Steam sales got me again! The original Deus Ex was on sale earlier today (and still is) for $2.49. I've spent less on more before, so I picked it up and you guys know this story by heart now. Anyway, keep in mind that every bit of the following is after about 2 hours of play and I only just finished the first mission. At this point, I'm going to talk to Anna somebody.

Just incase you don't know what Deus Ex is, though, it's a first person RPG released in 2000 and it's been considered by many to be a PC gaming classic, up there next to System Shock 2 and Half-Life. JC Denton is our gravelly-voiced, sunglasses-sporting protagaonist, stuck in a cyberpunk world with a bunch of cybernetic augmentations all over him. He's some kind of police officer/security agent guy and, well, that's about all I know plot-wise. Well, that and I think this Gunther dude is a bad guy, but I can't be certain. I accidentally skipped half of the first cutscene - oops! - so I might have missed some details that I need to go to Youtube and find out.

Speaking of cutscenes, that's where I think this game shows its age the most. As a game released in 2000, graphics that aren't up to par are to be expected. It was still kind of shocking to see characters open and close their mouths like a nutcracker might, and remember that this is a game where a lot of mouth opening and closing happens. I can get used to it, but it will never stop looking odd. What's more annoying is the award-winning voice acting on display throughout all of what I've played. Far Cry's voice acting is even better and both are far outpaced by the golden voice acting on display in House of the Dead 2, but this is well-worth hearing just for a laugh. Again, I can get used to it, but it's very much bad. And far less excusable than the bad facial animations, too. As for the rest of the graphics, they don't bother me much. They're flat and boxy and actually remind me of Doom, if Doom had been a first person RPG.

What about starting the game proper? The first thing I did was go through a training session, which lasted a longer time than expected. I knew this game was more complex than most games in the first person perspective, but I didn't expect it to last this long. I got done with the training (and finished doing a lot of keybind changing) and got my ass shipped off to the first level, a mission to kidnap a terrorist leader who is holed up in the top of what's left of the Statue of Liberty. This terrorist guy has captured some vaccine for a virus called Ambrosia, which kills people. I'm not certain of the rest of the details. Anyway, if this were a modern game you'd be given two guns, two grenades, and two feet to the left and right to dodge bullets with. Nothing wrong with extreme linearity, but here I was given the entire island to explore which is quite freeing. I have played the game's prequel, Human Revolution, and even that feels closed off compared to this place. There are several different ways into the Statue of Liberty. I explored around a bit, in the shadows, and eventually found a stack of boxes that let me climb up onto the statue. I did some exploring after taking care of a lot of bad guys and found at least one other way in - I could have gone to the North, to a double agent, and gotten some kind of key for the front door. I don't see what the advantages of waltzing in that way would have been considering how easy it is to die in this game, but the option is there nonetheless.

To sum this up so that I don't make it far too long, I first made my way inside the statue and mistakenly went down instead of up. When I got to the bottom floor, I took care of everyone quietly and rescued some bloke named Gunther, whom I mentioned earlier is a bad guy. I think. Anyway, right now he's a good guy. I also remember picking up a note of some sort that had the credit card account number and security code of a newlywed couple on a table and an ATM in the main room. Naturally, this being a video game and me not really caring about nutcracker-mouthed newlyweds, I stole everything they had. It's worth noting that I could have just taken 5 of their credits (the game's currency) or 199 and left them 1 measly credit. No, I was a right and proper thief and took it all. By this point, I had killed or knocked out everyone and thrown them all off of the balcony to the floor below for amusement as well as disabled all of the electronic devices except for one very bothersome camera and turret, which was placed on the stairs. I had gotten through it before, but I died a few times trying to make it back to the stairs so I found a different way out, headed all the way back around the mountainous statue, and climbed up the way I had originally gotten up there. I took out the few remaining bad dudes and found their leader, who must have been zapped with the pussification ray moments before because he immediately spilled the beans and offered no resistance whatsoever. And with that, the level was complete and I was told to go West, where I would find a secret underground base (or something akin to that) full of JC Denton's buddies. Because everyone was now dead, I could have just waltzed out the front door but my idiot ass walked all the way down and around the way I had come, which was a lot longer than heading out the front door and walking pretty much straight.

