Deus Ex 2: Invisible War

A lot of people will tell you that Deus Ex: Invisible War is a good game, but flawed, or a good game, but a bad Deus Ex game. Unfortunately, this really isn't the case. Invisible War, for all its good ideas, is a sloppy, poorly-written, buggy, unfun mess of a game that has few redeeming qualities. List time! 1) Environments are tiny. The original Deus Ex prided itself on huge sprawling environments that were puzzles unto themselves, requiring ingenuity and certain skills and augmentations to get around. In Invisible War, there are choices to make in exploring, but because the levels are tiny, they are superficial. A vent, a door, a window, etc. will always take you to the exact same place - the process for getting in doesn't change the way you approach a level. The end result is gameplay that lacks replayability and is ultimately pretty boring because any thrill of finding a hidden route is expunged the second you notice that you could have just, you know, used the door. 2) The shooting sucks. Deus Ex didn't have great gunplay, but Invisible War somehow makes it worse due to its general lack of location-based damage, guns that sound and feel terrible to use, and universal ammo that is almost always limited in quantity and punishes the use of more powerful weapons. As a shooter, Invisible War falls apart next to even significantly older titles. 3) It lacks the interesting character development of the first game. While the choice in augmentations is occasionally compelling, Invisible War suffers from the same problem its levels do - the difference between one augmentation and another is very superficial and doesn't really change the way you play. Picking augmentations isn't a matter of defining play-style and opening new possibilities - it's about "which of these options doesn't completely suck?" 4) The story and characters are terrible. The original Deus Ex had a decent story, but it was interesting characters and dialogue, as well as some modest choice & consequence that made it fun to experience on a narrative level. Invisible War has almost none of that. Characters are as flat and boring as they come, with one-dimensional motivations and personalities. Plot events are insanely predictable and obvious, although to be honest, especially the few twists throughout the game. Even though the game sports a faction system, this doesn't really influence anything - at most you'll have a different voice telling you to complete objective X or Y. Those factions themselves are cartoonish at best, and while there is a sense of moral ambiguity between them, none of them are likeable either. There are a few places where some Deus Ex calling cards appear, but even previous characters showing up from the first game can't do much to help the story - and many of those characters are actually undermined or cheapened for their use here, due to some radical personality shifts or inconsistent motivations from the first game. 5) The game is sloppy and janky in the worst of ways. Levels are tiny, but the game requires you to go between them constantly and load times are exceptionally long. The game is prone to random crashes or crashes during loads. Enemy AI is extremely poor. The physics engine is spastic and wonky. Unlike Thief: Deadly Shadows, which used the same tech, Invisible War is not suited to this engine at all. Simply put, even if all the right design elements were in place, it would not be fun to play. Ultimately, this game is only relevant as a historical curiosity and a handbook for how not to make a game. It's interesting as a morbid fascination, but not something I could recommend to anyone to actually enjoy and spend their time and money on.

More than a decade on, few games can live up to the almighty title that was/is Deus Ex. This was a game that broke all boundaries as to what a game could be and in many ways it has never been matched, let alone surpassed. There are many reasons why there can only be one Deus Ex, the market for one has emerged with a streamlined gamer thrill approach, a must for gamers who have have less time and more competition for their dollar than ever before. Deus Ex is a game of pure choice and no hand-holding is allowed..a far cry from the on rails shooters that scream for the mass market of multi platform, multi aged, multi sexed gamer of 2012. In many ways the moment DX landed its time was already past and whilst there have been many pretenders since none have come close, most have never tried. Invisible War was born into this new landscape, forget that it was already the sequel to one of the greatest games of all time, this was a game born in a new age and it was always going to be a different beast but that does not mean it is not worth your time. DXIW is true to the RPG roots of it predecessor, yes the are cut back to a more bare bones approach. In some instances this would be called cutting the fat and in some ways it does a good job of taking the more tiresome aspects of inventory and stat management out of the players hands. DXIW also reduces the number of paths and choices though in many ways the choices left have (at least in part) more meaningful consequences than the original. One thing DXIW does very well is stay true to the literature of DX, and one can become equally lost in a mix of PK Dick / Orwellian type escapism. The game is not pretty by standards of the day but nor was the original ground breaking when it was released in that regard. It still maintains enough of a visual feast to transport you to its futuristic setting. In closing DXIW is no DX, but then again it never claims to be. DXIW does offer choice and it does offer story that provided this gamer with multiple playthroughs over the years. Will we be playing this game in 10 years time? Not sure...Will we be playing its forebear in another 10? Yes I think so. DXIW is not a classic like the original but it is a game that can and should be enjoyed for what it is, an interesting, entertaining continuation of gaming history. I do only hope that with the span of years that have passed since this game was released to loud and largely negative criticism - because it was not DX all over again - it can now be enjoyed for what it is and not what the market claimed it should have been.

The Deus Ex fanatics love to drag this game through the mud. It doesn't deserve that. I've played through IW 3 times and thoroughly enjoyed it each and every time. No, it's not as deep or layered as the original but it's still plenty fun. I love the rocket launcher and the fact you can fire and follow the rocket into your target. I can remember LMAO on numerous occasions with that rocket launcher. It actually makes the game a bit too easy so it's good you don't end up with it until close to the end. IW doesn't deserve the hate it gets and, while it may not be as good as the original, it is very good. If you get it on sale at GOG what have you got to lose?

I bought this game a few years back, coming out of Deus Ex 1 as a hard-core fan i expected something good, i was so very wrong, this game does NOT hold up as a sequel, but that should in no way scare you away, if you bought and enjoyed the third game, then you will most likely enjoy this one as well, although this game is more of a "shooter" to me than a true RPG experience, but the element is still "there" its just hard to notice, after a while you'll start enjoying this game for what it is, this game is not broken in any way, its just... not Deus Ex, but a decent shooter with RPG elements, sure, pick it up if you enjoyed the third game, or just want to play a dark game thats a shitty sequel to a master-piece of a game.

My main issue was getting it to run on modern hardware/software. I don't care if it's worse than the original or better, this game is literally 89p and it's better than almost 95% of Ubisoft's modern catalogue. It's a solid game that i have enjoyed playing for 15 hours.