and they can be enhanced by attaching scopes, silencers, or laser sights to them.
The game leads JC to various places all around the globe. The cities he visits, as well as most mission areas, are expansive and fairly open to accommodate different approaches to solving the same problems, depending on the player's preferred style of play. Most of the missions can be tackled in various ways, e.g. with brute force, stealth, or extensive usage of lock-picking and computer hacking abilities. At certain points, the course of the storyline can also be influenced by the decisions made by the player. Similarly to System Shock games, the environment is largely interactive, the player being able to pick up, use, and discard various types of objects.
Spellings
- ćĺşéĺ´ - Simplified Chinese spelling
Groups +
- 3D Engine: Unreal Engine 1
- Deus Ex series
- Eidos Premier Collection releases
- Gameplay feature: Body dragging
- Gameplay feature: Character development - Skill distribution
- Gameplay feature: Drowning
- Gameplay feature: Grid Inventory
- Gameplay feature: Multiple endings
- Gameplay feature: Radiation / radioactive poisoning
- Games with 451
- Protagonist: Cyborg
- Setting: 2050s
- Setting: City - Hong Kong
- Setting: City - New York
- Setting: City - Paris
- Setting: Country - France
- Setting: Ship / Boat
- Software Pyramide releases
- Theme: Hacking / Pseudohacking
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Credits (Windows version)
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[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 89% (based on 78 ratings)
Players
Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 531 ratings with 34 reviews)
The Good
Where should I start? Okay, first, the graphics are totally awesome (but the mouths are jerky). The sound is excellent, as well as the music, and the alarm is totally freaky. The story...well, I can't praise it highly enough. I got a tingly feeling by the end because of the greatness of the twisted plot. I never got that feeling from any other game. Everything is very non-linear, and you can customize anything, and I mean anything: pathways, side quests, decisions, augmentations, skills, inventory: you name it! The game world is extremely detailed, with a network of vents and tons of different pathways in every level. Will you: sneak through the vents, wasting a lockpick; go in using the all-action approach; hijack the security; go through the backdoor elevator, using a multitool; sneak out using another path; etc. There are practically an infinite amount of paths you can take, and there are tons of buildings and characters that you don't have to visit! WOW! Finally, the game has a sort of real-world/cyberpunk feeling: a gritty feeling which I REALLY liked...it really helped the game along.
The Bad
I didn't like the fact that it was set in the night. Also, the AI doesn't instantly see you, it always has to say something stupid, even if you're in front of their nose ("Who's there, I know you're around here somewhere!"). In addition, you have limited inventory space (this isn't bad...I just didn't like it). The loading times are waaaaay to long, and you die too often. There are also loads of ammo shortages in the beginning. Finally, after you beat the game once, playing it again isn't as surprising. But that is nothing!
The Bottom Line
Damn! This is, hands down, the best game I have EVER, EVER played, and I played LOTS of games!
Windows · by Archagon (108) · 2002
The Good
Not being able to shoot as well when you're not as skilled in a weapon is a nice touch. The interactivity is the best i've seen since you can grab everything from houseplants to chairs. Then you can throw them on the ground to make a noise to attract the guards.
The Bad
The AI isn't very smart since you can pretty much hide in a ventilation duct and take out all your enemies without them being able to find you. I also hate it when you're in a conversation with an NPC and the enemies spot you. They won't shoot you while you're talking and will just stand there like idiots. Once you finish however, they'll kill you immediately. The game strives for realism but yet there are literally hundreds of crates filled with health kits and weapons lying around. The voice acting is only passable since the characters themselves don't sound very excited when talking. The way System Shock 2 worked was because the game made you lonely when traveling through the ship. But this game tried to make you think there's lots of government conspiracies which doesn't sound real and we never really feel like the governement's against us.
The Bottom Line
It's a combination of System Shock 2's RPG elements and Metal Gear Solid's sneaking around. Although there's too much shooting which completely ruins the stealth game because in a lot of the cases you can and sometimes wil be forced to shoot your way out of the situation.
Windows · by issus (15) · 2000
The best game ever, and even that doesn't do it justice.
