Played the PS2 version but nobody reads that page so I'm reviewing it here.
I loved this game a lot. At first I thought I wasn't going to enjoy it with how rough Liberty Island was (nearly got filtered) but when I got to UNATCO and spent 95% of the time fucking around, reading random books and newspapers about the state of the world, I really fell in love with it. I enjoyed being handsomely rewarded even if I went a no-kill route one level or slaughtered everybody in my wake the next. I didn't feel pressured to play any specific way and that's what made it so satisfying. Of course, I saved hostages when I could and actively tried not to kill civilians when in the middle of a (considerably laggy) firefight. The soundtrack is incredible.
One of my gripes with it, though, was how boss fights weren't really bossfights. The GEP gun basically steamrolls every single fight save for Simons who eats two missiles before exploding into meat, but even then every fight lasts two seconds if you just whip out the GEP gun. Another criticism I had was how Gunther was written. He's meant to be viewed as a tragic character due to the circumstances of his outdated augmentations and self-esteem issues stemming from that, but the writers make him out to be a bumbling dumbass instead. I also wasn't a huge fan of how Paul just disappears from the game after Hong Kong, permanently glued to his chair, but I guess it makes sense from a branching narrative/development standpoint.
JC is a new favorite character of mine. He is definitely autistic. Simons was a cool villain and his coat was even cooler though he walks like he's severely constipated. Anyway, this game was fun as hell and it truly does break my heart that this series is more or less dead in the water. I'm sick to death of remakes but I'm not gonna lie and say I wouldn't enjoy a potential remake of this game.
I loved this game a lot. At first I thought I wasn't going to enjoy it with how rough Liberty Island was (nearly got filtered) but when I got to UNATCO and spent 95% of the time fucking around, reading random books and newspapers about the state of the world, I really fell in love with it. I enjoyed being handsomely rewarded even if I went a no-kill route one level or slaughtered everybody in my wake the next. I didn't feel pressured to play any specific way and that's what made it so satisfying. Of course, I saved hostages when I could and actively tried not to kill civilians when in the middle of a (considerably laggy) firefight. The soundtrack is incredible.
One of my gripes with it, though, was how boss fights weren't really bossfights. The GEP gun basically steamrolls every single fight save for Simons who eats two missiles before exploding into meat, but even then every fight lasts two seconds if you just whip out the GEP gun. Another criticism I had was how Gunther was written. He's meant to be viewed as a tragic character due to the circumstances of his outdated augmentations and self-esteem issues stemming from that, but the writers make him out to be a bumbling dumbass instead. I also wasn't a huge fan of how Paul just disappears from the game after Hong Kong, permanently glued to his chair, but I guess it makes sense from a branching narrative/development standpoint.
JC is a new favorite character of mine. He is definitely autistic. Simons was a cool villain and his coat was even cooler though he walks like he's severely constipated. Anyway, this game was fun as hell and it truly does break my heart that this series is more or less dead in the water. I'm sick to death of remakes but I'm not gonna lie and say I wouldn't enjoy a potential remake of this game.
I'm so fucking tired of people claiming that Warren Spector coined the concept of Immersive Sims, when the man himself will tell you it was Doug Church, all the while these people bash the concept of such a genre even existing. Their arguments are uniformly rooted in prejudicial ignorance every single fucking time. Often making some idiotic remark about how the name is misleading because flight simulators have nothing to do with them, WHEN THE ACTUAL OG IMSIM DEVS MADE FLIGHT SIMS TOO. The entirety of the Looking Glass output were ALWAYS simulations. I'm inclined to believe that the people who were the original developers at the forefront of Simulation focused game development are right in attaching such a denomination in one form or another to their RPG and FPS outputs as well. There's a very simple litmus test you can employ to discern why the bulk of modern first person video games do not deserve to be brought up in conversation by halfwits mistakenly complaining about the genre being "meaningless" because "all games strive to be immersive" (lmao even) or what have you when that's clearly not true. The litmus is whether or not the game is implementing its mechanics via scripted interactions or SIMULATING systems to allow for a rationally comprehensible and predictable game world. Yet somehow people keep bringing up Elder Scrolls, Metroid Prime, et al, in conversation.
I suspect this is an unfortunate effect of general human neurology struggling with comprehending nuance and abstractions, all the while putting much too much emphasis on definitions. Thus the incessant roundabout arguments throughout all of history that often boil down to nothing more than fucking pedantry.
Anyway, as I see it what makes ImSims most consistently identifiable, rather than pedantic slavish insistence of finding individual shared mechanics, is observing how systemically implemented game mechanics end up informing and recontextualizing a game's Level Design.
I feel the need to point this out because I've seen far too many people think that statpoints and skill trees are of chief significance, when they're really just a tool by which developers can choose to allow players influence over their characters. Too few people have played the OG System Shock which is quite lacking in all the ARPG frills that have come to define a particular subset of this criminally misunderstood peak genre of PC gaming. A genre that arguably IS PC gaming.
Oh, yeah, the game. Deus Ex is okay. I made the mistake of playing on Hard and had to suffer through the mediocre gunplay. It was still good though and definitely a must-play. I willfully restarted the Hong Kong level a few times because I wasn't ready to move on before trying several different approaches just for the hell of it. Truly an excellent level.
For all my complaining of pedantry, I wish such widespread flagrant misunderstanding and misapplication of terminology didn't piss me off so much, but I simply can't tolerate besmirchment of PC gaming's most engrossing lineage.
BioShock is a corridor shooter.
I suspect this is an unfortunate effect of general human neurology struggling with comprehending nuance and abstractions, all the while putting much too much emphasis on definitions. Thus the incessant roundabout arguments throughout all of history that often boil down to nothing more than fucking pedantry.
