Deus Ex™ GOTY Edition

I remember seeing a feature on this from a gaming magazine back in the late 90s. It was about this sci-fi spy game and it had Warren Spectors name attached to it which was something because he helped create quite a few great games in the past such as system shock and Ultima underworld. This game was going to use the unreal engine and the images all looked pretty fancy. When I finally got my copy it was amazing to be able to finally play it. The game ran fairly well on my top of the line system back in the day and I remember not knowing what to really expect. Deus Ex has a lot of themes going on in it, and the biggest one revolves around conspiracy theories which feeds into a lot of urban myths. This is a really slick approach and slightly unnerving because of how some of the games events shadow our present. I think it was slick how they chose to release the game in the year 2000. Anyhow the game takes place in 2052 and the world is amidst a pandemic with a disease known as the Gray death which is caused by a nano-virus. The villains are pretty much revealed in the beginning of the games introduction which was a strange choice looking back, but it's these kind of things that show up and really keep the player guessing what might happen next. This is repeated in the wide array of gameplay styles you can choose which really lets the player role play however they wanted. The games protagonist is named JC Denton and his story is also interesting and completely flips the players perspective when they find out Jcs real past. This type of gameplay is creative and no doubt influenced many future game developers as a standard. I think one of the things that also they should be commended for is the fact they were able to cram this huge game onto a cd-rom. If you have not played Deus Ex and want to play a RPG then you can't do much better than this masterpiece.

This is one of the games that made history. For RPG/FPP/Cyberpunk fans.

Best. Game. Ever. Made.

I was too young to play Deus Ex when it first came out, but I found it at a rummage sale a few years back, and it was the best money I ever spent. I had college applications to fill out, but I was so sucked in by the web of intrigue and action that I put them off for a dangerously long time. That's how good this game is. Even now, 11-12 years after release, the multiple choices and deep storyline can still drag you in.

Deus Ex is a work of fiction that employs a new interactive method of storytelling combining written word, spoken word, visual input, and an integrated system for interactivity. It employs the venerable but not outdated method of involving the user by having the protagonist portrayed as a "blank." What that means is that the main character, JC Denton, doesn't show emotion, allowing the person utilizing the fiction to project their own emotions onto him. It has a strong narrative thread in which the individual situations can be solved in many different ways, but the overall events remain the same, implying a kind of limited situational fatalism. However, at the climax the outcome is determined purely by freewill, although that freewill is limited. This is just a small shadow of the deep philosophical background of the story. The climax, in which freewill is paramount, is not just a physical clash but an intellectual one in which a mimetic war finally reaches an apex. Finally, it has a Hemmingway-like sprinkling of New Testament Christian symbolism. I guess I should also mention that it's told in a combination of third person and first person, both singular, with an objective style that features an implied deep penetration of a limited nature. Further, it's a video game.