Posted on: May 14, 2025

vonndooom

Games: 207 Reviews: 1

Unplayable

Cannot figure out how to make this work. Unplayable as-is. You would think there would be at least the bare minimum of making the game compatible with modern computers. I guess not.

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Posted on: July 3, 2012

DCT

Games: 1316 Reviews: 10

Not awful, but it's something you may enjoy if you could look past all the flaws. If I could I would say it's a 3.5 at least

but sadly we either can give a whole number score here. Now I'm sure my review of this game will be buried by those who think that it's a good game because they managed to like it or feel that if it was not called Deus Ex it wouldn't have as much hate. - Personally I always hated that argument, Shakespeare once said "A rose by any other name would still smell just as sweet" well the same logic can be applied to something that is well, not that good. Now you can acuse me of being harsh on this game because it's not Deus Ex, but that is not the case I judge a game not by it's legacy or name but by it's own merits. For example I look at every Ultima game not as a Ultima but it's own entity. Plus I never played the original till after playing Invisible War and I have played this game many times since my first attempt on the original Xbox and time and time again, I tried to like it but for me I just couldn't get passed the glaring flaws in it, which is something that I could in Thief: Deadly Shadows. - So what makes this game so reviled? Well let's see here first off the game was quite buggy but I never hold that against anything most of the Elder Scrolls games, Ultimas, and even Vampire: the Masqurade - Bloodline which no one would argue isn't a good game were buggy, especially VTM not to mention those same games have some noticable flaws and short commings but the thing about those games is the gameplay more then makes up for their flaws and short comings which is more then I can say about this game. - So what are these things that I felt that really hurt this game? First off is the flow of the game, much like Thief: Deadly Shadows which uses the same engine, suffers from constant loading screens for each cell and mind you each cell is really small so you may find yourself taken out of the action more often then not way too often. But unlike Thief 3 the levels aren't that great, there not terrible there just well meh - There is some dumbing down of the game mechanics, granted this game was made with the original Xbox in mind so it's possible Ion Storm felt that they were making things more "console friendly" but even by console standered this is still some what the hell crap. Like for example all weapons use the same ammo type and stealth has become little more then just finding the nearest vent, now don't get me wrong stealth in Dues Ex 1 wasn't anything great either but it worked alot better then it does here, the levels are more straight forward and linear. Now I can forgive linearity when it's done right but here it's just feel well lazy. Maybe if your more inclined to forgive that kind of thing then hey who am I to judge or say your wrong? - Oh and there are no real RPG elements like Stats and XP in the first game again feels like they were going with what they thought console gamers would expect out of a first person game - The story isn't great, I personally found it hard to care about my character and the world I was in, the writing feels weak and it just felt like I couldn't get lost into it. - The UI is pretty bad - The AI some how seems to run between being on par with the first games(which wasn't very good to begin with) and just brain dead. - I could honestly go on and on about what I thought was wrong with this game and why I score it the way I did. But honestly I want to talk about the what I did like, I did have fun for awhile till I just couldn't get around all the things I mentioned and I don't doubt that if I could get passed the flaws then I could honestly say it's a decent game but I just can't. So in closing if your considering this game think very carefully, think over what I said I hated about this game and take the time to look at videos of the game in action on Youtube and see if you may be one of those who can see something worthwhile in this game.

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Posted on: November 14, 2023

pl1982

Verified owner

Games: 455 Reviews: 24

Good Game, But Not Great Sequel

Deus Ex - Invisible War is a good game overall. It is just not the game that everyone was expecting as the sequel to one of the greatest games of all time. Simplified systems, small world, lackluster music and overall "dumbing-down" led to a good game that still has part of the Deus Ex DNA, but a very diluted DNA. The writing though is still quite good and Sheldon Pacotti did a great job within the limits of the game world (all three endings of the original being made canon) that he had to work with, albeit with some oversights to the fates of certain characters. Overall, a good experience as a game, but a major disappointment to fans that were essentially expecting the greatness of a Half-Life 2, Baldur's Gate 2 and a Fallout 2 (for their respective originals), but was given a console dumbed-down "Deus Ex - Lite".

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Posted on: March 27, 2015

Karatebull

Games: 62 Reviews: 1

Great game despite not as epic as first

First of all let me say that, this game isn't as good as the first one BUT, this game stand on its own as a great game. It has its own style, and originality but most people were disappointed because it was considerably different from the first one. This game walks to a very different beat. It invites you to relax and slow down more, and even be hypnotized at its ambient music and techno environment drone sounds while you enjoy its futuristic design. It uses the story of the first game as a context but goes in a very different way. It's more of a darker, desolate, and having more monotone, less vibrant colors, reflective atmospheric game where you soak up the look of everything while you calmly go about your business than the more upbeat, colorful and action packed Deus Ex 1. The story also doesn't grip you in the same way as the one in the first where there was always a cliff hanger around the corner. It also doesn't do as great of a job building a climax as the story of the first game did. The voice acting also seems to be more relaxed and not as intensive as in the first game. I'm not gonna call it worse because I don't understand enough about acting, but most characters, with a few exceptions, just seemed to be on Prozac/ Zoloft while talking regardless of subject and had the same laid back cheerful tone to them. This doesn't make the game bad. It just makes it not as great as the first one where the voice-acting, in itself, really made the situation seem more serious in many occasions and also seemed more varied in tone. This game isn't exactly short but it is definitely not as long as the first one (or so it seemed to me). Also, one of the things this game didn't manage to replicate from the first one, was the sheer amount of new elements that would appear as the game developed. This game, however, still kicks Deus Ex Revolution's proverbial butt and still is one of my favorite games despite not being as imaginative or creative as the first.

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Posted on: August 30, 2020

GCC50

Verified owner

Games: 66 Reviews: 28

Not terrible but...

This is the 2003 sequel to Deus Ex 1. Where the first game was and still is a classic of story telling, hampered by some iffy combat and inventory management. This is a game with a paper thin story, the same iffy combat and almost no inventory to speak of. From the get go this game is handicapped by the decision to make this launch at the same time as the original Xbox. As a result of this a lot of the game is simply missing. The world building is reduced to playable hubs connected to a fast travel system. There is little in the way of exploration. There are very few side quests. And as I said, the story was paper thin. It is a continuation of the original and is recognisably Deus Ex. Its just that it is the diet coke version. Just 1 calorie and not deus ex enough. everything is just...stripped down to its basics. From inventory management to mods. Even the levels themselves are stripped down and small. Which is wildly at odds with the story which has some interesting elements to it that have big ideas. Shame it was watered down to fit into a tiny box. Not terrible but not great, but also not essential. It is quite average at the end.

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