Deus Ex

`Deus Ex' (pronounced `day-us ex') is a brilliant SF adventure/RPG/first person shooter hybrid. Set in the not-too-distant future, you get to play J.C. Denton, a nano-technology-enhanced agent of Unatco, an anti-terrorist division of the United Nations (that actually exists in real life!).

The game has a great atmosphere, with a feeling of urban decay & desolation reminiscent of movies like `Escape from New York'. It has lots of cyberpunk elements, evoking works like William Gibson's `Neuromancer'.

The game has an elaborate plot, with Denton uncovering conspiracy upon conspiracy, and discovering that things are rarely as they seem. Alliances shift, and everyone has his own agenda. There is no black & white; there are only shades of grey. At several points in the times, you, J.C. Denton, are required to do questionable things, and it will be up to you how to make moral decisions every now and then. As the game contains lots of dialogue, gamers who are expecting a mindless Quake clone might be disappointed. But it's worth it. Trust me.

This brings us to game play. While the game itself is fairly linear (after all, it has to follow the main story), the game basically consists of series of missions, which usually involve infiltration on enemy bases, rescue missions, sabotage, etc. How you achieve your goals at each of these missions is entirely up to you; you can sneak past guards, or you stun them with a riot prod, or shoot them with a variety of weapons (from mini-crossbows over pistols to rocket launchers). You don't have to kill anyone; if you can just sneak past the guards, way to go. You can sneak around behind bushes, or inside air ducts. You also have to avoid security systems, or you can deal with them in a variety of ways:you can shoot the cameras with a sniper gun, disable them or hack into their controls and turn them off, or even use them against the enemy. You'll also have to break into locked areas from time to time, which will require you to pick the lock, find a pass or security code (or sometimes you can just blow up the door) etc. Bottom line: there is never just one way to solve a situation; there are always alternatives. This is what makes Deus Ex so enjoyable, and almost endlessly replayable.

You can find weapons and/or ammo by buying them from certain people, from crates, closets, etc. that you encounter, or loot them off bodies of enemies you have taken out.

As a matter of fact, sneaking around is an important part of the game, as going in with guns blazing, Quake style, will only get you killed. The game is quite hard in that respect, BTW, but there are lots of built-in cheats available to experiment with; these might actually make the game more enjoyable, instead of just spoil it, but I guess that is a matter of personal taste.

You start out with minimal experience in various skills, but, like in an RPG, you gain experience points (called `skill points' in this game) which you can use to upgrade your various skills. These skills have an enormous impact on how the game play in Deus Ex. E.g. you need a certain level to be able to shoot cameras with the sniper gun; a higher swim skill level will make you swim faster, etc.

I could spend hours more writing about this game. It's a classic. The only thing that comes close is the brilliant `System Shock' game series. If you want something more than just mindless blasting, get Deus Ex.

Took the best parts of many previous games. Puzzle solving, stealth, character upgrades. Add in a fantastic plot in a dystopian future. There aren't many scripted conversations but they are quality.

The gameplay was so seamless, just like real life, you can 'fail' some missions (if you don't die) and the game continues. You can have conversations that have consequences later in the game.

But what made it so popular was that there were so many ways to complete the game. You could stealth it, blow everyone away or skill your way to success. There are many hidden areas. Every time you play the game differently you find something new.

Because it's plot is based on many conspiracy theories, people say that 'deux ex predicted that' from everything from 9/11 to Snowden's revelations. Is it's portrayal of our future too accurate?

Outstanding gameplay.

The best way for me to describe the tremendous impact this game had on me is

through anecdotal details from my experience playing it through for the first time:

Back in 2000, when this game was released, I didn't have the means to run it at home, and so I "borrowed" my parent's Mac. I basically moved back in at the

time, just for this. Those days, I was in a particularly busy time at work, and yet I would think of nothing else but DX all day, until I finally got "home", and eagerly loaded this masterpiece for another night of completely immerse

fantasy. I completed the "game", on Realistic mode, in just under three weeks, with nightly sessions ending - typically - at 5:30 AM, leaving me just enough time to sleep two hours in preparation for work the next day. By the end of that three-week period, I was so completely and utterly exhausted, I actually

believed I was going to have a cardiac episode driving to work - at the age of 26! I didn't regret the idea for a second.

Well, my folks had their computer set up on a makeshift table with a plywood

surface, the edge of which was rather sharp, and so uncomfortable for the

undersides of your wrists, should you leave them resting there for too long

without a break. One night, so immersed was I in my experience, that this edge had actually managed to break the skin on my mouse-hand wrist, drawing

blood, and I didn't notice until I went to bed.

Enough said. This game succeeds in accomplishing all the goals which should be part and parcel of the basic mission of entertainment, and the manifesto of

gaming in particular.

No matter how great other games may have been, before and since, no other

experience to date has held a candle to this.

It's only too bad you can never go home again.

A deadly virus, The Grey Death, is ravaging a futuristic world (where science might have gone too far) and it is the US government that is using it to cull world population and make a profit by selling the vaccine to the wealthy.

As JC Denton, you must travel the world, solve countless problems and battle loads of foes to find out more, constantly uncovering new facts and changing sides as you go.

Deus Ex is one of the first games where you can make moral and tactical decisions that effect the story and it is partly this, along with: an incredibly diverse group of supporting characters, the ability to both customise yourself (using nano augmentations) and your weapons, the interesting moral dilemmas that the twisting story raises in the player and the continuous references to things like: other games, classic literature, films and philosophical works that makes it such a great game. but the underlying feeling you get from playing the game is one of complete immersion into a wonderful yet darkly twisted world.

I have played Deus Ex many many times and have discovered something new on each occasion. i think it is this that makes Deus ex the greatest game ever and this that will mean it is still the greatest game ever in 5, 10, 15, 100... years time.

11/10

I don't want to make many words!!

I played it about 15 times from the beginning to the every of the different endings and I didn't do that with any other game yet. Just today I went through another time and I found NEW DETAILS I haven't saw yet. It's unbelievable, after 15 times it's excitingly and good like it was at the first time. Now in 2005 there's still no other game, what reaches Deus Ex in any kind, except for maybe the graphics.. ;-)

What a pity that new games are so linear and without so much details and story besides the main story. Furthermore the playtime of Deus Ex is ENORMOUS long in contrast to new games.

BEST GAME IN PC GAMING HISTORY!!!!!