Anyway, as I see it what makes ImSims most consistently identifiable, rather than pedantic slavish insistence of finding individual shared mechanics, is observing how systemically implemented game mechanics end up informing and recontextualizing a game's Level Design.
I feel the need to point this out because I've seen far too many people think that statpoints and skill trees are of chief significance, when they're really just a tool by which developers can choose to allow players influence over their characters. Too few people have played the OG System Shock which is quite lacking in all the ARPG frills that have come to define a particular subset of this criminally misunderstood peak genre of PC gaming. A genre that arguably IS PC gaming.
Oh, yeah, the game. Deus Ex is okay. I made the mistake of playing on Hard and had to suffer through the mediocre gunplay. It was still good though and definitely a must-play. I willfully restarted the Hong Kong level a few times because I wasn't ready to move on before trying several different approaches just for the hell of it. Truly an excellent level.
For all my complaining of pedantry, I wish such widespread flagrant misunderstanding and misapplication of terminology didn't piss me off so much, but I simply can't tolerate besmirchment of PC gaming's most engrossing lineage.
BioShock is a corridor shooter.
I loved absolutely everything about this game but gave up on it after being filtered so many times, I am such a stupid casual
the best game
camera whirring computer beeping radio voice: Get to the bunker and get the new pancake recipe, JC. Waffle House Corporate is depending on you.
note on a computer They'll never know that Waffle House is just IHOP's puppet. The pancake recipe is actually a greek omelet recipe. The code to my penis is 3118.
note on a computer They'll never know that Waffle House is just IHOP's puppet. The pancake recipe is actually a greek omelet recipe. The code to my penis is 3118.
You Can Kill Children
liked it enough to finish it, shows its age for sure but the soundtrack is great and freedom of gameplay still holds up
You would of loved SteveMRE and Warhammer 40k, JC.
(looking at the rest of the series) what a shame
I bounced off Deus Ex hard initially. But I have never been more glad that I didn't immediately give up on a game. The beginning was rough but as I started to develop my stats and arsenal, I began to see the game's greatness and I fell deeply in love with Deus Ex.
The biggest barrier for new players is that frankly it doesn't feel very good to play, even for a game from 2000. The weapons lack a feeling of impact and are inaccurate until you level up your abilities, and the stealth is crap compared to Thief 2 from the same year. But the fun is in problem solving with the endless arsenal of tools you can use, the ways you can use the environment to your advantage, and the myriad of routes to progress through the levels. Each level is extraordinarily non-linear. The sheer amount of choice you have in how you complete each level, along with the choices you make in the story and in building your character, mean that each player can have a vastly different playthrough.
Though the game is notorious for being cheesy and has produced many memes over the years, there is a captivating story and eerily prescient social commentary amongst the cheese; something its sequels failed to recapture. The dystopian atmosphere is still gripping despite the old graphics, and the soundtrack goes hard to this day.
Besides some awkward gameplay, the only other issue is that some levels are too big and become very tedious to traverse, and easy to get lost in. But this only becomes noticeable in a handful of levels.
Deus Ex will forever be a classic. If you have a reasonable tolerance for jank it's unmissable.
The biggest barrier for new players is that frankly it doesn't feel very good to play, even for a game from 2000. The weapons lack a feeling of impact and are inaccurate until you level up your abilities, and the stealth is crap compared to Thief 2 from the same year. But the fun is in problem solving with the endless arsenal of tools you can use, the ways you can use the environment to your advantage, and the myriad of routes to progress through the levels. Each level is extraordinarily non-linear. The sheer amount of choice you have in how you complete each level, along with the choices you make in the story and in building your character, mean that each player can have a vastly different playthrough.
Though the game is notorious for being cheesy and has produced many memes over the years, there is a captivating story and eerily prescient social commentary amongst the cheese; something its sequels failed to recapture. The dystopian atmosphere is still gripping despite the old graphics, and the soundtrack goes hard to this day.
Besides some awkward gameplay, the only other issue is that some levels are too big and become very tedious to traverse, and easy to get lost in. But this only becomes noticeable in a handful of levels.
Deus Ex will forever be a classic. If you have a reasonable tolerance for jank it's unmissable.
Try getting a job game
Nostodomas the game
if i was going to make a game (which i am hilariously incapable of doing), this one would be a massive source of inspiration for me. it may need a fan-made patch, but it's still impressive how well this game holds up today.
One of the GOATs, no way around it.
Wow, Deus Ex (2000).
Truly the greatest immersive sim of all time. The pinnacle of “he’s just like me fr.”
One of the greats in terms of immersive sims, nothing else like it.
Still extremely playable today in its unchanged form (not revival, not any fan mods - just the intended experience with a few technical fixes like increased FOV and running on OpenGL), and would probably be a joy to play for any imsim fan. Almost 25 years later, it's still one of the most open-ended ones even in the genre already emphasizing player agency and freedom to choose your own approach to solving problems.
The level design is definitely the undisputed highlight. Almost any given objective can be reached in a number of ways depending on your character build and playstyle, to the point where the few instances where the game forcibly funnels you into a specific approach (e.g. a door that can't be lockpicked or bypassed electronically so you HAVE to find the code) immediately jump out. Lockpicking, hacking, crawling through vents (usually still accompanied with at least some more skill checks), or bashing in doors are all perfectly valid approaches, and while the game still makes sure that any character is able to actually progress the main objective, it does feel a lot less obvious than in most modern imsims - getting a code or finding an alternative route will generally take a lot more effort than just picking the door if your character is equipped to deal with the lock.
