A philosophical first-person WRPG set in a dystopian 2052 in which JC Denton, a nano-augmented agent for the anti-terrorist organization UNATCO, is tasked with stopping the invasion of Liberty Island by the terrorist group NSF. As events unfold, Denton finds that he plays a large part in a world-spanning conspiracy which forces him to ponder his allegiances, beliefs, morality, and view of right and wrong.
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there needs to be more games with this level design
peak gaming 3
maybe you should try getting a
[Taken from my Steam review posted in 2020.]
Deus Ex holds up pretty darn well for being an early 3D hybrid FPS/RPG game. The wide assortment of items and different ways to progress through each scenario are pretty remarkable for a game from this era. The level of flexibility and freedom you are given in how you want to approach each level is what allows this game to hold up so well.
The story, while not all that unique by any means, is good enough to keep you interested from start to end. Additionally, JC Denton is a solid and interesting enough protagonist, in that cool, calm, collected, yet devoid of much personality sort of way. Very "early-2000's cool" kind of aesthetic - à la The Matrix, which it clearly drew heavy inspiration from.
While the game is still highly enjoyable, there are still a few downsides that come with how dated the game is: Firstly, I do not personally feel that the visuals aged well at all. Even after downloading some texture mods to enhance the visuals a little, the game is still fairly unattractive overall, even by late 90s early 00s 3D standards. Some older games have a certain charm that holds up over the years, but I feel Deus Ex lacks that stylistic charm. It's one of those games that I feel tried to push cutting-edge realism for its generation, only to find itself looking quite unpleasant when looking back years later as advances in graphical technology has skewed our perception on visuals.
The dialogue is pretty awful. While the game is fully voice-acted, the voice acting is, overall, pretty atrocious -- even to the point of being unintentionally hilarious at certain points. However, full voice-acting wasn't so common in this era of games, so it is easy to give it a pass for this.
My final gripe is the AI, which is borderline inane at times. There are many ways to cheese the AI to get by certain areas or to kill certain enemies. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, the AI can move so sporadically and awkwardly unpredictable at times that it can become maddeningly difficult to try and avoid or kill other enemies. While I have heard there are mods that are available to fix some of the AI problems, the vanilla gameplay experience -- which is how I wanted to try the game -- has laughably bad AI.
Overall, despite my criticisms, I can still understand how this was GOTY back in 2000. Even without any nostalgia to tie me to it, I still really enjoyed Deus Ex when I finished it in 2020. It was an incredibly groundbreaking game, and even to this day, I can see how so many modern games have drawn influence from it. If you're able to look past the dated visuals and laugh off the awful dialogue, you're definitely in for a treat. Give this a shot if you've ever considered stepping foot into the Deus Ex series, or even if you've played the more modern Deus Ex games and want to see what the original hype was all about.
Deus Ex holds up pretty darn well for being an early 3D hybrid FPS/RPG game. The wide assortment of items and different ways to progress through each scenario are pretty remarkable for a game from this era. The level of flexibility and freedom you are given in how you want to approach each level is what allows this game to hold up so well.
The story, while not all that unique by any means, is good enough to keep you interested from start to end. Additionally, JC Denton is a solid and interesting enough protagonist, in that cool, calm, collected, yet devoid of much personality sort of way. Very "early-2000's cool" kind of aesthetic - à la The Matrix, which it clearly drew heavy inspiration from.
While the game is still highly enjoyable, there are still a few downsides that come with how dated the game is: Firstly, I do not personally feel that the visuals aged well at all. Even after downloading some texture mods to enhance the visuals a little, the game is still fairly unattractive overall, even by late 90s early 00s 3D standards. Some older games have a certain charm that holds up over the years, but I feel Deus Ex lacks that stylistic charm. It's one of those games that I feel tried to push cutting-edge realism for its generation, only to find itself looking quite unpleasant when looking back years later as advances in graphical technology has skewed our perception on visuals.
