Once a die-hard adventurer, I have spent this year developing an appreciation
for other genres–most notably action and RPGs. While I am still not sold on the
idea of wholesale mayhem, there is something about a first-person survival exercise
that gets the adrenaline pumping in a way that doesn’t happen with a game like
Myst or Timelapse, something about sneaking past guards, breaking
into computers, and hiding in the shadows that really adds intensity to the game
experience.

But First, a Word from Webster

“deus
ex machina”–(Latin for “god from a machine”). 1) in ancient Greek
and Roman plays, a deity brought in by stage machinery to intervene in the action.
2) anyone who unexpectedly intervenes to change the course of events.

In
Deus Ex, you get to change the course of world events by stepping into
the persona of J.C. Denton–a member the elite United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition
(UNATCO). As J.C., you are too cool to care about weather or time of day. It’s
sunglasses and a trench coat for all occasions. Aided by nano-augmentations (computer
enhancements that make you more powerful), you are the original cross between
a Robo-Cop and a Man in Black.

The game opens as you join your brother,
Paul, for an assignment to rescue a hostage held in the Statue of Liberty. The
time is somewhere in the future, when funding for statue repairs (and other basic
maintenance tasks in New York City) appears to be nonexistent. After completing
your first mission and getting acclimated to the environment, you return to UNATCO
headquarters where the story begins in earnest. You meet your boss and coworkers,
explore the facility, pick up your next assignment, and take possession of new
equipment. You begin a series of missions that span the globe (Paris, Hong Kong,
New York, etc.) to unravel an intricate conspiracy. And, in keeping with modern
conspiracy theory, all roads lead to “Area 51.”

A Man with
a Mission

The Deus Ex experience is linear in that you are assigned
tasks and missions in a specific order. You always have a list of objectives that
range in complexity from “find your desk” to “save the world.”
At any point, you can review your on-screen log to determine what to do next and
will rarely find yourself wandering without direction. Within this framework,
however, you have the freedom to decide how you will accomplish each objective.
Do you crawl down the hall peeking through keyholes, or do you ask for a map?
Do you go in with guns blazing or sneak through the air ducts to bypass the guards?
Do you look for a password or just hack into the computer? To be successful, you
have to become J.C. Denton and do some creative problem-solving. The outcome
of each situation depends on your ability to think on your virtual feet and find
a practical solution. There are no cuckoo clocks to hide in potted plants. In
Deus Ex, you get past a guard by studying his movements until you discover
a blind spot.

At its core, Deus Ex is an action game. However, it
is not a kill-fest that throws an endless stream of bigger and badder monsters
at you, with survival as your goal. It is a “thinking person’s action game”
where you execute missions using real-world strategies. The fact that there are
a number of ways to solve each problem turns this game into a very personalized
experience.

Deus Ex has strong replay value, as the story and character
interactions shift based on your behavior. If you are too slow to arrive at a
meeting point, your partner will accomplish the mission without you. If you mow
down all the bad guys in the street, your superiors will comment about your heavy-handed
approach. Or, if you accomplish your mission without errors, you’ll be rewarded
for a job well done. Since levels can be completed without actually succeeding
at all mission elements, you might replay the game just to experience what you
missed the first time through.

A Brave New World

Deus Ex
is a 3D game that is played from a first-person perspective. You have full
freedom of movement and can interact with most everything in the environment.
You can look under objects, climb over obstacles, and hide behind furniture. You
have a typical inventory interface plus a number of screens for viewing your health,
augmentations, goals/missions, notes, and maps/files. During each mission, you
receive regular transmissions from headquarters to brief you on interesting facts
or critical information. All in all, the game interface provides you with everything
needed to face the challenges at hand.

You use both the keyboard (to control
your person) and the mouse (to control objects) in Deus Ex. My personal
history of pointing and clicking has simply not prepared me for using keys to
duck, jump, swim, and run. As a result, my initial performance under pressure
was less than stellar, and J.C. had to spend a lot of time in the opening training
sequence. Within a few nights, however, I was clicking and keying like a professional
and only needing an occasional peek at the keyboard map.

The graphics are
very dark and blocky and felt like a step backwards from other games I’ve played
recently. While the voices are very well-suited to the characters portrayed, the
dialog scenes reminded me of an old Japanese science fiction movie where mouth
movements are not quite synchronized with the conversation.

Throughout Deus
Ex, music sets the mood. The sound track is timed to create a wonderful atmosphere
of suspense and intrigue. This, coupled with songs by Reeves Gabrels, make the
audio experience a real treat. The game also has a lot of ambient sounds like
footsteps and conversations that drift in from your perimeters to provide valuable
clues during game play.

Character Basics

When starting Deus
Ex, you get to choose from several basic appearances (all with sunglasses)
and allocate your initial “credits” to improve the skills you want to
rely on. These include computers, electronics, lock pick, swimming, medical, and
the ability to use different weapons. As you complete missions, you earn additional
credits that can be applied to upgrade your skill proficiencies.

If you
are paying close attention, you may also find augmentation packages along the
way. These can be added (uploaded) to your person in order to improve specific
abilities or give you additional powers. Once installed, these are powered by
bio-energy and may need to be recharged on occasion.

Unless you are really
an exceptional action gamer, you are likely to take physical damage along the
way. Thus, the search for Medkits and Medbots is a key element in game play. Those
who seek a more realistic experience have the added option of scavenging for candy
bars, alcohol, and sodas to improve their physical well-being 😉

The
world of Deus Ex is littered with tools, weapons, and ammunition. You can
arm yourself with pistols, shotguns, grenades, land mines, napalm, crossbows,
etc. and are only limited by how many items can fit into your inventory. Unlike
Gabriel Knight, J.C. Denton has limits to the amount of stuff he can put in his
pockets.

The Bottom Line

It is not likely that Deus Ex will
appeal to the adventure purist. It is an action game with adventure and RPG elements
and, as such, is best suited for those who embrace genre hybridization. For those
who are willing to grab a weapon and duck for cover, I would highly recommend
this game. Although the graphics are not quite up to par, the story and characters
are very engrossing, and you are likely to find yourself fueled by adrenaline
and playing until the wee hours of the morning.

Even if you are not a veteran
virtual warrior, Deus Ex may still provide some great entertainment. The
combat level can be set to “easy,” and there are cheat codes available
on the web to minimize the time spent recuperating from all the action.

Final
Grade: A-

If you liked Deus Ex:
Watch: Robo Cop
Read: The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton
Play: System
Shock 2

PC System Requirements:
Pentium II 300 MHz processor
Windows 95/98
64 MB RAM
150 MB hard
disk space
4X CD-ROM drive
DirectX 7.0a compatible sound card
DirectX
7.0a compatible 3-D Accelerated Video Card