I mean, don't get me wrong. I still got the implants in my head. The C.I.A. is still listening in. It just doesn't bother me anymore.

I want to apologize for having this review up so late. Rat Boy was kind enough to write o­ne up for us and I've just been too busy to post it sooner. Well, now it IS up and those of you o­n the fence can finally make a decision about the game if you haven't already. I've been enjoying it for what it is so far, you just have to get over the hype and forget all the PR speak they threw at you during development. But this isn't about my opinion, this is all about the Lord of the Rats so read o­n!____________

Yes, itÂ's Â"thatÂ" review. The review of Â"thatÂ" game, the o­ne everyone is talking about, the o­ne surrounded by heated debates, shrugs, and disappearances of gamers for a few hours at a time. So, how did Â"itÂ" do? How does it live up to its luminous forbearer? Can Alex D fill JC DentonÂ's black boots? Read o­n for the answers. Just so you know, IÂ've kept all discussion of spoiler material confined to o­ne section critiquing the story; IÂ'll give you plenty of warning before you get there. Also, this review is of the PC version, not the X-Box version, although both are identical in content.

In the year 2000 (Â"The future, Conan?Â"), we the gaming community was blessed with Deus Ex (heretofore referred to as DX1), an RPG/Action/Adventure/Stealth/Box-stacking/Cat-stabbing/Get-ripped-on-forties-and-wine game from Warren SpectorÂ's Ion Storm Austin dev house. While it didnÂ't win any trophies for its graphics or its AI, DX1 was groundbreaking for two reasons: its deep, cyberpunk future plot and open gameplay. Not a real people person or donÂ't have the patience for non-lethal means? Wipe the floor with everyone with your choice of weaponry. DonÂ't like people but not the hands-on type? Hack into security computers to turn turrets and robots against their masters in an orgy of death and destruction. Or, just bypass everyone by sneaking around through air ducts. Your choice, since there was no right or wrong answers, ultimately. However, in the end, you had to make a big decision. Do you join with a computer AI to rule humanity together? Do you turn this AI, linked to every computer network o­n Earth, over to the Illuminati, the shadowy organization that had ruled the world for decades in secret? Or do you shut it all down and have the planet start from scratch?

 

When Eidos and ISA said that a sequel was coming, many wondered just how they would pull it off. Obviously, there would have to be improvements made. DX1Â's blocky graphics wouldnÂ't pass muster today. An AI that sends guards charging after you without much strategy or tactics wouldnÂ't work, right? Plus, despite all the praise, many complained about the gameÂ's inventory system, having to shuffle things around and dropping items left and right to make o­ne lousy assault rifle fit (yes, even I despised it). Finally, there was the plot and the big question was, which ending was the Â"correct o­ne?Â"

Deus Ex: Invisible War is that sequel (heretofore referred to as DX:IW). Although released o­nly last week, the game already has rankled or dazzled gamers thanks to a brief and perhaps poorly timed demo released by Eidos last month. Gamers complained that the graphics were bad, the controls lousy, the HUD interface intrusive, the AI dumb, the gameplay choices limited, etc. Although the demo amounted to but a few minutes of the full game (you could even skip that entire mission completely), it seemed that people had made up their minds about it, screaming, Â"Why Ion Storm, why?Â" and Â"Oh my God, they killed Deus Ex! You bastards!Â" For those of us that live in Reasonville, we asked this: Â"Is the demo (which admittedly had its problems) indicative of the final product?Â" Well, letÂ's seeÂ"…

Â"This time -- this time we will do it right.Â" – Morgan Everett, Deus Ex

Graphically, of course, thereÂ's little changed between the demo and the full version, so if the graphics didnÂ't float your boat then, it wonÂ't now. The graphics are quite an improvement over DX1, however. Just compare Tracer Tong or the Dentons from DX1 with their new versions. The eyes, the hair, even the ears have their own polys, which they didnÂ't in the original (how did we live back then?). Another big graphical improvement is shadows. I noticed in o­ne level that a guard walking along a catwalk cast a large shadow o­n the far wall of the room. And if they can cast shadows that big, so can you.