The Good
--IMPORTANT NOTEâWhatever I write in this section wonât 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 Iâve 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, itâs destroyed traditions used by developers that up until now havenât 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 âRight, this is what you must do, this is how to do it, this is what will happen, and this is whyâ. This does of course make great things possible, like rooms collapsing. But since the events are scripted, they happen every time. These are the developerâs 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 donât 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 itâs shown them the path. Itâs 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 wonât be scripted. The gamer will be able to find his own way to have fun, there wonât be any âintendedâ 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. Thatâs 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. Itâs possible to kill nearly everyone in the whole game and itâs 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 theyâre 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 youâll be right at home here. If you love Medal Of Honour youâll 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. Heâs charismatic yet very secretive, and is utterly self-less. Always strives for the greater good. Thatâs 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 itâs biggest stages.
Now that Iâve 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). Itâs 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. Itâs possible to walk into a bar and find people talking for 5 minutes about philosophy and ethics, with no real consequence in the game. Iâm 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 itâs 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. Hereâs one last example: On the first level you are on Liberty Island on some docks, youâre told to meet your brother because heâll explain everything and then you have to enter the Statue Of Liberty and find a terrorist leader. As soon as Iâd spoken to my brother, I jumped into the sea and started whacking fish with a crowbar Iâd 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! Iâd been entertained for 45 minutes and I hadnât even started the game yet! Iâd barely even walked 4 feet!
Iâd better stop because Iâm getting too passionate. And there is still so much I havenât said. I havenât 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 theyâre near to one another.
There are no words to express what this game is, but âartâ is the closest.
The Bad
Oh who cares? Ok the graphics look a little ropy now and havenât aged as well as System Shock 2âs. The music is pretty poor and repetitive and isnât used as a plot device unlike Looking Glassâs opus. The game doesnât have that slick presentation and glossy style that I like and which was once again present in SS2. If youâre trying to pick up a body and your inventory is full, you have to drop some stuff, take what theyâre carrying, and then move the body. If you back towards the edge of a level, after it loads youâll 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 havenât got past the âgood guy Vs bad guyâ 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) doesnât succeed in becoming art and could be dismissed as pretentious? I wouldnât 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.
Windows · by Shazbut (163) · 2002
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
Genres | Cantillon (76815) | May 7, 2021 |
20th anniversary | Patrick Bregger (299856) | Jun 22, 2020 |
First original US box design? | sndwv | Aug 28, 2016 |
Did you know? | Donatello (466) | Jun 23, 2013 |
Happy birthday! | Patrick Bregger (299856) | Jun 24, 2010 |
Trivia
1001 Video Games
The PC version of Deus Ex appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
Alex Denton
Somewhere in Area 51 (the last stage of the game) you can see a number of containers with clones in suspension. One of them is called Alex Denton. Alex Denton is the lead character to the successor Deus Ex: Invisible War.
Books
Ever wonder about the books found in Deus Ex? The Man Who was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton is a real book written in 1901, and takes place in a fantasy version of Victorian England, in which anarchists take names of days of the week it has some similarities to Deus Ex. G.K. Chesterton also wrote a book about St. Thomas Aquinas whom is referenced several time in Deus Ex.
One of the many books you can read in Deus Ex is the beginning of The Eye of Argon by Jim Theis. This is a real book, considered by many to be the worst fantasy book ever written. Information about the book and the full text can be found online.
Cancelled Linux version
The Linux version of Deus Ex was supposed to be ported by Loki Entertainment Software. Unfortunately, they went bankrupt back in 2001. Although their company website still exists, it (obviously) hasn't been updated. The status of Deus Ex in the website is "coming soon". Not likely.
Non-lethal
Due to the array of non-lethal weapon and the numerous stealth options, it is quite possible to finish the game having only killed three people. That's a pretty non-violent option for a first person shooter! With the explotation of glitches, the number can be dropped to one.
References
- There's a register in the hotel at the Hell's Kitchen location... click on it and you will see that the last name is Hyppolita Hall... a character from the Sandman comic books.
- One of the computer passwords used in the game, "reindeerflotilla", is actually a reference to the 1982 movie Tron, where it was used by Flynn to hack into the computer network and challenge the MCP (the time when he's actually inside the Encom building).
