SPOILERS IF YOU HAVENT PLAYED THE GAME YET
This Game is another one of My favorites of ALL TIME and like my FAVORITEs it always manages to do so much to satisfy the gamer inside me while at the same time pissing that gamer off. Ill always ask myself,"WHy? Why did they make that development choice. Why did they NOT make this development choice and whats up with THAT?" Pet Peves and this FAV of mine has a few.
FIRST OFF - The days of same old linear storyline spectacle set piece shooters need to die quick.
Todays boring, tedious, generic, and too ordinary straight-lined shooters hardly pass as barely interactive stories instead of brand new innovative experiences with competitive multiplayer (always especially in a shooter). Id like to see a year of the "occasional FPS" instead of the constant recycling of shooters third and First where The story just happens to you and the characters, while you follow a golden trail from objective to objective, scripted scene to scripted scene while never really getting to be anything but a gun on a swivel stick caught up in a linear storytelling and a gameplay formula of aim and shoot watch cut=scene repeat. The fun in simply doing what the game tells you to do or a game character orders you to do or objectives you have in a game with etter graphics and a couple new gimmicks. You, as a player or character have no "voice" and are usually stuck with a set of parameters you must follow while using the same mechanics from level one to 100 with?
Deus Ex is not just a First person shooter tho, is it? No its also a stealth shooter, or purely a stealth game. Its open enough to provide a sense of freedom and besides the main storylines missions, you can complete the side missions any way you want, skip them, or kill the "mission giver" (not even sure how that effects you as it seems like Murdering anyone and not getting seen allows you immunity from any kind of repercussion unless its in the middle of a quest narrative or a clear cut choice. There are a lot of choices and ways to complete your missions but they break down to basically what physical path you take, and tings like whether or not your detected, set off alarms (Which you can do and simply hide and then the enemies, even n the hardest difficulty, will just forget you showed up and murdered friends. Although this is inconsistent as sometimes the enemies will remain hostile, sometimes not) in a secret research facility seven different times without the entire armada converging on your position. NOPE. From room to room, or area to area you are safe to cause chaos without alerting the entire base because "DOORS drastically dampen the traveling of sound" or whatever it says in the tips. Grenades and high powered weaponry going off all over the docking bay aren't heard by the enemies on the other side of the building in the courtyard or what have you.
EVERY single step you take should effect what happens in the game. You cant be free to chase around side missions when the main mission is set up with a sense of urgency but in Detroit 2027 time stands still. Although the side quests do a WHOLE LOT to further the main quests , even proving some of the most intriguing twists and plot development, HOWEVER, I found myself predicting that MEGAN was still alive after reading several emails and pocket secretaries. I discovered so much about the evil schemes that took place anyway despite my knowledge of them after hacking a computer and reading an un deleted email or killing someone and taking their pocket secretary. Some of the Information you get from emails and such is or should be game changing information. The first couple times I read something like the biochip recall plot point. I never got the recall because I hacked a computer in the Shanghai research tower and read Zhao the Dragon Bitches email talking about how the recall was a ruse just to make the public uncomfortable enough to be relieved when they could finally get a new chip. Armed with the info I had, I chose not to, yet Jensen still talk to Prichard or Malick (RIP FlyBitch lol) as if he is in the dark.
Im walking around with a TREASURE TROVE OF SECRETS HACKED FROM THE COMPUTERS and PALM PILOTS OF THE FUTURE (No iphones? Oh yeah you have one shoved into your brain lol) OF POTENTIAL ENEMIES...... yet it barely matters except that you can choose not to do certain things or gain an edge on a mission. Again, there was always 'game dictated' multiple choice.... with all that info I could of done something different and as branching of a storyline the game is, you still complete the main missions in the same order. If the side Missions weren't so heavily oriented with the Main missions story then the carefull illusion of being in control of the outcomes the entire time was lost. Except you couldn't save Malick. You cant leave Hubs until the missions are done. Basically the wiring and the framing an the groundwork or cement has been poured for a truly open ended gaming experience where players would surely fuck around with all the possibilities but in the end they would start to try and get somewhere with the story.
