"Deus Ex" franchise discussion/appreciation thread

[DigiFluid]

Spoiler rules at the outset...
Deus Ex -- No spoiler tags
Invisible War -- No spoiler tags
Human Revolution -- Spoiler tags for plot info


So the Mass Effect thread has been a pretty resounding success. And since that, my second favourite game of all time, has proven to be such a durable success I thought I'd start one up for my absolute favourite: Deus Ex! I guess time will tell though if it's as successful or if it'll just be me and Rickington in here

What's not to love about the game? Perfect fusion of FPS and RPG, long and excellent plot, conspiracies upon conspiracies, counter-terrorism paranoia before it became a real-world concern, and wonderful nuggets of philosophy speckled throughout. One of my favourite parts of the game is a chat you can have with a bartender in an out-of-the-way bar in Hong Kong, that you could completely miss out on if you aren't being thorough: (spoiler tags for space)

Spoiler:

JC: "Despite all I’ve read about the Triads, I wasn’t prepared to see them operating in the open, on the streets, and wearing uniforms. Doesn’t the Chinese government care?"

Isaac: "The Chinese leave Hong Kong alone. They barricade the roads to control trade to the mainland, but they know how business is done."

JC: "I would think the secret smuggling operations of the Triads would disturb the Chinese government."

Isaac: "Maybe the Luminous Path, but China knows that the Red Arrow are business owners, entrepreneurs, community leaders, and that they protect the city from outside influences."

JC: "You said 'outside influences.' What does China fear?"

Isaac: "China is the last sovereign country in the world. Authoritarian but willing - unlike U.N.-governed countries - to give its people the freedom to do what they want."

JC: "As long as they don’t break the law."

Isaac: "Listen to me. This is real freedom, freedom to own property, make a profit, make your life. The West, so afraid of strong government, now has no government. Only financial power."

JC: "Our governments have limited power by design."

Isaac: "Rhetoric--and you believe it! Don’t you know where those slogans come from?"

JC: "I give up."

Isaac: "Well-paid researchers - how do you say it? - 'think tanks,' funded by big businesses. What is that? A 'think tank'?"

JC: "Hardly as sinister as a dictator, like China’s Premier."

Isaac: "It’s privately-funded propaganda. The Trilateral Commission in the United States for instance."

JC: "The separation of powers acknowledges the petty ambitions of individuals; that’s its strength."

Isaac: "A system organized around the weakest qualities of individuals will produce these same qualities in its leaders."

JC: "Perhaps certain qualities are an inseparable part of human nature."

Isaac: "The mark of the educated man is the suppression of these qualities in favor of better ones. The same is true of civilization."

It's just a shame that the sequel, Invisible War was so bloody awful. No wonder it effectively killed the franchise--it dumbed pretty much every aspect of the game down so that it could work on the Xbox. That's not pro-PC hyperbole either; if you go through the game files there are countless references to Xbox functionality and it takes hours of tweaking to make it function better even on a high-end PC.

The one thing I will defend about it, however, was the conversation with JC in Antarctica. Wow, talk about mindblowing.



Fortunately it looks like game 3 in the franchise, Human Revolution (scheduled for release spring next year), will restore DX to its former glory!

[Mr Evil 37]

I joined the franchise with Invisible War, and I thought it was absolutely fantastic, and it's still one of my favourite games of all time. I admit that it isn't as good as the original, but it is still brilliant in it's own right; I don't understand why people consider it to be terrible. Is it just a case of, "Oh,it's new, therefore its crap," or "Oh, it's not the original, therefore it's terrible," the kind of thing you see so often nowadays (and more recently in Stargate).

But whatever the quality of the sequel, I cannot WAIT for Human Revolution. Contender for Game of the Year along with Mass Effect 3? I think so.

[DigiFluid]

I joined the franchise with Invisible War, and I thought it was absolutely fantastic, and it's still one of my favourite games of all time. I admit that it isn't as good as the original, but it is still brilliant in it's own right; I don't understand why people consider it to be terrible. Is it just a case of, "Oh,it's new, therefore its crap," or "Oh, it's not the original, therefore it's terrible," the kind of thing you see so often nowadays (and more recently in Stargate).

For me it was virtually every part of IW that was horrid:
- tiny, tiny, tiny maps
- piss-poor optimization (already spoke to this re: Xbox)
- terrible physics engine
- pooled ammo (seriously, I hope someone got punched for this)
- lame oversimplified augmentation/skill system
- unfocused plot

But whatever the quality of the sequel, I cannot WAIT for Human Revolution. Contender for Game of the Year along with Mass Effect 3? I think so.

Indeed. 2011 is going to be a fantastic year for video games, and I really hope that DXHR is one of the GOTY contenders

[DigiFluid]

The epic Deus Ex: Human Revolution trailer....

[Brian]

Steam had a Deus Ex pack on sale yesterday including Deus Ex GOTY edition and Invisible War for $2.99 total. They're both $4.99 today. I'm thinking I should have bought them yesterday!

[Mr Evil 37]

While I agree on the pooled ammo being a very bad choice, I do not agree with the rest of your points. I guess the locations were rather small, but for the type of game Deus Ex is, I found that to be appropriate. Also, I guess because I am an Xbox gamer rather than a PC gamer (I find flicking your fingers across and keyboard while aiming with a mouse rather fiddly compared to using a controller) and I played IW on an Xbox first.

