The thing that really upset me about the game wasn't so much content itself but after spending hours getting up to the abandoned Versa-Life base and having fun doing it, the game decided to crash randomly and tanked my saves making it impossible to reload them and actually finish the game. I considered scooping up saves from the internet to just get back to that point but it became a non-solution when nothing quite matched the style of play I was doing for it.

There is a very specific bug that I think is related to a memory leak where after you activate the generator you have a limited amount of time to get out of the basement before the game crashes. I learned this the hard way and fortunately was able to find a way to escape without having to backtrack to an older save. Once you get to the Versalife basement, it's a good idea to do everything you want to do there before activating the generator.

I went into IW expecting something like the first game, and was horribly disappointed. De gustibus non disputandum est. ;)

The blurb on Gog says "travel the globe", but nothing specific about London, and I don't recall there being a mention on the original box (but it was a long time ago and I have long lost it, so perhaps there was) — why London?

I'm not sure why you thought the original game maps were barren (mileages differ), but perhaps you haven't played all the way through the game? I found the French levels the best.

Secondly, there are at least two (free) modifications that can be played to the original. I have begun Revision, which is included with the purchase here at Gog, and I am impressed at the level of detail and enthusiastic enhancements evident in its construction, which has increased the volume of play in almost every conceivable manner. (I have not completed Revision yet, though, so I cannot give a full review.) There is also a fan-made mod called GMDX which I haven't attempted to play as yet, but that has equally enthusiastic players extolling its virtues here. I would encourage you to replay the original in these alternate formats.

Maybe the description varies by region, but for me I can still see where it reads "Globe-hop to real world locations such as Seattle, London, and Cairo." It isn't EXPLICIT about London, but IMO it's implicit enough to be misleading.

I played the entire DE1 game and enjoyed it - though not as much as IW - and the levels definitely felt to me more barren. Not so barren it detracted from the game, but it still looks sparse. I have no hankering to replay it any time soon, but if I ever beat the other immersive sims and want to play another, I'll do it with mods.

You have strange taste. Invisible War is almost universally regarded as a terrible sequel. It's Deus Ex simplified for console fags. Smaller, weaker levels, boring plot, bad weapons that all use the same type of ammo, crappier skill tree, weird-looking character models, bland soundtrack...just a garbage follow-up to one of the best games ever made.