Deus Ex

[Mojo]

I have only really just got into gaming, and I have heard so much about Deus Ex in my short time here.

 

So I have a couple of questions about the game

 

Is it worth playing?

If it is where do I start and is there a number 2,3 ect ect?

What type of game is it?

I have a PC and a PS2 and I belive I can get it on both and if so which is better?

 

EDIT:Also what is it that makes the game so good? is it the story?,gameplay? or a mixture of the both

 

Thank you in advance

Edited November 8, 2005 by Mojo

[Darque]

It's definately worth playing.

 

There is the original (which is excellent) and a sequel (which is either really good or totally sucks depending on who you ask)

 

As for the type of game: It's a First Person Shooter/Role Playing Game hybrid.

 

I played the PS2 version... I can only imagine the PC version is better (given the controls)

 

So I say get the PC version if you can.

[Oerwinde]

My opinion is that its a good game, but don't listen to the hype about it giving you choices. The choices it gives you is Lethal weapons, or non-lethal weapons, thats about it.

[alanschu]

There's a ton of variations on lethal weapons.

 

 

Plus, if you want, it's very possible to go through the game killing I think only 2 or 3 people. And even then you can kill them in ways that don't even require weapons.

 

Deus Ex is probably one of the most engaging stories that I've ever played, and there are many parts where I figured the game would easily be wrapping up, only to find out there was more game to come!!

 

 

The ability to customize your character goes way beyond "lethal vs. non-lethal"

[Darque]

I think you can get thru the game with only killing 1 person if I recall correctly.

[alanschu]

I can quickly think of one off the top of my head.

 

I know there are two people that die, but you can find a way to not kill one of them yourself, so "you" have still only killed two.

 

 

The funny thing is, I could've sworn that I heard Warren Spector say that one of the biggest gripes he had about Deus Ex was that you had to kill THREE people, but I can't think who they are!

[Diogo Ribeiro]

  alanschu said:

The funny thing is, I could've sworn that I heard Warren Spector say that one of the biggest gripes he had about Deus Ex was that you had to kill THREE people, but I can't think who they are!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Gunther Hermann at the old cathedral and Anna Navarre at the UNATCO HQ when you are captured and escape are two of them. I think Howard Strong at Vandenberg is the third one but am not sure.

 

[Darque]

^ oops, I didn't know that first one was mandatory

 

I blew him away because I found him really annoying

[alanschu]

I think you might be able to get away without killing him by being cheesy or discrete or something.

 

I've never tried though and I took great pleasure in killing him because yes, he was annoying

[Diogo Ribeiro]

I've heard

  Reveal hidden contents

Gunther

can be avoided but I never got around to achieving that. Either I blasted him or used the killphrase; same thing for

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Navarre

.

 

On the other hand, I think it was possible to have

  Reveal hidden contents

Howard

kill himself by using the augmentation that triggers the destruction of incoming projectiles or grenades - since he lobs LAMs at you, the trick would be that they would explode on his face. Don't remember testing this, however.

[mkreku]

Deus Ex may not have as many choices as it seems at first, but the illusion of freedom is still there all the time. Every problem/quest in the game have several solutions, and most levels have several ways to enter and exit, so you'll have a great time just exploring and finding alternate routes everywhere.

 

And everytime someone mentions Deus Ex I get the urge to reinstall it and replay it for the tenth time.

[Musopticon?]

I still haven't played it all the way through. I got bored during the Cathedral when smacking commandos with Dragontooth became a chore. Right now the only reason I don't start playing it this instant is that there's going to be a major graphic overhaul(cue Tenebrae Quake) in near future and I'm gathering pieces of orchestral remixed soundtrack from here and there. I want to have quite a lot of 'gasms when I merge myself in next time.

[BattleCookiee]

  Mojo said:

Is it worth playing?

Yes

If it is where do I start and is there a number 2,3 ect ect?

Start with the classic (1)... The sequel is quite bad, short and has an awfull story. Also alot more action than needed in DX

What type of game is it?

