The year Is 2025 and the world is much changed to what we see today. For this is the age of robotics, augmentations to be precise. Common now in every household and it seems in the world of Deus Ex this hasn’t gone down well with some. Your name is Adam Jensen and things are about to change dramatically.
The game starts with you learning more about the world of Deus Ex, as mentioned above this world is one where the people have embraced robotics and technological advancements. Your character, Adam, is working as a contractor in a leading robotics firm, or “augmentations” as they are known in game. As the game begins you meet your Mrs, Megan. And her and your boss, who features heavily throughout the game, suddenly alarms ring and you’re sent to investigate. It turns out that not everyone likes these “advancements” and they have breached the research facility, as you walk round suddenly you are confronted with a masked intruder and the game takes control, Adam is left wounded and your story really begins here.
As you regain consciousness doctors have repaired your broken body after the attack and you are now Augmented, thank the lord for that eh? Well maybe not. Understandably the leader of the research facility is rather upset and sends you to investigate who and why they infiltrated the facility, this is where Deus Ex really starts to show off its many features. The game makes good use of the situation outlined in its story adapting the environment to the mood which is portrayed by your character and the remaining cast in the game’s world.
Without ruining more of the game for you (Sorry about that had no choice) the game really is defined on commitment to the cause of the player. The developers have made a good job in making sure that the game itself will help you, but then they require you to use every asset that Adam holds as well as your own intelligence. This is done by giving you objectives within the game in order to reach the final objective, listed above. But the amount of options in the game is staggering, different routes, abilities and enemy movements is something which really shines in the game.
You often find yourself in a decision of what to do and the game makes sure that you are fully tested whatever the situation. It’s heightened ability to put pressure on you is something I personally struggle to recall in a game before this and what can seem like 5 minutes of stealthily searching through a warehouse turned out to be a few hours! The overriding objective if all missions is getting in and getting out again without getting caught, easy yeah? Nope. It still amazes me now how many times I died and tried different ways to get round, by the time you’ve died a couple of times at the same stage you realise the game makes you overcomplicate things because at some points you really have to.
Within the game Adam has several mental abilities; one of them is the ability to hack terminals and computers. This is extremely fun and often addictive which can cause you to die easily. If you fail to hack a terminal the guards are alerted to which terminal you have failed to hack and are sent to investigate, it’s usually at this point a whole squad descends on you and you’re quickly clicking “Load last save” from the menu. Successfully pull off a hack though the rewards and satisfaction give you that extra buzz.
Graphically the game suits the story. This is something which you see rarely in games and the dark underbelly of Deus Ex really shows the true emotion of the characters that you encounter on your quest. The in game voices are superb with voice acting really adding to the general dark feeling of the game with true emotion and feeling put into it.
Side missions give the player a chance to rank up Adam’s different abilities, whether this be his ability to hack higher difficulty terminals or the strength at which he can lift things out of the way. They add to the game in more ways that than almost as if there is a 2nd storyline running concurrently and intertwining with the main missions.
Unfortunately though the game isn’t perfect and where it falls down is the AI that you encounter. This can be both beneficial and tedious at times. It’s best explained when you’re attempting to infiltrate an area without getting caught, the AI will walk straight past you, you’re literally in the line of sight of the enemy yet he fails to spot you. It’s sort of reliving at first but then you’re left with a feeling of “Well that feels like cheating really”
At this point it’s important for me to tell you that the game I reviewed was the Directors Cut edition. Now the difference between the original Deus Ex game released in 2011 and this one is outlined below:
Improved Textures
Reworked Bosses
45 Minute Documentary
Around 8 hours of commentary from Eidos Montreal
Can have two energy cell recharge by default on all but the hardest difficulty
Players can now use Jensen’s augmentation powers more freely
For those that had the original and wondered if it’s worth purchasing the new Directors Cut, I am well informed that the differences between old and new AI issues are much better on the DC version. That being said though £25 for the game you already have may not appeal to some of you.
Overall Deus Ex: Directors Cut is a thoroughly enjoyable, challenging and deep game. With real feel and emotion for the characters and a mature story line this game demands multiple playthroughs and players new to the series wondering whether to purchase it, should take a punt on it. Players that have already bought the original may want to leave this one unless you really loved the game.