Although saying that, I didn't get far on my Xbox version. I wasn't until three or four years later when I got it on PC and finally completed it. I also found the plot to be brilliant, and the augmentation system to work very well.

But still, Human Revolution FTW.

[DigiFluid]

Steam had a Deus Ex pack on sale yesterday including Deus Ex GOTY edition and Invisible War for $2.99 total. They're both $4.99 today. I'm thinking I should have bought them yesterday!

Definitely, but I'd still go for it if I were you. I've actually bought Deus Ex on three separate occasions and wouldn't be averse to doing so again if need be

[Replicator Todd]

I was wondering when this thread would pop up. I figured it would be Digi's doing. I've never played the first two games but I have heard fantastic things from...the first one. I'm thinking about getting Deus Ex: The Conspiracy on PS2. Sure it may be slightly inferior to the PC version. But I'm no PC gamer, and I heard the PS2 verison is pretty similar to the PC version except more loading times.. I want to check out Invisible War too, if I can get my Original Xbox to read my games!

[DigiFluid]

Some info about the PS2 port (shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia):

- pre-rendered introductory and ending cinematics that replaced the original versions
- streamlined interface with auto aim, improved graphics, and motion captured character models
- some levels changed and chopped down into smaller areas separated by load-screens, due to memory limitations of the PS2

And if I'm not mistaken, the PS2 release was also the debut of the re-recorded orchestral version of the soundtrack (as opposed to the synthesized original version). It certainly has an epic sweep to it, though I think in certain places it might've been better (thematically) to stick with the synthesizer versions.

[DigiFluid]

Oh and for anyone who hasn't had the good fortune to see it, meet the Deus Ex Continuity Bible, which first appeared on GameSpy (but has since disappeared from there). This guy's formatting kind of sucks, but he has it all.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the game and then some! I find the stuff about global regional state of affairs of particular interest. Beware of spoilers though, if you're among the unfortunate few who hasn't played this game

edit; actually, the original version can be read using the Wayback Machine here:
http://web.archive.org/web/200410102...dx1/index.shtm

[Sami_]

I joined the franchise with Invisible War, and I thought it was absolutely fantastic, and it's still one of my favourite games of all time. I admit that it isn't as good as the original, but it is still brilliant in it's own right; I don't understand why people consider it to be terrible. Is it just a case of, "Oh,it's new, therefore its crap," or "Oh, it's not the original, therefore it's terrible," the kind of thing you see so often nowadays (and more recently in Stargate).

But whatever the quality of the sequel, I cannot WAIT for Human Revolution. Contender for Game of the Year along with Mass Effect 3? I think so.

Invisible War was just an inferior product, it had nothing to do with people being nostalgic for the first Deus Ex.

Seems rather cynical to assume people are being bias in some way.

[Replicator Todd]

Its very odd to me though seeing the Square Enix logo on Eidos games now. BTW, the trailer is really good. Like a great sci-fi movie. I definitely need to get Human Revolution and ME3 in 2011.

[The Mighty 6 platoon]

Invisible War was just an inferior product, it had nothing to do with people being nostalgic for the first Deus Ex.

Seems rather cynical to assume people are being bias in some way.

Indeed. Invisible War simply wasn't as good as the original Deus Ex. It was kneecapped so that consoles could manage to run it. People complain about consoles dumbing down games now, heh, that's just whining. But back then every bloody cross platform game suffered.

Case in point, the tiny locations, compared to the huge levels in the original. Hopefully Deus Ex: Human Revolution will see a return to that, the previews certainly suggest so. I'm really excited about this game, which is surprising, because personally it looks like the game is about to take a massive dump across Deus Ex canon, with tech that seems too advanced for a game that's supposed to be a prequel. That being said, I literally don't care at this point. The game looks so stunning, in terms of graphics, the general aesthetic design and gameplay, I can't wait to get my hands on it.

[Sami_]

Indeed. Invisible War simply wasn't as good as the original Deus Ex. It was kneecapped so that consoles could manage to run it. People complain about consoles dumbing down games now, heh, that's just whining. But back then every bloody cross platform game suffered.

Case in point, the tiny locations, compared to the huge levels in the original. Hopefully Deus Ex: Human Revolution will see a return to that, the previews certainly suggest so. I'm really excited about this game, which is surprising, because personally it looks like the game is about to take a massive dump across Deus Ex canon, with tech that seems too advanced for a game that's supposed to be a prequel. That being said, I literally don't care at this point. The game looks so stunning, in terms of graphics, the general aesthetic design and gameplay, I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Same here, really excited for DX3, SWtOR and Mass Effect 3 - three huge games.

[The Mighty 6 platoon]

Same here, really excited for DX3, SWtOR and Mass Effect 3 - three huge games.

Indeed. But what seems impressive for me is that Human Revolution has got me excited because it actually looks good. I mean I'm sure Mass Effect 3 will be awesome, but we haven't seen any gameplay at this point, we're excited because the previous 2 have been fantastic and we expect Bioware to pull out the stops for the finale. Yet here with Human Revolution it has gone for me from "meh it will probably suck" when I heard it announced, to "wow I can't wait." The trailers, previews and gameplay footage have impressed me that much.