If you're like me in being addicted to hoarding "optional" resources since you're used to game just handing over the solution as you progress anyway, the most important piece of advice for Deus Ex would be: don't. The game is genuinely so much more enjoyable if you let yourself play the character and use the infiltration routes available to you; unlike in, say, Prey, the maps here are definitely not designed for the player to see every corner and vacuum up every single object; instead, they are large and complicated to facilitate the freedom to choose a route and stick to it. Sure, most doors have codes or keys, but they are very missable, presumably exactly to insentivize using all the other tools in your arsenal, and if you let the game lead you instead of resisting this guidance, the quality of your experience is likely to improve tenfold.
From the gameplay perspective, the signs of aging are a lot more apparent than in the level design. Early on, I don't see Deus Ex being playable in an action-y style thanks to its famous aiming system (where the reticule takes up half the screen and slowly decreases to a point as long as you don't make any sudden moves); however, as your character progresses in skill level and gets more augmentations, the run-and-gun tactics become a lot more viable: by the end, you will be able to jump around at supersonic speeds headshotting bozos in mid-air, or tank an entire arsenal worth of bullets to the skull, should you be so inclined. Despite the slow start, once the augmentations really start rolling in, the power progression really becomes extremely noticeable and gratifying.
The shooting itself is fine, with the exception of enemies routinely taking several shots to the head to kill - seems like there are some hit detection shenanigans that make certain headshots count towards the torso instead. Speaking of - the complex locational damage system is pretty impressive, with body parts being targetable for both the player and all (humanoid) enemies; this isn't really used for anything interesting other than headshots as far as I could tell, but still surprising to think this was made in 2000. The game even supports non-lethal takedowns - and comments on it if this is your preferred playstyle. This doesn't have much of an impact on anything but I definitely appreciate the option being available.
The augmentation system is also neat in concept - having to choose between 2 mutually exclusive upgrades for every slot is interesting, and augments do genuinely have the power to completely upturn the way you play - the only obstacle to this is the default key bindings. Do yourself a favour and rebind the most used ones to something more ergonomic than the F- keys, and once you do, managing enabled abilities, toggling them on and off, becomes a fun element of extra challenge rather than an annoying drain on your finite bioenergy resource.
Story and voice acting - the absolute crackpot mash of a bunch of conspiracies is really amusing at the start, but surprisingly actually becomes pretty engaging as it goes on, the general tone shifting from a story about a cool gigacop with augmented vision to an illuminatipilled global conspiracy-driven paranoic mess is cool to witness, and the few reactive story elements are always fun to come by, especially the ones you aren't expecting. Honestly didn't expect to get invested, knowing what I did about the plot before going in, but did end up thoroughly entertained.
For the more negative aspect - the latter levels are falling into the same trap as a lot of other games of the era by ramping up the "difficulty" through throwing a bigger amount of more annoying enemies at you (ones that explode on death, or take little damage from bullets, etc.) but in an unprecedented move for imsims, the game actually sticks the landing with a good final boss fight, highlighting the freedom that defined most of the game up to that point instead of forcing combat that some builds may be unequipped for, or resorting to some awful gimmick.
Overall, Deus Ex is still a great game, still managing to hold its own against the present-day immersive sims thanks to its outstanding level design and breadth of possibility when it comes to problem-solving, with a lot of its DNA being easily trackable to much more modern games. Easy recommendation for anyone interested in the genre and not afraid of a little jank.
The level design is definitely the undisputed highlight. Almost any given objective can be reached in a number of ways depending on your character build and playstyle, to the point where the few instances where the game forcibly funnels you into a specific approach (e.g. a door that can't be lockpicked or bypassed electronically so you HAVE to find the code) immediately jump out. Lockpicking, hacking, crawling through vents (usually still accompanied with at least some more skill checks), or bashing in doors are all perfectly valid approaches, and while the game still makes sure that any character is able to actually progress the main objective, it does feel a lot less obvious than in most modern imsims - getting a code or finding an alternative route will generally take a lot more effort than just picking the door if your character is equipped to deal with the lock.
If you're like me in being addicted to hoarding "optional" resources since you're used to game just handing over the solution as you progress anyway, the most important piece of advice for Deus Ex would be: don't. The game is genuinely so much more enjoyable if you let yourself play the character and use the infiltration routes available to you; unlike in, say, Prey, the maps here are definitely not designed for the player to see every corner and vacuum up every single object; instead, they are large and complicated to facilitate the freedom to choose a route and stick to it. Sure, most doors have codes or keys, but they are very missable, presumably exactly to insentivize using all the other tools in your arsenal, and if you let the game lead you instead of resisting this guidance, the quality of your experience is likely to improve tenfold.
From the gameplay perspective, the signs of aging are a lot more apparent than in the level design. Early on, I don't see Deus Ex being playable in an action-y style thanks to its famous aiming system (where the reticule takes up half the screen and slowly decreases to a point as long as you don't make any sudden moves); however, as your character progresses in skill level and gets more augmentations, the run-and-gun tactics become a lot more viable: by the end, you will be able to jump around at supersonic speeds headshotting bozos in mid-air, or tank an entire arsenal worth of bullets to the skull, should you be so inclined. Despite the slow start, once the augmentations really start rolling in, the power progression really becomes extremely noticeable and gratifying.
The shooting itself is fine, with the exception of enemies routinely taking several shots to the head to kill - seems like there are some hit detection shenanigans that make certain headshots count towards the torso instead. Speaking of - the complex locational damage system is pretty impressive, with body parts being targetable for both the player and all (humanoid) enemies; this isn't really used for anything interesting other than headshots as far as I could tell, but still surprising to think this was made in 2000. The game even supports non-lethal takedowns - and comments on it if this is your preferred playstyle. This doesn't have much of an impact on anything but I definitely appreciate the option being available.