Games like these I find it hard to recognize a goal. Yu have many ways of achieving the many goals of course but im talking about the entire game and its choices. What are you trying to achieve as that character? A specific ending? The Most Interesting ending? The most conflict action packed path? Deus Ex ends up falling victim to "dog fetch bone bring bone back dog fetch again, bark, bark, eat, nap, fetch bone, fetch bone. bring back again" syndrome without ever really accomplishing anything except mission complete. The Purpose of your character is either totally lacking or chosen for you from the get go which I understand that the backstory and stuff like that cant be changed now but Jensen has no real Motive except to choose who to trust, and find Megan I guess... but you get so wrapped up in the games wealth of the world you forget that you are trying to find Megan in part of the story. It doesn't Help that Jensen is lacking in friends outside the circles he travels in this game. LIke the trash digger and the undercover prostitute, people you save, do missions for should be listed as contacts maybe that you can call and get help, info, idk something.
Its hard to explain how you want a game that has no parameters or limits where you could end the story 5 minutes into it with a well placed rocket or go on a hunch and assassinate Taggart, Sarif, and Darrow while they are all in Detroit on that night of the major Riot. Get where I'm coming from, get what I'm trying to describe? This is the kind of game I want to play. ATleast this is a very rough description or attempt at describing that game.
GAME MECHANICS - Issues I have.
Besides these issues and the lack of a seamless cover system, melee system, and other mechanics that I like the idea of but aren't pulled off right. Getting in and out of cover makes it seem like you are either two different sizes of person when in first person or third and looking out of a different pair of eyes, cuz the camera doesn't match up with the back of Jensen's head or whatever. The cover to cover system is nice but how about being able to do moves like that without having to be in cover?
I hate being a slave to the take down animations and to add salt to that wound it takes a second to be able to regain control and even though you aren't taking any damage t still look sloppy as you wait for the game to give you back control. Id would of liked to take down two targets then quickly aim and cap two more for a successful undetected 4 man room breach starting with punching a hole thru the wall, snapping a neck, sprinting, sliding across the room to use my Barracka mortal kombat blades to kill two slowly suspecting guards and then from my crouched position aim and blam blam blam that's two more then Vault over some cover and toss a grenade, finishing the firefight. I also hated that although you can jump like Master chief , you couldn't grab onto anything and pull yourself up except a ladder. Vaulting never showed any other animation, you where a gun on a stick swivel and I lik to know that wen I look down...in a FPS... my characters legs are there, and I'm not a hovering gun drone pair of hands that turns into a full person only when entering cover
Finally, IT SHOULDNT TAKE BATTERY POWER TO MAKE STEALTH TAKE DOWNS!!!!!! Maybe energy that recharges but I shouldn't have to scavenge terrible tasting (at least I imagine they'd be awful) cyborg protein bars just so I can punch a guy in the face.. If I were Jensen's enemies I would simply destroy the company that made those protein bars and jars so that all super augmented soldiers can only punch one or two men in the face every 10 minutes........ seriously bad design choice. Everything else? yeah it takes battery power I understand. Except for the Angelic landing system (Icarus) which actually looks like its draining you of power but takes none. You can sprint at high speeds but you drain power when you want your footsteps to be silent? Do something about this and make the Next Gen Deus Ex please....
OH ONE MORE THING: JUST SAYIN - Rainbow Six Vegas 1 and 2 (2 especially cuz you could sprint) did a great job of seamlessly combining first-person shooting with third person cover. Going from FPS to Third person didn't seem like you moved 20 feet away from cover or put you back behind cover you where leaning out from when you let go of the over button
Related NOTE: Also make sure the character always has a voice I a pet peve with RPGS like DARK SOULS because its a great game but absolutely zero words said by your character, same with dishonored and others. WTF?
