Deus Ex: Invisible War Impressions

[thrAsher]

I posted this in another thread, but thought I'd start my own here in General Discussion.

I played for about 4 hours last night, and have to say I'm impressed. While the graphics didn't knock me out or anything, the world of the game absolutely did. From the get-go you are stuck in a situation where you don't know who is looking out for you, who is manipulating who and so on.

You can pick up, push, and operate just about everything you can target. Turn on sinks, flush toilets - heck, in the first 20 minutes I was able to play a little hoop, although I couldn't make a single shot (and didn't spend much time as things were, well, gettin' a little hairy about then...you'll see).

Biomods are very cool and it was hard for me to pick what type of character I wanted to be, as biomods determine whether you are stealthy, beefy, or a mixture. I was frustrated w/ the HUD, but after an hour or so I finally took a minute to find the transparency setting for it, and Oila! Made for a much better experience.

The sound in the game is great. All kinds of background stuff going on - conversations being the best. I'm 1/100th of the way through the game, and have already encountered some hilarious discussions. Missions are so easy to come by, and so varied from the get go, that it can be a little daunting. Weapons are all very different, but very interesting. Here, again, you will find it difficult to decide what you want to take w/ you, as you can only hold X number of items in your inventory (until you get the strength biomod). And weapons are capable of being modded, too. Up to two mods per weapon. These range from silencers to ammo savers, ammo being universal between all weapons.

I have to note that the interface itself is slick and fluid. X takes you to your inventory, where you can scroll between it and your biomods, notes, maps, goals... Very nice work here.

Well, I kinda rambled on there, but if you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

Really intriguing, fun game so far. Great freedom to do exactly as you desire, and an interesting blend of FPS and RPG.

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW***

[Brevity]

Well thats good stuff. I think I might have to check this out. If I cant get to it till later and you are finnished early I call first trade on your copy man. hehe Anyway here are a few questions.

First as far as controls go can you adjust many things?
Is there much tie in to the first game, or do you know yet?
Where did you get your copy and at what price?
How was the inst. book for the game? Beefy and helpful or slim and sucky?
Thanks

[thrAsher]

Originally posted by Brevity
Well thats good stuff. I think I might have to check this out. If I cant get to it till later and you are finnished early I call first trade on your copy man. hehe Anyway here are a few questions.
That could be a while. I can see playing this a couple times through just to try different approaches. I'm going stealth, playing the male character, so next time it's Alex D, booty-kicking beyotch!


First as far as controls go can you adjust many things?
I'm using the default control setup, but you can at least choose from a variety of different schemes. Not sure if you can set each button, though.


Is there much tie in to the first game, or do you know yet?
Where did you get your copy and at what price?
How was the inst. book for the game? Beefy and helpful or slim and sucky?
Thanks
A) As far as I can tell it does. You're supposed to meet up w/ the main character from the first at some point. Basically, it's 20 years after the first, and bio-modification is burgeoning amongst the 'powers' of the day as they use it to bolster their respective military's strengths. I never played the first, so I'm sure I'm missing some allusions to it.

B)Got it at Gamestop for a cool $50 + tax.

C) Uh, just right. Not too much info, so you have to learn a bit along the way, but not too vague either. Really, after an hour or so of play, everything is just very intuitive. No real guesswork. Designers did a nice job of putting it together to where really you spend more time thinking about who to help out, how to go about a mission, etc. Very simple, slick interface.

Another thing I'd like to note is just how cool the AI can be. I was trying to sneak past these two soldiers of The Order at one point, and turned on my bio-invisibility mod. Well, they still heard me, and came looking for me (didn't tip-toe into the room, I guess). Lots of good taunts here like, "Someone thinks they're sneaky" and such. So, I wasn't sure how I was gonna get around them, and I hid under a desk. Well, my biocells ran dry, so I was suddenly fully visible. They did not see me, though, but continued looking around for me. Well, I snuck out around the desk out of their view, armed my pistol, and popped up with a couple of head shots to each of 'em. Not how I planned to go about it, but the AI turned my plans around immediately.

[Brevity]

Good stuff thanks.

[Gosby]

deus ex 2 is amazing, I only wish that it was at my local game store, I have to wait till the 8th.

[monster1234]

I've been considering checking this out.

[thrAsher]

Well, I'm on to the next area. I'm being reminded a lot of KOTOR, but at the same time, Splinter Cell. It's not really comparable graphically to either, but as I'm going the pseudo-stealth route, I've found it feels like a sci-fi version of SC. Yet, other little things make me think of the BioWare RPG.

All in all it's its own game, don't get me wrong. And playing on Normal difficulty, I've found that once you get the hang o' things, and start completing a lot of the first batch of missions, the story starts getting deep and the missions much more difficult. Big duh, I know, but the level of difficulty is what I like. There are so many ways to get through each and every one.

