Deus Ex: Invisible War – The Future War on Terror… It’s been 15 years since the events that ended the first Deus Ex. If you played the original Deus Ex, you got to select one of three endings (plus, a secret crazy dance number ending). Without giving out spoilers, this game chooses one of those endings for you, and manages to work in some elements from the other two endings, as well. The game starts out with a terrorist destroying one of Tarsus Academy schools, sending the surviving scientists and students fleeing to Seattle. As another attack begins in Seattle, you quickly come to the realization that not all is as it seems. As in the first game, a series of plot twists and conspiracies unfold as you go further into the game. This time around, you have more choice in what objectives to accomplish and which groups and individuals to trust as several organizations vie for your support. Often times, objectives will be in direct conflict with another. Other times, you can complete an objective without having to choose sides just yet. Like the first game, this is not a strict shooter, but rather a mix of various game genres. There are still some RPG elements, but those have been streamlined in an attempt to not confuse gamers (this, like many of the changes to the game also serves to enrage some of the more hardcore fans of the original). Instead, there are more options for bio-mods, which are nanotech implants that the player can insert into various slots. Like in the first game, you have to make a selection on which upgrade to choose. This allows for customization of the character and how you play the game. Some bio-mods will serve a more stealthy approach, while others can give you more brute strength. There are also “black market” bio-mods that will give the player skills like hacking abilities (originally an ability you could dump skill points into in the first Deus Ex), or the ability to control various robots. Another change made to the game in this sequel was universal ammo. Conceptually, this works somewhat because the guns use energy as rounds for various guns, and the different type of ammunition goes through your energy at varying rates. In practice, this causes more headaches than it does to clear up any confusion. Depleting ammo in any ranged weapon takes from the same limited stock of ammo. Unless you conserve it well, this means you’ll likely be doing a lot of melee combat when ammo is scarce. What’s baffling about this decision is that different ammo types have been around since the time of Doom, with its various rifles, shotgun, energy weapons, etc. To add to the annoyance, often times, enemies in game will only drop their gun and no ammo clips. Picking those up merely adds another weapon to your inventory and not more ammo as is the convention in most shooters, including the first Deus Ex. The main theme of this game from a gameplay standpoint is choice. It’s present in objectives, how you modify your character, and even your gender at the start of the game. Throughout the game, you’ll also be able to choose how to approach each obstacle in game. You can always charge in guns a-blazin’, but, that might not always be the best approach (and you’ll more than likely be doing a bit of reloading saved games). Looking around a bit, you’ll come across ducts to crawl through, consoles to hack. Often times, chatting with various NPCs will provide another path. For instance, through getting a keycard that for a door that would otherwise need to be blown up, or lock picked. If there’s a downside to the choice, it’s in the game’s superficiality when it comes to that choice. Often times, there are not enough real consequences to following one group’s objectives over another. Unlike those you meet throughout the game, you also won’t have a chance to make a definite choice on which group to follow until the end of the game. The levels will still unfold in the same manner, and you’ll always get a second chance to make up for past mistakes. The ability to not have to make a choice is a choice, as well, but it would have provided more variation in terms of replay if these choices had had more substance, and more importantly, more consequences. This game is small and short. Exploring all of the various side areas not relating to the main mission, you can still easily beat the game in 12-15 hours. A little more to go through the last level and play the alternate endings. Unfortunately, the levels are also small and often seem claustrophobic compared to the large expansive levels of the first game. While there are some great graphical elements, like the light that comes from flaming barrels, more could have been done to make the levels a little larger. Ultimately, while such effects look nice, they don’t add a lot to the game, and take away from the limited resources (at least on the Xbox), that could have been used elsewhere. The limited size of the levels does hamper the choice of the player to some degree. No matter which objectives you choose, you’re likely going to have to explore the same environments each time. Because of the small hub-like areas, completing one objective might mean completing another along the way for another group. This also hurts replay value as there are not nearly as many areas to stumble across on subsequent plays through the game. There are also some annoyances with the load times for each new level chunk, and the message screen that loads each time to confirm moving to the next area. This isn’t a combat game, so players looking for an action filled shoot ‘em up are going to be disappointed. There is plenty of action in some places, but the controls are weighty enough that it never approaches a Quake or Halo like pace of combat. There’s almost always an opportunity to avoid action in some way, as well, including a bio-mod that even lets you remain invisible for some time. Warren Spector has boasted that you can play through the game without killing anyone. There are also some quirks in AI that often make fighting not very challenging. Control-wise, this game is either great or not that great depending on which system you use. On the Xbox, the control scheme is quite intuitive. The game plays largely like a standard shooter, but with more menus to navigate through. There’s also the option to store weapons and other items in various slots that the player can cycle through using a “next” button, or pause to use one of the control sticks to select with. Moving items to and from inventory and the quick item slots is also quite easy. On the Xbox controller, the black button brings up the bio-mod menu where you can turn on and off your various mods. On the PC, the game tends to feel a little more wonky. Even with the array of buttons available on the keyboard, there are still only the same basic functions as available on the limited number of Xbox controller buttons. This was a much reviled change for many of the fans of the original game. Considered on its own this is a great game that is well worth checking out. At $10-20, Invisible War is well worth picking up if this sort of game appeals to you at all. Despite its weaknesses and the objections of some of the more hardcore fans of the original, it’s still an absorbing game with a great storyline that should provide some replay value.
Deus Ex: Invisible War is made by Ion Storm and published by Eidos. It's the sequel to the critically acclaimed Deus Ex: The Conspiracy. Invisible War, like the original game, is a first-person RPG/FPS. As you start a n... Read Full Review
This is still today one of my all time favorite games. I loved the biomods and the black market biomods. Everything about this game is incredible. I love the Seattle levels and the Cairo level. This is one of the first g... Read Full Review
