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Deus Ex
 Ever
since the closing of Looking Glass Studios I have been in mourning
over the death of deep games. What do I mean by deep games? I
mean games with so much depth, story, and detail that it's almost
overwhelming. Looking Glass was the one developer that seemed
to have mastered that, and as soon as it was made evident, they
moved on. In comes Deus Ex. Coming from Ion Storm, I was skeptical,
but it also comes from their Austin Division, which had nothing
to do with Daikatana. Seeing Deus Ex at E3 gave me new hope in
the resurgence of deep games. That hope has been made manifest
with the game's release.
Translated, Deus Ex is Latin meaning (as best I can figure) "From
God". Upon first glance, this means very little, if nothing at
all. However, once you are pulled deep into the unrelenting claws
of Deus Ex, things become clear, even through the blur of an ever-twisting
plot.
You play the role of J.C. Denton, recent initiate in the United
Nations secret anti-terrorist group known as UNATCO (United Nations
Anti-Terrorist Coalition). The prime objective of UNATCO is a
swift, albeit aggressive approach to sweep out terrorism. Their
belief is that terrorists can't be dealt with diplomatically,
so deal with them using the same force that they feel it necessary
to use. If this weren't honor enough, you are one of only two
nanotechnologically-augmented agents in the world, your brother
being the only other. With this comes powers and, of course, cool
toys.
The world of Deus Ex is a future world that has fallen on dark
days. The world is ravaged by a horrible plague known as the Grey
Death. This plague has swept through cities and countries the
world over, rendering millions dead. One of UNATCO's duties is
to administer the cure for the Grey Death, known as Ambrosia.
The only catch is that the public doesn't know about this cure,
at least not yet. The cure currently gets shipped to politicians,
dignitaries, and billionaires the world over to ensure that the
world's economy does not crash. J.C. comes into the picture with
his first mission, taking place on Liberty Island, N.Y. (sight
of the Statue of Liberty). Inside the statue, a terrorist group
knows as the NSF is holding an agent hostage, and you soon find
that the NSF is now aware of Ambrosia and intends to replicate
it and release it to the public. This alone could make a good
two-hour movie; however, this isn't even the smallest tip of the
iceberg.
Deus Ex has one of the most intricate stories I have ever seen.
As you progress through the game, sides are constantly switching,
and more and more hands are put into the pot of world control.
Just when you think you've figured out who controls what, things
change again. None of the story changes quite as profoundly as
something like The Sixth Sense; however, the fact that the story
is a continuing curve that you can almost see around keeps you
on edge. While some factions may seem to be the absolute underlying
evil throughout most of the game, in the end things change around
so that it's almost hard to tell who was controlling whom. The
story is so branched that there are three completely different
endings, each of which is set into motion through different means
and explain a different piece of the story. The game changes aren't
always linear, either, while the main ribbon of story is set --
how you go about it and the underlying subplots can be changed
drastically depending on how you handle situations.
Storytelling isn't the only thing in Deus Ex that's detail-rich;
the gameplay itself is quite rewarding and branching. Deus Ex
is a dash of System Shock, a helping of Thief, and spoon full
of Soldier of Fortune, all rolled into one. As far as role-playing
elements go, the setup will be familiar to System Shock fans,
as you gain experience points as you progress through the game.
These points can be used to increase accuracy in different weapon
classes, increase your savvy with hacking and electronics, or
even increase how long you can hold your breath underwater. By
increasing weapons accuracy, you increase the obvious accuracy
of shooting, but if you have a scope on your weapon, you also
increase how steadily you hold the scope. This becomes extremely
important as you try to stay concealed to save your life while
still taking out your adversaries. By increasing your skill with
computers, electronics, and lock picking, you decrease the time,
difficulty, and the number of lock picks and hacking tools (known
as MultiTools) you need to use. This, too, becomes extremely important,
as overriding security measures makes many things unbelievably
easier on you; however, tools to do this can become scarce. Thief
fans will be happy, as Deus Ex is not a game in which to go charging
in, guns blazing. Hiding in sniper spots, giving an electric charge
from behind, and avoiding detection can be the difference between
life and death. However, not everything is cloak and dagger. Sometimes
the situation calls for mass destruction. Sporting over 20 different
weapons, Deus Ex is quite the shooter. Snipers can aim a shot
to the head to drop the enemies quickly and quietly, while the
aggressive ones can toss a highly explosive device known as a
LAM into the mix and take out some highly dangerous mechanized
robots.
With such a boggling diversity of gameplay, Deus Ex naturally
has a boggling array of approaches. A single building usually
has at least two methods of entry, and you can often lose count
of how many ways you can get in. Don't have a lock pick? Blow
down the door. Leave your LAM's at home? Try sneaking around back
and see if you can find an open airshaft. There's an entrance
for all occasions in almost all locations of the game. This attention
to detail is unrelenting. The game features everything from working
showers and flushing toilets to pigeons on rooftops. Side stories
abound, as you find distressed parents in Paris fretting over
their sons' involvement with the local military force, to a Newsstand
owner in Hong Kong being harassed for not paying her fees to the
local gang. The game will take you from the gritty streets of
New York, to the markets of Hong Kong, to the catacombs of Paris
and back again. You can go through one level where everyone is
on your side; the next time, through, they might be your worst
enemies…and vice versa.
For more
on Deus Ex click here!
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