Above: Our very own Giantbomb duders made a Quick Look of Deus Ex, including the level that I talked about here. Also: Damn thing wouldn't let me put this as a note under the video.

So there's a summary of my first two hours playing Deus Ex. I've spent far more on far less experiences before, and if the first bit is any indication I'll probably have a good bit of fun with this game. I'd say that $2.50 has already gone a long way. It's nuts, really, how much more open this game seems than even its successor, Human Revolution. Well, its sequel was actually Invisible War, but it seems like we don't talk about Invisible War. I also greatly appreciate that it keep a record of all of the conversations you've had, it allows you to take your own notes whenever you need to, and many other things. I can already see issues with not including a good map or waypoint coming from a mile away, but I've dealt with such things before and can deal with it again. Besides, it might be refreshing to have to actually find out where something is in addition to finding a way to it, I just hope that the game doesn't ask you to find something the size of a micro SD card in the middle of a huge pile of junk.

In short, my first impressions have left me feeling good about the game. If you have a spare $2.50 and have never played this, get it. It runs A-OK on pretty much anything these days, so as long as you have a working computer it should be fine on there. Ain't no excuse for not playing it, except maybe you just hate mouse control that much.

On a final note, who the fuck thinks "Swimming? Fuckin' A, I want to train in that!" Does that actually have any use whatsoever?

Steam sales got me again! The original Deus Ex was on sale earlier today (and still is) for $2.49. I've spent less on more before, so I picked it up and you guys know this story by heart now. Anyway, keep in mind that every bit of the following is after about 2 hours of play and I only just finished the first mission. At this point, I'm going to talk to Anna somebody.

Just incase you don't know what Deus Ex is, though, it's a first person RPG released in 2000 and it's been considered by many to be a PC gaming classic, up there next to System Shock 2 and Half-Life. JC Denton is our gravelly-voiced, sunglasses-sporting protagaonist, stuck in a cyberpunk world with a bunch of cybernetic augmentations all over him. He's some kind of police officer/security agent guy and, well, that's about all I know plot-wise. Well, that and I think this Gunther dude is a bad guy, but I can't be certain. I accidentally skipped half of the first cutscene - oops! - so I might have missed some details that I need to go to Youtube and find out.

Speaking of cutscenes, that's where I think this game shows its age the most. As a game released in 2000, graphics that aren't up to par are to be expected. It was still kind of shocking to see characters open and close their mouths like a nutcracker might, and remember that this is a game where a lot of mouth opening and closing happens. I can get used to it, but it will never stop looking odd. What's more annoying is the award-winning voice acting on display throughout all of what I've played. Far Cry's voice acting is even better and both are far outpaced by the golden voice acting on display in House of the Dead 2, but this is well-worth hearing just for a laugh. Again, I can get used to it, but it's very much bad. And far less excusable than the bad facial animations, too. As for the rest of the graphics, they don't bother me much. They're flat and boxy and actually remind me of Doom, if Doom had been a first person RPG.

What about starting the game proper? The first thing I did was go through a training session, which lasted a longer time than expected. I knew this game was more complex than most games in the first person perspective, but I didn't expect it to last this long. I got done with the training (and finished doing a lot of keybind changing) and got my ass shipped off to the first level, a mission to kidnap a terrorist leader who is holed up in the top of what's left of the Statue of Liberty. This terrorist guy has captured some vaccine for a virus called Ambrosia, which kills people. I'm not certain of the rest of the details. Anyway, if this were a modern game you'd be given two guns, two grenades, and two feet to the left and right to dodge bullets with. Nothing wrong with extreme linearity, but here I was given the entire island to explore which is quite freeing. I have played the game's prequel, Human Revolution, and even that feels closed off compared to this place. There are several different ways into the Statue of Liberty. I explored around a bit, in the shadows, and eventually found a stack of boxes that let me climb up onto the statue. I did some exploring after taking care of a lot of bad guys and found at least one other way in - I could have gone to the North, to a double agent, and gotten some kind of key for the front door. I don't see what the advantages of waltzing in that way would have been considering how easy it is to die in this game, but the option is there nonetheless.

