-----We live in a contemporary world where a virus plagues contemporary life, mistrust of the government plagues contemporary minds, and an age of mis-truth plagues the contemporary internet. It's a modern world that can definitely seem very bleak, and it's one that the seminal video game Deus Ex almost captures frighteningly to a tee back in the year 2000. Deus Ex, developed by the legendary Ion Storm, is not the first immersive sim out there, but it might be the most quintessential and popular one. It's mechanics are standard and its presentation has almost reached meme status in a way. It is a fantastic video game that I've had the pleasure of playing throughout the past month. However, unlike most, I am not head over heels for it.
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-----While I definitely appreciate its craft and its relevancy, the gameplay itself never really clicked and I think there are a couple reasons I can explain why. First of all, one of those reasons does not include age. Despite the blocky model fidelity, Deus Ex’s style and attention to detail still holds up to this day. I'd argue its mechanics do as well. For those who don't know, Deus Ex sees you playing as JC Denton, a cyber operative working for FEMA and the American government the help take down domestic terrorists while both try and tackle a new pandemic called the Gray Death.Throughout the game you get to explore various real world locations, as well as locations based off of conspiracy myths. The entire game within itself is kind of cold and dark. It always feels like it's a little paranoid. As for the gameplay, you as the player get to experience these kinds of sandbox like worlds where you get to utilize several different tools in order to complete your objective in almost any way you want to.
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-----When I say almost any way you want to, you can either go in guns blazing and kill everybody in your sight, or you can utilize some very weak stealth mechanics to go for a more pacifist run. You can walk around and talk to the world's various NPCs who all have their own little information tidbits or thoughts on what's going on in their world. You can also use things like multi tools and lock picks at your disposal to get into places that otherwise will be closed off to you without a key. It's a neat gameplay loop that I think is enhanced by the almost improvisational manner in which the system's the game developers built are handled. You can absolutely plan your way around these levels, but something is bound to go wrong and you are expected to react to that and some way. I think that's great, especially with the game's save system where you can kind of cheese your way through the game if you really want to by saving at exact moments in time. However I would say that some of the world's sand boxes were better than others for sure.
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-----For example, one of my favorite levels was Hong Kong. This city has multiple scenes strung together in a web-like fashion that you can trek across and find different pieces of information and really explore and learn the area enough so that when it gets to its final moments, you really feel like you've learned your way around the place and feel like a master of this environment. The smaller Levels by comparison like the Statue of Liberty at the very beginning of the game I found to be less engaging as a result. While these sandboxes could allow you some freedom and what you could do, I did feel like the game started to fall into a little bit of a loop for me. Maybe it's just how my play style has been tailored throughout the years, but I found myself executing some of the same actions again and again from level to level. I kind of wish the developers through some wrenches in my path which would really force me to think outside the box in these instances . Also on the same topic I did get, in my opinion, a game-breaking weapon in the form of a laser sword around the mid game. This caused me to limit what I did even more just with how effective it was. For some context, the combat in Deus Ex is intentionally clunky which I think is good. I like the fact that Ion Storm tries to make sure that you don't purely go in guns blazing because it's not a reliable method. The problem with that is that once a reliable method is introduced, I think any normal player will latch on to that method. it takes a conscious choice on the player to throw the reliable method like the dragon laser sword away in order to help them explore other options of play. Normally a developer would help this along with things like balances or durability or something like that, but Ion Storm does no such thing with this weapon.
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-----Another thing I did really like in Deus Ex were the different augmentations you could get. What augmentations are in Deus Ex are like abilities that you can have attached to a hot bar that you can then access with your function keys. You can get things like a regeneration ability, faster movement, or increased accuracy. I like these a lot, especially the way the progression around these were handled where these upgrade canisters would kind of rarely be put out in the world making each individual gaining of your skills feel all the more rewarding. Speaking of skills, there are Dungeons & Dragons-esc skills that you can spend skill points into to further enhance your abilities. You can put points in categories like lockpicking, computing, weapon tiers, swimming and more. I really like the way this helps you customize your protagonist and customize your play through. While I'm at it, I also really like some of the little things that I don't really see even in modern video games. For example I really like the fact that Deus Ex saves conversations and notes for you to review as you learn things throughout the game. I also like the very grid-based item system that reminds me a lot of games like Resident Evil. Finally, I just really liked how fluid all of these complex systems worked together to make a very simple to understand game despite how much is at your fingertips because at the beginning of the game, Deus Ex can really kind of feel overwhelming at times. But once you learn the systems it's really all natural and how you deal with them and interact with them.
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-----Moving on to the story, The Narrative of Deus Ex is what really surprised me the most. I was completely shocked at how dead on a lot of Deus Ex’s themes and subject matter were. I did end up liking the beginning of the game a lot more than the ending of the game. I like the feeling of being a smaller part in a larger world and having very dubious morality lines drawn where it's not necessarily clear who is good over who is bad. I felt like near the end of the game that got kind of taken away for a more traditional approach where there's just kind of one bad guy and you have to stop them. At the end there are still some moral quandaries to help your brain, but I felt like the beginning of Deus Ex just hit a lot better than attending. That being said, the voice acting and the dialogue is absolutely gripping. Deus Ex is so well-written, which is surprising given just how much text is actually here in the game. It seems like at any moment the game could maybe falter once with its conspiracy talk, but it never does. Ion Storm’s game managed to remain interesting throughout.
