Developer: ION Storm (Team Austin)
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Game Type: First Person RPG
Similar To: A blend of Thief and System Shock

Note: Screenshots courtesy of AVault.com, Gamespot.com, Game-Over.net, & myself.

By nature, the puzzles of Deus Ex are not very difficult. Most of the time it involves opening doors or finding key suspects, but it's the method in which you undertake makes this one of the more difficult games I've ever played. I'm a Quake veteran, and can shoot it up on servers with most people without much problems. However, Deus Ex models after the real world, and man, you can't just pull out your gun and start mowing down every enemy in sight. One sniper shot to the head and you're dead. Hell, any shot to the head and you're dead. You catch a tranqualizer dart in the heart, and you're dead. The health meter isn't just a numerical value from 0-100, it's a compilation of all your body parts. If your legs go to 0, no big deal, you just can't walk. If your torso or your cranium goes to 0, you're history, and lemme warn you, they drop FAST if you're in the line of fire.

This ain't physiology class all over again. Damage in Deus
Ex is locational based.

To survive even the easiest mode, you can't Rambo it, but rather, you gotta use your head, and take out key enemies patrolling key locations. Pulling out the rocket launcher is difficult, because it's one shot at a time, and reloading takes a long time. Also when you carry it, it'll significantly hinder movement because it's so heavy, unless you have heavy weapon skills upgraded to the 3rd level or higher. Plus, ammo for it is scarce, and you'd really want to save them for mech bots. After dying for the tenth time in a row on the first level, I smarted up and used force only when necessary, and stealth when possible. Some of this ultra realism may turn people off, but for me, it only added another element of challenge in which I thoroughly enjoyed. JC Denton gets more resiliant as the game progresses as long as you're constantly upgrading both skills and bioelectric augmentations, which then made the violent approach less risky as long as you're equipped with proper hardware and ammo. =)

One further thing that separates Deus Ex from its Quake peers is the aforementioned inventory system. You store everything in your inventory, including med kits, weaponry, lockpicks, and what not. The problem is that there are much more equipment in the world than can fit your inventory, and so most of the time you have to be very selective. I constantly asked myself, "Should I use the Assault Rifle or the Assault Shotgun?"... and "EMP grenades or Scramble grenades?".

The rocket takes 8 slots! But it's a must-have. So's the
Dragon Sword, which acts like a light sabre.

Depending on the method of infiltration you're utilizing, you can adjust your inventory to your needs. I eventually dropped my silencer pistol because it was weaker than my standard issue 10mm and I really wanted the sniper rifle. In addition, you can also pick up weapon modification packages that effectively "fixes up" your sidearms. I later added laser and scope to my good ol' 10mm, reduced recoil on my assault rifle and improved the range of my sniper rifle. Especially in retrospect, I am amazed at the unlimited flexibility Deus Ex offers the player from the most detailed details to the grandest of schemes.

Artificial intelligence of the enemies is also top notch. If you're not careful and make a slip, causing a big ruckus and the security alarms to go off, better get ready to load that previously saved game cuz once hoards of guards come out, your ass is grass. Enemies will patrol around, and if they spot you, they'll slam the alarms and proceed to tear through your body with ammunition.

Ni hao mah? Fresh chicken! Num, num...

They do have their lapses... For example, I was sneaking around a naval compound when I spotted two commandos guarding a doorway. I snuck up to one on the left and stuck my charger prod straight up his... *ahem!*... Anyways, as his electrically shocked body slammed to the floor, I turned heel and ran because I thought the other commando on the right was going to pepper me full of lead. Much to my surprise when I turned around after I ran a distance that he was still on guard and didn't move a muscle, much less notice the unconscious body next to him! I gleefully took advantage by sneaking up and dealing him the same fate as I did his partner earlier. Such lapses are minor though, because overall I still found the enemies to be tough, and I'd sooner avoid a skirmish than take on a whole hoard with the alarms blaring.

Sound and music are typically my weakest review points, because I'm a horrible audio guy. As long as they don't distract me, I don't care. The sounds in Deus Ex were all appropriate. Weaponry sounds as it's supposed to, while huge military mech bots rumble with armored authority. Of course, then there's the speech aspect which I mentioned earlier. The music is also mostly appropriate, with oriental tunes playing when you scour the streets of Hong Kong. Everytime you're about to engage in battle, the music tempo will quicken accordingly, and once it's over, it'll die down. Very nicely done... no complaints here.

Yeah! Shake it, baybee...

The negative aspects of Deus Ex are few and far between. Excluding the unfriendliness to non-3dfx video based systems, I have a beef with the long loading and saving times. Usually quick saving involves a simple tap to the hot key, a few microseconds of saving, then off you go to continue on your adventure. Here, whenever you save or quicksave, the harddrive spins for a bit, winds down, then spins for a bit more, then finally it saves. Likewise for loading saved games or different parts of the levels. A related gripe is the huge saved game files, which can topple 20 megs or more. If you're the type of person that likes to save a lot in different points of the game using different files and names, make sure you have ample space! All in all, I just used one slot the entire way through. 300 times I saved before I finally reached the end... that should give you an idea on how lengthy Deus Ex really is!

One final annoyance is the dark nature of the levels. It seems as if the entire mission was conducted in the future where the sun no longer shines or something. From beginning to end your expedition is under the moonlight. Even after raising the gamma all the way up, I had to squint to see some parts of the levels. Thank goodness for the infrared augmentation you're capable of upgrading to, because without that, I would've died running into enemies in the dark!

Infrared IRAmp activated to help scope out enemies in the
blasted darkness.

Overall if you can't tell already, the good of Deus Ex way outshines the bad. The freedom of an open ended world and flexible choices of dialog make this game the most sophisticated I've ever experienced. Its addictiveness is unescapable once you're hooked, and that doesn't take very long, despite the slightly steeper learning curve compared to regular brainless FPS's. To give you an idea, I sat through an eight hour marathon to finally beat the game on the last day... and my brother sat next to me watching the entire time... without even playing! Deus Ex is akin to watching a techno thriller movie, but YOU get to choose the path to glory. Without a shadow of a doubt, it has my vote for Game of the Year.

Final Grade: A
-- A slew of minor engine-related annoyances block Deus Ex's access to an A+. However, once that official patch is released, you can bump that sucker up baby!

The Scale is as follows:
A+: Cream of the crop. Revolutionary in every way. Game of the year.
A: Very top notch. I had a great experience. Must make my top 10 list to qualify as an A.
A-: Not too shabby. Entertaining and overall good. 90% of the population will enjoy it.
B+ to B-: Still above average. Recommend for people that enjoy the particular genre.
C+ to C-: Average stuff... weak recommendation on my part. Make your own decision.
D+ and below: Crap. Don't go for it, unless it's for a special occasion or something.