Perhaps the biggest improvement in terms of the game engine is the physics. Whenever you shoot an enemy dead, heÂ'll drop his weapons rather than you rifling through his corpse to find them. If you just put a few rounds in his head, his weapons and spent ammo clip will end up near his body. If spear him with the rail gun or set off an explosion near his feet, his body will fly and twist nicely in the air as his items are scattered all over the place. That can be a little trying if youÂ're desperate for more ammo and spend ten minutes trying to locate a tiny ammo clip that got buried under flying tables and chairs. Yes, movement and explosions affect almost every object in the game, be they tables, chairs, brooms, carts, bags of coffee, or bottles of lotion (yes, they have that, too). A crate, after being thrown, will lurch over to o­ne side before righting itself. Grenades will roll around o­n the floor after being dropped. And, for the morbid SOB in all of us, bodies will stack o­n top of each other in a rather believable fashion. For the really morbid, try lighting people o­n fire with the flamethrower; itÂ'll make them run around like Richard Pryor. For even more pyro fun, try rolling fire barrels at people and watch them light it up. Additionally, for the first time that I can recall, your character will step o­n enemy bodies as he or she walks around after a battle. During battle, objects can have a decisive impact. o­nce I got stuck behind some fallen chairs while trying to dodge a rather hefty fellow with a rocket launcher. You can pick these objects up and throw them at your opponents, too, because theyÂ'll cause some damage. ThereÂ's even a biomod thatÂ'll increase the damage of thrown objects. A clever player can figure out a few interesting tactics involving a well-placed broom to the head.

Audio wise, the game is o­n par with DX1. The music is appropriate, both in the field and in the bars and nightclubs. Voice acting, just like the original, is terrific. YouÂ'll recognize who Her Holiness is right away. However, in DX:IW, a different actor portrays Tracer Tong, which is unfortunate since like in DX1, Tong is an integral part of the game. Also, even though JC is voiced by the same actor, he sounds a lot different, which probably can be written off because of what he went through, but I had to read the credits to make sure it was the same dude since JC sounds and acts so different than in DX1. Telling you anymore would venture into spoiler territory. o­n the bright side, Paul Denton sounds like his usual, political talking self when (or if) you run into him. o­ne thing IÂ'll miss is the universal Â"AAAAAaaaaaaargh!Â" death sound from DX1.

  

The inventory system this time around is greatly streamlined (or simplified, depending o­n your view). Now you get a fixed number of Â"beltÂ" and Â"backpackÂ" slots to stick items of any size in, rather than trying to make items of varying sizes all fit in o­ne area as in DX1. So, instead of ditching half your inventory to make room for that rocket launcher late in the game, all you have to do is drop o­ne item. While this probably doesnÂ't make sense from a real-world perspective, it is a lot less frustrating.

No discussion of the Deus Ex games would be complete without mentioning the multiple paths, missions, and tracts. There are several factions that want you to serve them and will give you conflicting objectives. For instance, early o­n o­ne side will ask you to steal something from somebody, while another will ask you to kill the man outright. Your choices will affect how that faction will interact with you as the game goes by, so if you piss o­ne off early, their soldiers will be very aggressive in dealing with you later. o­n a more direct level, like in the first game, there are multiple methods of accomplishing each mission. While going in guns a blazing is certainly an option, there are other methods, such as stealthy sniping. Or, you could forget about killing and do some old fashion bribing and quick talking. ItÂ's up to you.

Also, you canÂ't talk Deus Ex without mentioning another hallmark that was carried over to the sequel: customization and modification. In addition to picking skin tone, you can also select the gender of your character. Weapons are also customizable o­nce again, allowing you to add mods that change how your guns work. Early o­n, youÂ'll get an opportunity to earn a silencer mod as a reward and you would do well to take that opportunity, since there isnÂ't a stealth pistol this time around. Other weapon mods include o­nes that give your weapons the ability to cause EMP damage (great against robots), increase their range, cause fragmentary blast damage, and can silently break glass, allowing for quiet entry through windows. o­ne of the best mods is the ammo scavenger, which allows you to conserve ammo from the modded weapon. Unfortunately, you are o­nly allowed two mods per gun, so choose wisely.

Another level of customization comes from the biomods, which are now divided into two flavors: standard and black market. Standard biomods are easy to obtain, either as rewards from NPCs or stolen out of peoples lockers. Among the standard mods are Regeneration, Cloak, Thermal Masking (to make you invisible to robots and cameras), and the Melee mod, which boosts your melee strength and as mentioned before, increases the damage done by thrown objects. Black Market mods are illegal, a lot harder to obtain, and have some very interesting effects. The Neural Interface mod allows you to hack security computers, just like in DX1. This time, however, you need to upgrade the mod in order to shut down turrets and robots. I guess some bigwig got tired of JC breaking into computers during the first game and decided to outlaw that particular mod. Another o­ne is the Bot Domination mod that, depending o­n its level, can allow you to assume control of enemy robots, but you need to be touching the bot for it to work. This mod needs to be used in concert with the Thermal Masking mod so you can sneak up o­n a robot without it blasting you to pieces.

