***Official Deus Ex 2 Discussion Thread*** (1 Viewer)

[Romier S]

Is it the resolution, transparency, or just the feeling from playing a PC game in that manner?

The feel above all else. It simply *FEELS* like an interface tailored for a joypad and not a mouse and keyboard. Don't get me wrong, once you get accustomed to it(and do some tweaking) its really not bad at all but at the very least to me it still feels awkward.

A nitpick here also but some have mentioned the size of the font on the PC version as a bit of a problem being that no matter what resolution you set, the font remains very large. Its not a complaint I share or even care about since its so minor but its small things like that that really set the PC crowd off (yes a majority are fickle I know)

Getting back on subject though, DX2 is one of the few PC games that I would actually forego an M+K setup for a joypad without a second thought because it feels much better on the Xbox controller.

Graphically on a top of line system the PC version wins easily. On my 3.06 gig and 9700 pro there are still patches of some nasty slowdown but all together it runs smoother than its Xbox counterpart and looks better at a high resolution (though I refuse to do anything above 1024X768 since the tradeoff is not worth it). Ion Storm is also working on a patch for the PC version which will include the ability to quick save/load (another item that is really inane to not include in a PC game) as well as some supposed performance/UI changes/fixes. I look forward to seeing what Ion Storm has planned...

 

[Dave F]

It's funny that you mentioned Pirates of the Caribbean. While playing DX2, I was often reminded of Morrowind.

-Dave

 

[Romier S]

when I found the crowbar I REALLY thought of Half-life

The crowbar was the first weapon you got in the original game on the docks. I certainly understand the association but I'm curious what you see as being "half-life-ish" about the game? I don't really see the resemblance (besides story sequences) personally but I'd like to hear your thoughts...

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

Here's a stupid question. How do you pronounce Deus? I've heard people say "doose" and others "day-us".

 

[Dave F]

So don't mumble when you tell co-workers that you spent the weekend playing Deus Ex. You might have an awkward moment when they thought you said "Day of sex".

-Dave

 

[Romier S]

I like the choices in DEIW better though because you can;t really tell which choice is going to take you where. In Kotor it is predictable if you are going to the light side or dark side.

See in playing DX2 more I feel the opposite. I think once you delve further into the game you'll understand where I'm coming from. I do agree that the choices given to you in KOTOR were predicatable but they also had consequences. They affected the direction the story took and how you interacted with the NPC's around you. If you pissed off Rick the bartender in KOTOR, Rick sure as hell wasnt going to do business with you again. Not unless you seriously begged for his help or payed him off. DX2 however falters in this regard.

As you move along into the middle/later portions of the game (I'm almost done with the PC version) you'll realize that no matter how much backstabbing you do to the different factions in the game they keep on coming back and asking for your help without even a mention of what you've done. There is no option to simply tell a group your not interested in to leave you the hell alone. You could really do every single subquest for every group and it wont make a difference.

This may be extreme but as an example you could conceptually kill the High Priestess of the Order and it really wouldn't matter since Lin May will still contact you for missions later in the game (I might have to give that a whirl). The most that you get is a small scene where Alex is taken to task for committing his actions but it truly doesn't affect anything. The game ability to give you choices is definitely a strong point but for the most part it feels like an illusion alot of the time....

 

[Dave F]

I noticed that as well. I haven't played a whole heck of a lot, but I made two save files to branch off in different directions at a certain juncture. I pursued both options, and it didn't really seem to make a difference in the way that I progressed or in the way that others reacted to me, which is very disappointing.

-Dave

 

[Peter Manojlovich]

Well, I'm going to chime in on the physics in this game, which I think are less than perfect. You can brush by a table and knock it down like it was made of balsa wood, but when you go to right it, you're told it's too heavy to pick up. You can run around with a body and not be slowed down in the slightest. I never for a second believed that I was actually throwing a basketball and it certainly didn't bounce like any ball I've seen. This is a game world where the items like any sense of mass or weight.

The unified ammo explanation in the manual is pretty goofy. A nano-mass that is dynamically configured by the weapon. That's the kind of stuff that I'd expect in a warner bros. cartoon, under an acme label for universal ammo compound.

I have a fair number of criticisms of this game, from storyline, atmosphere, presentation, combat, interface issues, framerate, well you name it. I'm just not digging DX2, and I can't shake the feeling that a lot of the original design team from the first game either weren't present or phoned in their contributions.

 

[John Madia]

I just picked up this game for the Xbox today (thanks to a 20% off toys r' us coupon) and have a stick neck from playing it. So far it hasn't lived up to it's potential but is still quite fun.

 

[JamesH]

I just finished the Xbox version today. Official game time was around 17 hours(tack on another estimated 5 hours from reloading for failed "experiments"). So far I have 2 endings and I'll probably play through it again and get the other 2. The end section of the game is absolutely surreal and I think fans of the first game will really like it a lot. If the series has to end here it would be fine, although the ending I liked better sets the stage for a third game that finishes things off once and for all.

