An innovation that revolutionized FPS and RPG genres at the same time and was a new adventure every time you played it!
Deus Ex is a First Person Shooter at heart with a Cyberpunk Sci-Fi theme like any other. But when we see how seamlessly RPG elements are mixed into the game, we discover a brand new gaming genre that can specially appeal to perhaps those gamers who has a talent to discover new innovations. Surely, this game wasn't designed just for those who had little patience and to those to whom FPS games means nothing but shooting anything that moves. The world of Deus Ex comes alive with a brilliant yet dark conspiracy tale and full of people that you may love, hate and never forget. People there react to your actions. Every consequence may have its effect. One wrong move and you wish you had never done it. The game will have you thinking at every turning point of what decision to take and what future-plans to make.
GAMEPLAY (10 OUT OF 10)
The game controls like any other FPS so it's very easy to get started. It also has a tutorial mode for anyone who wants to get a feel for it before getting started. One thing you may notice it's a bit slow paced. But the game is not about running and shooting anything that moves. In fact the game NEEDS to give you the time needed to think. So take the time. Think. Wait. And Stop before you regret. There are so many approaches to one objective. One being more tactical the other requiring less thought and more gun blazing action. One being more stealthy, other being more combat focused. You can choose everything in this game, from your play style, to your looks, to even what will the game end like.
Game gives you a skill system found in most RPGs. Skills greatly improve your efficiency with weapons, tools and other stuffs. The game gives you active enhancements called Augmentations which are like super powers that cost bio-electricity and delivers abilities beyond a normal human soldier. Some help you run faster. Some help you minimize bullet damage. The choices are many.
The game has an inventory system and a handful of weapons. You will notice that everything in this game is very detailed. How description of every weapon and every single ammunition is printed on screen. How characters become your friends if you are helpful or your enemy if you hit them. How public reactions are when you don't have your weapons concealed and raises an alarm. Or simply how the wine disorients your vision. Everything is so realistic and detailed. In the realistic difficulty settings, even your damage setting is realistic and you can die from a single critical injury if not careful or protective about it.
STORY (10 OUT OF 10)
Deus Ex is a conspiracy tale. But is believable and thrilling to its every bit. How you start off as a pawn in the world working for a peacekeeping coalition to how you eventually see the 'Big Picture' and decide your own future and choose to oppose those who are true masterminds behind the scene brings a really unexplainable thrill that happens to get more exciting as the plot unravels itself slowly.
You travel around the world for answers, for seeking true allies and to solve this conspiracy once and for all with the assistance of rebels that have went into hiding. Every location is memorable and the conversations between NPCs that you can overhear or the Newspaper articles that appear really gives you the feeling that something is really going on all around you. The plot is both believable and shows signs of life throughout the game especially since you get to make decisions throughout the game that actually changes some of the plot points! It's like starring in your own interactive movie!
GRAPHICS (8 OUT OF 10)
Deus Ex world is created using a heavily modified Unreal Engine. While the Unreal games were nothing superior in terms of graphics and visuals, Deus Ex's graphics is ten times better than the graphics the original Unreal Engine provided. It's pretty decent of it's time although it was unable to provide less blocky character models with smooth animations, its lighting effect is pretty good and some levels like the catacombs or the paris cathedrals really gave me a chilly feeling, when accompanied with its unbeatable musical score.
While you can't expect very good animations or cinematic events of out Deus Ex, you can surely expect a laboriously created world that comes alive with excellent level design and perfect lighting. Although it's too dark in some areas, it was meant to be as it fits the scenario perfectly.
SOUND (10 OUT OF 10)
Sound and musical score of Deus Ex is mind-blowing! The theme song is really catchy and so is the ambient themes of different locations around the world. The upbeat music in the disco and the combat sequences to the scary environment of Paris Catacombs and Cathedral.
From the start to the finish the music is a piece of marvel on its own and I often love to listen to Deus Ex OST because it's that cool!
RE-PLAYABILITY (10 OUT OF 10)
Deus Ex is 100% re-playable. I played it and finished it over 100 times in a row and never got tired even once. With so many hidden plots to discover to secret people you meet to new outcomes to encounter Deus Ex is a new adventure and a new feeling every time you play it through. The first time you can be a mass murderer and the next run you can be a silent assassin. Or both at times when needed. What role you will play in this FPS is up to you since the developers opened up a lot of roads for you to reach your goal.
FINAL VERDICT (10 out of 10)
There was a reason this game won several awards from many critics. It deserves them. It was an innovation that may never be seen in the history of gaming again. New games will come and go but Deus Ex will have no equal. Gamers may forget Deus Ex but history shall remember Ion Storm's greatest masterpiece as one of the best and a very enjoyable game of the century or maybe, forever!