Deus Ex -- otherwise known as the first game to actually kill me during the tutorial.

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Well, the holidays are here, which means only one thing to PC gamers: Steam sales! I'm incredibly cheap when it comes to buying for myself, so there haven't been many games that screamed out at me so far, but there was one deal I couldn't pass up: Deus Ex for $2.49. That's U.S. dollars, not pounds sterling. Needless to say I bought it, installed it, and played through the tutorial. Upon reaching the final part of the tutorial, I pick up a box of dynamite, drop it in the wrong place, and have my legs crippled. I spend the next couple of minutes crawling around, getting shot by the robot, and generally failing to get to the other side of the ditch. While it was apparently impossible to actually die during the tutorial, I had managed to render it impossible to complete.

Thinking to myself "no big deal, it's optional and I've already learned what it was supposed to teach me, I'll just start the game." I start the game, take a few steps out into the world... and die. "No big deal, I'll reload the autosave and restart the mission." There is no autosave. I have to create my character, again. I recreate the character, take about twice as many steps into the world, and die once again. I forgot to save this time, so I once again create a new character and restart. This time I save, take a few steps out, and die. After about ten tries, I finally get to the dock with the informant I'm supposed to meet, try to shock a guard with a cattle prod, have him just stand there instead of going down, and wind up distracting me long enough for his buddy to kill me. This is the hardest freaking FPS I have ever played in my life.

For discussion value: For those of you who love Deus Ex, what exactly do you see in it? I get the feeling that I'll enjoy it if I can actually get a decent distance into the game, but so far it's at I Wanna Be the Guy levels of frustration. Did I mention that I'm playing on medium difficulty? For those of you who haven't played the game, do you have any stories of ridiculously frustrating games?

Edit: Fixed some grammatical issues in the post; nothing too major, just some misspellings and tense disagreements.

 

[The Madman]

Deus Ex doesn't hold hands, it doesn't play around, it doesn't even know the meaning of the word 'mercy'.

And I love it for it!

The trick is to take your time and be patient. The stealth system is far from perfect, but it works and the game rewards you for playing that way. No, really, it does. Deus Ex keeps track of almost 'everything' you do as a player and almost everything has some sort of repercussions, even something as simple as, well, killing mr. random guard. Anyway just running and gunning into an enemy position goes down about as well in Deus Ex as it would in real life; you die. But if you play cautiously, take your time, learn the guard patrol patterns and try to take the guards out while they're isolated you'll have much more success.

In truth Deus Ex isn't really that difficult, you just need to adjust your playstyle from the run & gun mindset of modern shooters to a ye olden style mindset where the players are expected to approach each conflict like a little mini-puzzle. 'If I just shoot him, it'll attract more guards, and I can't simply sneak past since he's looking where I need to go... but if I were to distract him by throwing something behind him and then run past while he's not looking, I wont need to worry about his companions and he'll be none the wiser to my presence. Ahah!'

Personally I love it. And as the game progresses you gain all sorts of fun tricks to suit your playstyle as well. Personally I like to play the part of the deadly assassin, avoiding killing anyone but my targets when possible, but I've also played through the game as a brutal Rambo type as well as a more tech-savy 'avoid conflict at all costs' type. Few games allow that sort of customization towards how you can play!

As for games I found hard and frustrating, Fallout 2 starts out even more brutally than Deus Ex. At least Deus Ex has a tutorial that wont outright slaughter you. Fallout 2 has no such sense of honor, instead right from the start you're given a task that can and will kill you unless you know what's coming or are prepared. Get past that however and Fallout 2 becomes on of the best rpg ever made!

Much like Deus Ex, so stick with it and don't give up.

There's only one thing I really dislike about Deus Ex and that's its voice acting... my god is the voice acting bad in some places. But that aside it's just as fun to play today as the day it was released. Or at least that's how I tend to see it!

 

[mindlesspuppet]

For discussion value: For those of you who love Deus Ex, what exactly do you see in it? I get the feeling that I'll enjoy it if I can actually get a decent distance into the game, but so far it's at I Wanna Be the Guy levels of frustration. Did I mention that I'm playing on medium difficulty? For those of you who haven't played the game, do you have any stories of ridiculously frustrating games?

It's character building, combat, maps, and just how one goes about playing the game was revolutionary.

It was made in a time when games weren't made easier or simplified for the lowest common denominator of a mainstream audience. That aside, the above poster is right, just take it slowly, think about your actions. It's not a fast paced shooter, nor is it forgiving.

 

[Wolf-AUS]

I'm fairly sure Demon's Souls absolutely destroys you in it's "tutorial" too. Good game though.

