I will tell you upfront that I found this game to be toe-curlingly, eye-openingly, sweat-dribblingly, knees shakingly GOOD!
For a synopsis and developer info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_Ex_2
There are games that I have played where 15 minutes after I have my hands on the controls, I want to give up because they are completely unintuitive and the game is rather insistent that I know damn well what I am doing in advance. Deus Ex: Invisible War (from now on WIDE) was the gentle voice of a native English speaking tech support officer, guiding me through my first steps slow enough for me to grasp what I was doing, but fast enough not to insult my intelligence.
Coincidentally, it also does it without you much noticing. It is immersed deep into the introduction of plot, feeding you enough information to be kept on the edge of your seat but not enough to give anything away. By the time I had played this game the 5th time through I felt like a telepathic gaggle of geniuses walking through the hallways, knowing what is happening and why, but trust me when I say you HAVE to play it that many times to experience every story line and method of completion.
Allow me to elucidate:
The game is an FPS. You can beat the game without firing a single shot. You can beat the game without KILLING... ANYONE. Don't get me wrong! There are plenty of people to kill, and in a WIDE variety of fashions!
You could perforate them with a silenced and damage upgraded pistol, you could blow them away with a shotgun with grenade launcher secondary option, you could drill a hole through their head from the opposite side of the map with a sniper rifle, you could fire a rail into them a few time just to teach them a lesson or two, you could use a flamethrower, a crowbar, a rocket launcher (with user guided capabilities,) a plasma sword, a crate you picked up (not kidding), a hacked security turret, a combat knife, or you can beat them stupid with a baton... then toss them down the inclinator tunnel to their death...[incomplete list!]
There are three fundamental routes to solving every problem in the game: Diplomacy, Stealth, and Massacre. You can do only one, or a combination of them all. Be forewarned, diplomacy will only get you so far, and you may need to employ the other two methods to achieve your goals. (Sometimes getting from point A to point B requires that you slip past invisibly, or knock some heads.)
The level of dialogue written for this game is astounding. The depth, consistency of persona for each character, and lexicon were seamless. I pestered a character trapped in a box 30 some odd times before he stopped giving me new lines. Do you know what he did then? He shut up! He didn't start over sounding like an over-eloquent bastard with an incredibly short memory! He shut the bloody hell up!
-------------------------
I need to take a moment to discuss the variety of factions that seek your allegiance. (spoiler warning) There are the Order and the World Trade Organization both of whom turn out to be a single faction - the Illuminati. There are the Templars who show up a little later in the game, in a big way (an off shoot of the Order.) A secondary group, the Omar, are considered a default faction in the end game (will spoil that later.) Lastly, the Dentons.
The Illuminati want a monopoly over property, knowledge, ideology, and anything that you can put a price tag atop.
The Templars want to end the "perversion" of the human race, without much regard for loss of life.
The Omar are a hive mind/collective consciousness who have the over-arching goal of increasing their resilience to the absolute extreme, making themselves invulnerable to the otherwise lethal hazards of mortality (extreme weather conditions, radiation, etc.)
The Dentons aspire to create a world wide democracy where every person has instant access to global decisions through a biometric link to Helios, an AI mega-computer.
The Omar are the only group you do not have to fight off as a contender for control of the world, however, if you kill the leaders of every other group and destroy the Helios up link, the Omar are the only faction that survive the apocalypse - being adapted to every environment.
It should be noted, that no matter how many of a faction you killed, or how many times you stabbed them in the back, if you have not killed their leaders, you can still end the game handing victory over to whichever faction you so choose in the final stage of the game.
------------------
Concerning the final stage of the game.
All factions make a showing (besides the prior mentioning of the Omar). Depending on how you played your cards up UNTIL this time, You can have quite a few FRIENDS or quite a few ENEMIES.
Sid Black (the paid transporter,) can utterly ravage a section of the island cleaning out a section of enemies for the right price. You need to used him in advance of the island, however. The alternative transport - while free - requires you do a LOT more work to get the job done through the entire game. Opportunity for awesome? yes. Do you care by the fifth time playing through? no.
The Illuminati will have wanted you to allow them to kill Paul Denton. Their baddies can turn semi-invisible and physical damage will not affect them. (explosions and electromagnetic damage will however.) This makes them a good ally at a high cost. Alternatively, you can tell them to shove it and show up at daddy's doorstep, say you are sorry and he will "embrace you as the son he never had"
The Templar will have wanted you to let them keep Paul Denton, and a bit of your blood. I found it a bit suspect and as close to a deal with the devil as you could get, but it is relatively painless. Oh, and all of their guys walk around wearing the metallic equivalent of wrapping a tank around a human and letting them carry the artillery in the form of rocket launchers. It is somewhat comical listening to a woman's voice coming out of these things, but who am I to judge, right?
