Deus Ex 2: Invisible War

The Gamers™ didn't give the game credit where it's due. They judged the game for what it wasn't instead of what it is. Deus Ex: IW didn't age as badly as it's predecessor so it was easier for me to get into. The story is well written with choices and consequences. The levels are well crafted with flexible gameplay. The graphics still looks good and the soundtrack is very atmospheric (The main theme 🔥). I found the very game very immersive. The load times were quite annoying but apart from that I enjoyed the experience.

I had this game since I was 8 on my original Xbox. I remember when me and my Step-dad picked it out of the bargain bin for $2 at Hollywood Video's gamestore at the time and when we played it, I was nothing but confused and had a hardtime playing it due to its complexity. Therefore, I never touched it again. However, the year is now 2025 and the game was free on Prime Gaming so I decided to give it another go. Holy hell, this game was definitely not made for children. Back then, it was Star Wars Battlefront 2 and Halo. But I see why this game got the high rating it did before. The Stealth mechanics, being able to do as you please, and you can even do what skyrim wont let you do without mods (if you know what I mean). I definitely didn't miss out but I sure am glad I decided to come back and had some closure on how this game is. Overall, Its a good game with a good story with politics that holds up to today. If you're iffy on playing this, It is free on Prime Gaming as I'm writing this and it's definitely better than it looks.

I WASTED THE PAST TWO HOURS, USING A DOZEN DIFFERENT TUTORIALS. THE GAME DOES NOT RUN AT ALL. Going to have to set up a virtual machine.

This isn't an overly bad game, merely a disappointing one. The story is alright, the world has an interesting feel and shows the ramifications of the first game. There are some unanswered questions like why the Alien Clones from the first game that were no better than mindless animals suddenly sentient or why the leaders of this big conspiracy thought it prudent to hide in a sealed container where anyone from the outside can flood it with lethal radiation with the touch of a button. Overall a B- story. Needs work but still serviceable. Where this game fails is the combat or the "Why" factors. Why does this game tote the ability to go in guns blazing if you can't take a hit? Why do they keep sticking you in situations where stealth isn't an option yet stick you against power suit enemies that are nearly indestructible? Why are melee attacks nearly useless despite the wide variety of melee weapons? And why of WHY is ammo universal, hard to come back and every weapon eats it up like it was going out of style. I would have liked Invisible Wars, but the game was just too terrible.

For me, Invisible War was bounds better than Deus Ex. Not that the latter was a bad game by any means, but IW improves on it in almost every aspect. More lively maps, more detailed factions, more interesting side-quests, more engaging plot, more options in gameplay, more balanced mechanics. People are welcome to their own opinions, but I think most of the negatives are positives. The "simplified" controls are more intuitive. The smaller maps are more intimate, better-designed and take after other immersive sims. Load times were almost a non-issue. The inventory requires intelligent decisions without making gameplay a chore. The augmentations are more useful. The stealth gameplay isn't broken anymore. The lack of a skill system improves the flow of gameplay and offers more choices from the start without railroading you into one playstyle half the game based on decisions you make before you understand what you're doing. The graphics - not that big a deal - were better, with more realistic animations and more detailed environments. The shorter length prevents it from dragging on too long. The less-dreary atmosphere hooked me. In the end, Invisible War is a well-made game. It's not a hodgepodge of mechanics. It feels intentional, intelligent, and - yes - accessible. It's a refinement of mechanics, with a tighter focus, a tighter construction. It's easy to see why later Deus Ex games would iterate on what's seen here, because at the end of the day it's still Deus Ex...just better.