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Another look: Deus ex: Invisible War

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Fixed2BeBroken

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So I bought this game for PC when it first came out being that I loved Deus ex and always felt it was one of the best games I had ever played. So I play Deus ex: IW for about a week and get tired of it for some reason, uninstall it and never play it again.

so its been year or two or three (havent really been counting) and I make a thread about games I wish for that probably won't get made for next gen.

And while reading that and reading this thread as well.

I decided to try to forget about deus ex and replay through deus ex again during the christmas holidays since im broke and cant afford any new games and do not feel like playing games that I have had for a long time and havent come around to finishing yet such as Jade empire, fable, viewtiful joe 2, etc.

so yea, I fall in love with deus ex all over again and finish it on "real life" mode or whatever since I am a deus ex expert super ninja.

then I say, fuck it, I might as well play deus ex IW since I never finished that stupid game.

So I reinstall that poorly coded peice of shit and what do you know....the game is actually very damn good. Alot of people have deemed it shitty as hell. I did too after I had uninstalled it and forgot about it forever but now I am in love with it.

Yea alot of shit is streamlined for the casual gamer and there is no "skills" anymore yes I do miss those things but at the same time....theres alot more there. The freedom in the game is amazing. So many options or paths you can choose from. There is no right or wrong way, just your way.

the game does have its problems like being Poorly coded to hell. wtf my computer is BEYOND the recommended specs and it still chugs like hell at 1024x768. I have to play the game at like 640x5whatever to get a decent framerate and even then its not even 60fps.
and again skills and the wierd bullet system is odd, and having all ur tools as one tool is also wierd.
And that stupid fucking Preloading screen before the loading actually begins (cd checker or something) is annoying as fuck.
Also the massive amounts of loading for smaller compact areas is kind of claustraphobic.

But still, the core gameplay and freedom is unmatched except by something like GTA.

I am honestly kind of blown away at how much Fun I am having with the game. Maybe its cause I went in with not as much hype this time? I dont know, but I think it gets a bad rap and im actually impressed with what it is.

does it live up to deus ex? no.

but is it fun? yea.

thats all that matters in my book.






I'm Ron Burgundy?
 
I don't think there is a computer on this planet that can properly run Invisible War. I'm convinced of that.
 
Oh and one more thing that i love about the game that was in the prior game as well is the NPC's reaction to you whenever you are an asshole or whenever you do anything to them. thats one thing that really annoyed me about Halflife 2. In Half life 2, Once NPCs say what they have to say to you, they are oblivious to your existence or your actions.
 
I got the Xbox version when it came out. Never played the original, so I can't compare but I really liked this game. For a while I couldn't get a hang of the game, I even gave up at one point and just went on a rampage in a club when in doing so I stumbled across something that made me want to press on. By the time you go to Egypt I had the mechanics down and was really impressed by how the game was layed out. I know everyone says the original is better, but if you've not played the first one IW is a great game for the price it goes for now (sub 20).
 
Dead said:
I don't think there is a computer on this planet that can properly run Invisible War. I'm convinced of that.
Click to expand...

I had the Xbox version, killed everyone in one area, and threw all their bodies into one dumpster.
Xbox was chugging worse than the MGS2:S rain areas.

Oh, and for it to have the Deus Ex name, it was just a terrible game. Maybe if they disguised it under a different name it wouldn't have offended me as much. But if you notice my likes/dislikes, I'm a JRPG whore, and I love Deus Ex to death.
 
I bought it for the Xbox when it came out, and I enjoyed it. IW is a step back in most areas from its predecessor, but that didn't stop it from being a worthwhile game. There are bugs, and the lack of customization of your character hurts though. Deus Ex was such a fantastic game that it would've been really tough to live up to. Hopefully some of the people that started with IW went back and experienced the first game, which is one of the best games ever made.
 
never could get into it. tried several times, looked forward to it pre-release, and just couldnt understand the underlying mechanics and ai.

xbox version btw
 
Rented for Xbox when it was first released. I really really wanted to like it, but to many things went wrong. The hideous framerate, killed any chance I'd play through to the end, loading didn't help. The kicker though? It's the only game that has ever made my Xbox completely power off while playing it heh.
 