The Dentons have a sparse presence but do make a decent stand of it. There are different ways to supplement their defenses but it doesn't matter much. The point is this, their faction seems the LEAST Machiavellian, and the most lovable. Now this may be in part because their solution to the worlds problems is the most Utopian, the only one that couldn't hypothetically occur in real life, and the only group that hasn't been involved with the game long enough to utter the words, "Well yes, we do not condone violence, but noble sacrifices must be made for the cause."
I APPRECIATE being given the choice at the very end. That is very courteous of the game designers. But it was one of the only things that broke immersion for me. Listening to people I had sincerely attempted to kill up until now trying to reason with me was absolutely preposterous.
--------------------
Each group has obvious ethical questions you have to ask yourself before aligning with one.
The Templar are largely considered fanatics because they are killing people readily in the name of their ideology. They even despise you because you are biomodified, and thus a perversion of humanity. A vast MAJORITY of the game they are trying to kill you in one guise or another, making it VERY hard to side with them. They make some valid arguments about the nature of the human endeavor and the dangers of turning individuality into a downloadable formatting of the soul.
The Illuminati propose regulation and control of biomodification. They further provide a structure in which society might prosper. They are also, however, conceited, egotistical, megalomaniac assholes. Their structure gladly enforces the class separation because it fills their rich snotty pockets with money and keeps the lower ranks placated.
The Dentons... well... the Dentons want to impose a biomodification format on the entire planet's population. Obviously this smacks of elitism, and the belief that everyone will be happier with your ideals. They explain that this will revolutionize the way the human consciousness gathers to make decisions, and that making everyone equal in ability and status means that people will be judged by their ambitions, motivations, desires, and drives.
--------------------
I cannot recommend this game enough. This game is not a graphical masterpiece, nor will the soundtrack move you to tears. It is, however, addictive, intellectually stimulating, and replayable to the Nth degree! If you do not like games with replay or being intellectually stimulated while retaining the option to kill everything that moves...go elsewhere.
For a synopsis and developer info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_Ex_2
There are games that I have played where 15 minutes after I have my hands on the controls, I want to give up because they are completely unintuitive and the game is rather insistent that I know damn well what I am doing in advance. Deus Ex: Invisible War (from now on WIDE) was the gentle voice of a native English speaking tech support officer, guiding me through my first steps slow enough for me to grasp what I was doing, but fast enough not to insult my intelligence.
Coincidentally, it also does it without you much noticing. It is immersed deep into the introduction of plot, feeding you enough information to be kept on the edge of your seat but not enough to give anything away. By the time I had played this game the 5th time through I felt like a telepathic gaggle of geniuses walking through the hallways, knowing what is happening and why, but trust me when I say you HAVE to play it that many times to experience every story line and method of completion.
Allow me to elucidate:
The game is an FPS. You can beat the game without firing a single shot. You can beat the game without KILLING... ANYONE. Don't get me wrong! There are plenty of people to kill, and in a WIDE variety of fashions!
You could perforate them with a silenced and damage upgraded pistol, you could blow them away with a shotgun with grenade launcher secondary option, you could drill a hole through their head from the opposite side of the map with a sniper rifle, you could fire a rail into them a few time just to teach them a lesson or two, you could use a flamethrower, a crowbar, a rocket launcher (with user guided capabilities,) a plasma sword, a crate you picked up (not kidding), a hacked security turret, a combat knife, or you can beat them stupid with a baton... then toss them down the inclinator tunnel to their death...[incomplete list!]
There are three fundamental routes to solving every problem in the game: Diplomacy, Stealth, and Massacre. You can do only one, or a combination of them all. Be forewarned, diplomacy will only get you so far, and you may need to employ the other two methods to achieve your goals. (Sometimes getting from point A to point B requires that you slip past invisibly, or knock some heads.)
The level of dialogue written for this game is astounding. The depth, consistency of persona for each character, and lexicon were seamless. I pestered a character trapped in a box 30 some odd times before he stopped giving me new lines. Do you know what he did then? He shut up! He didn't start over sounding like an over-eloquent bastard with an incredibly short memory! He shut the bloody hell up!
