I don't know why people got this game expecting "grand theft auto in the future". It's like buying a Dungeons and Dragons game and expecting "grand theft auto in the past". Cyberpunk 2020 was an RPG about being a smart criminal who has bigger things to do than street crime. Surprise we got an RPG about being a smart criminal who has bigger things to do than street crime. People complain the wanted system is broken, why are you fighting with the cops? That won't make you any eddies. I'm playing the game like an RPG and enjoying it quite the bit, and maybe it's because I have a beast of a computer but I so far have only gotten visual bug, no crashes and nothing else serious. The game has great stealth gameplay for an open-world RPG, I really enjoy the hacking aspect, gunplay is great but it's an RPG so you actually have to level your skill with weapons before it gets great (I know, an RPG expecting your character's stats to matter, insane right?). I'm not even close to done with the game, but putting this partial review up early to counteract the "iTs nOt gTa" crowd. It's not GTA, and thank god for that.
This game gets a bad reputation for following the amazing act that was Deus Ex, but honestly it's way better than Human Revolution. Sure HR has more open levels and prettier graphics (though the lighting is actually worse because early 2000's fully rendered shadows were just cool) but all that's in exchange for a stepping back of the simulation systems that made Deus Ex what it was (and yes, they were present in IW). Human Revolution was designed to take some of the simulation elements out where as Invisible War is very clearly a Immersive Sim on full display. Also the plot in Invisible War is far stronger than HR living up to the ideas and intents in the original Deus Ex with twists and turns and dark secret societies based in human culture. Deciding the final fate of the Dentons was far more satisfying than the forgettable ending of HR. If HR is remembered well, frankly so too should this. Neither of them fill the massive shoes of the original Deus Ex, but both are good games in their own right. Invisible War is a good Deus Ex game, and a good Immersive Sim which makes it a better game than 90% of games out there.
This game is a classic for a reason, the gameplay is amazing and really lets you come up with some absolutely broken and fun strategies, which you'll need because those tranq darts aren't going to do what you think they will. The soundtrack is catchy and has tracks I'll come back to just for a listen. Most importantly the story is mind bending and an utter joy to experience, and every year it proves it's self more relevant from 9/11 to the Corona virus. I, for one, welcome our MJ-12 overlords.
Some people want to play a totally realistic simluation where they can't creatively overpower the system and do insane things. These people aren't fun. Morrowind was made for fun people. If you want to be a swordsman or an axe guy running around all day swinging your pathetic mortal weapons and doing pitiful damage this isn't the game for you. If you want to drink potions of foritfy agility until you can see the molecular vibrations of the galaxy and then fly around the world at mach speed completing quests like the Flash while wearing armor that makes you impossible to physically hit then this is very much the game for you. Balance is fine, even important in multiplayer games, but in a single player power fantasy like an RPG balance is honestly more a design choice. Morrowind isn't balanced, it isn't fair, so you shouldn't play fair, you should use every dirty trick you can imagine (trust me, the game will). Most importantly in order to exploit Morrowind properly you must explore and learn about it's world, which is what at it's core what the game is all about. All the crazy exploits and fun things you can do aside this game also has a very interesting and powerful story to tell about belief and the price of imortality, it's a subtle story and you have to know who to ask to find it, but it's there and it's great. In closing I'd like to note that I first played Morrowind in 2017, so this isn't a review tinted with nostalgia, I love this game for what it is even today in the modern age of flashy graphics and endless tutorials. Morrowind is a great game that has given me hundreds of hours of enjoyment, and will give me hundreds more in the future I have no doubt.
This game holds up very well today in terms of design. The core of the game is you are a former Imperial who has joined the Rebellion and is going on missions for them, with the basic structure of each level being complete objectives and escape the level via ship (generally). The objectives are what really stand out for a game of the time when compared to something like DOOM where the only objective in each level was to find secrets and push a button at the end. The objectives make the missions feel interesting and lets them tell their own story. There is no save feature and the only way to advance is to clear the level in the alloted lives (usually 3 with 1 hidden in the level). It provides a strong challenge on medium but it's by no measure impossible. If you're looking for an old school FPS with a strong Star Wars theme you really can't do better than this. Plus it was nice to do such amazing things without the help of the Force (though later games do make the lead character a Jedi). Kyle the former Imeprial turned Rebel is a cool character.