The augmentation system is also neat in concept - having to choose between 2 mutually exclusive upgrades for every slot is interesting, and augments do genuinely have the power to completely upturn the way you play - the only obstacle to this is the default key bindings. Do yourself a favour and rebind the most used ones to something more ergonomic than the F- keys, and once you do, managing enabled abilities, toggling them on and off, becomes a fun element of extra challenge rather than an annoying drain on your finite bioenergy resource.
Story and voice acting - the absolute crackpot mash of a bunch of conspiracies is really amusing at the start, but surprisingly actually becomes pretty engaging as it goes on, the general tone shifting from a story about a cool gigacop with augmented vision to an illuminatipilled global conspiracy-driven paranoic mess is cool to witness, and the few reactive story elements are always fun to come by, especially the ones you aren't expecting. Honestly didn't expect to get invested, knowing what I did about the plot before going in, but did end up thoroughly entertained.
For the more negative aspect - the latter levels are falling into the same trap as a lot of other games of the era by ramping up the "difficulty" through throwing a bigger amount of more annoying enemies at you (ones that explode on death, or take little damage from bullets, etc.) but in an unprecedented move for imsims, the game actually sticks the landing with a good final boss fight, highlighting the freedom that defined most of the game up to that point instead of forcing combat that some builds may be unequipped for, or resorting to some awful gimmick.
Overall, Deus Ex is still a great game, still managing to hold its own against the present-day immersive sims thanks to its outstanding level design and breadth of possibility when it comes to problem-solving, with a lot of its DNA being easily trackable to much more modern games. Easy recommendation for anyone interested in the genre and not afraid of a little jank.
The pinnacle of Y2K expressionism, love to just load any level and just sink into its ambience.
Great game, 24 years later, and it's still one of the best immersive sims, with a very unique, thought-provoking, and scarily foreseeing narrative. The only thing I can complain about is the backstab mechanic since you can fuck up minutes of stealth simply because you aimed at a wrong part of the enemy's hitbox. Everything else is honestly great; a must play!
I played the "Revision" version, which was perhaps not the best idea (I have to play through the original again). Brilliant game, awesome atmosphere, great dialog, really good commentary on American politics/society and the gameplay is a dream for a stealthyboi like me^^. JC Denton is a living meme ("What a rotten way to die" :D ) and the story is really good. You could call it a masterpiece.
Definitely a game that started showing it's age a while ago, especially visually, both in a graphical sense and in a clarity sense, but it would be quite unfair to judge it based on this, as it's still a cut above a lot games that were released at the time.
Deus Ex is an immersive sim in the same vein as Thief or System Shock, all of which are structured into distinct levels and have a focus on offering the player a number of different solutions to obstacles presented throughout. A large part of where this game shines is just how well it does this, often you'll see a number of different paths available to get through any section of Deus Ex, encouraging exploration and experimentation. While you could lockpick a door, you could also hack a nearby power generator to find a key, or you could've found a code earlier that lets you bypass both of those options. This process is similarly applicable to combat throughout the game, absent is the focus on stealth from future Deus Ex games, so there is always the binary choice of approaching quietly or loudly and then further how you want to go about doing either. It's this freedom of approach that both makes the game replayable and allows for agency in how you skill JC without feeling locked out of any content or considerably weaker than if you had spec'd into other things.
Though often referred to as an RPG, the connection is tenuous at best, very little Role Playing is done throughout, having more in common with a title like Cruelty Squad than any actual modern RPGs. The closest thing is the skill system which more exists just to feed into the ImSim elements of the game than do anything by itself, and there is very little in how you play that affects the story outside of some small acknowledgments very early in.
That's not to diminish the writing here though, what's on offer is phenomenal, leaning heavily into conspiracies prevalent at the time, Deus Ex does an incredible job world building, both through it's environments and the story, and has an extremely strong narrative to go along with it.
Overall, Deus Ex was an incredibly enjoyable experience, and very impressive from both a game-design and story-telling perspective. Though maybe not as ground breaking as when it was first released, it still holds up unreasonably well for a 24 year old game.
However, I was promised you could fly when it was raining if you maxed out swimming and then was sorely disappointed to find out I had been gibed so it's basically unplayable.
Deus Ex is an immersive sim in the same vein as Thief or System Shock, all of which are structured into distinct levels and have a focus on offering the player a number of different solutions to obstacles presented throughout. A large part of where this game shines is just how well it does this, often you'll see a number of different paths available to get through any section of Deus Ex, encouraging exploration and experimentation. While you could lockpick a door, you could also hack a nearby power generator to find a key, or you could've found a code earlier that lets you bypass both of those options. This process is similarly applicable to combat throughout the game, absent is the focus on stealth from future Deus Ex games, so there is always the binary choice of approaching quietly or loudly and then further how you want to go about doing either. It's this freedom of approach that both makes the game replayable and allows for agency in how you skill JC without feeling locked out of any content or considerably weaker than if you had spec'd into other things.
Though often referred to as an RPG, the connection is tenuous at best, very little Role Playing is done throughout, having more in common with a title like Cruelty Squad than any actual modern RPGs. The closest thing is the skill system which more exists just to feed into the ImSim elements of the game than do anything by itself, and there is very little in how you play that affects the story outside of some small acknowledgments very early in.
That's not to diminish the writing here though, what's on offer is phenomenal, leaning heavily into conspiracies prevalent at the time, Deus Ex does an incredible job world building, both through it's environments and the story, and has an extremely strong narrative to go along with it.