Same, bought it for the Xbox. Worst frame rate of any game I've played on the Xbox. Killed the game for me so I put it to pasture. Picked it up for the PC again on the dirt cheap. Anticipate another go at it. I like what I saw in terms of the freedom. Another complaint is the way the stealth aspect is handled.
 
Played it on Xbox and completed it with all endings before I ever played the first on PC. Highly enjoyed it, despite some shortcomings.

Finally got around to playing the first on all the way through on PC. I think playing the second one first really made the first one all the better, and I'm glad I played the second one first, so I wouldn't have to be disappointed by anything.
 
I loved the first game and tried the second one on Xbox but it just didn't grab me. Maybe I needed a replay of the original first to freshen up on the plot line or something.
 
Own the PC version

and finally with a 6800GT, the game manages to never fall under 25fps or so at 1024x768....only took 2 videocard upgrades :lol


anyway, I have a love/hate relationship with DXIW. Clearly it is a mere shell when compared to its prequel (Deus Ex is my all time favorite game) but at the same time, there is alotta things to love about it

-a year or so Before HL2, using the physics in your enviroment to come up with creative ways of overcoming your enemy and completing an objective.
- The fact that you can pretty much play through the entire game without having to kill ANYONE! (which i've done)
- Some inspired art designs like the omar, mako pistol, scientists,Sentrys, and some not, like SMG, Tarsus cadets, cramped level design, etc.
- continuation of DX storyline, though it has an abrupt and unsatifying end
- slick but at the sametime, waaay dumbed down interface.....I mean, who honestly though universal ammo was a good idea?
-Grays are awesome!
- sadly, unlike first one, your consequences in this game dont really matter for the most part. Like in the first one, where Paul scolded JC for killing everyone (if you did) at liberty or praising you if you didn't where as in DXIW, you can kill or not kill as many people as you want and there is no reaction from that game at any point. Kind kills building a sense of verisimilitude

....but anyways. DXIW is a better game than alotta people would have you believe, but yes, it is an extreme let down if you were a devout fan like I

....Warren Spector wasn't team lead on DXIW BTW
 
Deus Ex is my favorite game of all time... and Ion Storm completely sold out the original's fanbase when they pandered IW to the casual console market. Fuck I hated everything about that game.
 
Solo said:
Deus Ex is my favorite game of all time... and Ion Storm completely sold out the original's fanbase when they pandered IW to the casual console market. Fuck I hated everything about that game.
Click to expand...

Quoted For Fucking Truth

Why oh why did they name this game Deus Ex?

As a Deus Ex game Invisbile War scores -10/10.

As a nameless FPS/ stealth game Invisible War scores about 4/10.
 
'casual console market'

that phrase and 'idea' is such a idiotic concept... from devs. There is no such thing.
You are correct in your assessment Solo, thats exactly what they did, although Ion named it 'streamlining'. In doing so they killed their franchise.

What i dont understand about the idiotic 'streamlining' is that the game was aimed at an older auidence. The content and rating show that quite clearly, yet the gameplay and structure are childish in some respects.

If anyone has played the Ps2 port of DX, they would have seen that the original inventory and skill system worked quite well on a 'casual' console.

Fission Mailed Smith, you killed DX until it died from it.
 
Basically, they made everything less complex, from storyline to the UI, made the console version the lead platform (a slap in the face to the original's fans, getting a piss poor version of an X-Box port). Essentially, Ion Storm took a piss all over us from great height. Well, at least I can find solace in the fact that this attempt to cash in failed miserably, while the original was the GOTY for 2000, and still immensely playable today.
 