To sum this up so that I don't make it far too long, I first made my way inside the statue and mistakenly went down instead of up. When I got to the bottom floor, I took care of everyone quietly and rescued some bloke named Gunther, whom I mentioned earlier is a bad guy. I think. Anyway, right now he's a good guy. I also remember picking up a note of some sort that had the credit card account number and security code of a newlywed couple on a table and an ATM in the main room. Naturally, this being a video game and me not really caring about nutcracker-mouthed newlyweds, I stole everything they had. It's worth noting that I could have just taken 5 of their credits (the game's currency) or 199 and left them 1 measly credit. No, I was a right and proper thief and took it all. By this point, I had killed or knocked out everyone and thrown them all off of the balcony to the floor below for amusement as well as disabled all of the electronic devices except for one very bothersome camera and turret, which was placed on the stairs. I had gotten through it before, but I died a few times trying to make it back to the stairs so I found a different way out, headed all the way back around the mountainous statue, and climbed up the way I had originally gotten up there. I took out the few remaining bad dudes and found their leader, who must have been zapped with the pussification ray moments before because he immediately spilled the beans and offered no resistance whatsoever. And with that, the level was complete and I was told to go West, where I would find a secret underground base (or something akin to that) full of JC Denton's buddies. Because everyone was now dead, I could have just waltzed out the front door but my idiot ass walked all the way down and around the way I had come, which was a lot longer than heading out the front door and walking pretty much straight.

Above: Our very own Giantbomb duders made a Quick Look of Deus Ex, including the level that I talked about here. Also: Damn thing wouldn't let me put this as a note under the video.

So there's a summary of my first two hours playing Deus Ex. I've spent far more on far less experiences before, and if the first bit is any indication I'll probably have a good bit of fun with this game. I'd say that $2.50 has already gone a long way. It's nuts, really, how much more open this game seems than even its successor, Human Revolution. Well, its sequel was actually Invisible War, but it seems like we don't talk about Invisible War. I also greatly appreciate that it keep a record of all of the conversations you've had, it allows you to take your own notes whenever you need to, and many other things. I can already see issues with not including a good map or waypoint coming from a mile away, but I've dealt with such things before and can deal with it again. Besides, it might be refreshing to have to actually find out where something is in addition to finding a way to it, I just hope that the game doesn't ask you to find something the size of a micro SD card in the middle of a huge pile of junk.

In short, my first impressions have left me feeling good about the game. If you have a spare $2.50 and have never played this, get it. It runs A-OK on pretty much anything these days, so as long as you have a working computer it should be fine on there. Ain't no excuse for not playing it, except maybe you just hate mouse control that much.

On a final note, who the fuck thinks "Swimming? Fuckin' A, I want to train in that!" Does that actually have any use whatsoever?

Glad you enjoyed it! Also swimming is the shit, you can hold your breath longer and everything! Also I take the caption for the final upgrade of swimming literally "An agent moves like a dolphin underwater.​". LIKE A FUCKING DOLPHIN!

The gameplay is why this game is still playable today. So freedom in the way you can approach each mission and task. Also, I really liked the story and world of it. That soundtrack is fantastic.

There are hidden items underwater in that first level, if you don't train swimming getting those items will be much harder since you have to keep going up for air. I haven't completed the game myself ( Even though I've had it for 3-4 years now) but ostensibly the later levels would make reaching those underwater areas much harder so you would need to train in swimming.

Nice write-up. I've gotten through the training mission, but that's it. I need to get on it.

I've always wanted to play the original dues ex. It sounds like alot of fun.

I think upgrading swimming is only helpful for one hidden item, and even then I think I got it without the upgrade on some play throughs. Like that guy says in The Game says, I wish I could go back and experience it for the first time again.