Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Immersive"

Story: while the story is not the most original out there it does a perfect job at applying old ideas on a very possible future. In a not so distant future, where corporations run the world and private military corporation do their biding, humans can augment their bodies with cybernetic implants. The story is concentrated around this theme and puts you in the role of Adam Jensen the head of security of a major corporation. After a terrorist attack in which his girlfriend is killed and he is left for dead, he gets augmented and begins looking for those responsible. While this is seems simple enough as you play you find yourself in the middle a intriguing net of lies, treason and shadow warfare. nothing is as it seems and in the end you learn the incontestable truth the "everybody lies".

Gameplay: after experiencing most of what the game has to offer i have divided the gameplay into 4 categories: hacker, explorer, stealth specialist and combat specialist. For almost all main missions, and all side mission any of the above types can be used to reach the same outcome. They can either be combined or you can play almost all the game as only one of them.

The Hacker uses the hack ability to open doors, safes, laser grids, disable turrets and robots or to turn them against their enemies. They still rely on stealth but if they can hack a terminal they don't have to take the long way around.

The Explorer is a born pacifist that relies on finding that one hidden path that takes you around danger. You spend most of the time in vents and rarely see other enemies. They still rely on stealth to get around in some cases but most of the time they are invisible to enemies.

The Stealth Specialist plays as if you were in Splinter Cell or Thief. You take cover behind boxes or corners, learn the guards movement and the silently take them out or sneak past them. Radar and cloak are your best friends.

The Combat Specialist kills everything that moves. Still uses a lot of cover but this time alarms will go on. While combat is very well designed and very satisfying, ammo is sometimes hard to find and you feel like a bad-a** only in late game where you have powerful weapons and the appropriate upgrades.

Since you have the freedom to play however you want, and there are so many possibilities when combining all of them each solution for a mission will really feel like your own. It's true that on some occasion you are forced into fewer options and that is were you really need to combine the types to be effective.

Quests: main missions are standard. they respect the plot and bring new elements to the story and drive it forward. This does not mean that they are linear, in fact main missions are very well designed and are incredible fun to play. Of course, there are several bosses which you have to fight, but they are normal to kill even if you have never fired a gun until you reach them. Side mission are great, fun, interesting and varied and only help to make the universe of Deus Ex more enjoyable and believable.

Level Design: it's been a long time since developers have actually thought about different ways to create levels that test your ingenuity and are fun to play. Even after 20 hours into the game you will still find levels with unique design and new path to use (balconies, thin walls, sewers, ramps and so on). Each new mission or location is original and has specif aspects (back streets, rooftops, sewers etc.) that will always tempt you to explore new possibilities. Secret areas around explorable areas and in mission are a blast to find, some holing unique and rare rewards along some experience.

Graphics: the graphics engine is not the best out there, but this doesn't mean that the games does not look great. Facial animations and some cut scenes look a little to rigid and robotic but aside from this small problems the game looks great. The colors and textures are very will selected and do a wonderful job at depicting the futuristic renaissance of human kind. The color pallet stays true to the original Deus Ex game and the dominating combination of golden yellow and gray perfectly fit in the steam punk universe. Weapons, robots, and clothing look incredible and will always catch your attention. After the first 2-3 hours into the game the small flaws will no longer bother you and you will completely be absorbed into the Deus Ex universe.

Sounds: great music always accompanies you in your adventure. Weapons sounds are great as well as they are for falling, knocking things around and melee knockdowns. The only problem is the voice of the main character that sound so unnatural and the repetitive lines you will hear when talking to some random NPC's. But as with the graphics these minor problem you seem in-existent after a few hours.

Overall: there are o lot of great things to say about the this game, but they are better experienced on your own. While there are a few little flaws you might notice this game is actually worth the money. The gameplay is satisfying and can be adapted on the fly to fit the situation and your favored playing type. The multitude of paths and way to finish missions give a great amount of satisfaction and great replay value. Characters have strong personalities and there are even ways to persuade them into changing the obvious outcome of the discussions. Some subtle possibilities wait for your discovery, as you can change some subplots according to you action. While the original game has long loading times, the latest patch will fix that, as well as some minor control problems you might encounter. Overall Deus Ex provides an original experience that no gamer should miss. It provides 4 distinct approaches to almost all situations and a lot of satisfaction in gamplay. This game has been developed to fit the great standards of the original Deus Ex and it does not disappoint.