Homoludens on 8/3/2002 at 07:11
[mysterious voiceover] Until the greater good fragments and shatters before your very eyes, leaving behind its true, ignoble intent. [/mysterious voiceover]
tripwood on 8/3/2002 at 07:54
noooooooooooo
but greater good really meant "stashing up the most heavy killing shit i can get my hands on somehow" and also saving the world, but that's less important.
ICEBreaker on 15/3/2002 at 00:22
The True Taffer , I actually tried to spare some of the bots, mainly the ones in Hong Kong. I just felt bad destroying government property. Of course, I had no problem when the bots were owned by MJ12.
Straylight your piece on what you did on Liberty Island was really funny. I could just imagine how you felt when everyone took credit for your work.
Homoludens I felt that JC and Paul did have a special bonding. One doesn't need to say "I love you bro, take care, I would be lost without you" to show they care!! The Hilton scene was enough to convince me of their relationship.
X , of course JC was bland. He had no emotions, at least not the way human expresses emotions. He is after all a biological machine, made to be without emotions (unlike Paul).
Anarkos on 15/3/2002 at 05:26
I always thought JC's emotionlessness was designed to allow the character to map any personality they liked onto him; from terminator to fluffy bunny that got lost...
ICEBreaker on 15/3/2002 at 08:00
Paul was the primary unit which "malfunctioned" and disappointed Bob Page. Instead of doing what he was instructed to do, he sided with the NSF. This was why the secondary unit (JC) was brought online. He was the "improved" version with little or no emotions, so that he would just follow orders. Of course this didn't work out either. There were two secondary units, JC and Alex, and it is my guess that as soon as JC uplinked the satellite dish, Bob Page started work on getting Alex online. Alex would have been totally void of any emotions, I imagine.
X on 15/3/2002 at 19:13
Paul was given more experience of the real world, being in the field longer, but it is my understanding that both him and JC undertook similar training, and were similarly "manufactured". I don't know from a plot point of view why JC was so bland. From a design pov, it was obvious that ISA were afraid to impose any boundaries on Denton, so the player could mould him entirely. I think this was an excellent decision, though look forward to DX2, as they'll have the opportunity to provide emotional dialogue support for any choice made.
Dragonclaw on 23/3/2002 at 00:46
'I like to take em off from a distance'
Yep, that's me. I love to get them with the sniper rifle.
But only later in the game (When you got ammo to do so).
In the first levels, I was actually not too sure about what was going on. I remember Paul saying: Try not to kill them, and I tried. Went along with the crossbow, and my trusty prod :)
But in the later levels... I can't use the prod in many places without getting shot by two or three other guys. And the crossbow.... well, it gets a bit lousy after the alarm sounds, and a bunch of soldiers comes running towards you...
But, you know, sometimes...
Sailor1: "In that case we wouldn't have to fight at all"
Sailor2: "I hope it happens. I don't want to fight"
*sigh* OK, boys, prodding time... (only to blow the ship up with them, but it's the idea that counts ;) )
One thing that stands in my way to feeling really guilty is: The soldiers don't have eyes. I mean, sure, they have, but you don't see them. The NSF has those strange head covers. The MJ12 got some goggles. Unatco troops being the onely ones you can see into the eyes... but hey, they are my former colleagues, they already got a special status.
Bots? Blast them. MiB? Clear. Commandos? Poor guys, half bots. Reduced sensibility there.
But yes, Deus Ex is certainly a game that makes you think about killing people...
King Ronald on 25/3/2002 at 18:46
The "morality" concept in Deus Ex is weird.
Are there any actual benefits to not killing anyone? I couldnt play through like that - I mean, come on all you stealth guys - WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THE PROD AMMO FROM?????
Seriously.
I ran out before LaGuardia. You get a baton which is pants unless you specialise, but no way am I gonna work on that instead of pistols/rifles/hacking/medicine upgrades, ages before you get the cloak aug - and that gobbles up power - gas grenades are incredibly precious because if you screw up they can save your life totally, pepper spray - HA! and the minicrossbow is about all your left with, and you run out of tranqs pretty quick.
Dont get me wrong - I play Thief on Expert, and I DO PREFER knocking out someone than blowing them away, but its way too much trouble. I mean, the bots shoot old ladies so they are just DEAD, MiBs are sneaky buggers who have glowy red eyes and blow up anyway so they dont count, MJ12 commandoes were just mechs I thought, and the MJ12 troopers are the new millenium gestapo babykillers - no WAY am I gonna try and minimise their pain. Whats the point of whacking Page, Simons, Navarre, Chow, Joe Greene, Hermann, blowing up Versalife, Unatco HQ, at least eight major MJ12 installations, a superfreighter, and Nuking Area 51, just so you can be surrounded by the guards at the entrance, waking up with a sore head??? Tell me please and I'll reform totally.
Finally - why bother helping the NSF? They are ace, but when your with Unatco there is about twenty thousand of them in New York alone, but the moment you help Paul they vanish completely and except for one Mexican in a cell your on your own.
Just my own psychotic opinion.
Random on 28/3/2002 at 02:01
Ronald, the baton is capable of knocking out anyone until you reach the MJ12 commandos. Just aim for the small of their back and they'll go down straight away. After Hong Kong, you need some melee training to take down everyone though (but by then you have the Dragon's Tooth, which, while it is lethal, will down anyone with one swat).
Prods are the same - it shouldn't take more than one shock to knock out anyone. And considering the amount of people that you can actually sneak right past and not interact at all with, you shouldn't run out of ammo. Also, prod ammo is hardly ever actually on someone - I don't remember anyone apart from a couple of cops who actually carried it. Most of the ammo is found in crates and lying around the street (in true DX style ;)).
X on 28/3/2002 at 19:11
It is quite possible to play through the entire game without killing anyone, bar perhaps some of the plot based NPCs, such as Simons. It is a challenge, to say the least, but one the experienced player should relish.
