Deus Ex 2: Invisible War

I'm not doing an in-depth review of Deus Ex - Invisible War, I just wanted to say that it's actually a very enjoyable game. It simply isn't very much like Deus Ex 1. It has a lot going for it, and while I consider DX1 one of the best games of all time, I have actually played through DX2 a couple of times. Try it, it's a good'un.

This game isn't awful. Harvey Smith was the production manager on this game, just as he was for the original, but some things had changed - with a huge demand for first-person shooters instead of immersive RPGs, they made this game in the hopes that it would garner to a larger audience. In that respect, it succeeded. DX:IW is a good first person shooter. That's about it. It just can't compare to the original. Not to mention, it under-uses the DX universe and, if I remember correctly, has quite a few bugs. Still worth it if the price is right, and you absolutely have to get more DX

Whereas I loved every second of the original Deus Ex, this dumbed-down sequel was an extreme disappointment. Long and frequent loads, cramped environments, lackluster cast of characters, disappointing finale, uninteresting "revelations". Just ignore this game and go back to Deus Ex GOTY or forward to Human Revolution.

I've seen so many negative reviews since it came out in 04. Yet, playing it now with the new graphic up dates make this game amazing. Just as good as deus ex but along the same story lines. I believe the controls aren't as good but you get used to it. The best part of this game is Apartment and office building exploring. Also, the remote cam and remote rockets make this game super fun.

I try not to criticize stuff that's trying something new purely because it is different, even if it's not what I expected. It's extremely important to keep innovating and I am a firm believer in the concept that video game developers should not give us what we want, but what we don't know we need. So it is absolutely not the fact that it is different that bothers me here. It's the fact that they're going in the wrong direction. It greatly streamlines and simplifies some of the more complex aspects of the first one, leading to substantially less choices for the player, taking away a lot of what we love the most. I get it; I'm sure there were a lot of people who felt that the first one was simply overwhelming. It's not for everyone. Honestly, it’d be fine to make a version of this that was simplified for people who want that, similar to how some tough games have difficulty settings where the easiest really coddles players, so that people who aren't yet ready for the regular experience can play it. And I can appreciate that maybe it would have been difficult to make this contain both of these versions. If that is the case then I kind of wish that they had just not made it at all. Human Revolution does retain some of the streamlining, but it gets much closer to the original, and is honestly probably right there in the Goldilocks zone, though I do prefer the original. Augmentations are changed to where it feels way less final when you make a specific decision. The inventory no longer distinguishes between whether something you're carrying is tiny, huge or anywhere in between. In the first one if you want to carry a ton of tiny little things, like chocolate bars and soda cans, you can. If you want to carry a rocket launcher, you have to make sure you have room for that. Not so here. You can also only carry a very small number of items and it just doesn't feel like it's forcing you to very carefully choose what to carry and what to leave as much as almost kneecapping you.