Sorry guys, I didn't realize the etiquette of this board. Let me elaborate:
Deus Ex is possibly one of the best games I have ever played period. I originally bought it back in 2000 on release, it was one of those anticipated games along with Half Life and I am quite amazed to report that it has weathered the last eight years rather well.
Plot/Writing (A+) This is really where Deus Ex shines. Without going into details/spoilers, the game is centrally about conspiracies and secrets. You play the role of an "enhanced" agent for a government organization in the near future and are sent out on a series of missions which intertwine a rich and complex story on par with the X-files in terms of depth and references to pop-culture paranormal/conspiracy/secret government organizations stuff. You'll come across the Illuminati, Men in Black, Aliens, Area 51, amongst other things.
The great part is that the story is told in a multitude of ways and how much of it you are exposed to is really up to you. There are tons of books and notes left around which you can just read, messages which are directly "broadcast" into your brain, e-mails that can be gotten to from either finding logins/passwords to computers all over the game, or by hacking into computers if you get that skill, as well as conversations with NPCs.
Perhaps the most amazing part of the game is that you can alter the game's progression (as well as outcome) by changing alliances during the game (following, or not, orders from your superiors, turning on allies, experimenting with different solutions to the same mission). While there is a certain amount of liniarity to the plot, the constructon of the game is to put a considerable amount of choices in the game so you can play it from different styles.
Interface (A+/A-) I give this an A+/A- because it kind of depends on taste. Deus Ex is a first-person RPG above all else and the interface definitely reflects this. The amount of detail contained in the interface may seem overwhelming at first (especially in the early levels where you are relatively weak), but over time it becomes clear that everything is there for a reason. Similar to the choices you have to make with the story, you also have to make choices through your inventory.
First there is the obvious one: inventory. You have a respectible about of space, but this isn't Doom 3. You won't be able to carry every weapon in the game, so you have to choose what kind of style you want to pay with and choose the weapons/items you keep accordingly.
Skills are also an integral part of the game. You can become a weapons intensive tank of an agent, or you can choose to be more stealth/tactical in your approach. My favorite combination so far is a rifle expert/hacker. Sneaking around the game, taking over turrets/computers while sniping enemies at the other end of the map is highly satisfying. Though this time, I did upgrade a few of the other rifles like the machine gun so that I was a bit more effective at close combat. Ultimately though, the levels have all been designed to allow for different styles of play to be effective.
Augmentations are similar to skills though they specifically take battery life in order to work (which is limited). Throughout the game you will come across canisters which give or upgrade different skills. These range from armor improvements, to little drone spys, to increased strength, as well as cloaks. Again, you are faced with many choices as you can't get all of the upgrades, but ultimately the choices become somewhat obvious once you've decided what kind of character you want to create...
This brings me to a very important point: definitely decide what kind of play you want to have. The worst thing you could do in Deus Ex is trying to be everything. You'll end up just being mediocre. Think of it this way: Deus Ex doesn't have pre-set classes like Mage/Warrior/Thief/etc... instead you create your own "class" by choosing specific skills. I would advise you think about how you want to play up front and concentrate on those skills up front. (there are no re-specs
)
Finally, the other great part of the interface is that it keeps notes for you. Rather than having to write down every access number you come accross, Deus Ex was one of the first games to keep an extensive log of events so you can search through previous conversations/e-mails. very cool.
Graphics: (dated, but acceptible). It is hard to give Deus Ex a ratine on graphics because it is an 8 year old game. Let's face it, it is a bit dated. That said, it has kept some of its charm and a lot of the presentation (such as the HUD and inventory screens) are very cool in their execution. The characters are a bit stiffly animated and the moving lips are a bit old-school, but all considered, the game is quite playable and very enjoyable. It runs on the original Unreal engine, so you'll see some cool effects here and there, but let's face it... half-life 2 it ain't. Still, I don't think it is fair to give it an actual score comparing it to recent games.
Voice-acting (C): Unfortunately, this is probably the weaker link. At most times, the main-characters are passable when it comes to dialog. The writing is good, which carries the bad acting a bit, but some of the NPCs (especially the random people on the streets) are just down-right horrible to the point of being comical. Still, I would say this is the games only bad element.
Level Design (A+). The levels are huge, interesting, exceptionally varied given the age of the game, and really take you on a whirlwind tour of the conspiracy theory world. As I mentioned before, there are just so many ways of going through a level that while the game itself is liniar in terms of its plot, depending on how you are playing the game there can be multiple ways to get through a level. For example, you may be given the objective to infiltrate a certain building, there are usually three or more ways of actually getting in the building depending on your style of play: front door "talk your way in", front door guns blazing, back door stealth, come up threw the sewers, roof hop from another building, etc.
While the environments may suffer a bit from the 8 year old graphics, they are still varied enough and interesting enough that you can suspend disbelief.
Length (A+): I suppose if you went through the game doing the absolute minimum of objectives, you might be able to reach the end in about 15-20 hours. That said, there are so many side-objectives, as well as exploration to be done in the levels that you could easily get 40+ hours out of the game, which for a First-Person game is pretty extraordinary. A note here: skill points are gotten through not only the completion of main objectives, but also through side-quests and just getting to hard-to-reach areas. The effect of this is that the longer you explore, the stronger your character gets... very nifty.
In summary, Deus Ex is perhaps one of the last examples of a dying breed of PC games. Deus Ex 2 is a great example of the dumbing-down of the genre by the gaming companies in order to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Consolification of the game is what killed Deus Ex 2, whereas DE1 shines even eight years later.
If you were a fan of the X-files and enjoy games which challenge you with a considerable amount of content, you really can't beat Deus Ex on Steam.
Hope this is more in line in terms of a "review."