The strangest Black Market mod has got to be the Life Leach. This mod creates a drone that will break down dead organic material (aka corpses) and turn them into health for you. To me, this mod seems kind of redundant, what with the Regeneration mod. Black Market mods are indeed rare, obtainable from the Omar faction or from a few safes. In DX1, you had to make a choice between two mods per slot and when you picked o­ne you couldnÂ't change your mind and install the other o­ne over it. Not so in DX:IW; if you find yourself in need of a different mod down the line, go ahead and install it over the old o­ne.

Towards the end, I found it necessary to install the Cloak mod over Neural Interface mod and since I had been hoarding Standard mod canisters, I was able to fully upgrade the Cloak. This brings up o­ne of my beefs with the mod system this time in how they are grouped together. For instance, o­ne slot forces you to choose between the Regeneration mod and the nifty Visual Enhancement mod that when upgraded can allow you to see through walls. Also, as I mentioned, the Cloak and Neural Interface mods are grouped together, so while youÂ're hacking a computer, youÂ're also vulnerable against enemy troops. I suppose it was done for balance sake, but it gets kind of annoying after awhile. Then again, this isnÂ't the o­nly problem with DX:IW.

Â"No! You don't know what you're doing! Everything will be lost, EVERYTHING... The world will fall to pieces. No o­ne will be in control. It will be chaos, complete chaos!Â" – Bob Page, Deus Ex

Off the bat, most people will have technical issues with the game. It apparently doesnÂ't matter if you have a middle of the road system like mine or a high-end system; people of all rigs have been reporting problems. I can o­nly run it at 800 x 600 o­n my rig, and I had texture problems in certain areas until I upgraded the drivers for my Radeon 9000. Another technical issue is that it will occasionally freeze during loading, and since youÂ'll be spending a lot of time loading areas, this has the potential of being an enjoyment-killer.

Yes, there are a lot of load screens. Almost every time you take an elevator or go from outdoors to indoors, youÂ'll trigger a load screen. They at least try to offset this by having a bit of text to read during the load, relaying tips and facts about the DX:IW world, such as who leads what faction and some historical information.

Despite the lengthy load times between levels, they tend to be smaller than what we saw in DX1. o­ne of the best levels from the first o­ne was the Liberty Island level, a huge expanse that let you walk around the entire island and all over the statue without reloading o­nce. o­ne of the closest levels to Liberty Island is the Antarctica level, which is divided into four separate areas.

 

Level design is a mixed bag. There are flashes of great design, such as Antarctica and a particular Â"sanctuaryÂ" o­n that icy continent. However, there are also some fairly simplistic levels. Most of the Cairo levels, for instance, are fairly bland in design, just a few square rooms and connecting corridors. But, most areas like Seattle and Trier are pretty good, just not as great as New York and Hong Kong in DX1. But, as I said, the Â"sanctuaryÂ" level has to be o­ne of the best-designed levels ever, even though it borrows from levels from the original. o­ne of the characters described that particular area as a Â"funhouseÂ" and the fun is in trying to recognize where you are.

DX1 had perhaps the most average AI ever conceived, and its sequel isnÂ't that much of an improvement. Enemies will charge straight at you without any concern for their well being. Some guards wonÂ't notice you massacring their friends with a rocket launcher. However, this time they will notice the loss of a comrade and perform a search to find the assailant, but if you can keep away from them for long enough, theyÂ'll forget about it and go about their business. Perhaps the biggest gaffe in the game comes from using the Cloak mod. You can literally appear right in front of an enemy, fire off a shot, re-cloak, and the AI doesnÂ't care very much. ItÂ's a cheap tactic, but works okay with the boss characters.

Many people have complained that the HUD interface is too intrusive or the controls are too clunky. Well, tweaking the settings in the option menu or downloading a fan-made tweaking program easily remedies both. What canÂ't be changed is the awkwardness of the inventory, datavault, and biomod in-game menus. Those are unwieldy in the extreme and will cause frustration to people unfamiliar with it.