Anybody else playing this bad boy on PC or Xbox?

[tamim]

How is the camera? I know its FPS, but is there a lot of looking around in the game or does everything (including the cursor and the character) move too fast?

Lol, those may be stupid questions, but since I have motion sickness (I get sick after playing Halo or any other FPS for 10 mins, happens with Max Payne too :( ). I really love the concept of the game, but just dont know wheather I will be able to play it or not :(.

[AloneInTheDark]

Originally posted by thrAsher
Well, I'm on to the next area. I'm being reminded a lot of KOTOR, but at the same time, Splinter Cell. It's not really comparable graphically to either, but as I'm going the pseudo-stealth route, I've found it feels like a sci-fi version of SC. Yet, other little things make me think of the BioWare RPG.

All in all it's its own game, don't get me wrong. And playing on Normal difficulty, I've found that once you get the hang o' things, and start completing a lot of the first batch of missions, the story starts getting deep and the missions much more difficult. Big duh, I know, but the level of difficulty is what I like. There are so many ways to get through each and every one.

Anybody else playing this bad boy on PC or Xbox?

POSSIBLE SPOILER
Well I'm at the part where you have to assasinate the lawyer, and now I am ready to quit playing. I will go in with my cloak on and kill the guys, then I'll leave. When I'll come back, theyll know it was me. And I can't get into the suite of the guy who I'm supposed to because I cant shut the power off because I cant get past the stupid robot. I hate this game :(

[AlphaCigara]

From the way you guys are talking about it, invisible war is sounding a lot like the first deus ex with a lot of improvements...i look forward to getting it when i scrape up enough dough...also, when somebody beats it, LMK how many hours it took.

[George89]

I am going to get this game no matter what, but just a few questions. What game would you compare its graphics to? and how much actual freedom do you have, I played KOTOR, and on the first planet (which I rented the game so this was the only part i got to play) I felt like there were not many places to go and it was much more linear than I thought

[thrAsher]

Originally posted by AloneInTheDark


POSSIBLE SPOILER


Well I'm at the part where you have to assasinate the lawyer, and now I am ready to quit playing. I will go in with my cloak on and kill the guys, then I'll leave. When I'll come back, theyll know it was me. And I can't get into the suite of the guy who I'm supposed to because I cant shut the power off because I cant get past the stupid robot. I hate this game :(

SPOILER INFO CONTINUED

Who are you trying to meet up with? I'd go back to a previous save, or take a different approach w/ the people/person you're trying to hook up with. What I've come to realize is that it doesn't really seem like what you do matters too much. That is, to others. I've shot up a group of people in one map and the next map over they act like nothing happened. It seems like the AI's aggressiveness is more map oriented then part of the 'game world', if that makes any sense. So, my advice is just clean up. Wipe 'em all out. It's the wasteland, man. Kick their rears and move on.

:cheers:

Update: after about 12 hours of play, Deus Ex is coming in w/ a grade B+.

[Stormlord]

Graphically Deus is the best the box has to offer and I haven't seen any of the massive drops in frames. Unless they consider 30 frames as crap then I guess that's what they meant. SO far I'm ready to take off in the chopper with some woman named Ava who I'm helping escape WTO. So I'm gonna continue exploring lower Seattle and see if I can get more missions. I was kind of grossed out by some admistrator that was g ay and wanted me to be his chamber boy and wanted a threesome with some other guy at the bar.

[skorp]

Originally posted by George89
I am going to get this game no matter what, but just a few questions. What game would you compare its graphics to? and how much actual freedom do you have, I played KOTOR, and on the first planet (which I rented the game so this was the only part i got to play) I felt like there were not many places to go and it was much more linear than I thought


The first planet Taris isnt as big as it seems but alot to do and little quest to engage on... And thats only one of many more planets to visit after that... Still playing it!

An with Dues Ex the game is interesting so far... Like what Thrasher said it has a FPS/ RPG feel to it as far as Splinter Cell/ KOTOR goes... I like it and enjoying it so far...

These games I believe will keep me busy for a while... Hopefully not to long considering I havent purchased Prince of Persia and Crimson Skies to name a few because come next year it doesnt look to slow down... :) (doesnt that sound great?!)

[AloneInTheDark]

Originally posted by thrAsher


SPOILER INFO CONTINUED

Who are you trying to meet up with? I'd go back to a previous save, or take a different approach w/ the people/person you're trying to hook up with. What I've come to realize is that it doesn't really seem like what you do matters too much. That is, to others. I've shot up a group of people in one map and the next map over they act like nothing happened. It seems like the AI's aggressiveness is more map oriented then part of the 'game world', if that makes any sense. So, my advice is just clean up. Wipe 'em all out. It's the wasteland, man. Kick their rears and move on.

