mxleader on 24/2/2011 at 19:19
I've never played Deus Ex. I was thinking about trying out the game. Which one should I start with?
Briareos H on 24/2/2011 at 19:21
The one called Deus Ex?
mxleader on 24/2/2011 at 19:25
For some reason I thought there was more than one. Would there be any technical issues with the game when installing on a Vista 64bit OS?
jtr7 on 24/2/2011 at 21:30
Start at the beginning: Deus Ex. Most issues you may or may not have depend on you and your system, but you may have noticed there isn't a big ol' FAQ of tech issues and solutions. Log in as Administrator and go from there installing the game, and report back if an issue crops up.
The second game comes after the first one, the new game is roughly a prequel, and playing the original first will set up the story better for both, and also give you the best personal insight into a decade of discussion and debate.
Renault on 25/2/2011 at 05:12
Yeah, the game simply titled "Deus Ex" is the original, a classic, and one of the best games ever created. The definitive "Immersive Sim." Even though it's over a decade old, it's still very fun to play. I recently installed on Vista 32bit, and had no issues whatsoever.
The sequel is called Deus Ex Invisible War, and while I haven't played it, many considered it to be huge letdown and not nearly in the same category as the first game, much like comparing Deadly Shadows to the original Thief games.
faetal on 27/2/2011 at 13:23
I recently re-played the first game and then played Invisible War. The former was amazing, even after so many years and a very dated graphics engine. The latter was EFFORT to get through and didn't add anything to the Universe for me, so I think that if you can ignore curiosity, you can leave that one be. Unless they make another sequel further down the line.
Muzman on 28/2/2011 at 05:52
It's a game that could be worth being remade, if you ask me. I know some people would never suffer the combining-of-all-DXs endings continuity, but that never really worried me. The vaguely alluded explanations they gave seemed plausible enough.
DXs plot is pretty corny, but does open up some interesting avenues with all its transhumanist elements. IW's almost sole redeeming feature is the way it builds on the first one, particularly philosophically, in ways few games ever bother to do. Which is something worth saving.
If they went back to the original design doc, thought through some aspects better (like the fact you're so important to the plot you're basically untouchable and every faction will forgive you for anything you do to them; make the Templars a bit less obviously the moustache twirling atrocity slinging evil guys etc) it'd be something to look forward to.
(I would dispute DX is the definitive immersive sim though. There's too many really terrible production values on display. Somewhere between its interactivity, options, character interactions and general expansiveness and System Shock 2s 'being there' feel and RPG-ness lies the perfect model)
Stingm on 1/3/2011 at 00:07
And when you finish Deus Ex try some mods too like Nameless Mod, Red Sun and a few others. They are well worth it! :angel::thumb:
faetal on 1/3/2011 at 10:07
I didn't mind the way they merged the DX endings. Here are my problems with IW:
1) The way they built on the universe. Too sci-fi and sterile. The original game snatched bits from a variety of established conspiracy theories which were matured concepts from having been around for a while so they felt more subtle and nuanced, because all they had to do was paraphrase what was already there. In IW, these concepts were extended, but in a campy sci-fi way which felt a little like it was simplified so teens would understand it.
2) Unforgivably boxy levels. Just made the whole thing seem fake, plus the loading screens and their regularity were real immersion killers.
3) Biomods. Too much redundancy and also enough canisters so that you can sample most of them in a single play through. Maybe not what they intended, but that's sort of a mixed blessing as I realised part way in that I wasn't going to play it again, so tried a fair few out. Bot domination is cool, all of the rest just felt like dumber versions of the original ones. Silent run being passive in particular made me feel less aware of the fact that I had modified myself as I just got used to it, rather than deciding where to activate it.
4) No skill points / experience. I missed the thrill of finding a hidden area and getting the points bonus. Didn't feel overly bothered about exploration - this was also exacerbated by the tiny box levels. Finding unique weapons ameliorated this a bit, but not in the same way given inventory restraints.
5) Inventory system. Could never figure out why I can sometimes carry 20 multitools in one slot and others only 5. Was there a weight system I was missing?
6) United Factions of Benetton. I hated that they obviously made the decision to make each "path" or faction choice as equally balanced as possible. In Deus Ex, it wasn't perfect, but it's far easier to care about the plot and the various factions if every effort hasn't been made to make them all redundant by every choice being OK to some extent. DX, while maybe being less flexible for doing so, definitely had good guys and bad guys. In IW, it's very much "they're all sort of bad in their own way". Maybe more "true to life", but it made me care much less about driving the story along to its conclusion.
That's some, there are probably more. I really tried to like it. There were bits of it I did like. It just felt "consolised". The plot was dumber and less subtle, the interaction with the world was more "press button make happen" I liked DX's usable keypads and login screens - made me feel more in the moment. It felt like the dumb kid brother of DX. Part of the problem was that DX was such a difficult act to follow, but I think most of the damage was done in making it multi-platform. I won't be playing it again, whereas I'll almost certainly give DX another bash some time.
Muzman on 1/3/2011 at 23:07
Yeah, you've hit the biggest criticisms quite succinctly. That was most people's reactions, from memory.
You know it had an utterly disasterous development though right? So it's not all entirely intentional (this shows in the levels and the various clues that vast swathes of the story appear to have been removed).
Although, as ZB will be along to point out if I don't, they can't duck universal ammo and the inventory etc with the development problems.
There's old publicity material, screenshots and videos etc, that suggest huge levels and a more DX-y interface and inventory from before the Xbox focus and the trouble started. It seems it could have all gone quite differently.