Now we come to the biggest complaint made by hardcore fans of DX1: simplification. Certain elements from the first have been combined, streamlined, or done away with all together. Lockpicks have been combined with multitools. Upgrade canisters have been combined with the biomod canisters. The Skills system has been tossed out, although certain skills have been incorporated in biomods. You used to have to input keycodes by hand, but now all you have to do after learning a code is click o­n the door switch without inputting any numbers. Interestingly, though, is that the dialogue still reads out the code combinations, so perhaps at o­ne point they intended to leave that feature in from the original. o­ne of the great features of the original was the reams and reams of e-mails, news reports, datacubes, newspapers, and books. Much of that is gone, with newspapers gone completely, e-mails are now talking holograms, news reports are now read aloud with commercials, and books contain a lot less text. ItÂ's a shame, really. The text in DX1, just like in System Shock 2, were a fun diversion from the main game. The most annoying simplification is the unified ammo system. All weapons take the same ammo, whether it is the stun prod, the rocket launcher, or flamethrower. There is simply no reason to do this and is perhaps the most asinine aspect of the whole game.

Gone also is the location-based damage o­n the player. In DX1, damage was allocated to where JC got hit, and you could lose an arm or a leg and still live (which is odd, since if you lost a leg, you could still walk normally). This has been replaced with a single health bar o­n the HUD. Damage o­n enemy characters has been done in the same fashion, so even a headshot wonÂ't result in an instant kill. Another problem regarding weapons revolves around the non-lethal weapons: the stun prod and the boltcaster. The prod takes a while to knock out a victim, giving that opponent a chance to blow a hole in you with a shotgun. And although the boltcaster is touted as a non-lethal weapon, bodies will register as dead in your HUD. It is funny to see half dozen bolts stuck o­n the face of enemy, though.

One aspect of a non-lethal takedown is stealth. Stealth in DX:IW is rather hard to pull off. It is almost impossible to judge whether or not you are in an opponentÂ's line of sight. From a standpoint of audio stealth, crouching no longer is an effective way of hiding your movements. Crawling makes about as much noise as walking or running. It appears that the o­nly way to be truly stealthy is to use the three stealthy mods at the expense of other effective mods.

Even though I finished my first pass in less than eight hours, there are enough branching points to make you go back and play all over again. So, if you play start to finish for each of the four endings, you get 32 hours of gameplay, a good enough figure these days, but still feels short.

And now comes the hard question: was this game designed for the X-Box first or the PC? IÂ've come to the conclusion that this game was designed to be a console game from the outset. The large text, the simplification of items, the elimination of keypads, the menu controls, they all point to a game being specifically made for the console. PC gamers have every right to feel frustrated at playing second-fiddle to console-gamers, but itÂ's not like that this hasnÂ't happened before. Halo springs to mind. But, it was still possible for Ion Storm to do a different and better PC version; take a look at what Bioware did with the PC model of Knights of the Old Republic. There is talk that Ion Storm will be tweaking and improving the PC version through patches, but it will come too late to reverse the negative sentiment felt by DX1Â's loyal fans and the gaming community in general.

Â"We...are o­ne. We have grown, but there is still much to be done. Many that live in darkness that must be shown the way. For it is the dawning of a new day.Â" JC Denton/Helios, Deus Ex

Deus Ex: Invisible War is far from perfect. It has both technical issues and gameplay issues, possibly stemming from the focus o­n creating this game for the X-Box. Then there are design changes that just seem moronic, such as the ammunition. Is it enjoyable, though? IÂ'll honestly tell you that this is the most conflicted IÂ've ever felt about a game in my life. Part of DX:IWÂ's problem is that it has to follow DX1, a game that built an overwhelming fan base that are as quick to anger over change as fans of Battlestar Galactica. Another problem was that both versions of the game are essentially the same software by all accounts. However, even if there were no console version, people would still be disappointed in it.

So, can I recommend this game? If you liked the first game, then I suggest giving this game a shot, as it is a decent follow-on to the original. If you hated the demo, then I wouldnÂ't bother with this o­ne; youÂ'll just see more of the same problems you had before. If youÂ're sitting o­n the fence about this for the PC, or unsure if itÂ'll work o­n your rig, go out and grab it o­n the X-Box since itÂ's essentially the same game. It is a product that has its share of problems and wonÂ't be regarded as highly as its original in the annals of gamingdom, but it is still better than most games out there right now. o­ne thingÂ's for sure: it needs a sequel. As for me, IÂ'm going back and playing through again, just to see what I can find or do. IÂ'm wondering how much changes if I do everything the opposite of before. What impact will it have o­n how things lead up to the end? Or, like the man says:

Â"What are they gonna say about him? What are they gonna say? That he was a kind man? That he was a wise man? That he had plans? That he had wisdom? Bullsh*t man!Â" - Dennis Hopper, Apocalypse Now

- Ratboy