Review RPGDot is not impressed by Deus Ex: IW

[Spazmo]

Tags: Deus Ex; Ion Storm

<a href="http://www.rpgdot.com">RPGDot</a> have put up a <a href=http://www.rpgdot.com/index.php?hsaction=10053&ID=834>review</a> of <a href=http://www.ionstorm.com>Ion Storm</a>'s latest RPG-ish FPS <a href=http://www.deusex.com>Deus Ex: Invisible War</a>. Well, we normally don't care about DX games, but we love RPGDot, so what the heck. <b>Dhruin</b> wasn't impressed at all and DX:IW scores <b>69%</b>.
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<blockquote>DX:IW is largely based around “hub” levels. Major levels such as Upper and Lower Seattle are central locations from which the player has reasonable freedom to travel to connected areas as they wish to explore or pursue quests. These areas are mostly dark and gritty urban sci-fi environments that succeed in creating a suitable atmosphere. Unfortunately they’re generally smaller than in Deus Ex and have a closed-in, claustrophobic feel. Seattle doesn’t so much feel like a city as a single shopping mall and one slum block. Even more annoying is the constant loading: walking across Seattle for a quest may entail four or five loads as you enter the different areas.
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The hub design together with the different factions does provide some degree of non-linearity (and certainly more than Deus Ex) but there’s not a lot of depth to it. Not too far into the game I was ordered by one faction to hire a helicopter and fly to a weapons plant to investigate a matter. A few minutes later the main rival faction contacted me with a similar request (albeit with different motivations). There’s a veneer of freedom but ultimately it funnels the player to the same spot.</blockquote>
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I think there's something missing from Deus Ex's tagline: "Real choices. Real consequences. But we make the choices for you."

 

[Mr. Teatime]

The trouble with the game is that there is NO choice. It's worse than a lot of the most basic RPGs. You can do what you want in the game, literally, and the game doesn't care or have any consequences. Kill everyone. Kill only certain factions. They all forgive you. Every single quest is accessable to every single character type. The game sucks, and is clear that it was destroyed for the xbox to handle it, both hardware -wise and gameplay-wise. I hope the same doesn't happen to theif 3.

 

[dipdipdip]

Yup, yup, yup. You speak the truth. I feel bad for those who still do believe that the game is "unparalleled in its choice-making and open-endedness" and is "infinitely replayable." It's going to hit them hard when the Illusion fades, and they do realize what a tiny, shallow game they're stuck with.

 

[Jinsai]

Bad Demo

I really wanted to like this game, especially since Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 were delayed and Fallout 3 is, well, I'm going to start crying again if I say it.

Anyhow, I didn't think Deus Ex 1 was all that great -- sort of a dumber version of System Shock crossed with a dumber version of the X-files -- but it was enjoyable.

The demo for Deus Ex: Invisible War completely turned me off to the game in every respect. The engine "feels" weird. The much-lauded physics suck -- bump into a presumably heavy steel barrel and watch it bounce away. Or pick said barrel up and throw it 50' into the sky. The interface sucks. The inventory sucks. And it runs slow on every machine.

The dialogue with the guard ("Yeah, I guess you're right") was so unbelievably bad I thought it must be tongue-in-cheek. Nope. The AI is terrible, and the game even decided to initiate a "conversation" (you know, the kind that can't be avoided) when I was on one side of a wall and the NPC was on the other.

But of course, the thing that really pushed me over the edge was when I walked into the bar and the bartender tells me they have a gizmo that's going to disable all of my weapons. Boy, that's sure interactive and real. Because you know the mobsters with the jet fighter parked in their back yard wouldn't have those all over the place, right? Guh.

Seriously disappointing.

 

[Flink]

I quite agree about Dues Ex 1 not being that great either. I remember everyone telling me: "If you liked System Shock 2, you'll love Dues Ex"

Being a System Shock fan, I ran out and bought it and was very disapointed that it actually took several steps back. In the end I didn't even finish it and I still feel that SS2 is indeed a much, much better game then Dues Ex ever was.

 

[Montez]

I'm playing it now, about 1-2 hours into it. It's a fun game, but all of the above criticisms are true. It really was "dumbed down for the console kiddies". Considering that DX1 wasn't that complex it's really saying a lot.

 

[cneal]

I was looking forward to this game. I enjoyed DeusEx1 but unfortuently, the DX2 demo never worked. I posted a short review at my personal website (which nobody reads anyway, more ranting than anything else) http://home.san.rr.com/cneal92/ Anyway, loosing the freedom of movement sounds like a big killer. I was a fan of being able to go around the town areas, shooting up everything and then replaying it and using stealth throughout the game. It's what made the game fun. But now with these hubs and loading time, I doubt it is anything like the original oh well

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, Deus Ex 2 was blowtastic. But then again, why is an RPG site reviewing FPS? heh. Nothing RPG about the DEx series.

I played the first because I was a big fan of System Shock 1, I wanted to see if it was a cool cyberpunk-ish fun FPS. Instead I got lukewarm semi-Matrix (which sucks) cyberflunk boring crap. All Deus Ex really has is dialog and a skill "system", but that doesnt really make it an RPG, similiar to how having stats in a game doesnt make it an RPG.

 

[Sol Invictus]

And all the maps are like microcosms. They're just too god damn small (plus there's too few locations) and we're expected to believe that it takes place all over the world?

 

[Shevek]

I personally loved the original Deus Ex. Sure, it was no rpg but it was an excellent game nonetheless. You didnt have much freedom story wise (until the end) but the game made sure to allow players some freedom in how objectives were realized within missions. The sequel, however, is quite disappointing. I was hoping that DX:IW would bring greater realism, larger levels, better character development, etc. Instead, they went the other way. The dumbed character development, the lack of an expanding/contracting crosshair, the loss of locational damage (both on you and enemies), the claustrophobic levels, the poor level design (with respect to including vents everywhere and other woes), the less sophisticated storytelling (probably a product of the shorter game length) and a host of other issues really killed DX:IW for me. I hope they do better with DX3 but somehow I doubt it.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

I'm with Shevek. I loved the first game. Hell, I still fire it up from time to time and play. It was a good game and did do a wonderful job of allowing you different ways to achieve a goal. So what that it was linear? It still had the replay value. What I was hoping for in the sequel however, was the same gameplay with a non-linear story. That had always been my wish. I didn't even make it all the way through the demo. It sucked ass and I have no desire to play IW. What a disappointment.

 

[voodoo1man]

I think the question everyone should be asking now is what is going to happen to Thief 3.

 

[Mr. Teatime]

I think the question everyone should be asking now is what is going to happen to Thief 3.

I have read a dev quote saying they are making it for the PC, then porting it to the xbox, which is the complete opposite of what happened to DXIW. However given the amount of shit and false hype Ion Storm gave us about IW I don't trust them until I play the final game.

 

[Dhruin]

That would be interesting. I thought it used the same engine technology so I assumed they'd develop that simultaneously for both games.

 

[Mr. Teatime]

That would be interesting. I thought it used the same engine technology so I assumed they'd develop that simultaneously for both games.

It's not a problem inherant in the Unreal engine: Unreal 2 had large outdoor environments. It was solely due to the xbox that the maps were so small - the devs have said so themselves ('we wished the xbox had 128mb RAM)').