:cheers:

Update: after about 12 hours of play, Deus Ex is coming in w/ a grade B+.

more spoilage

I'm trying to kill the lawyer at the suites. Everytime even with the cloak they know it's me and I cant go back there to investigate that guys royal suite (the minister). Its such a friggin pain.

[DDR2theEXTREME]

seems pretty cool. i mite get it.

[DRunKeN.LegEnD]

this game roxxors but not as much as halo as thats just legendary.

ps mad dash racing is a sad excuse for a game :rofl:

[thrAsher]

Well, I spanked that baby and am still in that weird zone you get into after beating a game in a handful of days. I will say this much, it's addictive.

I have laundry I needed to do that got put on pause (pun intended), my house is just this side of needing a firehose to clean it, and I'm just a little off schedule in the sleep dept.

In the end, I have to say that this game is a great rental, good buy. I clocked about 15 hours before I beat it, and sort of rushed through the last couple levels. I'm sure I'll play through once again, just to try out the mods I never did, and to play the story in a manner that befits a female assassin w/ deep religious convictions. A holy assassin, if you will. So, that means doing a lot of stuff for the church and just waxing anybody who gets in the way. And I'm curious if you can simply wipe out an entire maps worth of NPC's, as it seems highly plausible.

Final grade after first run through: A- (just got pushed over the top because of a special appearance by this gamers favorite animal).

The breakdown:

Gameplay- B+ The physics in this game are some of the coolest I've encountered. The ragdoll effects make for nice death animations, and tossing bodies around like they weigh nothing more than a pillow is great fun. You can spend a good deal of time just trying to get that SSC guards unconscious body to hang off that ledge just right. ;) Shooting can be lackluster, and the auto-aim function is just clunky. I never turned it off, either, but in hindsight imagine it would have been a good idea. Sniping w/ either of the sniper weapons is great fun. Your inventory isn't huge, but that makes for some real decision making when picking up items and weapons, as you will want to compliment you biomods w/ items that decrease your handicaps. With no real system of reward and punishment for your actions, Deus Ex allows for a rather wide open experience as far as choices you make (not a lot of free roaming, but KOTOR didn't really have that, either). This is both welcome and frustrating, as certain actions seem like they should carry more consequence. The AI is also pretty stupid at the normal level, but will come for you if you start popping off caps. By far the most impressive element of the gameplay, if it can be considered a part of it, is the story. Deeply tied into the first Deus Ex, Invisible War's plot and storyline will keep you riveted. If the story alone made or broke a game, then this game is one of the best ever. I'm still a bit confused by it, and having beat it, wonder if I did the right thing. I think that says it all right there.


Graphics - B+ Not a lot of work went into making any of the spaces feel 'open'. Claustrophobic environments (which I suppose fit the general mood of the game) and some sub-par textures dull a rather nice game. Character models are nice and detailed, while the faces seem a bit off. Lighting is great, and you will find yourself using some means of light amplification to find items in some rather dark, oppressive environments. No cutscenes between major areas seems like a glaring mistake, and really do nothing more than hamper a game already needing a little CPR in the graphics dept.

Sound - A+ By far the most interesting part of the game (right alongside the story), IMHO. Every line of dialogue, even yours, is spoken. NPC's will walk about talking to themselves, greeting or even warning others, and you will come across numerous interesting conversations along the way, from guards mumbling about hating their jobs to a wannabe poet chatting up a rather disinterested woman at the bar. Music and sound effects run the gamut of decent to awesome. I still need to spend a little extra time w/ the holo-jukebox to give a good listen to the songs, a number of which are done by the appropriately named Kidney Thieves. Ambient sounds are done very well, and you can tell a lot about what's around the corner by just giving a good listen.

So, yeah, not a failure, but I'd be surprised to see this on anyone's GOTY list. Keep your eyes open, I'll be trading this one in a week or so...

[DRunKeN.LegEnD]

i kno this has nothing to do with this thread but can some1 please tell me how 2 change me avatar...
didnt want 2 start a new thread for dis Q...thanx :hail:

[XboxGamers]

I'm loving Deus Ex: IW! The bots in the game are great! There is some bots that help replenish your Health and energy levels back to normal. Even the bots talk about there status and when they get encounter by someone as they move about. Real cool stuff! :D

Some pictures I took. :)

http://ourworld.cs.com/XboxRox733/myhomepage/samsung+lcd+hdtv+deus+ex.jpg

http://ourworld.cs.com/XboxRox733/myhomepage/samsung+lcd+hdtv+deus+ex2.jpg