Deus Ex

The Good
In 2000 fledgling game developer Ion Storm dropped a bomb on the unsuspecting PC games market. The game was Deus Ex. An amazing first person shooter/RPG/stealth game. It still stands as the best game they produced and one of the best PC games of all time.

In Deus Ex you are J.C. Denton. The newest Nano-augmented agent for U.N.A.T.C.O. In the not to distant future of Deus Ex, hundreds of terrorist groups run amok. And from the shadows an age old conspiracy is about to begin again. Deus Ex takes you from New York, to Hong Kong, To Paris, and even Area 51. As well as a few other places.

As you unravel the plot you meet many characters all with there own agenda. You decide who to trust and who not to trust. And the fate of several major characters is in your hands. The plot is well written with many plot twists and never gets boring, even after several play thoughts. The game wraps up in about 20 hours. And the real world setting despite being set many years into the future still manages to feel real.

The references to novels, and philosophy are very well done. And help give Deus Ex a thinking man’s game feel. Can you think of any other game that has a quote by Voltaire? Even the title, which is Latin for From God, imply deep meaning.

The game has three real endings and one hidden one. The three real endings all have a quote from authors and philosophers. There is one part in Deus Ex where in you interact with an A.I. that asks you several philosophical questions, very cool.

The Graphics is Deus Ex are a little dated now. But they are still pretty good. Thanks to the always nice Unreal engine. The character models are were the dated graphics show the most. The maps and weapons look much better. The lighting effects are superb. And best of all this game runs well even on weaker machines. So unless you have a PC older than 10 years you will be able to run Deus Ex.

The Music is excellent. Particularly the main theme. The sound effects are realistic. And the voice acting is amazing. Some people have complained about J.C.’s voice but these complaints are unfounded, I think that his performance is one of the better ones in the game.

The game is almost completely customizable. You can pick and choose what skills you will make use of. You can be well balanced or weapon or stealth oriented. You can choose which augmentations you want and upgrade them as you see fit. Weapons too can be augmented. The way you play the game is also up to you. You can go in shooting or sneak around. There are always multiple ways to solve any problem you may come across.

In the end you even must choose the fate of the world. The fate of characters also depends on your decisions. And certain actions can make the game easier. Or harder.

The Bad
The Graphics are a little dated. This game is so good that any other Ion Storm game has a hard time by comparison. A few of there games do come close to the excellence of Deus Ex. Such as Anachronox, and Thief: Deadly Shadows.

The Bottom Line
You have to play this game it is just to good to pass up. And unless you have an ancient PC and less than 10 bucks you have no excuse not to play it.