 

[DazZ.]

Yeah I stealthed my way through Deus Ex. I don't remember it being particularly hard but I loved the way you can handle each mission loads of different ways.

If you're trying to run up to people and blast them away, don't. Until you have the skillpoints in aiming.

When the crosshair is closing in, that means you're actually aimed at the target, otherwise it'll go anywhere. You need to stay still for a long time at the start for it to go down, and aim for the head from the shadows when you need to.

Also learn hacking, and take over robots to scout for you if you need to run and gun. I always preferred stealth though, you can get through the game without killing anyone.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

For discussion value: For those of you who love Deus Ex, what exactly do you see in it? I get the feeling that I'll enjoy it if I can actually get a decent distance into the game, but so far it's at I Wanna Be the Guy levels of frustration. Did I mention that I'm playing on medium difficulty? For those of you who haven't played the game, do you have any stories of ridiculously frustrating games?

It's character building, combat, maps, and just how one goes about playing the game was revolutionary.

It was made in a time when games weren't made easier or simplified for the lowest common denominator of a mainstream audience. That aside, the above poster is right, just take it slowly, think about your actions. It's not a fast paced shooter, nor is it forgiving.

That's about what I figured. The funny thing about all this is I've been a gamer all my life, meaning I've been playing FPS games since Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, and this is the first one that I've had this kind of trouble with. Now if we were talking about platformers...

 

[Inconnu24]

This is by far one of my favorite games. Ever. Deus Ex sets you loose in an environment designed to give you the opportunity to play the way you like. The plot is deep, mysterious, and enthralling. There are so many events, dialogue trees, and choices you are given that are thought-provoking and interesting (except for JC's voice, maybe).

As for what you said, the stun prod works best if you sneak up behind the guy and zap the base of the skull. I don't know which weapon you took from Paul, but I recommend the Mini-Crossbow. Silent takedowns are very useful, even if they do run around and scream like idiots when you hit them with tranq darts. Just hide for the few seconds they are still conscious. You need to be cautious; you'll be able to be more of a heavy weapons guy later in the game. And, make sure you take your augmentation choices wisely!

Side Note: When you make it to Paris and meet Morgan, FIND MORPHEUS. That conversation is well worth the effort.

 

[mindlesspuppet]

That's about what I figured. The funny thing about all this is I've been a gamer all my life, meaning I've been playing FPS games since Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, and this is the first one that I've had this kind of trouble with. Now if we were talking about platformers...

That might actually be part of the problem. I'm the same way, I've been playing FPSs since Wolfenstein. You can't really go about playing Deus Ex with the same mentality as you would approach a run & gun like Quake or even something like CoD.

 

[Lord Mountbatten Reborn]

Hard? Not really ever what I'd call it. Take a step back from any sort of run-and-gun mentality you may possibly have. The diversity of approach is what most love about Deus Ex.

Oh yeah, and I have never, in any game ever, relied on an autosave. Always my own savin' skillz.

 

[Staehrminator]

I have the DX logo tattooed on my right shoulderblade. I completed the first level and rescued Gunther using two flares, one lockpick and a multitool, without alerting any enemies or setting off any alarms. There's a reason why shooting guns in DX feels terribly clunky - you're not supposed to do it. Use flare darts to distract enemies, use your augmentations when you get them, and pretty much bind the quickload/quicksave keys to the left and right mouse button until you get the hang of it. Then, you've got a game that has some of the best music, story, atmosphere and replayability of them all, rivalled by Fallout 2 and Riven.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

That's about what I figured. The funny thing about all this is I've been a gamer all my life, meaning I've been playing FPS games since Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, and this is the first one that I've had this kind of trouble with. Now if we were talking about platformers...

That might actually be part of the problem. I'm the same way, I've been playing FPSs since Wolfenstein. You can't really go about playing Deus Ex with the same mentality as you would approach a run & gun like Quake or even something like CoD.

That makes a lot of sense. For the record, I play Scout in TF2, so run and gun is my usual MO. However, I've played my share of Metal Gear, so it's not like I'm too ADD to play a stealth game as a stealth game.

Oh yeah, and I have never, in any game ever, relied on an autosave. Always my own savin' skillz.

Fair enough, I wasn't expecting an autosave so much as a "Game Over. Restart this level?" Screen. Death is death in that game, you go back to an earlier save or you go back to character creation, no restarting levels allowed.

 

[BRex21]

I loved Deus Ex, and never found it particularly hard, once you get into the habit of hiding in air vents. I actually just played through it in french. you can use the environment too, if you cant take those guys on the dock out, try shooting one and hiding behind a patrol bot. Its cowardly, but it works

 

[archvile93]

Deus Ex doesn't hold hands, it doesn't play around, it doesn't even know the meaning of the word 'mercy'.

