Deus Ex (Mac)

Rating:
Summary: Finally, a game that isn't afraid to be smarter than you are
Review: This is one of the best computer games ever, and the best single-character role playing game.

After the first few hours of playing Deus Ex, I was impressed the complexity of the combat system. The tactical maps reward exploration, the hit point system is body-location specific instead of general (so a critical blow against a head is much different from one against a leg), and there are so many ways to approach a probem that it makes the "multisolution" system of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic look like Tic Tac Toe. The options of long-range sniping, getting up close and personal with melee weapons or unleashing with automatic weapons and grenades also contribute to a great first person shooter experience.

After the first day, I was impressed with how the game went out of its way to set the mood of another world, the fact that if you wander into the women's restroom an NPC will make a sarcastic comment, and how almost every non-player character has something to say. I was particularly blown away by how experience is awarded not for killing things, but for "exploration bonuses", "progress awards" and "achieved objective awards". Too many games reward the entirely unrealistic activity of looking for danger, while in Deus Ex there is little point to looking for an unnecessary fight.

I moved the game from the "really good" to the "ridiculously good" column after it passed the 'toilet' and 'Asian languages' tests. Have you ever noticed that people in computer games almost never have to go the bathroom, and that even large buildings don't have any toilets? And also that games that have a lot of toilets, such as the Fallout series, tend to be really good role playing games? Deus Ex has a lot of restrooms, with toilets that you can flush. The second test is one that I've never actually seen in a game - the use of an actual Asian language rather than a bunch of scribbles. Having spent about 6 years of my life studying Japanese, the fact that most games don't even try to use a real writing system for signs supposedly set somewhere in Asia is really annoying. Deus Ex does in the chapter set in Hong Kong, and it is so well done that I was able to tell stalls in the market apart by their Chinese-language signs. Major respect due to the designers for their attention to this detail that everyone else ignores!

Finally, when NPCs began to give in-depth speeches on the nature of the relationships among society, the individual and government I decided that this game was off the charts. It is the rarest of computer games - a first-person shooter role playing game that builds its foundation on ideas. The graphics are a bit dated, but the graphics are not the reason to play this game. Unless you need your games to be non-stop explosions and gunfire, you need to get this game.

Rating:
Summary: Hours of Fun
Review: Well, this is the second game I've gotten since my girlfriend let me play on her computer, I'm just gonna have to say that I'm having trouble getting to bed at night. The storyline is great, the Game gives you that Bladerunner, Terminator feeling. On the other hand I feel like my opinion is a little biased, because I'm just an infant with these games. I mean the last time I played a first person shooter, it was Quake. There are minor flaws with the game.They don't actually take away from the game play, but they can get pretty annoying after a while. Like mentioned before by others, the AI. They have got to be some of the most retarded guys I've ever shot with a 10mm. A few times it really got on my nerves to run around in circles trying to shoot them. Other than that, there's really not too much to complain about. I'm probably only about a 10th of the way through the game, but I know i'm gonna finish it through the end. For anyone pondering on getting the game, go ahead and get it. You'll have a good time. but what always make me wonder is that I never had anything to really complain about with Doom and Quake, they were basically perfect games, and even though I enjoy Deus Ex, I shouldn't even notice things I don't enjoy about the game, I should just be plain enjoying it.