Review of Deus Ex

                      By Nick Edmunds

Deus Ex is set in yet another brutal vision of a totalitarian near
future.  In a world ravaged by a horrific plague you play
cybernetically enhanced special agent, J. C.  Denton.  Resembling
the spawn of an intoxicated liaison between Batman and the
Terminator, you work alongside your brother Paul and some other
metal plated mentalists in the anti-terrorist section.  Things are
all fine and dandy at the agency until doubts about Paul begin to
circulate and then things become a little complicated.

Initially DE feels a little gloomy and nondescript, but soon the
location and lighting change and the glory of the graphics is
revealed.  They really are outstanding and the 3d engine even made
my ageing 3dfx card look good. Then there's the scale of the
thing. The levels are massive with an amazing degree of detail:
people interact around you, pigeons startle at your approach and
the skyline stretches forever. All of which combine to make the
locations fantastically atmospheric with a sort of dark, sinister
quality, which defines the overall ambience.  If that's not enough
to put you on edge the plot line practically guarantees paranoia.
DE manages to involve every conspiracy theory ever, from men in
black, grey aliens, Templer Knights right up to the Illuminati and
the plot has more twists than a Chubby Checker convention, while
managing to remain coherent throughout.

DE is a combination of genres powered by a souped up Unreal
engine.  There are elements of RPG, (character stats and inventory
system) and elements of a mouse driven adventure, (missions with
sub plots and multiple choice response in conversations), all
wrapped up in the engine of a first person shooter. Because it's
done so well DE is more than a complicated shoot 'em up, but it
isn't exactly the birth of a new genre, it's not strictly even a
new idea.  DE more than slightly resembles an updated version of
Fade to Black (sequel to Flashback) and has much in common with
Thief and Half-life.  This said the mix of genres does make for
interesting gameplay and may be the next logical progression in

the evolution of gaming.  As such DE could be classified as an
action adventure.

Completed tasks result in skill points, which can be used to
increase character abilities.  These abilities in turn determine
how you go about your mission. e.g. In order to enter a building
you could blow open the door, pick the lock, find the access code,
hack the security system or sneak in the back.  However this is
essentially academic, as it doesn't really affect the outcome, for
while there are decisions to be made the basic flow of the plot
doesn't really vary.  There may be a number of different ways into
a building, but you still need to get inside.  This means that DE
can't help but be a tad on the easy side as all the character
options and variations on completing a task mean that you are
never stuck for a viable action.  In fact you are more likely to
spend time wondering which of the possible options available would
be best for you.  The same goes for the various augmentations that
our customisable character picks up along the way.  For while we
soon end up with more upgrades than your average family PC they
tend to be more gimmicky than essential

A feature of note is the brave attempt at realism with the combat
system.  For a change you've got to think twice about taking on
more than one opponent at a time, due to the area specific body
hits.  In this system damage to different body areas affects
related performance.  Thus a damaged leg slows movement, a damaged
arm means wobbly aiming, etc.  However, this is spoilt to some
extent by the random AI of your opposition, which varies between
vaguely sentient and thick as custard: working strictly on a line
of sight basis.  A classic and disappointing example is the
corpses you leave in your wake - while you can pick up and move
the bodies, the enemy don't bat an eyelid if they see them.
Unforgivable when you consider that this sort of feature was
utilised successfully in Thief a few years ago.

Missions take place at locations all over the world, which means
our man, Denton, has some serious commuting to do.  How convenient
then that our globetrotting metal head should have a mate with a
stolen military stealth helicopter.  As an even bigger coincidence
this fellow even looks a bit like that old guy in Airwolf, you
know the one who said "moidah" a lot or was the butler in Hart to
Hart?

As you may have expected from a game that implies autonomy, there
are also multiple endings.  Initially I was disappointed by the
lack of variation between the three of them, but maybe it was
intended as some sort of pithy social comment for as we all know,
it doesn't matter who you vote for the government always gets in.

For those seeking a standard first person shooter, you may be
disappointed, DE is more of a sneak 'em up than a shoot 'em up.
Although at times DE doesn't really know what it is and the
sporadic action and linear plot don't quite fulfil that which was
promised by the hype. Hailed as the year's "best game ever" DE
went on to prove a point by winning Best Game 2000 and Best Action
Game at the ETAINA awards.  While clever release dates played a
part in this, DE really is fantastic. It may even herald the
future of first person shooters.

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