Deus Ex

No other game comes close to 'Deus Ex' which combines the best of action, RPG, first-person shooter & political intrigue. You make a wrong decision, you pay the consequences. Do you want to be a frontal assault trooper, or an electronics wizard? You decide by honing your skills in these areas and gameplay will be affected accordingly. Nothing else comes close.

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.

What a fantastic, incredible game ! What a pity that Half-Life stole all the glory back when this was released, because this game blows HL away in terms of depth, gameplay and re-playability.

Imagine a World where your actions have consequences on the World you inhabit.

Switch sides and join the "terrorists" ? Or be a good company man and hunt them down like dogs ?

All characters in the game, from the scantily clad prostitutes to the Triad members, seem to have personalities and a purprose to their life and help to add to the atmosphere. Of course, you can execute them for no reason with a bullet between the eyes for no reason other than to steal their stuff, and sometimes this is necessary when your short on something. But if you do then you're going to have to answer to the police.

You can upgrade your nanotech abilities with the help of a Medibot, via hard to find canisters, infinite combinations of abilities to try out which affect your style of play.

Also you get lockpicks, electronic equipment to bypass security, and the abilities to hack computer systems too.

Weapons are also upgraded in a similar way, you find upgrades for range, recoil, accuracy, scope, lasersights, and many more - which can all be attached to different weapons in your arsenal.

Weapons ? Well this is a game where the pistol and sniper rifle are king. You want to use the plasma cannon and rocket launcher then your apt to set yourself on fire in the process (-: Plenty of silent weps too, throwing knives, swords, stun guns, tranquiliser darts, riot batons, tear gas, pepper spray etc etc

The enemies are not stupid. Let's get this straight, this is NOT a traditional FPS, it has SNEAK elements like theif and Metal Gear Solid. So often sneaking around in the shadows is a good bet. The enemies will hear your footsteps and react together, calling for support, setting off the alarms, and working as a team.

Also, when you sneak up on them they are often engaged in private conversation, maybe about their families or their work, so you do feel a twinge of guilt as you let them have it in the head with your laser sighted pistol (-:

If anything though, the gameplay is too hard, and you often find yourself switching "God Mode" on just to progess.

It beggars belief the little details the programmers have put into this game, almost EVERYTHING is interactive and can be picked up, switched on, smashed or used. Rats, cats and dogs roam the streets, pigeons peck at the ground and take off when you approach, little things like this are what makes this game such a novel experience.

The levels are massive ! I was used to Half Life with its small levels, so it is incredible that they managed to create such huge and detailed levels. Drawback for this is that it is often the case that you have to cross from one "level" to another, and the loading times are around 15 seconds which can be quite annoying.

For less than 10 pounds/10 dollars you will not find a better bargain.

So go on, want a game where you can execute anyone at will AND pay the consequences then this is for you.

I won't talk much because tall comments are boring, all i have is, this game, actually, isn't a game, it is a living movie, u r feeling u r playing in a movie, and i have never felt this with any other game, i even played it 3 times in a row for one year, and never got bored: like seeing a movie; all these characters, even i felt that the screenplay is good, scenery also, it is awesome. I actually recommend anyone to play it if he really wants to forget all about the world and live in a big fantasy. Also, i learned many stuff from there, about the illuminati, and all related politics stuff, really this is close to be the best game ever played, so buy it and enjoy it...

To play Deus Ex is to delve into a complex world of detail and intricate moods. The plot seems simple enough to begin with, but at the end you see how it is one of the best written story-lines ever made in a game, vastly superior to the excellent stories of Half-Life, or Homeworld.

Even ignoring that, praise must be given to the system of gameplay, which mixes RPG elements (skills, upgrades to special abilities, branching storylines and multiple outcomes) and Action (First person, multiple weapons, quite violent)

The graphics engine is superb. Though not top of the line as far as engines do go, the amount of objects and detail allowed on a single screen while allowing good frame rate is astounding. A good example comes just on the first level, which requires a climb to the tourist center on what is left of the Statue of Liberty, to look down on the magnificent view.

Then there is the diversity of locations, from New York to Pasadena to Paris to Hong Kong and beyond. And at very few times does it ever seem that this kind of plot could never happen, because it could.

The social commentary is also excellent, as characters give speeches to eachother that are obviously aimed at government and corrupt practices of today.

Deus Ex is not to be missed.