A game which incorporates multiple genres, blended together with a detailed, twisting story of conspiracy.

It's the near future, and the world has become an even more secretive place. Conspiracies run rampant as governments manipulate the world through indirect attacks on humanity. Also, the world is in great fear of terrorism and terrorist acts are occurring more frequently. Finally, there has been an organization, known as UNATCO, which has been formed in order to prevent terrorism and subdue the world's state of horror, or were they? Unfortunately for you, the answers never come easy. Welcome to the world of Deus Ex, a game which incorporates multiple genres, blended together with a detailed, twisting story of conspiracy. Stay on your toes.

The game is played from the first-person perspective, where you see the action through the main character's eyes. The nice spin-off on this trendy viewpoint is that it's not just some game where you go around and kill as many people as possible. This game mixes stealth, action, role-playing, as well as combat strategy. You are able to move silently through shadows by crouching, use a wide variety of weapons, and use skill points to build up different abilities (computer hacking, lock-picking, weapon handling, etc.). You receive skill points from completing objectives or exploring new areas and collecting items. Deus Ex opens the doors for gamers by mending these genres into a single game and allows them to have more opportunities and realism than ever offered in a game before. This game is really going to broaden the horizon for future development.

So, now that we know the viewpoint we see the action from, how does everything look through that viewpoint? Well, to give you some insight, the game utilizes the Unreal Tournament engine, which is a smoother, enhanced version of the original Unreal engine. If you've seen or played either Unreal or Unreal Tournament, you have noticed that the graphical capabilities are top-notch. Deus Ex follows right along in Unreal's path by displaying some gorgeous looking 3D graphics, with dynamic lighting, shadowing, rippling water effects, and reflective glass mirrors and marble floors.

The game does require a lot out of the computer though. I still can't enable Detailed Textures without experiencing a violent reduction in the framerate. But, with Detailed Textures disabled and all the other options on high, things are running fairly smoothly at either 640x480 or 800x600 in 32-bit color mode, as long as there isn't a lot of action going on in your view.

All the visuals in the game are done really well, except I am a little disappointed with the character textures. The facial and hand textures aren't as good as they could be. They are a little too generic, with a faded look, where the features are not indistinguishable enough, causing the faces to look better from a distance, rather than when you're up close and personal. The characters' mouths do move when they speak though and are fairly accurate too -- as accurate as I've seen in any other game to date. Overall though, the graphics are highly impressive and create some very realistic visuals. You shouldn't be disappointed.

The level design is another remarkable feature of the game. You get to travel all across the world, to places such as Hong Kong, New York, Liberty Island, and Paris. Now, it is some time in the future, so things are a little different, but the level design is fantastic. The architecture was created from actual blueprints of these locations, so you can imagine the accuracy they could come up with. Not only that, each level has multiple methods for achieving the same goals. I tested this by picking up from a save point to see if I could do a certain part differently a handful of times - and I could! It's one thing to have a realistic setting from our world; it's another to detail that setting with multiple pathways that accomplish the same task. This is the first of many ways in which the game emphasizes the possibility for discovery, exploration, and strategy.

Another thing I'd like to bring up about the levels is that almost every single item in the world is usable. You can pick up boxes, break open crates, throw chairs, slide barrels, open doors, use ladders, disable security systems, blow up infrared laser detection, hack into ATM machines, and even play basketball! The basketball is probably the neatest thing I've seen in a game that has nothing to do with basketball. I was taking some foul shots and three-pointers, and as I threw the ball, it realistically bounced of the backboard, off the rim, onto the ground, bouncing past me, ricocheted off the wall behind me, with its height decreasing with each bounce, just as you witness in real life. I was in shock. This just demonstrates what is truly impressive about the game, the fact that it doesn't miss a single detail, no matter how obscure.

Another example of this, which I am really glad to finally see, is the ability to go down ladders without backing up too far and falling only to lose damage. In Deus Ex, you back up on top of a ladder and there's an obvious sinking motion that lets you know you are ready to go down. It's a small feature, but helps out a lot.

Now, your missions take place in all those locations listed above, but you do not proceed from one to the other directly. You work for an organization, and once your mission is complete, you need to report back and be debriefed for your next assignment. You are brought back to the base via boat or helicopter. Inside your HQ, you can chat with your fellow officers, each telling you something different about what they've heard about the results of the previous mission. You can also stock up on some new items, receive full healing, and add additional "augmentations." Augmentations are enhancements you can add to your bionic body, making your run quicker, jump higher, lift heavier objects, have a transmitter in your ear at all times, etc. You also have your own office, where you can log into your computer and read your most recent email -- something I'm sure everyone can relate to doing. These emails can have some very helpful information, so checking it every time you return to HQ is always a smart idea.

Before you can depart for the next mission, you must receive your instructions from your superior, as well as your op bonus. Your op bonus is determined on how well you complete your missions and is used to purchase items from sellers. The more efficiently you finish your objectives, the better your op bonus. So, after your briefing, you are free to return to your mode of transportation and head out to the next assignment. This realism really helps immerse the gamer. You feel like you're actually working for UNATCO.

Speaking of your fellow officers and superiors, may I just say that the interaction of characters is incredible? They all seem so aware of your actions. Each decision you make is reflected through your conversations to the point where you feel like people are actually keeping tabs on you. The enemies also display some good intelligence. If you're sneaking around, and someone spots you, instead of opening firing on you, they may run to an alarm to alert everyone else, and then return to unload a few rounds on you with his buddies helping him. Also, if you injure someone, they will run away and discontinue their assault on you. The nice thing though, since your body is augmented, you can usually catch up to them and lay them to rest while they're fleeing. I've also caught a few enemies who had become suspicious if your built-in light passes near them, or if they hear you drop boxes on the ground, and will even inspect the area if they hear distant gunfire. These kinds of natural reactions really keep you in suspense when trying to avoid confrontation.

Probably the most unique aspect of this game I've noticed is that non-playable characters have tons of dialogue and all of it is audible - not just text. Most of the voice acting is quite good with only some poor voices for the Hong Kong non-playable characters. I've talked to some people at least 5 to 7 times before I've heard them repeat themselves, and that's after the major dialogue has already taken place. The major dialogue consists of your character talking to another character in a cut-scene. Your character handles most of the dialogue himself, but you occasionally have the opportunity to choose his next words from a list of available sentences. Be careful what you say though. You say the wrong thing to the wrong person, and you're looking to catch a few bullets!

Here, again, you have that sense of realism, where you can't get away with taking chances. You must absolutely commit yourself to playing the role of J.C. Denton or else you'll find your life drastically shortened. Every action you perform in this game has its consequences. It's not just a matter of following a set path. There are several ways to complete each mission and the dialogue following your actions will reflect those choices you had made during the mission -- it's a very organized virtual world. If you dispense with an objective in a less than suitable manner (i.e. kill innocent hostages), your superiors will lecture you on your mistake. If you disobey orders, don't think you're not going to hear bout it later.

This is what truly makes this game in my mind. Never before have I felt such immersion into a game where I feel like everything is happening to me directly. This is an incredibly well done game, with a multitude of possibilities, and one of the greatest replay values I've ever witnessed in a game since at any time during the game you have to say to yourself, "I wonder what else could have happened back there." You've never experienced a game like this before.

Reviewed by Brian Federici, PC Gameworld.