- The helicopter pilot Jock with which J.C. Denton allies himself in the game is possibly a reference to the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. In the opening scenes of that movie, Indiana Jones makes a getaway in a biplane, flown by a pilot also named Jock.
- Main voices of JC Denton and Agent Navarre are eerily similar to the protaganists of Nocture... as well as their general appearances.
- A couple of tidbits. JC Denton was supposed to have a famous ancestor with the Initials J.C. If you look at the game logo, you see a very stylized J and C rotating around a tiny sphere.
- Castle Clinton, as well as the Statue of Liberty, are real buildings represented in the game as playable maps.
- In the hotel, in NYC, check the guest register. One entry is, Gabriel Syme, from London, England. Syme was the title character in the novel, The Man Who Was Thursday.
Special edition
Beware the "special edition" that's being sold for $9.99 in bargain bins at Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, etc. This is a one-level demo being passed off as a full retail version. Unlike other legitimate bargain bin software, the Deus Ex being sold in the bargain bin section is only a demo and not the full game.
Eidos has a nasty habit of releasing game demos disguised as full retail versions and pedalling them in bargain bin software racks (they've done this previously with Tomb Raider). Nowhere on the packaging is it mentioned the "special edition" is a demo and not the full retail version of the game.
Title
The title "Deus Ex" comes from the latin term deus ex machina. It means- 1. A god introduced by means of a crane in ancient Greek and Roman drama to decide the final outcome. 2. A person or thing (as in fiction or drama) that appears or is introduced suddenly and unexpectedly and provides a solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty.
Twin Towers
If you run around Liberty Island, you can see the New York skyline. The Twin Towers are missing because allegedly, they were destroyed by terrorists. This was a design decision for a game released before September 11, 2001.
Voice acting
Lots of Ion Storm employees were used as voice actors. Tom Hall plays the villain in the game; Jay Franke, a QA tester, played the protagonist. He used to be on the TV sitcom California Dreams.
Awards
- GameSpy
- 2000 â Game of the Year
- 2001 â #18 Top Game of All Time
- 2011 â #3 Top PC Game of the 2000s
- PC Gamer
- 2000 - Game of the Year
- October 2001 - #10 in the "Top 50 Games of All Time" list
- April 2005 - #27 in the "50 Best Games of All Time" list
Information also contributed by Adam Baratz, Alan Chan, Dr. M. "Schadenfreude" Von Katze, emanjonez, Entorphane, Jason Musgrave, jeremy strope, MasterMegid, PCGamer77, Ryan Prendiville, Scott Monster, Stephen Atkinz; Tomer Gabel and WildKard
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Related Sites +
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Deus Ex HDTP (High Definition Texture Project)
Deus Ex lives and will soon look cooler than ever in hi-res! -
Deus Ex Incarnate
Check up on Deus Ex news, walkthroughs, and tips on this site. -
Deus Ex Machina
See Deus Ex articles, interviews, polls, and screenshots at this site. -
Deus Ex Post-Mortem (1/2)
Warren Spector and Harvey Smith speak about the development process of Deus Ex (Youtube, part 1/2) -
Deus Ex Post-Mortem (2/2)
Warren Spector and Harvey Smith speak about the development process of Deus Ex (Youtube, part 2/2) -
Postmortem: Ion Storm's Deus Ex
Gamasutra article by Warren Spector about the development process of Deus Ex -
Something Awful review
A humorous review on Something Awful (PC version) -
The Making Of: Deus Ex
A retrospective of Deus Ex at EDGE Online, provided by Warren Spector, which covers the game's development and struggles (September 11th, 2009). -
The Nameless Mod
A total conversion which features the main gameplay advantages of Deus Ex with a completely new plot. Also includes full voice acting and two mostly separate story branches. -
Wikipedia: Deus Ex
Information about Deus Ex at Wikipedia
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by rstevenson.
PlayStation 3 added by GTramp. Macintosh added by Kabushi. PlayStation 2 added by NeoMoose.
Additional contributors: MAT, Adam Baratz, Unicorn Lynx, Shoddyan, Zeppin, DreinIX, Zeikman, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.
Game added June 25, 2000. Last modified March 31, 2024.