While I don't think this game was as good as the first, it's still a worthy sequel. It just didn't have the same massive scope and the epic feel was hurt by the smaller environments and shorter game length. I'm not sure how much more would have been reasonable to expect though. I'm sure the environments in DX1 were a lot cheaper to make than those in DX2. I suppose they could take the Doom engine and make a 150 hour game, so it really looks like a balancing act of length vs. quality that we'll see more and more as games continue to become more complex. I must say though, I really miss the large volume of awesome areas in DX1.

The fact that you couldn't alienate yourself from factions didn't bother me much. I made the choices I wanted to based on the information I had, and some of them changed when I gained new information. The good part of the open structure is that I was able to side with who I wanted later on since they weren't alienated. The downside is that if you try to do everything as some of the others in this thread have, the story turns into a mish-mash. Then again, I don't think it's implausible that the various factions would be unwilling to forgive Alex. Think about it. If you had a faction vying for world domination and the person critical to your plans went against you, but did not completely ruin your goal.....would you tell the critical person to go to hell, or would you do your best to salvage the situation and accomplish your goal?

I noticed that there are PLENTY of biomod cans to go around. Whereas in the first game, you couldn't even upgrade everything fully, this one has enough to upgrade everything all the way, switch a couple mods back and forth, and still leave you with a surplus at the end. For example, early on, hacking is good because you can use the turrets to rip the enemy to shreds. Later on, the opposition gets a lot tougher, and the enemies will blow up a turret long before it does much damage. I ended up switching from hacking to cloak to avoid these new and tougher enemies.

By the way, keep your eye out for special versions of the standard weapons. There is only one of each in the game, and some of them are really cool. For example, there is a SMG that shoots spiderbombs rather than flashbangs for its alt fire.

 

[Peter Manojlovich]

I can understand criticsizing the physics but so many games have this issue. Why is Deus EX IW being judged so harshly?

Well, when you hype your game based on your physics system you better deliver. Rag-doll phsyics, definitely, that's what the bodies appear to be, rag dolls without any sense of mass or weight. A title like DX2 is attempting to create an immersive environment for its gameworld, and when you're constantly distracted by what I would refer to as a general lack of polish, it doesn't help things. You should't be able to throw bodies around like they were a paper cup, you definitely shouldn't be carrying around bodies like you were a waiter carrying around a dinner tray. It's hard for me to believe that Ion Storm wasn't told that some of these things were just downright goofy looking, because they're certainly being told that now. They rushed the game, imo, to get it out for xmas and simply let stuff go and hoped for the best.

Some people won't find stuff like this distracting, others will. For me, there are simply too many negatives in this game and I find the story lacking any compelling narrative. I really don't care whether my character gets killed or not, succeeds or not. Alex D is one of the blandest and most poorly formed characters I've seen in a recent videogame. Definitely, lacking the cool factor of JC Denton. And the environments I've played so far are singularly unimpressive. Once again, your mileage may vary, but I don't think what I'm stating is an isolated opinion. Not saying the game is bad, I'm just stating that I'm uninvolved in the various quests, not caring whether I complete them or not. Also, some of the attempts at being risque are juvenile. Yeah, I'll be your chambermaid, I'm not buying this stuff at all. I find the quality of the writing and the story to be generic and stale, the bland voice acting doesn't help. Every time I enter into a cut-scene I can't wait to get out.

I had high hopes for this game, had it on pre-order, but when the demo arrived and people started tearing warren spector and co. a new orifice, it went to rental status. I've rented and played enough to know, that the game doesn't warrant a purchase for me. Hey, others will love the game, and that's great for them, but, I'm disappointed. This game is deus ex in lip service only.

 

[Chris Clark]

I spent last semester during Spring Break holed up in my friend's room burning through the original Deus Ex and Thief II, both games I never had the chance to play (being a broke Mac user).
So when the sequel was unveiled, the game was relatively fresh in my mind. I fought the urge to buy it for a time, but after a bad reaction to renting XIII, the xbox version could not be avoided.
I bought it on Friday. I beat it, with all four endings, on Sunday. Less than 15 hours in all. I wish it could have been a rental. To be clear, the story was worth the effort, but the game itself felt like a beta, something that with a little more ironing, could have made a cracking good game. Of all the gameplay issues (aside from small areas and long load times), I really wish some more time could have been spent on fleshing out the stealth-based system. By the end of the game, I realized that it wasn't so important to not be seen but to be fast enough for the enemy to not have time to react. You could literally race through a compound with the speed biomod on and come out unharmed with the goals achieved.

 

[Derrik Draven]

What websites can I look at to follow the sales record for this game? I'd like to see if it does poorly or, sells like hotcakes.

Hopefully, the Thief III team will take all the negative complaints about Deus Ex:IW, and NOT make the same lame game with the same game engine.

