Three years after the release of the now legendary Deus Ex, Eidos and Ion Storm have teamed up again to bring choice back to gaming. Deus Ex: Invisible War's alternate routes, revamped graphics, updated AI, and improved accessibility will provide a strong draw for fans of the original. The classic conspiracy theory style of the story also seems to be making a strong comeback, which will be a welcome addition to a title that seemed to get little attention at this year's E3.
According to Eidos' press release, "In Deus Ex: Invisible War players create a compelling alter ego through the selection of futuristic bio-tech modifications, powerful weapons and hundreds of useful objects. As in the revolutionary Deus Ex game, character choices, weapons and object use work in combination with a richly interactive world to give players freedom to solve game problems the way they want to, rather than the way the designers want them to. Gamers can fight, sneak, talk or hack your way past any problem encountered and every situation can be dealt with in a variety of ways."
This brings us to the real issues at hand. The genre of first person shooters has broadened with online multiplayer environments and various random innovations. Out of all the options presented with these types of games, the one that is almost always missing is non-linear gameplay. Blasting your way through level after level has long been a standard in this game type. Deus Ex changed a lot about the way people viewed first person shooters by adding depth to the storyline and helping along the idea of a game with more than one route.
Deus Ex: Invisible War promises even more complexity than its predecessor, and from what was displayed at this year's E3, the promises have been met well. A simple physics engine allows much better interaction with your environment, including swinging real-time light sources and more complex interaction with objects. In the face of such games as Doom 3 and Half Life 2, Deus Ex's graphics and interaction systems seem somewhat bland, but I feel the choices involved in the game more than make up for it.
The simple, three-level demo was aimed at showing off all of the new choices, as well as some of the little gimmicks of the game. Hacking locks is as easy as the push of a button, and you're equipped with more than just devices to handle the task. The new system allows you certain fully functional abilities for each level. This is a big change from the original because the skill system has been removed entirely here. Basically if you have an ability, you will be able to use it to its fullest without practicing. I'm excited at the prospect of being able to "see through walls, run faster than cars, leap 40 ft in the air, regenerate critical body damage and become radar invisible to your foes." Aside from these additions, most of the gameplay remains much the same, with robots that require EMP weapons to damage them and humans being just as fleshy and destructible as before.
It seems like Eidos is stretching a little when they try to tout Deus Ex 2 as a groundbreaking title. Considering it had less space in their booth than Backyard Wrestling, I think they've accepted that the game will sell itself mostly to players of the original title. While this is very likely, I personally enjoyed it quite a bit and will always love the unique aspects of the series as it continues to break the mold of FPS games. The responsive plot branches and ability to go through the game without killing anyone should make Deus Ex: Invisible War a great game for a wide variety of players.