Solo said:
Basically, they made everything less complex, from storyline to the UI, made the console version the lead platform (a slap in the face to the original's fans, getting a piss poor version of an X-Box port). Essentially, Ion Storm took a piss all over us from great height. Well, at least I can find solace in the fact that this attempt to cash in failed miserably, while the original was the GOTY for 2000, and still immensely playable today.
Click to expand...

amen!
 
Solo said:
Deus Ex is my favorite game of all time... and Ion Storm completely sold out the original's fanbase when they pandered IW to the casual console market. Fuck I hated everything about that game.
Click to expand...
QFT. It wasn't even going to be a Deus Ex game....
 
At this point, Id settle for a DX1 remake on like the Source engine. Because a true, PC developed sequel, with the original's depth and scope, willl sadly never happen :(
 
Solo said:
At this point, Id settle for a DX1 remake on like the Source engine. Because a true, PC developed sequel, with the original's depth and scope, willl sadly never happen :(
Click to expand...


I would only be on board again if Warren Spector was gonna be team lead again.....and checking his resume, he doesn't seem to do to many, if any, sequels
 
Nah, he doesn't. I think the next best thing us Deus Ex fans can check out is Bioshock, since that's the spiritual successor to System Shock 2, which obviously was the precursor to Deus Ex. Unfortunately, we have heard/seen dickall about Bioshock since it was announced almost a year ago, and even then all we got were some pieces of concept art, and some vague details about the game.

EDIT: On the subject of Deus Ex, I must also state that the game has my favorite OST in any game Ive ever played, just slightly ahead of the music in the MGS series.
 
This is old, but there was a funny post about the 'streamlined' experience of Invisible War on the old Ion Storm forums. Credit to the original author, whoever it was:

"Set 100 years after Deus Ex 2, the chilling future of Deus Ex 3 brings...
the Unification Wars.

- Why fuddle around with a multitool, a gun and beer bottles. In DX3, all
items have been unified into a single NANO-ITEM.

- This allows for the stunning implementation of Unified Inventory, one
slot - no worries! Easy access to the Nano-Item... WHEN IT COUNTS!

- Your character, Unified Denton has been unified with all NPC's. AI? YOU
ARE THE AI!

- Sick of hundreds of tiny levels in DX2? DX3 features the Unified Level,
one level where ALL THE ACTION TAKES PLACE!

- Confused by the myriad paths to take? Unified Gameplay allows the
developers to remove the confusion of pressing buttons, just DOUBLE-CLICK
THE ICON AND WATCH.

- Every copy of the PC version of DX3: Unification Wars COMES WITH AN XBOX!

- Grandmaster of Ion Storm and Chief Eunuch Harvey Smith says: "My brain
has
been unified with a grapefruit, and that means YOU'RE MY BITCH! SUCK IT
DOWN!

Unify Your Money With My Wallet! DX3: UNIFICATION WARS!"

:lol

There was also a modified script of the intro movie to Deus Ex which was hilarious:

http://www.atrip.net/forums/showthread.php?p=66395

Will there ever be another game to rival the first Deus EX? I hope so......
 
razorman said:
- Why fuddle around with a multitool, a gun and beer bottles. In DX3, all
items have been unified into a single NANO-ITEM.

- Sick of hundreds of tiny levels in DX2? DX3 features the Unified Level,
one level where ALL THE ACTION TAKES PLACE!

- Every copy of the PC version of DX3: Unification Wars COMES WITH AN XBOX!
Click to expand...

So fucking true it hurts :(
 
You know Borys, the thing I remember most about the whole Invisible War debacle was how SURE I was that it was going to be great game. After the genius of the original, it was simply inconceivable to me that the sequel would be anything else but solid gold. I've never been more confident in predicting a games success, so much so that I blissfully ignored all the concerns others had about streamlining and the console port. I could not rationally believe that the creators of such a masterpiece could get it wrong - DX:IW HAD to be a great game. It was impossible for them to screw it up - hell, more of the same with improved graphics and I would have lapped it up. I can't believe how it turned out :(
 
Spector: Your appointment to Microsoft should be finalized within the week. I've already discussed the matter with Eidos.

