Deus Ex

[Zulu Romeo]

From reading many comments on the BBS, both in this forum and elsewhere, it seems there are a lot of fans of this game, which is now nearly 10 years old.

I've been revisiting it in the last few days too, and, mild bugs aside, it's still very enjoyable and playable. I also picked up on a few neat touches in the dialogue which I hadn't picked up before, including how your character, when something which seems ludicrous and nonsensical to real life is mentioned to him, questions it openly, as well as a few sly meta-references to computer gaming especially early on in the game.

Despite the aging Unreal engine graphics and the very cheesy voice acting (in some places damn near offensively stereotypical) it's still hugely playable and enjoyable, more so than the sequel. I've yet to try some of the many mods available for it, but I've been made aware of them.

Any other fans of this old game?

 

[Lindley]

It's been far too long since I played this. Need to break it out again. Unfortunately the Mac version won't work on an Intel Mac.

I loved the way choices you made early on in the game could impact your options later. Do you tell Reyes to stay in UNATCO as a spy, or get out? Does Paul live or die? How does the Renton family drama unfold?

All fairly trivial changes to the gameplay, but enough to keep me replaying all the various options.....

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I loved the way choices you made early on in the game could impact your options later. Do you tell Reyes to stay in UNATCO as a spy, or get out? Does Paul live or die? How does the Renton family drama unfold?

All fairly trivial changes to the gameplay, but enough to keep me replaying all the various options.....

A lot of the scenarios in the first few missions lead to different reactions from different people depending on how you complete them. For instance, in the Castle Clinton level, I recently replayed it so that I only knocked out cold two terrorists (including the guy with the flamethrower) then made a run for it through the courtyard - Navarre then accused me of being "too gentle".

 

[clint g]

I was absolutely hooked on this game when it came out for the PS2. I really should get around to playing it again. I was also a big fan of the second game, even though many people don't share the same opinion as I do in regards to that game. I seem to recall that there is a third game in the works. Hopefully we hear more about that game some time soon

 

[Zulu Romeo]

The third game is a prequel, set 25 years before the first game, and focusing on biomechanical augmentations - it'll no doubt feature elements mentioned in the first game such as (I hope) the elder DuClare, the formation of UNATCO and maybe the creation of nano-augmented humans.

I had a go at the sequel for storyline purposes, but due to problems with DirectX the timing of the game is all wrong - everything plays in slow motion, with on-screen text lagging behind sound during dialogue, and objects thrown as if there was the gravity of Mars or something.

 

[Lindley]

I loved the way choices you made early on in the game could impact your options later. Do you tell Reyes to stay in UNATCO as a spy, or get out? Does Paul live or die? How does the Renton family drama unfold?

All fairly trivial changes to the gameplay, but enough to keep me replaying all the various options.....

A lot of the scenarios in the first few missions lead to different reactions from different people depending on how you complete them. For instance, in the Castle Clinton level, I recently replayed it so that I only knocked out cold two terrorists (including the guy with the flamethrower) then made a run for it through the courtyard - Navarre then accused me of being "too gentle".

I'm surprised you were able to make a run through the courtyard. Usually, that reaction occurs when you give the kid a candy bar so he'll tell you the code to get in using the secret door behind the vending machine, so that you bypass most of the NSF guys entirely.

I think my favorite bit was that the UNATCO secretary treats you differently throughout the entire game depending on whether you go into the ladies' room on your first visit to UNATCO.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I loved the way choices you made early on in the game could impact your options later. Do you tell Reyes to stay in UNATCO as a spy, or get out? Does Paul live or die? How does the Renton family drama unfold?

All fairly trivial changes to the gameplay, but enough to keep me replaying all the various options.....

A lot of the scenarios in the first few missions lead to different reactions from different people depending on how you complete them. For instance, in the Castle Clinton level, I recently replayed it so that I only knocked out cold two terrorists (including the guy with the flamethrower) then made a run for it through the courtyard - Navarre then accused me of being "too gentle".

I'm surprised you were able to make a run through the courtyard. Usually, that reaction occurs when you give the kid a candy bar so he'll tell you the code to get in using the secret door behind the vending machine, so that you bypass most of the NSF guys entirely.

I played it by first going through the back entrance by the vending machine, finding the Ambrosia, then following the corridors and stairs up into the rickety shack inside Castle Clinton (where the second boy is), then running out of the courtyard towards Navarre, who then storms in all guns blazing.

I later learned that it's possible to rescue the hostages in the Battery Park subway station without engaging any enemies at all (it involves a lot of duct crawling though). Once you arrive in Hell's Kitchen with the hostages, you can then revisit Battery Park via the subway if you want, but if you hadn't engaged any of the terrorists at that time, they will fight you and no doubt kill you at that point.

I think my favorite bit was that the UNATCO secretary treats you differently throughout the entire game depending on whether you go into the ladies' room on your first visit to UNATCO.

