Deus Ex

[spukrian]

Deus Ex is a game that I think is great. In this thread I will outline why.

First, what is Deus Ex? It's a game that takes place in a post-cyberpunk future, dealing with age-old conspiracies and secret societies. It is played mostly from the First Person viewpoint and has elements of RPGs, shooters and stealth games.

What about the story? The game takes place in ca 2050. Terrorism is widespread and global, all the while a disease called Grey Death is decimating the population. there is a vaccine, called Ambrosia, but it is in short supply and high demand. You play J.C. Denton, a rookie agent for UNATCO (the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition). JC is a part of a new breed of soldier, he is infused with nanites that can increase his performance in various ways (after you upgrade them, of course). He and his brother Paul are the prototypes, they're supposed to replace the older mechanical/electrical cyborgs.

What about gameplay? You play JC Denton. In the beginning you get to choose his real name (not really used in the game IIRC) and his skin color. Then you get to spend Skill Points on any of the skills, mostly combat skills but of course other skills (like Computers, Lockpicking, etc).

Then you're dumped into the first mission of the game. Terrorists have hijacked a shipment of Ambrosia and are occupying the Statue of Liberty. You are free to deal with this in any way you see fit: Do you sneak around unseen? Do you knock everyone out from behind? Do you snipe people from the shadows? Or do you just go in guns blazing?

After securing part of that Ambrosia shipment, you get to go in to New York. This is a Hub level. You can go around exploring, talking to people and do "sidequests". Then you get to do more missions and after a while you get to visit new locations around the globe.

Why do like Deus Ex? Because of the freedom. I like games where I get to decide for myself what I should do. I also like sneaking around, which I am able to do in Deus Ex. I also like the RPG aspects, developing skills, dialogue trees. Deus Ex offers choices and consequences, although in a limited fashion.

Of course, there are negative things about Deus Ex. Like the intro movie, which kind of spoils most of the game. And in the beginning of the game there is a strong pacifist message that dissapears suddenly. The game misrepresents certain parts of conspiracy theory lore, but I guess that's artistic licence.

Deus Ex has two sequels:
Invisible War takes place about 20 years after Deus Ex. It "streamlined" many things: smaller levels, removed the skills, etc. In general it is seen as an inferior sequel. Personally I enjoy it a lot, but it's not as good as the original.

Human Revolution: Released recently, this is a prequel. I haven't played it yet. My impression is that most fans likes the game more than Invisible War though.

So, what are your thoughts?