This Game is another one of My favorites of ALL TIME and like my FAVORITEs it always manages to do so much to satisfy the gamer inside me while at the same time pissing that gamer off. Ill always ask myself,"WHy? Why did they make that development choice. Why did they NOT make this development choice and whats up with THAT?" Pet Peves and this FAV of mine has a few.
FIRST OFF - The days of same old linear storyline spectacle set piece shooters need to die quick.
Todays boring, tedious, generic, and too ordinary straight-lined shooters hardly pass as barely interactive stories instead of brand new innovative experiences with competitive multiplayer (always especially in a shooter). Id like to see a year of the "occasional FPS" instead of the constant recycling of shooters third and First where The story just happens to you and the characters, while you follow a golden trail from objective to objective, scripted scene to scripted scene while never really getting to be anything but a gun on a swivel stick caught up in a linear storytelling and a gameplay formula of aim and shoot watch cut=scene repeat. The fun in simply doing what the game tells you to do or a game character orders you to do or objectives you have in a game with etter graphics and a couple new gimmicks. You, as a player or character have no "voice" and are usually stuck with a set of parameters you must follow while using the same mechanics from level one to 100 with?
Deus Ex is not just a First person shooter tho, is it? No its also a stealth shooter, or purely a stealth game. Its open enough to provide a sense of freedom and besides the main storylines missions, you can complete the side missions any way you want, skip them, or kill the "mission giver" (not even sure how that effects you as it seems like Murdering anyone and not getting seen allows you immunity from any kind of repercussion unless its in the middle of a quest narrative or a clear cut choice. There are a lot of choices and ways to complete your missions but they break down to basically what physical path you take, and tings like whether or not your detected, set off alarms (Which you can do and simply hide and then the enemies, even n the hardest difficulty, will just forget you showed up and murdered friends. Although this is inconsistent as sometimes the enemies will remain hostile, sometimes not) in a secret research facility seven different times without the entire armada converging on your position. NOPE. From room to room, or area to area you are safe to cause chaos without alerting the entire base because "DOORS drastically dampen the traveling of sound" or whatever it says in the tips. Grenades and high powered weaponry going off all over the docking bay aren't heard by the enemies on the other side of the building in the courtyard or what have you.
EVERY single step you take should effect what happens in the game. You cant be free to chase around side missions when the main mission is set up with a sense of urgency but in Detroit 2027 time stands still. Although the side quests do a WHOLE LOT to further the main quests , even proving some of the most intriguing twists and plot development, HOWEVER, I found myself predicting that MEGAN was still alive after reading several emails and pocket secretaries. I discovered so much about the evil schemes that took place anyway despite my knowledge of them after hacking a computer and reading an un deleted email or killing someone and taking their pocket secretary. Some of the Information you get from emails and such is or should be game changing information. The first couple times I read something like the biochip recall plot point. I never got the recall because I hacked a computer in the Shanghai research tower and read Zhao the Dragon Bitches email talking about how the recall was a ruse just to make the public uncomfortable enough to be relieved when they could finally get a new chip. Armed with the info I had, I chose not to, yet Jensen still talk to Prichard or Malick (RIP FlyBitch lol) as if he is in the dark.
Im walking around with a TREASURE TROVE OF SECRETS HACKED FROM THE COMPUTERS and PALM PILOTS OF THE FUTURE (No iphones? Oh yeah you have one shoved into your brain lol) OF POTENTIAL ENEMIES...... yet it barely matters except that you can choose not to do certain things or gain an edge on a mission. Again, there was always 'game dictated' multiple choice.... with all that info I could of done something different and as branching of a storyline the game is, you still complete the main missions in the same order. If the side Missions weren't so heavily oriented with the Main missions story then the carefull illusion of being in control of the outcomes the entire time was lost. Except you couldn't save Malick. You cant leave Hubs until the missions are done. Basically the wiring and the framing an the groundwork or cement has been poured for a truly open ended gaming experience where players would surely fuck around with all the possibilities but in the end they would start to try and get somewhere with the story.