The dialogue is pretty awful. While the game is fully voice-acted, the voice acting is, overall, pretty atrocious -- even to the point of being unintentionally hilarious at certain points. However, full voice-acting wasn't so common in this era of games, so it is easy to give it a pass for this.
My final gripe is the AI, which is borderline inane at times. There are many ways to cheese the AI to get by certain areas or to kill certain enemies. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, the AI can move so sporadically and awkwardly unpredictable at times that it can become maddeningly difficult to try and avoid or kill other enemies. While I have heard there are mods that are available to fix some of the AI problems, the vanilla gameplay experience -- which is how I wanted to try the game -- has laughably bad AI.
Overall, despite my criticisms, I can still understand how this was GOTY back in 2000. Even without any nostalgia to tie me to it, I still really enjoyed Deus Ex when I finished it in 2020. It was an incredibly groundbreaking game, and even to this day, I can see how so many modern games have drawn influence from it. If you're able to look past the dated visuals and laugh off the awful dialogue, you're definitely in for a treat. Give this a shot if you've ever considered stepping foot into the Deus Ex series, or even if you've played the more modern Deus Ex games and want to see what the original hype was all about.
(MINOR SPOILER ALERT)
I've known Deus Ex for a very long time now, but never really cared about it that much until I saw it was on sale on Steam half a year ago. That's when I decided to give it a try and man I should've played this game earlier.
The game takes place in a dystopian future, where you play as an augmented agent, JC Denton, trying to find a cure for a deadly virus that has been causing a lot of trouble. As you play through the game, you start to find out the dark truth behind it and realize you have been lied to by your government. That's when Denton decides to betray his government and try to put a stop on this disaster.
The story itself is incredible with all the climactic sections and the plot twists. The cast of side characters is very memorable with the help of the amazing dialogue and great character designs. A lot of small interactions in the game also change how the story plays out, which makes it so immersive that I would recommend to play the game even just for the story.
The level of freedom the game gives you is just crazy with how open-ended the level design is and how it complements every playstyle making it so that there is no right or wrong way to play the game. Exploration is very rewarding with either giving you a new passage to get to your objective or an upgrade to your arsenal.
The atmosphere of the game is nothing like any other game I've played with its memorable, eerie soundtrack and its moody, dark aesthetic. Though the graphics may seem to outdated by today’s standards, the art direction and world design are timeless with every location feeling very distinctive and having its own feeling.
In conclusion, Deus Ex has aged like fine wine with its storytelling, gameplay and atmosphere and is definitely a must-play for anyone that likes FPS's, RPG's or just very compelling stories told through video games.
I've known Deus Ex for a very long time now, but never really cared about it that much until I saw it was on sale on Steam half a year ago. That's when I decided to give it a try and man I should've played this game earlier.
The game takes place in a dystopian future, where you play as an augmented agent, JC Denton, trying to find a cure for a deadly virus that has been causing a lot of trouble. As you play through the game, you start to find out the dark truth behind it and realize you have been lied to by your government. That's when Denton decides to betray his government and try to put a stop on this disaster.
The story itself is incredible with all the climactic sections and the plot twists. The cast of side characters is very memorable with the help of the amazing dialogue and great character designs. A lot of small interactions in the game also change how the story plays out, which makes it so immersive that I would recommend to play the game even just for the story.
The level of freedom the game gives you is just crazy with how open-ended the level design is and how it complements every playstyle making it so that there is no right or wrong way to play the game. Exploration is very rewarding with either giving you a new passage to get to your objective or an upgrade to your arsenal.
The atmosphere of the game is nothing like any other game I've played with its memorable, eerie soundtrack and its moody, dark aesthetic. Though the graphics may seem to outdated by today’s standards, the art direction and world design are timeless with every location feeling very distinctive and having its own feeling.
In conclusion, Deus Ex has aged like fine wine with its storytelling, gameplay and atmosphere and is definitely a must-play for anyone that likes FPS's, RPG's or just very compelling stories told through video games.
3/10