Deus Ex

The Good
Fun fps mixes nanotechnology with more common role playing elements and typical genre cliches. In addition to improving stats, you can augment your character in Syndicate/Shadowrun fashion. Some of these "augs" are hit or miss, but a nice one lets you regenerate and another one lets you leap great distances in a single bound. The story is somewhat branching and events early on in the game affect later outcomes.

The Bad
Unique AI. The game emphasizes stealth elements, but enemies seem to have incredible hearing. I took out one guard with a throwing knife (how much quieter could I be :) ) and had a whole platoon searching for me. Stay still long enough and the enemies lose interest (must be union). Yet I was impressed with the way some enemies regrouped and allies are very useful.

Story. Hope William Gibson and Chris Carter got their royalties. Actually the story is interesting and involving, but becomes far too scripted and linear in the end. The three possible endings are only determined by your character's actions in the last level and -> you are specifically told "if you do this, you will get this ending."

Typical failings: Not only are items stored in crates, but the crates are labeled as medical, equipment, or weapon. Your character has this inability to hoist himself onto crates/ledges, you can only hope that he will eventually be able to jump high enough. At the end of the game I had a shotgun, machine gun, and rocket launcher yet was able to hide in shadows.

The Bottom Line
Great game, hopefully the first start of a great series. Fun gameplay, engaging storyline. Loads of replay value too.