RPG/FPS

I have a PC and a PS2 and I belive I can get it on both and if so which is better?

PC. That's where it came for originally. For PS2 they had to reduce graphics, cut controls to fit it on that, and if I recall correct had to cut up Liberty Island in several sections to make it fit (like DX:IW, and that's awfull... lot better in DX with the only load when you enter UNATCO)

 

EDIT:Also what is it that makes the game so good? is it the story?,gameplay? or a mixture of the both

Mix of both. Gameplay can be played on several ways; stealthy and not (where a combo is most fun, IMHO) and the story is quite impressive and long...

 

And for some of the bad stuff from DX:

Install the patches atleast. Like IW DX has some FPS-Issues out of the box (unless you get GOTY).

After Vandenburg the game gets really boring

Some cut content. SPOILERS:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Like how you are forced to work for the NSF, even when saying a thousand times to Paul you want to stay with UNATCO

 

Non-Human creatures in the later levels (monsters )

[Diogo Ribeiro]

  Musopticon? said:

I still haven't played it all the way through. I got bored during the Cathedral when smacking commandos with Dragontooth became a chore.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

To me that was always one of the problems with the game. Halfway trough the game you already have a sense of where the story is going, and some of the more important parts of it get revealed or hinted at during its middle stages, but then it seems like the developers just added a whole new slew of levels to inflate the game's length. The consequence is that there's this temporary lull in the game's flow wherein you know where it's all going and want to see it, but then have to dregde trough this or that large, pointless level by way of repetitive duct cleaning with JC's trenchcoat.

[mkreku]

And this is where it sucks to be a reviewer. I never felt the way Muso and RP felt when I played through Deus Ex. I enjoyed that game so much that every level was a blast and when it all ended I already longed for more. The problem here is that it's impossible for me to see the things they see in the game, even though I know by reason that they're probably right. I hate knowing that, because it makes me blind and unable to do my job properly. Fortunately this only happens with one game out of 50 (or so).

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

  mkreku said:

And this is where it sucks to be a reviewer. I never felt the way Muso and RP felt when I played through Deus Ex. I enjoyed that game so much that every level was a blast and when it all ended I already longed for more. The problem here is that it's impossible for me to see the things they see in the game, even though I know by reason that they're probably right. I hate knowing that, because it makes me blind and unable to do my job properly. Fortunately this only happens with one game out of 50 (or so).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

If you were a solicitor you could excuse yourself

 

Actually I wish more reviewers would do that especally that knob who reviewed Lost in Blue over at Eurogamer.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

For what it's worth, I've said time and again that I really enjoyed Deus Ex back in the day. I would probably enjoy a replay of it even now. However it's not without its faults and its hard for me to ignore them (then again that goes for about any game I've played), so I cannot just talk of the good aspects while forgetting the negative ones, or vice versa. They are all part of the game, after all.

[Pidesco]

The game is indeed, very well designed and one of the reasons Warren Spector is so well regarded in the industry. However, I have to say I was pretty disappointed by the story. I found it to be pretty superficial and boring.

 

Another thing that annoyed me in the game were the character models. I remember playing NOLF at around the same time and there was a huge difference in quality of the models.

 

Edit: Typos

Edited November 8, 2005 by Soulseeker

[metadigital]

  mkreku said:

And this is where it sucks to be a reviewer. I never felt the way Muso and RP felt when I played through Deus Ex. I enjoyed that game so much that every level was a blast and when it all ended I already longed for more. The problem here is that it's impossible for me to see the things they see in the game, even though I know by reason that they're probably right. I hate knowing that, because it makes me blind and unable to do my job properly. Fortunately this only happens with one game out of 50 (or so).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I find myself agreeing 100% with you, mkreku.

 

For the first game, which is (by any measure) a classic, I would make the following comments.

 

Although the trajectory of the plot became obvious as the game progressed into the second half, I was still significantly impressed by the scale and depth of the end-game; not to mention the perfect pacing. (Remember long it takes to obtain the second biomod canister.) I just wanted to keep on playing, and the game kept on giving.

