Deus Ex

Ah, the cyberpunk world. An oft-under-used and forgotten genre. But this game was, and still is, one of the greatest champions of the cyberpunk genre.

 

Graphics: 10/10

 

There's not much to say here, the graphics are dated, but still hold up well despite being horribly blurred. At the time, this game was the cutting edge in graphics (and can run in Direct3D, OpenGL, AND Glide), so I am judging from that point of view. The look and feel of the settings and objects in the game definitely fit the vibe of a cyberpunk future, as does the attire of those who inhabit the Deus Ex world.

 

Gameplay: 10/10

 

Deus Ex is still probably one of the games by far that allows you to approach your objective in any way you so choose. It's not as cookie-cutter as, say, Crysis, where 'freedom of choice' means 'walk in from a different direction with a different ability'; you can sneak in, shoot your way in, hack your way in, use bots to blow your way in, and more, even up to the point where you can choose to either kill or simply knock out your opponents, through lethal and non-lethal means, giving you the ultimate 'freedom of choice' in what you do.

 

DE is the godfather of the shooter-RPG, mostly for the fact that it can seamlessly blend two substantially differing genres into an excellent package. Neither ever feels like a liability to the other; rather, you will find that the two actually complement each other very well. Much like RPGs, you do have HP on your agent, but 100 HP for each part of your body, which can be healed as a whole, or individually; but can be circumvented should you find a medical bot sometime during your travels. In addition, you can modify weapons with helpful things such as laser sights, scopes, recoil reduction, and more (I recommend the silenced sniper rifle).

 

Skills in the game are made to suit playstyles, having basic things such as weapon proficiencies (which have helpful effects the more you level them up) and advanced agent skills, such as lockpicking, computer hacking, medical treatment, and more. You are given skill points for exploring, completing objectives, performing kills/nonlethal takedowns, all of which can be used to upgrade skills with. They are all entirely passive, ensuring that you can enjoy the benefits without having to put in strain on keeping track of skills.

 

Augmentations help further the RPG experience of Deus Ex, having multiple combinations that are suited to complement almost every playstyle out there; play with combinations and see which one fits you the best. Each augmentation canister that you can use always comes with two augmentations inside, mostly to allow you to pick the one that suits you best, and to ensure that you can't get every augmentation in the game strapped on to your secret agent. Much like spells and MP, augmentations are button-activated and run off of "bioelectrical energy", which must be replenished from either robots or portable energy cells which you can carry with you. Oh, and there's medkits for HP, in case you were wondering.

 

There is a multiplayer suite for Deus Ex,  but alas, I have not been able to try it.

 

Sound: 10/10

 

The sound in Deus Ex is amazing, even against newer games today. The voice acting is top-notch, and can easily trump a majority of modern voice actors. Each zone that you visit in the game has its own unique theme song which fits perfectly to the mood and setting (my personal favorite is the Hell's Kitchen theme song). The sound effects are wholly unique to the game and very memorable; you'll be certain to remember the clinking of pulling out a pistol, or the telltale sound of a LAM about to detonate.

 

Story: 10/10

 

The storytelling in Deus Ex is also unmatched today. One of the first games of its kind where it presented choices that could have serious repercussions later in the game; it actually forced players to make a decision between a rock and a hard place. The setting of a conspiracy theory world is one that those familiar to the fad will love, but newcomers and disbelievers will also have a good time, as the story presented makes itself believable and enjoyable, all in one package.

 

tl;dr: A unique gem in itself, unable to be replicated or copied even after a decade, Deus Ex still deserves to be praised and enjoyed by the gamers of today. I highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a good game.

Verdict: 10/10