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-----In total, I think Deus Ex is a great game that I'm just not fully appreciating yet. I recognize it's craft and the complex systems that make it one of the best games ever made. However on a personal level I'm kind of failing to connect with it like other games have throughout the years. I recognize the improvisational nature of Deus Ex that makes its gameplay so nail biting, but I just don't feel like the game is strong all the way through nor do I think its balance is all that consistent either. There are general peaks and valleys to the game that I felt like could have been touched up more, but seeing as how much Ion Storm even added to the game in the first place in the year 2000 is nothing short of impressive. Deus Ex is a game that you should absolutely play, despite my reservations. - [07/10]
-----
-----While I definitely appreciate its craft and its relevancy, the gameplay itself never really clicked and I think there are a couple reasons I can explain why. First of all, one of those reasons does not include age. Despite the blocky model fidelity, Deus Ex’s style and attention to detail still holds up to this day. I'd argue its mechanics do as well. For those who don't know, Deus Ex sees you playing as JC Denton, a cyber operative working for FEMA and the American government the help take down domestic terrorists while both try and tackle a new pandemic called the Gray Death.Throughout the game you get to explore various real world locations, as well as locations based off of conspiracy myths. The entire game within itself is kind of cold and dark. It always feels like it's a little paranoid. As for the gameplay, you as the player get to experience these kinds of sandbox like worlds where you get to utilize several different tools in order to complete your objective in almost any way you want to.
-----
-----When I say almost any way you want to, you can either go in guns blazing and kill everybody in your sight, or you can utilize some very weak stealth mechanics to go for a more pacifist run. You can walk around and talk to the world's various NPCs who all have their own little information tidbits or thoughts on what's going on in their world. You can also use things like multi tools and lock picks at your disposal to get into places that otherwise will be closed off to you without a key. It's a neat gameplay loop that I think is enhanced by the almost improvisational manner in which the system's the game developers built are handled. You can absolutely plan your way around these levels, but something is bound to go wrong and you are expected to react to that and some way. I think that's great, especially with the game's save system where you can kind of cheese your way through the game if you really want to by saving at exact moments in time. However I would say that some of the world's sand boxes were better than others for sure.
-----
-----For example, one of my favorite levels was Hong Kong. This city has multiple scenes strung together in a web-like fashion that you can trek across and find different pieces of information and really explore and learn the area enough so that when it gets to its final moments, you really feel like you've learned your way around the place and feel like a master of this environment. The smaller Levels by comparison like the Statue of Liberty at the very beginning of the game I found to be less engaging as a result. While these sandboxes could allow you some freedom and what you could do, I did feel like the game started to fall into a little bit of a loop for me. Maybe it's just how my play style has been tailored throughout the years, but I found myself executing some of the same actions again and again from level to level. I kind of wish the developers through some wrenches in my path which would really force me to think outside the box in these instances . Also on the same topic I did get, in my opinion, a game-breaking weapon in the form of a laser sword around the mid game. This caused me to limit what I did even more just with how effective it was. For some context, the combat in Deus Ex is intentionally clunky which I think is good. I like the fact that Ion Storm tries to make sure that you don't purely go in guns blazing because it's not a reliable method. The problem with that is that once a reliable method is introduced, I think any normal player will latch on to that method. it takes a conscious choice on the player to throw the reliable method like the dragon laser sword away in order to help them explore other options of play. Normally a developer would help this along with things like balances or durability or something like that, but Ion Storm does no such thing with this weapon.
-----
-----Another thing I did really like in Deus Ex were the different augmentations you could get. What augmentations are in Deus Ex are like abilities that you can have attached to a hot bar that you can then access with your function keys. You can get things like a regeneration ability, faster movement, or increased accuracy. I like these a lot, especially the way the progression around these were handled where these upgrade canisters would kind of rarely be put out in the world making each individual gaining of your skills feel all the more rewarding. Speaking of skills, there are Dungeons & Dragons-esc skills that you can spend skill points into to further enhance your abilities. You can put points in categories like lockpicking, computing, weapon tiers, swimming and more. I really like the way this helps you customize your protagonist and customize your play through. While I'm at it, I also really like some of the little things that I don't really see even in modern video games. For example I really like the fact that Deus Ex saves conversations and notes for you to review as you learn things throughout the game. I also like the very grid-based item system that reminds me a lot of games like Resident Evil. Finally, I just really liked how fluid all of these complex systems worked together to make a very simple to understand game despite how much is at your fingertips because at the beginning of the game, Deus Ex can really kind of feel overwhelming at times. But once you learn the systems it's really all natural and how you deal with them and interact with them.
-----
-----Moving on to the story, The Narrative of Deus Ex is what really surprised me the most. I was completely shocked at how dead on a lot of Deus Ex’s themes and subject matter were. I did end up liking the beginning of the game a lot more than the ending of the game. I like the feeling of being a smaller part in a larger world and having very dubious morality lines drawn where it's not necessarily clear who is good over who is bad. I felt like near the end of the game that got kind of taken away for a more traditional approach where there's just kind of one bad guy and you have to stop them. At the end there are still some moral quandaries to help your brain, but I felt like the beginning of Deus Ex just hit a lot better than attending. That being said, the voice acting and the dialogue is absolutely gripping. Deus Ex is so well-written, which is surprising given just how much text is actually here in the game. It seems like at any moment the game could maybe falter once with its conspiracy talk, but it never does. Ion Storm’s game managed to remain interesting throughout.
-----
-----In total, I think Deus Ex is a great game that I'm just not fully appreciating yet. I recognize it's craft and the complex systems that make it one of the best games ever made. However on a personal level I'm kind of failing to connect with it like other games have throughout the years. I recognize the improvisational nature of Deus Ex that makes its gameplay so nail biting, but I just don't feel like the game is strong all the way through nor do I think its balance is all that consistent either. There are general peaks and valleys to the game that I felt like could have been touched up more, but seeing as how much Ion Storm even added to the game in the first place in the year 2000 is nothing short of impressive. Deus Ex is a game that you should absolutely play, despite my reservations. - [07/10]