Marecki on 27/8/2002 at 12:52
Someone has probably mentioned it already - then again maybe not. I'm aware the whole situation can look completely different, depending on player's choices; I have done it in different ways myself. However...
* * *
Take a moment to imagine yourself in place of one JC Denton, just as Jock dropped him off on the roof of an abandoned building in Paris. He is wounded; one of the MJ12 troops at the cemetary shot him in the back just as he was entering the helicopter*. He has some medical supplies with him but, seeing the enemy commandos and robots down below, decides to save them for later use. He goes in and, among all the rubbish and the burning barrels, finds several bottles of wine which his augmentations can use as a material for repairing the damage. He drinks it...
Imagine yourself as JC Denton a moment later, as he runs down the stairs. His head is spinning, his vision blurry, his progress taking an extreme effort of will in order not to stumble and fall into the stairwell or touch hot flames. All he can see is drab walls of the unfinished building, all he can hear is the scurrying rodents - and that eerie, moody music coming from who knows where, possibly a glitch in the InfoLink... He is alone; his enemies are nearby, but right now he is left to his thoughts: Whom shall he trust? whom not? What is the real meaning of all this?
...he moves on.
* * *
I have always found this scene from Deus Ex particularly expressive. The whole game is quite rich in this aspect (especially Hong Kong), possibly because of high level of interaction between the player and the NPCs, something System Shocks and Thieves mostly lacked. Even so, there is something special in that abandoned building; maybe it's the music, maybe it's the feeling of loneliness, maybe it's the combination of all the factors...
How about you? Have you found a scene like that too?
*<small> there is always a split-second activity period just between the conversation with Jock and the takeoff, long enough for JC to get a bullet or two if the enemy troops are around. It's rather annoying, I must say.
Edit: typo</small>
Manboy on 27/8/2002 at 12:58
There was that bit where Tracer Tong made me go through a sewer. There was some concrete, I think. And grit.
Alex Lebowski on 27/8/2002 at 13:37
Quote:
Originally posted by Marecki *<small> there is always a split-second activity period just between the conversation with Jock and the takeoff, long enough for JC to get a bullet or two if the enemy troops are around. It's rather annoying, I must say.</small> Yeah it happens in the graveyard bit too :mad:
Stainboy on 27/8/2002 at 20:35
I found the abandoned building bit rather poignant too. You've just been half the way round the world, shot at, bitten by dogs, set on fire, eaten from inside by nanobots, framed as a terrorist, and just recently ambushed at a cemetary by half a dozen well armed soldiers, and suddenly, you're in a crumbling building in Paris with only the rats to keep you company. A well placed break from the action methinks.
The bit that scared me shitless though was when you descend into the tunnels, and all of a sudden Icarus chirps up "I now have full access to your systems". That seriously freaked me out. Top quality dramatic timing from the ISA boys.
Stainboy.
Pssst.. Alex. I think that's where he meant. Graveyard = Cemetery, no?
Marecki on 28/8/2002 at 10:23
Quote:
Originally posted by Stainboy The bit that scared me shitless though was when you descend into the tunnels, and all of a sudden Icarus chirps up "I now have full access to your systems".Oh, yes. I almost jumped out of my chair when received that message... Especially remembering the "ICARUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU" e-mail on Smuggler's computer. And of course there was that phone call a bit later... No idea what made me pick up the phone, as after the first few times on Liberty Island I stopped trying, but it was rather spooky.
Alex Lebowski on 28/8/2002 at 13:46
Quote:
Originally posted by Stainboy .
The bit that scared me shitless though was when you descend into the tunnels, and all of a sudden Icarus chirps up "I now have full access to your systems". That seriously freaked me out. Top quality dramatic timing from the ISA boys.
Stainboy.
Pssst.. Alex. I think that's where he meant. Graveyard = Cemetery, no? Yeah sorry, for some reason I thought he was talking about somewhere else :)
And that scary moment isnt helped by the sudden rush of green, slimy, chicken, poison-breathing lizards (greasels) :(
Stainboy on 28/8/2002 at 16:39
Yeah, Greasels are evil. I mean, come on - if you're some highly funded secret agency bent on taking over the world, you don't spend resources genetically engineering and breeding friggin' lizard chicken thingys do ya? Pointless IMHO.
Stainboy.
Catman on 28/8/2002 at 17:07
Greasels strike me as rather useful. Send one in to visit someone you need taken out, and the greasel not only stuns that person unconscious but also eats the evidence.
Nice and tidy.
gbayles on 29/8/2002 at 16:54
Paris really depressed me first time through. Took a while for me to appreciate it. Another scene that impressed a lot was stepping out of the elevator into the Wan Chai market. The noise, the people, and gotta say I love that music.
From a conversation overheard in Versalife - the greasels and karkians are more like toys the mad scientists gin up to keep getting funding - "let's whip up another non-mendelevian, they loved the karkians" or words to that effect. A way to practice bio-engineering skills on the way to building better enforcers/police for the MJ12 regime to come.
BTW - Majestic Twelve rather implies 12 people in the ruling circle. Who were/are they? Bob Page certainly, Walton Simons most likely. Maggie Chow and Howard Strong are other suspects. Any other names? Will we meet the survivors in Deus Ex 2?
Uncia on 31/8/2002 at 13:43
Hmm, personally, I adore the Paris levels; they have great music [Paris Cathedral song = TEH WIN], they're roomy, there are plenty of NPCs, a lot of action-devoid mood parts... Thumbs up on my part. :)
