Coffee war.
The thing I really, really loved about the original Deus Ex – one of my favourite games of all time – was that it was deeply involving, under the illusion of a shallow first-person shooter. Surface simplicity masked a complex game merging elements of action, adventure and role-playing. This complexity allowed for massive variety during play, each mission having many different ways to completion. Sneak? Fight? Talk? Hack? And on the surface, Invisible War looks much the same. There are still choices to be made as to your methods. There are still various combat and non-combat options, interesting environments and a surprisingly open structure. Various missions, objectives and side-quests (including a vaguely familiar coffee war) are completed in and around a central hub for each main area, and for the most part you can complete as little or as much of the game as you wish, outside of the main plot of course. The freedom is there; it’s only when you continue playing for a while that you realise that the underlying complexity is gone. To put it bluntly, everything about the game is dumbed down to the point where it becomes a first-person shooter with barely a hint of what made the original unique. Weapons all use the same ammunition store. Gone are the character skill points. The customisable bio-mods have been overly streamlined. The intriguing cyberpunk universe of Deus Ex is no more, replaced by a generic dystopia setting with a half-hearted attempt at moral murkiness. The AI is possibly dodgier than the original. Now, I’m not saying Invisible War is a bad game. Far, far from it. In fact, it’s a great game. Solid, exciting, challenging and occasionally downright charming. Some people might even appreciate the added slickness. But when you’ve got to live up to a forefather such as Deus Ex… well, there’s not much else to say other than disappointing. Oh, and there are spelling mistakes throughout too. Maintinance? Deterrance?
Graphics: 7/10
The graphics are good but nothing special. The models and environments are fairly detailed and nicely varied depending on the area. There’s something up with the character faces though – everyone has bugged-out eyes and a five o’clock shadow, even the ladies. The interface also gets on my nerves; as the ugliest and most distracting cross-hair and heads-up display I’ve ever seen in a first-person game is nothing short of annoying.
Sound: 8/10
The music is pretty good, including some great work by industrial rockers Kidneythieves. Sound effects are great too and you can generally hear what’s going on – essential if you’re trying for the sneaky route. As for voice work, I don’t know about the male protagonist, but the female main character sounds like she’s reading her lines off the back of a cereal packet. Dull, lifeless and kinda annoying. The non-player characters have decent voice acting though, if a little flat.
Value: 8/10
A fairly long game, not as long or involved as the original Deus Ex, but worth spending some time with. I wouldn’t pay full whack, but it’s a few years old now and should be available on the cheap.
Tilt: 8/10
Great.
Pros:
More accessible than its predecessor.
Lots of freedom.
Good variety of locations.
Cons:
Slicked-up and dumbed-down.
Generic, sometimes boring setting.
Conclusion:
If you thought that Deus Ex was the best thing since sugared doughnuts, then you’ll be disappointed with this. If you liked the openness of Deus Ex but yearned for shooter glaze, choose this one. If you didn’t like Deus Ex in the first place, go play Halo.