And I love it for it!

The trick is to take your time and be patient. The stealth system is far from perfect, but it works and the game rewards you for playing that way. No, really, it does. Deus Ex keeps track of almost 'everything' you do as a player and almost everything has some sort of repercussions, even something as simple as, well, killing mr. random guard. Anyway just running and gunning into an enemy position goes down about as well in Deus Ex as it would in real life; you die. But if you play cautiously, take your time, learn the guard patrol patterns and try to take the guards out while they're isolated you'll have much more success.

In truth Deus Ex isn't really that difficult, you just need to adjust your playstyle from the run & gun mindset of modern shooters to a ye olden style mindset where the players are expected to approach each conflict like a little mini-puzzle. 'If I just shoot him, it'll attract more guards, and I can't simply sneak past since he's looking where I need to go... but if I were to distract him by throwing something behind him and then run past while he's not looking, I wont need to worry about his companions and he'll be none the wiser to my presence. Ahah!'

Personally I love it. And as the game progresses you gain all sorts of fun tricks to suit your playstyle as well. Personally I like to play the part of the deadly assassin, avoiding killing anyone but my targets when possible, but I've also played through the game as a brutal Rambo type as well as a more tech-savy 'avoid conflict at all costs' type. Few games allow that sort of customization towards how you can play!

As for games I found hard and frustrating, Fallout 2 starts out even more brutally than Deus Ex. At least Deus Ex has a tutorial that wont outright slaughter you. Fallout 2 has no such sense of honor, instead right from the start you're given a task that can and will kill you unless you know what's coming or are prepared. Get past that however and Fallout 2 becomes on of the best rpg ever made!

Much like Deus Ex, so stick with it and don't give up.

There's only one thing I really dislike about Deus Ex and that's its voice acting... my god is the voice acting bad in some places. But that aside it's just as fun to play today as the day it was released. Or at least that's how I tend to see it!

Wait does this mean everyone I've talked to about that game was lying? I heard Deus Ex was a game where you could get through just about any situation with any play style. Is it really just a stealth game disquised as a shooter?

 

[DazZ.]

Wait does this mean everyone I've talked to about that game was lying? I heard Deus Ex was a game where you could get through just about any situation with any play style. Is it really just a stealth game disquised as a shooter?

It's hard but do able, if it was really easy to just plow through people other mechanics such as stealth or alternative entrances wouldn't be worthwhile.

I've never played through whilst levelling up big guns, but I did level up hacking and run through as much of the levels as possible as a huge robot with a minigun.

I'm sure speccing yourself right would make run and gunning easy though, just bores me.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

Also, the game gets easier the longer you play it. At first, JC is slow, clunky, and can't use weapons to save his life. Early on you'll want to use stealth simply because it will keep you alive and out of direct confrontation, where you will likely die pretty quickly.

Once you get to Hong Kong the game opens up tremendously. You'll finally have enough augments to make yourself better, better weapons, and more options.

 

[Sacman]

On the first level of Deus Ex the character AI is so thick you can literally run straight past all of them and they won't notice...<.<

 

[IBlackKiteI]

Side Note: When you make it to Paris and meet Morgan, FIND MORPHEUS. That conversation is well worth the effort.

No contacts
No employer
No ancestry...

Damn that part was creepy, and damn awesome.

Deus Ex can be a ***** at first, but you get the hang of it eventually.

 

[The Madman]

Wait does this mean everyone I've talked to about that game was lying? I heard Deus Ex was a game where you could get through just about any situation with any play style. Is it really just a stealth game disquised as a shooter?

Not at all, though you've still got to be much more cautious than you would with a pure shooter. Just running into a heavily fortified position guns a blazin is pretty much a guaranteed death sentence early on in the game, instead Deus Ex encouraging a more cautious approach where you pick your opponents off one by one or in small groups. But that said later on in the game as you get better weapons and more bio-upgrades open up to you, if you really wanna go all robocop then it's an option as well.

Deus Ex is a 'thinking mans' game however, so even going heavy weapons still requires a good deal of thought and tactics to pull off well. But by all means, if you wanna kick down doors and mow down everyone inside, you can. There's nothing stopping you! Hell, it's even possible to kill several extremely important characters right within the first section of the game. And no, the game doesn't then bug out, it's a legitimate option open to you.

And that's what's so great about this game! You can take almost any approach to every situation. Compare that to todays usual shooter where its so tightly scripted that if you don't follow orders exactly, the game simply wont proceed.