Few
games have produced quite as loud a thump after falling
from such heights of expectation
as Deus Ex: Invisible War. Its
predecessor, Deus
Ex, is
widely hailed as being one of the most groundbreaking
games ever to hit the PC. This sequel is widely regarded
as being the bastard spawn of a console-PC quickie.
Let's get the bad stuff
out of the way first. The game crashed frequently on my
system, with CTDs and lockups requiring system reboots.
(Update: the 1.2
patch has largely resolved the crashing problems.)
Small zones
force frequent loading, and loading is slow.
A pet peeve is that the game does not alt-tab gracefully.
There is no key to holster your weapon. Grr. When you die
you
have
to click
a checkmark to go back to the main menu, then click a load
button, then select the save that you want to load. Um,
how about, "You died. Click to load your Quicksave." Or
better yet, just let the Quickload button work after you're
dead. Double-grr. I could go on, but you get the point
-- the UI stinks.
Another complaint has been
the implementation of universal ammunition, whereby the
same ammo clips are used for all weapons, thus simplifying
inventory management. I have two problems with this. First,
it eliminates that tiny little Christmas morning feeling
when you come across the type of ammo you've been hoping
for. "Yippee! Tranquilizer darts!" becomes, "Gee,
another ammunition gift certificate." Secondly,
and this is just an implementation issue really, is that
the amount of ammunition you have left is represented by
an analog gauge on the HUD. You never really know exactly
how much ammo you have left. A simple "three sniper
rounds = three sniper shots" is better.
So why in the world am I
giving this game four stars? Am I a demented fanboi? Perhaps.
But the real reason is that I love politics and philosophy,
and this game delivers both in entertaining and thought-provoking
ways. While the story takes time hitting its stride,
about two-thirds of the way through I said, "Wow, now I'm
playing the Deus Ex sequel!" That yowza feeling should
have happened from the opening
moments of the game, but rest assured it does come. You
will get to meet many of the characters and revisit some
of the places you
were familiar
with from the previous game.
In typical Deus-Ex style,
the storyline makes you the pivotal player in humanity's
fate. Does a hive mind sound appealing? How about bio-engineered
eugenics? Genetic purity? Or would you rather not think
at all, preferring a world engineered by unseen experts
who make everything run smoothly with no input from the
masses? The choice is yours, and this time you have four
endings to choose from.
The mere presence of these
thoughtful topics in a video game is heartening. While
ironic that any volume of the Deus Ex
saga
should be criticized for being "dumbed down," it
is reassuring that "dumb" is still considered
to be a bad thing. With so much entertainment lacking any
intellectual merit, I am willing to overlook serious technical
flaws
when the narrative tackles thought-provoking subjects.
Perhaps it's time that gamers reflect upon which aspects
of our
games
are
allowed
to
be dumb, and which are not. -
Last Update 05/05/06
