Dig a bit deeper
So, Deus Ex Invisible War (DEIW) eh. Not as good as the original Deus Ex, you say?
I have to agree.
A good question to ask is if this game would be better if it was released without the deus ex name attached to it. What makes deus ex such a loved game? It is not the graphics, even at the time I was not blown away by them. It was the freedom you had and the choices you were presented with.
In comparison with the original, DEIW is a bit of a letdown. When you are confronted with choice, the wow effect you had in the original is lost. You have already seen it before. But does that make it bad or boring to be presented with choice in this game?
After playing through this game at least 4 times, the revelation came. This game is ok, not great maybe but still ok.
You are given choice and some freedom. You can help or not help, kill or not, bribe, steal or a combination. And most of the things you do have consequences in the story (small or big).
It is obvious that simplifying everything was not for the best. Inventory managment, biomod/ augmentation has been reduced to the most basic of systems. Having the option to select another augmentation is better that choosing one and sticking with it through the entire game is an improvement, though. See, DEIW did something better and you thought it was not possible.
Like I said in the beginning: if you decide to play this game, try not to think of it as a sequel to Deus Ex. I will only blur your judgement. Because if you dig deep enough, you will find a game that has more to offer than you would give it credit for.