Smith: I take it they were agreeable?

Spector: They didn't really have a choice.

Smith: Have they been infected?

Spector: Oh, yes, most certainly. When I mentioned that we could push more copies on the XBox, they were so willing it was almost pathetic.

Smith: This demo - the rioting is intensifying to the point where we may not be able to contain it.

Spector: Why contain it? Let it spill over into the fan sites and chatrooms, let the posts pile up on the server. In the end, they'll beg us to ship it.

Smith: I've received reports of armed attacks on team members. There's not enough of us to placate them, the PC gamers are starting to get desperate.

Spector: Of course they're desperate. They can smell their death, and the sound they'll make rattling their cage will serve as a warning to the Thief fans.

Smith: Mmm. I hope you're not underestimating the problem. The others may not go as quietly as you think - they've had two games done properly, rather than just one, after all.

Spector: A bunch of pretentious old men posting on TTLG. But the world left them behind long ago. Consoles are the future.

Smith: We have other problems.

Spector: The mod community?

Smith: Formed by passion for good gaming, and a desire to be involved. I have someone in place, though. I'm concerned they'll take matters into their own hands.

Spector: Our development skills are far in advance of theirs, as is our distribution system. And their... ethical inflexibility has allowed us to make progress in areas they refuse to consider.

Smith: Universal ammo?

Spector: Among other things - but I must admit that I've been somewhat disappointed in the performance of the primary unit.

Smith: The secondary unit should be online soon. It's currently undergoing preparation and will be operational within six months. My people will continue to report on its progress. If necessary, the primary will be terminated.

Spector: We've had to endure much, you and I, but soon there will be order again, a new age. Gates spoke of the mythical City on the Hill. Soon that city will be a reality, and we will be crowned its kings.

Or better than kings. Microsoft lackeys!.
Click to expand...

Jesus Christ, my thoughts exactly.

I also can't fucking comprehend how things could go wrong with DX2, razorman.

Spector was a wonder-developer, I enjoyed all of his games and they always were simply ingenious and way ahead of time. Ultimas Underworld (amazing stuff, amazing graphics, freedom of actions i.e. you could bash, picklock, open by key or by spell a door), Thieves and finally Deus Ex.

How could he dip so low with DX:IW :( I imagine it was hell easy - MS drops a bucket of cash and all development goes to hell beacuse they've already recieved the dough.

All my hope lies in BioShock. Irrational were always hardcore PC devs but after their recent bombings - Tribes: V, SWAT 4 and FF it's hard to believe BioShock won't end as a 360-to-PC port.

And it's all PC gamers fault - who here bought SWAT 4? I know I did because it was an excellent, PC exclusive title.

Who else?

Nobody.
 
Borys said:
And it's all PC gamers fault - who here bought SWAT 4? I know I did because it was an excellent, PC exclusive title.

Who else?
Click to expand...

I haven't, yet. But I fully intend too. Loved the demo (just actually dl/ed it yesterday, lol. LTTP to the max). The only thing I wasnt big on was the movement speed. It seemed "off" to me. Not necessarily slow, just "off". Otherwise, I loved it.

Nice to have someone else looking forward to Bioshock, our quasi-spiritual DX/SS successor. I guess now theres 2 of us, haha.

Also nice to see others of the same mind that think the original DX is the greatest game ever. I still replay the game probably once or twice a year. I always find myself coming back to it. Beat Far Cry? Back to DX. Beat Doom 3? Back to DX. Beat HL2? Back to DX. And so on.
 
No, it does not. Another nit to pick: they based it off the Helios ending, which I thought was DX's worst. I would rather have seen JC in the Illuminati, or, even better, I would rather have seen an IW picking up from my favorite DX ending, the New Dark Age one (from Tracer Tong).
 
