Gameplay

Small maps

As mentioned earlier, Deus Ex: Invisible War is a much slimmer and less ambitious game than Deus Ex, but it still goes far beyond what most first-person shooters nowadays do. In addition to the standard RPG elements present in so many games, portrayed in Invisible War with the biomods, the new Deus Ex usually has three paths through most challenges.

The player can sneak through, bust out with the Glock or try hacking and/or dialogue. Many challenges require a specific solution, so obviously when you have to kill your target, you use the gun, but the way you get here is generally up to you. Most of the sneaking is accomplished by oh-so-conveniently placed air vents, suggesting a deeper conspiracy than any uncovered in the movie – that the Air Conditioning guys are preparing a world-wide takeover. Hacking is done through computer terminals or using multitools. The former method requires a biomod, the latter needs the multitool, which is a scarce and valuable resource.

In fact, everything useful in Invisible War is scarce. Biomod canisters, money, multitools, health packs, weapon mods and ammunition clips are all rare and valuable. Speaking of ammunition, as you may have heard, it’s all standardized ammo. Through the magic of nanotechnology, ammo plasma is converted into whatever you specific gun needs. The same material is used to arm a pistol, poison rifle and flamethrower. Although we can believe those with enough faith in the power of nanites, we’re a little confused as to why a regular stun baton would need ammunition.

The biggest problem with the ammo is that there is really never enough. You may walk into a new level with a full load, and even with the ammo scavenger and damage increaser mods, using only the sniper rifle (the most efficient way of killing organic targets), but by the time you’re halfway through, you’re getting low. Enemies fire constantly and never run out, but once you’re done killing one, he has very little to no ammo on his person. This is just one of several small inconsistencies that drags at our suspension of disbelief.

However, the scarcity of items adds quite a bit of depth. When preparing for an encounter, I’d often find myself planning ahead for the most efficient way of doing things. Usually this meant the sniper rifle, but there is a threefold balance to maintain in DX:IW. Health, ammunition, bioenergy (which powers your biomods), and to a certain extent money have to be weighed against each other. If you’re low on health, you’ll be quite willing to expend bioenergy and ammo in order to preserve yourself. If you have a lot of health but little ammo, it’s quite possible to make an attempt to sneak or run past a foe rather than make a wasteful kill. This contrasts with my virtual need to clear out every enemy I encounter for fear that they’ll all converge on me if the alarm sounds, but it adds tremendously to the suspense of the game.


Tension is always with the player, in this way DX is much like Thief. You never know if what you say will lock out future plot options, or trip an alarm and bring the whole level down on your head. It’s always a temptation to explore risky areas, to discover perhaps another clip of ammunition, a biomod, or perhaps a new piece of the plot puzzle. You don’t have to, but you certainly want to.