I'm a bit intimidated in blogging about this game. It is an undisputed classic, and I worry that if I don't appreciate it enough, I'll be revealed as a philistine. Lucky for me, then, that I can see how it earned its reputation.
Deus Ex is a good game. You're given control of an elite cyborg operative, and sent into various wide-open levels to thwart terrorist plots. You're given a set of skills and implants, and different ways of upgrading your character lend themselves to different approaches for navigating the levels. It's a great formula, but . . .
Well, Skyrim exists. If I want to play a game that offers me incredible freedom and the ability to customize my game experience through the way I advance my character, I have options. I could be playing a game with lush and gorgeous environments, smoother and more responsive controls, and dozens more character options.
Which isn't really fair to Deus Ex, of course. If I could mentally transport myself back to the year 2000, I'd easily see what a marvel it was. I just recently got done playing some rpgs that were released at around the same time (Baldur's Gate 2 came out in the very same year) and there is no comparison. It even looks and plays well compared to Morrowind, which wouldn't come out for another two years. But it really is a victim of the curse that afflicts all early 3-d games - they're not simple enough to be timeless, and they're not detailed enough to be good. The only people who could possibly love how this game looks are those who have never been exposed to anything better.
And I'm not normally what you'd call a graphics snob. This period in graphics history is simply that awkward.
This is exacerbated by the fact that I don't really care for stealth gameplay, so I'm not quite engaged enough to completely overlook the blandness and blockiness of the environments. That being said, I don't mind the shooting and exploration portions so much, I just wish the resources management wasn't so strict. Your superiors at the UN literally punish you for taking the direct approach. After shooting my way through the first mission, the quartermaster refused to give me more ammo due to my body count. I guess I could be using nonlethal methods, but dart gun and stun baton ammo are even scarcer than that for lethal weapons.
I suppose how you approach the missions does affect the tenor of the story. It you're a sneaky, nonlethal type, then Deus Ex is the story of a conscientious peace officer. If you use lethal force, it's the story of a brutal authoritarian enforcer. It's not really fair, though, because the NSF terrorists are a deadly threat who wouldn't hesitate to kill me, so restraint is kind of supererogatory. Maybe the very fact that I'm present, enforcing the dictates of the UN, is a morally unjustifiable act of aggression, but the NSF is the sort of organization that takes over subway stations, lines them with explosives, and takes people hostage, so that doesn't seem very credible. I suspect it's one of those things where they steal vaccines to aid the poor, oppose the oppressive corporate oligarchy that has subverted world governments and the UN, and are also just nastily ruthless.
I certainly don't trust the shadowy government officials who are pulling my strings, or the bloodthirsty fools who take my willingness to defend myself as an endorsement of their genocidal agenda. I'm hoping there will be a branching path later on that lets me forge my own path that balances social equality with public order. Of course, I should be so lucky. I'm sure I'll be forced to make moral compromises to get to the end.
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