Overall, Deus Ex was an incredibly enjoyable experience, and very impressive from both a game-design and story-telling perspective. Though maybe not as ground breaking as when it was first released, it still holds up unreasonably well for a 24 year old game.
However, I was promised you could fly when it was raining if you maxed out swimming and then was sorely disappointed to find out I had been gibed so it's basically unplayable.
i sincerely apologise to everyone over the years who has recommended this to me based on my personal writing preferences but i just could not get into this no matter how much i tried. (side note as of 6th of march 2024 because i think its important; my issues with deus ex are entirely personal, i KNOW for a fact its an incredible game and can tell as such from all of the attempts ive made to get into it, but i realised my main issue is just that i am cognitively impaired in a way that does not allow me to experience it properly. annoying, but, of course theres not much i can do about it, even with the plethora of accessibility options available lmao. its just that my issues are so specific it would require entirely taking out the immersive sim and stealth aspect that makes deus ex what it is. which of course wouldnt be fun, either, and would completely dumb the game down to a super linear hand-holdy experience like any other action-stealth game, i ALSO want to make it clear that deus ex is undeniably a very accessible game, im not trying to bash it for lacking in accessibility whatsoever,
i just have actual fucking brain damage on top of autism and very simply cannot process information and audio especially in the way i need to to be able to progress. this little rant is a lot lengthier than i wanted it to be. sorry. i love you btw. and if anyone has any recommendations as to an easier way to get a meaningful experience out of deus ex without entirely cheesing my way through it, using cheats or whatever, i would much appreciate any advice. since most video games are very, well, video-gamey experiences, its very rare that i struggle with stealth games like this, and id at least LIKE to believe im not any less skilled than the average player, but the mix of instructions being given in real time, mixed with the dark environment and HEAVY focus on being as much of an immersive sim as possible, i just end up getting overwhelmed with everything going on and completely shutting down since i can only put my focus into so many things at one time. sorry if this all just sounds like the rambling of some guy whos sore because he couldnt get past a specific level in a video game and decided to use any possible excuse to try and prove it wasnt his fault, im always worried thats how i come off or even is what im actually doing when i mention my cognitive disabilities in regards to gaming, but this is a game ive been trying to get into for over a decade so i know that cant be the case. it just makes me sad seeing all the praise it gets and knowing id absolutely love it but just am unable to experience it without putting myself under an amount of pressure in the moment that honestly is entirely not worth it just to feel like im a "real gamer" per se, or having to have someone guide me through it. ive tried every difficulty, easy isnt any more manageable for me than realistic or hard, so knowing its not just a skill issue i can maybe fix over time just kind of. feels like shit. rant over, once again, sorry for rambling, i just feel very strongly about this, i know its stupid to get so worked up over a videogame. tldr; undeniably incredible from all i can tell, the problem is me.)
i just have actual fucking brain damage on top of autism and very simply cannot process information and audio especially in the way i need to to be able to progress. this little rant is a lot lengthier than i wanted it to be. sorry. i love you btw. and if anyone has any recommendations as to an easier way to get a meaningful experience out of deus ex without entirely cheesing my way through it, using cheats or whatever, i would much appreciate any advice. since most video games are very, well, video-gamey experiences, its very rare that i struggle with stealth games like this, and id at least LIKE to believe im not any less skilled than the average player, but the mix of instructions being given in real time, mixed with the dark environment and HEAVY focus on being as much of an immersive sim as possible, i just end up getting overwhelmed with everything going on and completely shutting down since i can only put my focus into so many things at one time. sorry if this all just sounds like the rambling of some guy whos sore because he couldnt get past a specific level in a video game and decided to use any possible excuse to try and prove it wasnt his fault, im always worried thats how i come off or even is what im actually doing when i mention my cognitive disabilities in regards to gaming, but this is a game ive been trying to get into for over a decade so i know that cant be the case. it just makes me sad seeing all the praise it gets and knowing id absolutely love it but just am unable to experience it without putting myself under an amount of pressure in the moment that honestly is entirely not worth it just to feel like im a "real gamer" per se, or having to have someone guide me through it. ive tried every difficulty, easy isnt any more manageable for me than realistic or hard, so knowing its not just a skill issue i can maybe fix over time just kind of. feels like shit. rant over, once again, sorry for rambling, i just feel very strongly about this, i know its stupid to get so worked up over a videogame. tldr; undeniably incredible from all i can tell, the problem is me.)
A classic that's showing it's age, if only because it laid the ground works for a new genre.
Deus Ex is undeniably a project worth celebrating, it allows the player a tremendous amount of agency and rewards them for playing smart. At any given moment I felt curious enough to look around, explore the environment and try and find new ways to tackle a task.
However, I never felt encouraged to, the world is incredibly sparse and the design isn't tight, it can guide you to things but it's more a case of luck or stumbling onto something rather than it feeling like being taken on a route. I don't necessarily have a problem with this kind of design, but it can feel frustrating at some points.
I can't knock Deus Ex too hard on this, it's really the first of its kind and I'm accustomed now to games like Dishonored and even Deus Ex's modern iterations improving on this formula. For example, the game gives you a lot of lethal, non-lethal, loud or silent options to take on enemies, yet they never really feel like it makes a difference what you do to get to the end as long as you get to the end. Again, not so much a problem, I like that the options are there, but it would be nice to feel the weight of these choices in some scenarios.
Ultimately, Deus Ex holds up as a classic, one I'm sure I'll revisit many, many times.
Deus Ex is undeniably a project worth celebrating, it allows the player a tremendous amount of agency and rewards them for playing smart. At any given moment I felt curious enough to look around, explore the environment and try and find new ways to tackle a task.