Games like these I find it hard to recognize a goal. Yu have many ways of achieving the many goals of course but im talking about the entire game and its choices. What are you trying to achieve as that character? A specific ending? The Most Interesting ending? The most conflict action packed path? Deus Ex ends up falling victim to "dog fetch bone bring bone back dog fetch again, bark, bark, eat, nap, fetch bone, fetch bone. bring back again" syndrome without ever really accomplishing anything except mission complete. The Purpose of your character is either totally lacking or chosen for you from the get go which I understand that the backstory and stuff like that cant be changed now but Jensen has no real Motive except to choose who to trust, and find Megan I guess... but you get so wrapped up in the games wealth of the world you forget that you are trying to find Megan in part of the story. It doesn't Help that Jensen is lacking in friends outside the circles he travels in this game. LIke the trash digger and the undercover prostitute, people you save, do missions for should be listed as contacts maybe that you can call and get help, info, idk something.
Its hard to explain how you want a game that has no parameters or limits where you could end the story 5 minutes into it with a well placed rocket or go on a hunch and assassinate Taggart, Sarif, and Darrow while they are all in Detroit on that night of the major Riot. Get where I'm coming from, get what I'm trying to describe? This is the kind of game I want to play. ATleast this is a very rough description or attempt at describing that game.
GAME MECHANICS - Issues I have.
Besides these issues and the lack of a seamless cover system, melee system, and other mechanics that I like the idea of but aren't pulled off right. Getting in and out of cover makes it seem like you are either two different sizes of person when in first person or third and looking out of a different pair of eyes, cuz the camera doesn't match up with the back of Jensen's head or whatever. The cover to cover system is nice but how about being able to do moves like that without having to be in cover?
I hate being a slave to the take down animations and to add salt to that wound it takes a second to be able to regain control and even though you aren't taking any damage t still look sloppy as you wait for the game to give you back control. Id would of liked to take down two targets then quickly aim and cap two more for a successful undetected 4 man room breach starting with punching a hole thru the wall, snapping a neck, sprinting, sliding across the room to use my Barracka mortal kombat blades to kill two slowly suspecting guards and then from my crouched position aim and blam blam blam that's two more then Vault over some cover and toss a grenade, finishing the firefight. I also hated that although you can jump like Master chief , you couldn't grab onto anything and pull yourself up except a ladder. Vaulting never showed any other animation, you where a gun on a stick swivel and I lik to know that wen I look down...in a FPS... my characters legs are there, and I'm not a hovering gun drone pair of hands that turns into a full person only when entering cover
Finally, IT SHOULDNT TAKE BATTERY POWER TO MAKE STEALTH TAKE DOWNS!!!!!! Maybe energy that recharges but I shouldn't have to scavenge terrible tasting (at least I imagine they'd be awful) cyborg protein bars just so I can punch a guy in the face.. If I were Jensen's enemies I would simply destroy the company that made those protein bars and jars so that all super augmented soldiers can only punch one or two men in the face every 10 minutes........ seriously bad design choice. Everything else? yeah it takes battery power I understand. Except for the Angelic landing system (Icarus) which actually looks like its draining you of power but takes none. You can sprint at high speeds but you drain power when you want your footsteps to be silent? Do something about this and make the Next Gen Deus Ex please....
OH ONE MORE THING: JUST SAYIN - Rainbow Six Vegas 1 and 2 (2 especially cuz you could sprint) did a great job of seamlessly combining first-person shooting with third person cover. Going from FPS to Third person didn't seem like you moved 20 feet away from cover or put you back behind cover you where leaning out from when you let go of the over button
Related NOTE: Also make sure the character always has a voice I a pet peve with RPGS like DARK SOULS because its a great game but absolutely zero words said by your character, same with dishonored and others. WTF?