Deus Ex is one of the games that I sadly missed out on a few months ago, but fortunately after a price drop it is now sitting at the top of my gaming pile. Having never played the original, Deus Ex has been a completely new gaming experience for me. After a few hours of gameplay I am quite literally hooked to the game.
I always look for a challenge when gaming so I decided to opt for the hardest difficulty straight away and to also take a non-lethal approach in the game. This has proved quite difficult so far but as a result it is quite frankly like nothing I have ever played. The way I am playing Deus Ex sets it as a First Person Stealth game, not the usual FPS.
The story has had me hooked since the beginning. Adam Jenson, the main protagonist, is head of security at Sarif Industries. A global cooperation involved in research of augmentations which is best put as the evolution on humans. After a security breach you immediately find yourself in harms way and searching for the research team under attack. You can either silently make your way pass enemies that have broken in or go in all guns blazing. I of course swiftly but silently passed the guards undetected. After finding the research labs and the main researcher (who happens to be your girlfriend) you are attacked by an augmented man. You are left half dead but the researcher is killed. Thankfully you are brought back to life from the brink of death. However, for your life to be spared you are now augmented. Will you find out the reason behind the attack and who carried it out? You must search for answers.
Deus Ex looks great. Textures look realistic and the guns are well designed. The main environments look interesting at first, but even after 2-3 hours of gameplay they now feel used. The open world is very interactive and also loading times are short. However, facial animations are poor and lip synching is out of time. The voice acting is not the best, as it lacks emotion.
A nice touch to the story is the way you can use multiple choice in dialogue. This allows the end or start of a missing to have different paths. It even allows you to obtain information providing vital evidence for the story, but only if you let the conversation flow correctly. The choice to obtain lethal or non lethal weapons presents itself at the start of the first mission too. Make sure you have fully thought your decision through, as choosing lethal does prove advantageous in the near future.
As well as multiple choices in dialogue there are also different pathways to take in the main gameplay. Each area will allow you either to take a stealthy or not so silent approach. Stealth approaches are possibly thanks to cover and vent shafts. The cover also helps if you want to use guns. I like this choice you have when entering a new mission or area. Other than that you can always get sidetracked from the main story missions and complete side quests around the area. These are all enjoyable to complete and help break up the main quest adding length to the game.
I must say I’ve enjoyed sneakily passing enemy patrols or skilfully taking them down with tranquilizer darts. It’s been a new style of gaming to me. Sadly this is where the fun and the praise for Deus Ex end. After at least 2-3 hours of gameplay I have encountered the first boss missions. This is something we don’t see that often in gaming now; it’s also something I am not a big fan of either. The difficultly of this boss fight doesn’t annoy me, so what does? It is the simple fact that if you have chosen a non-lethal approach earlier on you will find yourself powerless. With no weapons to take down this boss (who is armoured) it proves quite a frustrating task for someone who only has a pointless tranquilizer rifle in their inventory. It took at least 20+ attempts to beat this boss. I was ready to even lay the game down to catch dust and never return to it. There are few weapons around the boss fight area to pick up but nothing really substantial to kill him. After a week of attempts I have now completed this boss fight, not due to skill but luckily thanks to a glitch. The boss didn’t move and kept shooting the wrong way the whole time.
This has ruined my Deus Ex experience, but it has also gifted me with a huge lesson in the game. This is to carry weapons even if going for a non lethal approach. However, I still believe that this first boss is a large design flaw and one issue that should not be mentioned. I also hope that I haven’t seen all that Deus Ex has to offer. It certainly is a good game, and one which I will no doubt complete but my initial impressions aren’t the best. This can always improve.