However, I never felt encouraged to, the world is incredibly sparse and the design isn't tight, it can guide you to things but it's more a case of luck or stumbling onto something rather than it feeling like being taken on a route. I don't necessarily have a problem with this kind of design, but it can feel frustrating at some points.
I can't knock Deus Ex too hard on this, it's really the first of its kind and I'm accustomed now to games like Dishonored and even Deus Ex's modern iterations improving on this formula. For example, the game gives you a lot of lethal, non-lethal, loud or silent options to take on enemies, yet they never really feel like it makes a difference what you do to get to the end as long as you get to the end. Again, not so much a problem, I like that the options are there, but it would be nice to feel the weight of these choices in some scenarios.
Ultimately, Deus Ex holds up as a classic, one I'm sure I'll revisit many, many times.
I should retry it because my first experience with this was really messy. Didn't liked it, sadly.
One of the best games I have ever played!
It's even better when you realize it was released in 2000!
Amazing RPG experience!
It's even better when you realize it was released in 2000!
Amazing RPG experience!
Absolutely one of the best experiences in gaming. The mastery and expansion of the Immersive Sim genre's core tenants in this game are so satisfying and addictive. Often, games get reviews like "you will spend hours on this without realising" which may be true. But with Deus Ex, you --will-- spend HOURS playing without realising. This game is as addictive as crack.
The open levels, with all their secret passages, nooks, hovels, and buildings, are fascinating to explore, despite their small size when compared to contemporary games. The seemingly endless routes and solutions for problems, coupled with the extreme customizability of your skills and augmentations, create a new and refreshing playthrough, every time.
The plot, beat by beat, is a little cheesy, but if you embrace that cheesiness, you'll have lots of fun. You have a real sense of forging a path against the evil conspiracies of this world. In a time when Deus Ex and real-life are starting to merge in certain aspects, there is great catharsis in destroying the capitalist elite and conspirators who seek to control us. But greater than the plot is the world-building itself. Every location has factions and groups with certain ideals and outlooks. Often, you can overhear their conversations and compare their outlook with your own.
As a political person, the exploration of corporate dominance and small governments is as fascinating as it is scary. There's a bit in the Lucky Money bar where the player character and a bartender can debate about small governments, "big" governments, corporate dominance, and freedom in an inherently unjust system. Rarely before and rarely since has a video game thematically delved into societies, governments, and ideologies in such a fascinating way.
If you enjoy customisable player stats and a game where freedom of choice is a core gameplay tenant in every level, you MUST play this game. I can confidently say, without any doubt or fear of sounding like a cliché, that this is one of the best video games ever made.
The open levels, with all their secret passages, nooks, hovels, and buildings, are fascinating to explore, despite their small size when compared to contemporary games. The seemingly endless routes and solutions for problems, coupled with the extreme customizability of your skills and augmentations, create a new and refreshing playthrough, every time.
The plot, beat by beat, is a little cheesy, but if you embrace that cheesiness, you'll have lots of fun. You have a real sense of forging a path against the evil conspiracies of this world. In a time when Deus Ex and real-life are starting to merge in certain aspects, there is great catharsis in destroying the capitalist elite and conspirators who seek to control us. But greater than the plot is the world-building itself. Every location has factions and groups with certain ideals and outlooks. Often, you can overhear their conversations and compare their outlook with your own.
As a political person, the exploration of corporate dominance and small governments is as fascinating as it is scary. There's a bit in the Lucky Money bar where the player character and a bartender can debate about small governments, "big" governments, corporate dominance, and freedom in an inherently unjust system. Rarely before and rarely since has a video game thematically delved into societies, governments, and ideologies in such a fascinating way.
If you enjoy customisable player stats and a game where freedom of choice is a core gameplay tenant in every level, you MUST play this game. I can confidently say, without any doubt or fear of sounding like a cliché, that this is one of the best video games ever made.
Ugly as sin, but I loved Human Revolution and this has a cult status comparable to System Shock, so I think I'll give it a second chance one of these days.
I finally got around to playing this "legendary" game. Does it live up to the hype?
It some areas yes, and in others I was disappointed. This game shines the most in the open ended ways to get though situations. The game throws seemly impossible situations at you but most of the time there's another way if you look around. The story has a lot of layers. On the surface, you are stopping terrorists, fighting against a malevolent organization, saving the world from a virus, uncovering the illuminati. But, it gets deep, talking about not only real world issues but arguably the biggest ones that's shaping everything about our civilization and giving us a glimpse of how it works and where it's taking us. I haven't seen any other game come close to this in terms of a story that has so much real world content in it.
Sometimes things can get a bit overwhelming, though. You'll have 5 people calling you in a row talking about things while you are in the middle of fighting. A few areas of the game are complete BS. I had no clue how the game wanted me get past certain parts. So, I had to basically brute force my way through.
I loved all the different locations around the world you visit. Highlights for me were Hong Kong and the underwater base. Paris would have been cool to explore without worrying about being seen. I didn't get to explore it as much as I'd like.
Also, it's also worth mentioning, I played on realistic difficulty as I was told that was the best way to play the game. Now that I've finally finished the game. I would not recommend you play on realistic for your first playthrough. You really have to explore every nook and cranny for ammo because there's parts of the game if you don't have much ammo, you are basically screwed. I spent days on parts that only should have taken minutes.
With that being said, amazing game. I can see why so many regard this as the best game of all time.
It some areas yes, and in others I was disappointed. This game shines the most in the open ended ways to get though situations. The game throws seemly impossible situations at you but most of the time there's another way if you look around. The story has a lot of layers. On the surface, you are stopping terrorists, fighting against a malevolent organization, saving the world from a virus, uncovering the illuminati. But, it gets deep, talking about not only real world issues but arguably the biggest ones that's shaping everything about our civilization and giving us a glimpse of how it works and where it's taking us. I haven't seen any other game come close to this in terms of a story that has so much real world content in it.