 

I also can see the negative aspects of not being able to determine the PC's alliance in the game, but I would argue that the ability to complete the game three different ways makes up for this somewhat.

 

I would also use the sequel as a comparison: I don't think all the negative reputation is attributable to the fact that the game is a sequel, especially to a fantastic game. A lot of it is because the second game doesn't compare on almost every scale that can be used: the only improvement is in graphics, and that is not going to compete with story, pacing, game length, character development (what happened to the RPG elements?), etc.

  Soulseeker said:

The game is indeed, very well designed and one of the reasons Warren Spector is so well regarded in the industry. However, I have to say I was pretty disappointed by the story. I found it to be pretty superficial and boring.

 

Another thing that annoyed me in the game were the character models. I remember playing NOLF at around the same time and there was a huge difference in quality of the models.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not sure why you didn't like the story: superficial? I'm not sure I understand what you mean by that: after all it's only the greatest conspiracy theory of human history!

 

Graphics really don't have a bearing, imo: I only played the game a couple of years ago (DirectX 9.0 was out), and it was certainly good enough to immerse me in the game. Perhaps I was more susceptible because I had encountered so many of the conspiracy theories in my own personal reading, or maybe I am more prone to conspiracies; whatever reason I found the game very compelling and the sequel far less so, mainly because the plot had not advanced significantly.

[Pidesco]

  metadigital said:

Not sure why you didn't like the story: superficial? I'm not sure I understand what you mean by that: after all it's only the greatest conspiracy theory of human history!

 

Graphics really don't have a bearing, imo: I only played the game a couple of years ago (DirectX 9.0 was out), and it was certainly good enough to immerse me in the game. Perhaps I was more susceptible because I had encountered so many of the conspiracy theories in my own personal reading, or maybe I am more prone to conspiracies; whatever reason I found the game very compelling and the sequel far less so, mainly because the plot had not advanced significantly.

 

 

Just the mention of the words "conspiracy theory" make me cringe. I found the whole story to be conspiracy this and conspiracy that. And I couldn't relate to any of the characters.

 

 

P.S.:I would give a more elaborate answer, but I have to go. Sorry.

[Musopticon?]

  Role-Player said:

For what it's worth, I've said time and again that I really enjoyed Deus Ex back in the day. I would probably enjoy a replay of it even now. However it's not without its faults and its hard for me to ignore them (then again that goes for about any game I've played), so I cannot just talk of the good aspects while forgetting the negative ones, or vice versa. They are all part of the game, after all.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have to agree. Well said.

[Darque]

  Role-Player said:

On the other hand, I think it was possible to have

  Reveal hidden contents

Howard

kill himself by using the augmentation that triggers the destruction of incoming projectiles or grenades - since he lobs LAMs at you, the trick would be that they would explode on his face. Don't remember testing this, however.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Oh yeah, I rememeber that fool.. I had to play that part twice just to figure out what happened.

 

One moment I'm walking around, and another something explodes in the distance. "

[Calax]

  Darque said:

  Role-Player said:

On the other hand, I think it was possible to have

  Reveal hidden contents

Howard

kill himself by using the augmentation that triggers the destruction of incoming projectiles or grenades - since he lobs LAMs at you, the trick would be that they would explode on his face. Don't remember testing this, however.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Oh yeah, I rememeber that fool.. I had to play that part twice just to figure out what happened.

 

One moment I'm walking around, and another something explodes in the distance. "

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What about

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Walton Simons? or is that the Howard that you speak of?

 

 

All in all the game basically caused the FPS genre to take a good hard look at itself and see what was wrong. before this came out story was secondary to "KILL SMASH MAIM DESTROY... in a fashion that made it fairly difficult." Then with the creation of this the Story became somthing everyone had to add to their game.

[alanschu]

I don't think you have to kill

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Simons

. Though I usually get him too because he has it coming!

[Calax]

  alanschu said:

I don't think you have to kill

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Simons

.  Though I usually get him too because he has it coming!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Yeah you gotta kill him, after all he starts gunning for you with a plasma cannon and you can't leave the area without killing him first