Yeah. I don't think I've played the game without going into the ladies' restroom.

 

[Lindley]

I actually found one possible course of action which the game doesn't account for.

When UNATCO and the MiBs raid Paul's apartment, the two options which let Paul survive are to either "die" alongside him or to defeat everyone in the building before leaving. If you do the latter, then you can take the subway to Battery Park, where of course Anna and Gunther are waiting for you.

However, if you killed Anna on Lebedev's 747, then she won't be there. Gunther is still unkillable, but you can get past him by luring him into the station and then using the ventilation system to get out.

Once you're outside, you're boxed in by large crates---but you can push them out of the way with Microfiber muscle. This allow you to get all the way to Jock's helicopter. However, doing so doesn't trigger anything; the game doesn't think you're supposed to be able to get that far. In fact, the entire map outside the immediate vicinity of the station is poorly-defined.

 

[Brandonv]

Deus Ex is my favorite game of all time.

I first played it in 2002, when I got the game for free with my Sound Blaster Audigy. Every once in a while I will go back and revisit the game. The graphics are dated, but for me the story and the gameplay are still just as fun as they where the first time. I really like the soundtrack too.

I thought that Invisible War was okay, but nothing too great. It has the immersive atmosphere of the first game, but everything else feels like it took a step backwards. For example, the areas are really small and you have to deal with constant loading screens.

Hopefully Deus Ex 3 will be good.

 

[Lindley]

My brother is trying to maneuver himself into getting a job at Eidos when he finishes college. Maybe he can get me a DX3 sneak peak or something.

 

[thedude]

To this day, Deus Ex remains my all time favorite game ever made for the PC. Followed closely by Mass Effect, which is actually very similar to the mechanics established by Warren Spector with DE. The sequel was ok, but I think I remember the original with much more fondness.

That said, I was SO EXCITED to hear development of the 3rd installment is finally moving on, and even though it's not being developed by Spector, he's given it his blessing and has had positive things to say about the team developing it. I'm sure he's very busy with Epic Mickey, but I bet this new game (allegedly a prequel) is going to be faithful to the original and should deliver a pretty incredible game. Honestly, I'd be happy with a remake of the original using newer game engines... imagine the original done in Source or CryTek...

Oh, by the way, the sequel is being developed by Square Enix... so yeah, there's no way it'll be bad.

 

[Orac Zen]

Utterly brilliant game, one I've played literally countless times and never get tired of. There are so many options for playing pretty much every level and it's the only game I've played that's inspired me to research some of the stuff mentioned in the course of the game.

I didn't like Invisible War much at all - tiny levels compared to the original, horrible-looking graphics (at least on my old PC), dull game play. Hopefully DX3 will be better.

There's also a tonne of good mods for DX. I can thoroughly recommend The Nameless Mod (download here, most recent available patch here). You need a copy of DX itself and at this stage it's PC only, but it's great fun.

 

[Akiraprise]

One of my favorite games as well. I haven't played it in quite some time though. Should break it out.

 

[Brandonv]

Oh, by the way, the sequel is being developed by Square Enix... so yeah, there's no way it'll be bad.

It is being published by Square Enix, but the developer is Eidos Montreal.

There's also a tonne of good mods for DX. I can thoroughly recommend The Nameless Mod (download here, most recent available patch here). You need a copy of DX itself and at this stage it's PC only, but it's great fun.

I've never tried The Nameless Mod. I might need to have a look at it.

There is also the High Definition Texture Package. It has been a work in progress for some time now, so I am hoping that they are able to finish. I know that a lot of mod projects tend to fall apart.

 

[thedude]

^
My bad. Looks like they're also doing Theif 4 there too... another Spencer Warren IP.

 

[Reverend]

An old favourite, very detailed and multi layered story with some memorable characters and really pushed the limits of what the technology at the time could really do. Also, gotta love that intro music!

 

[Anthony Sabre]

I played the game for the first time this year and absolutely loved it. It's rare for a game's storyline to suck me in so completely as Deus Ex did. When I first started playing I was running around killing everything that moved. As the plot started to unfold I actually felt guilty and changed my approach. I'd like to apply the Nameless Mod and run thru it again.

 

[Canadave]

Inspired by this thread, and since this was one that passed me by back in the day, I've decided to give this one a try. Tried the stealth route with Liberty Island, and after some trial and error, I found an approach that worked and snuck up to the command centre pretty ably. Then I learned that the game lacks an autosave and lost everything I'd done later on...

 

[Lindley]

Yeah, frequent use of QuickSave is a must.

Oh, and grab the blue canister in the command room in the Statue. You don't learn what to do with it until later, but it comes in handy.

 

[Orac Zen]

There's also a tonne of good mods for DX. I can thoroughly recommend The Nameless Mod (download here, most recent available patch here). You need a copy of DX itself and at this stage it's PC only, but it's great fun.

There's a new (and final) patch available for TNM: Grab it here.

Has anyone tried TNM yet?