Sometimes things can get a bit overwhelming, though. You'll have 5 people calling you in a row talking about things while you are in the middle of fighting. A few areas of the game are complete BS. I had no clue how the game wanted me get past certain parts. So, I had to basically brute force my way through.
I loved all the different locations around the world you visit. Highlights for me were Hong Kong and the underwater base. Paris would have been cool to explore without worrying about being seen. I didn't get to explore it as much as I'd like.
Also, it's also worth mentioning, I played on realistic difficulty as I was told that was the best way to play the game. Now that I've finally finished the game. I would not recommend you play on realistic for your first playthrough. You really have to explore every nook and cranny for ammo because there's parts of the game if you don't have much ammo, you are basically screwed. I spent days on parts that only should have taken minutes.
With that being said, amazing game. I can see why so many regard this as the best game of all time.
a triumph for scenario design aficionados. hour after hour of slices of the real world perfectly aligned into a playground of roving militants and hapless civilians. rarely does a game ever make its missions feel properly explorable while keeping it taut and linear at the same time, and yet deus ex routinely weaves both together. for every point A to point B underground lair with traps laid out in sequence there is a completely open venue, such as the suffocating catacombs and their dimly lit hallways giving way to the Champs-Élysées avenue of paris, with a bakery to pilfer contraband drugs from, a hostel with full bar access, and an arms dealer's loaded apartment, all off the beaten path from your main objective. military bases and science labs retain the layout you'd expect had you ever toured one, and you'll find that locker rooms, rows of cubicles, and break rooms feature just as prominently in the dungeon crawling as warehouses with guards patrolling or tightly wound mazes of laser tripwires and turrets. the authenticity and legibility of these areas comes first, and yet more often than not the designers still manage to weave in appropriate challenges without violating each location's fidelity in the process.
and really, dungeon crawling is the name of the game here, more or less. at least half of the game takes place in some sort of complex with a destination and a set of non-linear gates along the way, all of which serve as hinge points for the player to choose which resources to expend. the "immsim" label comes from just how many resources have all gotten slammed together in your control: lockpicks and "multitools" for bypassing security, ammo for many different varieties of firearms, bio-energy for utilizing your augmented abilities, and a slew of consumable items meant for tanking bullets, running past enemies undetected, or breathing under water for long periods of time. at its most taut, the game generally puts some sort of barrier up in your way and then a way around it, with the direct option being something like combat or picking a lock and the indirect option being finding a vent or waterway to circumvent the barrier. with enough of these situations back to back, the game hopes that you'll avoid sticking to one gameplay style in order to preserve your resources in that area for later when they seem more necessary; you can't crack every door with lockpicks, so you'll probably have to get your hands dirty or crawl on your belly here and there if you want to keep your picks for when the alternative is, say, running through a irradiated area. the nice part of this is that it truly does work: I explored, snuck around, and fought off enemies all in equal measure throughout the game through entirely organic response to each of the situations. the downside is by endgame the resource economy has completely turned in your favor assuming you've been rotating all of your options, making decisions on resource expenditure past a certain point much more about cleaning out your inventory rather than rationing.
when the game is firing on all cylinders, you'll get something like bunker III from the aforementioned catacombs. the area is two large rooms with a camera and turret tracking you at the back of the first room right in front of a cell full of hostages, multiple floors connected by stairs with archways for cover in the second room, and a back hallway swarming with rocket-strapped operatives where the camera/turret controls and a key to the next reside; a waterway additionally connects the front of the first room with the back of the second room. here you have actual tradeoffs to deal with: just grabbing the key and skipping the whole area by going through the waterway, but the coverage in the back hallway can be intense depending on the AI's behavior, and your direct path to the key is blocked by strategically placed crates as soon as you leave the waterway. gunning for the security controls instead is feasible, and you can leverage the fact that hacking computers (sometimes?) pauses enemies for a bit to quickly run out, disable everything, and hop back in the waterway. you could also sneak in from the front and use an augmentation that hides you from cameras to avoid triggering the turret, and if you rescue the hostages with lockpicks instead of locating the cell key and leave the area early, you'll get the next area's key from their camp leader anyway. when the game constructs situations like these, they not only make the discrete tradeoffs impactful on the flow of a given level, they also weave it into the actual second-to-second movement, stealth, and combat as well.
at its worst it's the opposite: individual rooms with a guard or two and maybe a computer system or locked door stitched together by long hallways that inoculate each scenario from one another. in these sections the main appeal is exploration, either through finding nooks and crannies hidden from view or by reading the many "data cubes" with flavor text strewn around. it can still be exciting, especially earlier on when you don't have tools to detect enemies through walls and the suspense of moving around still persists. later in the game when one has more abilities at their disposal, breaking apart puzzles or barriers by jumping over them with enhanced height, moving large crates to use as stairs with enhanced strength, or shooting down doors with a mastered rifle ability can potentially make the monotony less apparent. some of the barriers don't fare quite as well due to a lackluster implementation: the hacking, for instance, is more or less free even with minimal upgrades, and for every camera you have to actually maneuver around there's at least four you'll disable without thinking just because the security terminals are easy to access. if the mission locations didn't adhere to the small details of real environments or didn't have cute little secrets in vents and lock-boxes, these issues would likely overcome the holistic experience and result in tedium.
