Gameplay

First person adventure

As you might have guessed by now, Deus Ex is not your standard, run and gun first person shooter. As much as we loved the Thief series and System Shock 2, Deus Ex stands above even those games as a shining example of first person adventure. The world is vast, with numerous characters to interact with, objects to pick up and use, and of course, bad guys to shoot or sneak past. Right from the very start of the game, you're presented with some important choices - the choices you make have real, lasting consequences in how the rest of the game plays out. You've also got some freedom in how you deal with people, and which side you'll take when dealing with the various factions in the game. There's no right or wrong answer - most problems in the game have multiple solutions, which adds a great deal of replay factor to Deus Ex. There are many secondary missions and side tasks that you can do which will add depth and flavor to the already extensive plotline.

These lasers trip alarms

We'll bypass the box...

The role-playing aspects of Deus Ex play a big part in the game. Your choice of skills and augmentations will influence how you solve problems, as will your use of the items. For example, if you have trained swimming ability and added a silencer to your sniper rifle, you might be able to swim into a base facility without alerting all the guards, and silently take down the ones you do run into. On the other hand, if you have advanced hacking skills, you can breach the security computer, shut off all the cameras and turrets and sneak in that way. Or, if you've upgraded your heavy weapons ability and have the hardened skin augmentation, you could simply shoot your way in the front door. Does this mean you can do anything you want in Deus Ex? No, at certain points, the game railroads you back toward the main plot and forces you along that path, but it's nice to have choices for the most part. We've never played a game that gives you quite as much freedom to improvise as Deus Ex. There's so much to explore that we find ourselves running around checking every little room to see if there's anything we might have missed.

...and the lasers are gone

EMP Grenade explodes...

Seamless story

One of the more pleasing aspects of Deus Ex is how closely the story is interwoven into the gameplay. There are lots of in-game cut scenes to move the plot along, but lots of games have these. Deus Ex goes beyond that; level changes are almost invisible to the player because of how well designed the missions are. The completion of one mission always transitions you smoothly into the presentation of the next problem. The smooth transitioning is a brilliant aspect of the game design, as it maintains the player's suspension of disbelief without ever letting go. In that sense, playing Deus Ex is like watching an exciting movie.

...and takes out a gunbot

What's behind door no.1?

Great Levels

Contributing to the immersion are the extensive and well designed levels. The environments you explore in Deus Ex never look or feel contrived, whether you're in the city streets of New York or Hong Kong, or in a secret paramilitary base facility. Room layouts within facilities are believable, and there are always ventilation ducts for you to sneak around in and explore.