-------------------------
I need to take a moment to discuss the variety of factions that seek your allegiance. (spoiler warning) There are the Order and the World Trade Organization both of whom turn out to be a single faction - the Illuminati. There are the Templars who show up a little later in the game, in a big way (an off shoot of the Order.) A secondary group, the Omar, are considered a default faction in the end game (will spoil that later.) Lastly, the Dentons.
The Illuminati want a monopoly over property, knowledge, ideology, and anything that you can put a price tag atop.
The Templars want to end the "perversion" of the human race, without much regard for loss of life.
The Omar are a hive mind/collective consciousness who have the over-arching goal of increasing their resilience to the absolute extreme, making themselves invulnerable to the otherwise lethal hazards of mortality (extreme weather conditions, radiation, etc.)
The Dentons aspire to create a world wide democracy where every person has instant access to global decisions through a biometric link to Helios, an AI mega-computer.
The Omar are the only group you do not have to fight off as a contender for control of the world, however, if you kill the leaders of every other group and destroy the Helios up link, the Omar are the only faction that survive the apocalypse - being adapted to every environment.
It should be noted, that no matter how many of a faction you killed, or how many times you stabbed them in the back, if you have not killed their leaders, you can still end the game handing victory over to whichever faction you so choose in the final stage of the game.
------------------
Concerning the final stage of the game.
All factions make a showing (besides the prior mentioning of the Omar). Depending on how you played your cards up UNTIL this time, You can have quite a few FRIENDS or quite a few ENEMIES.
Sid Black (the paid transporter,) can utterly ravage a section of the island cleaning out a section of enemies for the right price. You need to used him in advance of the island, however. The alternative transport - while free - requires you do a LOT more work to get the job done through the entire game. Opportunity for awesome? yes. Do you care by the fifth time playing through? no.
The Illuminati will have wanted you to allow them to kill Paul Denton. Their baddies can turn semi-invisible and physical damage will not affect them. (explosions and electromagnetic damage will however.) This makes them a good ally at a high cost. Alternatively, you can tell them to shove it and show up at daddy's doorstep, say you are sorry and he will "embrace you as the son he never had"
The Templar will have wanted you to let them keep Paul Denton, and a bit of your blood. I found it a bit suspect and as close to a deal with the devil as you could get, but it is relatively painless. Oh, and all of their guys walk around wearing the metallic equivalent of wrapping a tank around a human and letting them carry the artillery in the form of rocket launchers. It is somewhat comical listening to a woman's voice coming out of these things, but who am I to judge, right?
The Dentons have a sparse presence but do make a decent stand of it. There are different ways to supplement their defenses but it doesn't matter much. The point is this, their faction seems the LEAST Machiavellian, and the most lovable. Now this may be in part because their solution to the worlds problems is the most Utopian, the only one that couldn't hypothetically occur in real life, and the only group that hasn't been involved with the game long enough to utter the words, "Well yes, we do not condone violence, but noble sacrifices must be made for the cause."
I APPRECIATE being given the choice at the very end. That is very courteous of the game designers. But it was one of the only things that broke immersion for me. Listening to people I had sincerely attempted to kill up until now trying to reason with me was absolutely preposterous.
--------------------
Each group has obvious ethical questions you have to ask yourself before aligning with one.
The Templar are largely considered fanatics because they are killing people readily in the name of their ideology. They even despise you because you are biomodified, and thus a perversion of humanity. A vast MAJORITY of the game they are trying to kill you in one guise or another, making it VERY hard to side with them. They make some valid arguments about the nature of the human endeavor and the dangers of turning individuality into a downloadable formatting of the soul.
The Illuminati propose regulation and control of biomodification. They further provide a structure in which society might prosper. They are also, however, conceited, egotistical, megalomaniac assholes. Their structure gladly enforces the class separation because it fills their rich snotty pockets with money and keeps the lower ranks placated.
The Dentons... well... the Dentons want to impose a biomodification format on the entire planet's population. Obviously this smacks of elitism, and the belief that everyone will be happier with your ideals. They explain that this will revolutionize the way the human consciousness gathers to make decisions, and that making everyone equal in ability and status means that people will be judged by their ambitions, motivations, desires, and drives.
--------------------
I cannot recommend this game enough. This game is not a graphical masterpiece, nor will the soundtrack move you to tears. It is, however, addictive, intellectually stimulating, and replayable to the Nth degree! If you do not like games with replay or being intellectually stimulated while retaining the option to kill everything that moves...go elsewhere.