Download the texture pack by john p I think his name is, the game looks a hell of a lot better and the framerate is unaffected. I really enjoyed it, not as much as deus ex of course but still a decent game in my book.
 
bigNman said:
Download the texture pack by john p I think his name is, the game looks a hell of a lot better and the framerate is unaffected. I really enjoyed it, not as much as deus ex of course but still a decent game in my book.
Click to expand...

where?
 
You know...

I have an Xbox pad hooked up to my PC via usb (sliced cable, random drivers from the net)

When I ran DX and went to the options menu, the fucking Xbox pad was preconfigured, already worked, and rumbled.

*gun*
 
I agree with this opinion. I don't get it when everybody calls the game a piece of shit. I played the original so many times on PC, and I got the sequel on Xbox, and it's a very good game. Maybe not as deep, but the story was still very interesting, and it definitely hooked me. Which is all that matters.
 
For me it just didn't have the story or gameplay elements that I really liked. The poor performance was just more to complain about.
 
As a sequel to Deus Ex it is very disappointing but it's still a pretty good game if you can get over that. I enjoyed it anyway.
 
Borys said:
And it's all PC gamers fault - who here bought SWAT 4? I know I did because it was an excellent, PC exclusive title.

Who else?

Nobody.
Click to expand...

I bought Swat 4, haven't played it yet but I bought it.

For those having framerate issues with DX:IW, are you playing with the patch?
 
As a namless FPS it rates a 5/10, maybe a 5.5/10 because it steals some of the interesting ideas that the godly Deus Ex had.

But by god it does not deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as its predecessor, let alone have the same name.

One thing I will never forgive them for is that they completely borked the pistol. There was absolutely no reason to hang onto the pistol when you came across the sniper rifle in IW, the sniper rifle was simply superior in every way. In my first play through of the original I turned my stealth pistol into my own personal tiny black god of death. I could do this because I added my skill points to pistols and I outfitted the pistol with every good mod I came across. That thing had a larger clip, recoil supression, a scope, laster pointer, increased damage, you name it, it was tricked out.. Pretty much all of this was lost in IW.

Not only did removing the skill system completely bork the interesting firearm decisions that were everywhere in IW (snipers were more powerful but took a helluval lot more skill points to master, and took up WAY MORE SPACE etc.), it also messed with the augment decisions. For example what was once a skill in the original (hacking) became an augmentation and the hacker augmention was just so much more useful than every other augmentation that it was competing against that there was no compelling reason to ever pick anything else (other than a desire to try something else)

And the level design was a sad regression as well. Culminating in the horrifically bad final level that was supposed to be a homage to the first level in Deus Ex but had to be split into TWO areas with a HUGE loading time between them....

AND IT WAS STILL SMALLER THAN THE ORIGINAL.

Oh and the unified ammo system was kinda dumb, and the inventory sucked.

I don't blame Spector for this mess. But I did lose a lot of respect for the man when he played the perfect company man and went on an apologist PR blitz around the time of the game's release. If he had just quit the project and refused to be a shill for the crap game that IW turned out to be I would still consider him a genius. You could tell in the interviews halfway through the develpment of IW that he had reservations with the way it was going, I remember one comment from him that said that having different realistically named types of bullets for a gun was an easy and effective way to draw gamers into a game since it felt 'real'. The Unified ammo system is the complete opposite of that. It's just such a shame.
 
Deus Ex was the GREATEST PC GAME OF ALL TIME.

Invisible War......was not. No use in rehashing everyone else's spot-on points.
 
Boogie said:
Deus Ex was the GREATEST PC GAME OF ALL TIME.

Invisible War......was not. No use in rehashing everyone else's spot-on points.
Click to expand...

I realized it was an ok game and felt it doesn deserve all the hate it gets for not living up to one of the best PC games ever.

Your Post......was not. No use in rehashing many other's point.





I'm Ron Burgundy?
 
