Deus Ex is a first-person-shooter/stealth game/RPG released in, developed by Ion Storm and published by Eidos Interactive. Set in the cyberpunk future of 2052, it follows the adventures of JC Denton, a bio-mechanically augmented agent for UNATCO, the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition. Denton is tasked with fighting the NSF, a group of radical terrorists who seem bent on disrupting the world order during an epidemic of the Gray Death, a plague that has killed millions and whose only cure holds off the disease for a mere two days. JC's missions and investigations lead to him stumbling upon a vast web of conspiracies involving the very foundation of the world's government and secrets about Denton himself.
Deus Ex is widely considered one of the best games ever made. Its genre-defying combination of first-person shooter mechanics, stealth-based gameplay, and RPG elements makes it an experience appealing to a wide variety of players. There are a number of ways around any given problem, and the player is not railroaded into any one solution--in fact, there is often dialogue written specifically to play if the player takes their own, out-of-the-way path through a level. The game has three different endings and there are a number of ways the player can influence the overall storyline, including killing off boss characters early and saving the lives of characters on the verge of death. It also has lovably bad voice acting (what a shame) and a pretty good soundtrack;
the main theme in particular is great.
Enough gushing. Let's get this show on the road. This will be done in screenshot format, which I think should work alright. I'll be trying to minimize casualties and play as stealthily as possible, although I'm liable to pull a gun in an emergency. I'll be playing on Realistic difficulty, which makes damage much higher both to enemies and to JC.
To start the game off, we have to distribute skill points among JC's various skills, give JC a real name (as "JC Denton" is a codename,) and choose a face for him out of five.
There are 11 skills: the weapon skills Demolition (grenades,) Pistols, Rifles, Heavy (rocket launchers and such,) and Low-Tech (melee,) and the out-of-combat skills Lockpicking, Computer, Electronics, Medicine, Environmental Training, and Swimming. These skills have four levels each (Untrained, Trained, Advanced, and Master,) with each level costing a certain number of points; we start with 5000. I will be distributing the points myself, partially because I know what skills suit my playstyle best, and partially because I know somebody will demand points in Environmental Training and Swimming if I offer the choice. You guys will get to vote on JC's face and name, though, as well as a few other things.
There's five options for JC's face:
and basically anything is fine as his name. Personally, I'm partial to black JC and giving him a first and middle name that starts with J and C, but the choice is yours. One other thing I want you guys to vote on involves a choice of items at the start of the game. Within a few minutes of the game starting, a character will offer us a choice between a mini-crossbow (a silent weapon that uses tranquilizer darts,) a sniper rifle (a highly lethal long-range weapon using initially somewhat rare .30-06 rounds,) or a GEP gun (a rocket launcher that takes up eight inventory slots.)
Two final things:
- Deus Ex touches on a number of philosophical themes, particularly toward the end of the game. I encourage discussion of these themes; I will
not tolerate arguments. Respect the other person's viewpoint. If things get heated, I will not hesitate to lock the thread until things calm down.
- If you discuss spoilers,
please use clearly marked spoiler tags.
Poll