the tiny details extend further than objects in the world as well. from early on when one of your augmented colleagues begins spontaneously complaining about getting the wrong can of soda from a vending machine, I had hoped that the scripting for the NPCs would stay high quality, and it absolutely persisted to the final moments of the game, when a civilian mechanic distraught by my actions pulled a gun on me behind my back. the tight pacing of the levels compared to a full open world experience allows for many of the individual NPCs to have unique dialogue, behavior, and even inventory when subdued. of these the most fascinating to me may have been a conversation with a chinese bartender in hong kong, who extolled the CCP's commitment to capitalist enterprise outside the purview of the new world order by emphasizing authoritarian nationalism against main character denton's idealized western democratic order. it's something you wouldn't see now in the xi jinping era and weirdly reflective of the game's almost non-ideological view of politics: people-facing organizations controlled by layers upon layers of shadowy organizations, each manipulating social behavior in a top-down way compared to the bottom-up class struggle and ideological superstructure of reality. not really a thought-provoking work unless you're particularly animated by vague gesturing towards "control" and "liberty," but at least you can tell the developers didn't take it too seriously either. there's roswell-style gray aliens running around for christ's sake.
and really, dungeon crawling is the name of the game here, more or less. at least half of the game takes place in some sort of complex with a destination and a set of non-linear gates along the way, all of which serve as hinge points for the player to choose which resources to expend. the "immsim" label comes from just how many resources have all gotten slammed together in your control: lockpicks and "multitools" for bypassing security, ammo for many different varieties of firearms, bio-energy for utilizing your augmented abilities, and a slew of consumable items meant for tanking bullets, running past enemies undetected, or breathing under water for long periods of time. at its most taut, the game generally puts some sort of barrier up in your way and then a way around it, with the direct option being something like combat or picking a lock and the indirect option being finding a vent or waterway to circumvent the barrier. with enough of these situations back to back, the game hopes that you'll avoid sticking to one gameplay style in order to preserve your resources in that area for later when they seem more necessary; you can't crack every door with lockpicks, so you'll probably have to get your hands dirty or crawl on your belly here and there if you want to keep your picks for when the alternative is, say, running through a irradiated area. the nice part of this is that it truly does work: I explored, snuck around, and fought off enemies all in equal measure throughout the game through entirely organic response to each of the situations. the downside is by endgame the resource economy has completely turned in your favor assuming you've been rotating all of your options, making decisions on resource expenditure past a certain point much more about cleaning out your inventory rather than rationing.
when the game is firing on all cylinders, you'll get something like bunker III from the aforementioned catacombs. the area is two large rooms with a camera and turret tracking you at the back of the first room right in front of a cell full of hostages, multiple floors connected by stairs with archways for cover in the second room, and a back hallway swarming with rocket-strapped operatives where the camera/turret controls and a key to the next reside; a waterway additionally connects the front of the first room with the back of the second room. here you have actual tradeoffs to deal with: just grabbing the key and skipping the whole area by going through the waterway, but the coverage in the back hallway can be intense depending on the AI's behavior, and your direct path to the key is blocked by strategically placed crates as soon as you leave the waterway. gunning for the security controls instead is feasible, and you can leverage the fact that hacking computers (sometimes?) pauses enemies for a bit to quickly run out, disable everything, and hop back in the waterway. you could also sneak in from the front and use an augmentation that hides you from cameras to avoid triggering the turret, and if you rescue the hostages with lockpicks instead of locating the cell key and leave the area early, you'll get the next area's key from their camp leader anyway. when the game constructs situations like these, they not only make the discrete tradeoffs impactful on the flow of a given level, they also weave it into the actual second-to-second movement, stealth, and combat as well.
at its worst it's the opposite: individual rooms with a guard or two and maybe a computer system or locked door stitched together by long hallways that inoculate each scenario from one another. in these sections the main appeal is exploration, either through finding nooks and crannies hidden from view or by reading the many "data cubes" with flavor text strewn around. it can still be exciting, especially earlier on when you don't have tools to detect enemies through walls and the suspense of moving around still persists. later in the game when one has more abilities at their disposal, breaking apart puzzles or barriers by jumping over them with enhanced height, moving large crates to use as stairs with enhanced strength, or shooting down doors with a mastered rifle ability can potentially make the monotony less apparent. some of the barriers don't fare quite as well due to a lackluster implementation: the hacking, for instance, is more or less free even with minimal upgrades, and for every camera you have to actually maneuver around there's at least four you'll disable without thinking just because the security terminals are easy to access. if the mission locations didn't adhere to the small details of real environments or didn't have cute little secrets in vents and lock-boxes, these issues would likely overcome the holistic experience and result in tedium.
the tiny details extend further than objects in the world as well. from early on when one of your augmented colleagues begins spontaneously complaining about getting the wrong can of soda from a vending machine, I had hoped that the scripting for the NPCs would stay high quality, and it absolutely persisted to the final moments of the game, when a civilian mechanic distraught by my actions pulled a gun on me behind my back. the tight pacing of the levels compared to a full open world experience allows for many of the individual NPCs to have unique dialogue, behavior, and even inventory when subdued. of these the most fascinating to me may have been a conversation with a chinese bartender in hong kong, who extolled the CCP's commitment to capitalist enterprise outside the purview of the new world order by emphasizing authoritarian nationalism against main character denton's idealized western democratic order. it's something you wouldn't see now in the xi jinping era and weirdly reflective of the game's almost non-ideological view of politics: people-facing organizations controlled by layers upon layers of shadowy organizations, each manipulating social behavior in a top-down way compared to the bottom-up class struggle and ideological superstructure of reality. not really a thought-provoking work unless you're particularly animated by vague gesturing towards "control" and "liberty," but at least you can tell the developers didn't take it too seriously either. there's roswell-style gray aliens running around for christ's sake.