Borys said:
Jesus Christ, my thoughts exactly.

I also can't fucking comprehend how things could go wrong with DX2, razorman.

Spector was a wonder-developer, I enjoyed all of his games and they always were simply ingenious and way ahead of time. Ultimas Underworld (amazing stuff, amazing graphics, freedom of actions i.e. you could bash, picklock, open by key or by spell a door), Thieves and finally Deus Ex.

How could he dip so low with DX:IW :( I imagine it was hell easy - MS drops a bucket of cash and all development goes to hell beacuse they've already recieved the dough.

All my hope lies in BioShock. Irrational were always hardcore PC devs but after their recent bombings - Tribes: V, SWAT 4 and FF it's hard to believe BioShock won't end as a 360-to-PC port.

And it's all PC gamers fault - who here bought SWAT 4? I know I did because it was an excellent, PC exclusive title.

Who else?

Nobody.
Click to expand...
:) I did. It's fantastic.
 
I hated how limited the control options were....no matter how much you fiddled with the controls, it was impossible to get them identical to say, "Southpaw" in Halo, joystick wise.

BTW, I'm obviously talking about the shitty Xbox version, which had a crappy framerate that pissed me off so much.
 
Flipmo23 said:
I hated how limited the control options were....no matter how much you fiddled with the controls, it was impossible to get them identical to say, "Southpaw" in Halo, joystick wise.

BTW, I'm obviously talking about the shitty Xbox version, which had a crappy framerate that pissed me off so much.
Click to expand...

Whoa, so even the Xbox version was bad?

How ironic - Ion Storm tried to appeal to the console gamers (no offense here, I've got 2 consoles as well) while saying a big "FUCK YOU" to PC gamers and...

...they failed on both fronts.

I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too, Harvey Smith!
 
Azih said:
I don't blame Spector for this mess. But I did lose a lot of respect for the man when he played the perfect company man and went on an apologist PR blitz around the time of the game's release. If he had just quit the project and refused to be a shill for the crap game that IW turned out to be I would still consider him a genius. You could tell in the interviews halfway through the develpment of IW that he had reservations with the way it was going, I remember one comment from him that said that having different realistically named types of bullets for a gun was an easy and effective way to draw gamers into a game since it felt 'real'. The Unified ammo system is the complete opposite of that. It's just such a shame.
Click to expand...

My respect for Warren Spector is fully intact. Why? Well, first the obvious. Look at the man's pre IW track record, I mean, hes in the Kojima ranks of the PC world. He created my favorite game ever too, in DX1, which helps.

But with respect to IW, I still respect the man because, if memory serves, he was not actually involved/in control of the creative process, instead acting as a producer. It was Harvey Smith running the show, and killing DX. Not Warren Spector (although he probably should have stepped in at some point and realized what a shitty product they were making). So though Spector obviously had some responsibility for IW, he did not hold the majority of it.

Finally, the man is still a genius to me, and is tackling some tough stuff. I mean, isnt the guy currently trying to resurrect the Tomb Raider franchise? If so, I wont be surprised if he can return the series to greatness.
 
Solo said:
My respect for Warren Spector is fully intact. Why? Well, first the obvious. Look at the man's pre IW track record, I mean, hes in the Kojima ranks of the PC world. He created my favorite game ever too, in DX1, which helps.

But with respect to IW, I still respect the man because, if memory serves, he was not actually involved/in control of the creative process, instead acting as a producer. It was Harvey Smith running the show, and killing DX. Not Warren Spector (although he probably should have stepped in at some point and realized what a shitty product they were making). So though Spector obviously had some responsibility for IW, he did not hold the majority of it.

Finally, the man is still a genius to me, and is tackling some tough stuff. I mean, isnt the guy currently trying to resurrect the Tomb Raider franchise? If so, I wont be surprised if he can return the series to greatness.
Click to expand...

amen!

http://www.junctionpoint.com/jobs.htm

Next stop, source engine!
 
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