Deus Ex Review
As many of you may be aware, Deus Ex is a game that took the PC world by storm, but can the same be said of the PS2 conversion?
For those of you that haven't played the PC version of the game, Deus Ex is an ambitious first Person Shooter with role play elements. The game is so ambitious due to the fact that there are multiple ways of solving each level, and your skills can be increased however you choose to suit your playstyle.So you can put your skills into heavy weapons and weild flame throwers and rocket launchers to blast your way through doors, or you can improve your lockpicking and pistol skills, and use stealth to complete a level.
The multiple approaches to levels is shown in the first level, terrorists have taken over the ruins of the statue of liberty, and you can enter through the front door or climb the rear ofthe structure using crates. Using the front door is complicated by the security bot that patrols outside, you can either learn the simple patrol route that it follows or blast it with a 'GEP' gun (if you have one). At the start of the level your given the choice of three weapons, a mini crossbow, a sniper rifle or a GEP gun, and later upon return to HQ you will be given a choice of lockpicks or ammo. So your constantly having to choose how to shape your character. Also the amount of guns that you can carry is limited to four, which drastically affects the style of play as there is a healthy selection of guns to pick up as the game progresses. The range of skills available do affect how you play the game, a high computer skill will allow you to hack security terminals and turn off security cameras to avoid detection, or even turning security cameras against the guards. You also have access to special augmentations, these come in the form of a canister andeach canister relates to a body part e.g. legs or torso. Each canister gives you a choice of two abilities, so you can choose between extra strength for lifting objects or extra strength in combat. Each choice is permanent so you really have to think about which augs will suit you style of play. One aug even gives you the ability to use a spy drone that can fire a one-off EMP pulse.
The plot of the game is excellent, you play JC Denton, and augmented special agent in UNATCO (the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition) who are trying to put a stop to the terrorist actions of the NSF. To make matters worse a plague called the Grey Death is sweping the world and the cure known as ambrosia is in very short supply. The plot twists and turns making you wonder who your friends really are. Most of the twists are a bit obvious and predictable, and often resemble X-files conspiracy theories, and low budget movies, but the plot really enhances the game and makes it worth playing.
The controls are done particularly well. Movement is executed in the same way as most fps games on the PS2 with one stick controlling forwards, backwards and strafing, and the other stick controlling the direction that you are looking in. The d-pad selects weapons and the face buttons are used for inventory, interaction, and quick augs (you can map certain augmentations to the triangle button so there is no need to trawl through a menu to select the aug you want). As with all FPS on the PS2 the control pad method isn't brilliant for sniping, but it does work better tham most other games.
As mentioned earlier there are plenty of weapons to choose from in the game, and they really allow for balanced play, also you can upgrade weapons with modification found around the games huge levels. The modifications include scopes, silencers, range upgrades, recoil upgrades, acuuracy upgrades, among others. So once you've upgraded a gun you'll find yourself reluctant to drop it for a more powerful weapon.
There is a massive amount of variation in the games levels, from capturing a gang leader to sinking a huge ship, and the levels never get repetitive. You are also rewarded for exploring the levels, as finding hidden areas will give you more skill points to increase skills as well as hiddedn goodies such as aug canisters.
Froma graphical point ofview the game doesn't dissapoint, it doesn't have the graphics of new high end pc's running the ltest batch of fps games, but it is an improvement over the pc version, ona similar note the sound is very well done.
Overall the game is fantastic and is one of the most addictive single player games on the ps2.