 

[John Madia]

I just finished with a game time of just under 9 hours. I probably spent around double that time playing. The game itself was enjoyable overall albeit disappointing at first when compared to the first Deus Ex. It got a lot better once you left Seattle. None of the 4 endings were that satisfactory. Here's my thoughts on the four:

The first ending I choose was to work for JC and his version of the utopian society. It turns out his plan was a success and there were centuries of peace but it left it open for you to interpret whether the people controlled helios or helios controlled the people.

The second ending I went with was the renegade ending in which I killed all the leaders. This ended up plunging the world into 2 centuries of chaos in which only the omar survived. I figured that it would've sent the world into Chaos but I forgot about the omar.

The third ending was the illuminati ending. The world is at peace but apparently only via total surveillance. The framerate really suffers at places during this ending.

The last ending I choose was the templar's. You get to see a victory speech which pans over to shot of (supposedly) Alex hung.

I suppose the "right" choice is the first ending. Since nanotechnology does exist, it would be best to give it to everyone rather than have the illuminati use it to control everyone. The templar ending is obviously bad as is the omar ending. Each ending ends with quote but most exit to the main thing before you can read the entire thing.

With all of the endings, I doubt they'll be a sequel. Of course, if this makes a load of cash than they'll find a way.




Overall, I recommend it as a rental since it's a fun game but there's not as much replay value as it appears. While there's different paths to choose from, you can access any of the endings at the final level. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing because I wouldn't want to back track a long way just to see a different ending. It's just that there's not much more to see by replaying it being loyal to only one side. You can always reload a save at a critical decision to see what would of happened then if you chose a different path. Although choosing another path may trigger different conversations as you progress, your ultimate path is set in stone.

 

[James T]

I need help. I'm stuck in Germany. Read no further if you haven't gone here yet....

I finished all that I could and just need a pilot to get to the Templar base. The problem is that my free pilot I helped save isn't there anymore and I don't have enough cash to hire the pilot at the bar. What do I do?

 

[John Madia]

Your free pilot should appear. Check your goals and make sure that you've done everything. Don't forget to pick up the assasin pistol while you're there.

 

[James T]

The things I didn't and don't have intentinos of doing was investigate the weapons cache and investigate the evidence room. I was already given the Templar map and met with the people at the SSC station for the second time.

But I can't find an alternate entrance to the weapons shop. I can see the windows, but can't find a way to get there. I just broke the window and stole everything I could, then it didn't get fun because everyone started shooting me, so I reloaded my previous game.

 

[Derrik Draven]

Believe it or not, I actually broke down and bought the game. The framerate is not as horrible as I originally thought. It's definitely NOT optimized, ie it's not smooth but, it's playable. Seems to me that this game was released a couple of months too early. I think that Ion could've/should've been able to get a smoother playing version if they just would've has some more tweak time. Just my opinion.

The lighting effects are definitely 2nd to none. Just jaw dropping awesome the way the real lighting and shadows work.

The physics are a little funky but, there's nothing quite like throwing someone off of a balcony in a bar, seeing them hit the hanging light on the way down, watching it react realistically, throwing shadows everywhere, and then seeing the body slam into the bar, knock glasses off, break on the floor, then the body slumps over the side of it in a realistic manner.

Pretty cool stuff...

So far though, I haven't come across this "great story" that people are talking about? It's pretty ho-hum for me. I'm still in Seattle though so...I guess it gets better? Seems kind of convoluted to me. Keep in mind I only played through about 1/3 of the 1st Deus Ex so I know very little of the backstory.

My worries about Thief III are still intact though. I have absolutely no idea how they (Ion) are going to make T3 work on the Xbox with the HUUUUUUGE levels that Thief is known for?

Tons and tons of load screens, I guess. No way to stream the info off the disc, like GTA?????

And, they will really need to get the framerate up for T3 since there is alot to the "feel" of the characters movement since you have to be very stealthy.

Which, brings me to another DE:IW complaint; the stealth aspects of this game are a joke. Many times the enemy AI can see/hear me when I'm no where near them. I guess the AI is whack?

Which brings me to another T3 worry: the AI. It MUST be good for Thief. It relies HEAVILY on enemy AI for a huge part of the gameplay.

Anyhoo...Deus Ex isn't quite as bad as I thought it would be but, it's certainly not a top shelf game, like I think it could've been with just some fine tuning on the end.

Eidos make 'em release it too soon?????

 

[James T]

I figured it out. I was suppose to contact her in the room where I met Tracer. In the previous countries, she contacted me, which was why I was confused in Germany.

 

[John Madia]

Is this ending a joke? I couldn't get it to work:

While you are in the UNATCO Ruins, the first large room you come into, you will see a Flag. Pick up the Flag, and go to the room where that used to be Joseph Manderly's office. Look around, and you should see a bathroom. Put the UNATCO Flag on the floor so it stands up, and flush the toilet. A message will come up, and you will be transported to the Developement Team Wrap Party, which is set in Club Vox.