Summer Games 2005 has officially begun and the first title on my long list to eat the bomb is Deus Ex: Invisible War. Being a huge fan of the first Deus Ex, I was quite eager to break into this sequel. For those of you who have not played the first Deus Ex, do yourself a favor and add it to your collection. The basic storyline places your character (Alex D) in the center of a conflict regarding the use of biomodification in humans. Though each rival faction you encounter has a stated moral standing on the issue of biomodification, the underlying motives involve conspiracy and a struggle for power. Your character has the ability to be biologically enhanced with choices such as superhuman strength and speed, cloaking ability, control of electronics and robotics, and many more.

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From the very beginning the visuals and audio of DX2 are of remarkable quality and provide a strong sense of immersion. The storyline has just the right amount of nostalgic carry-over from the prequel and the dystopian backdrop is well preserved. The music is excellent and was done by Alex Brandon and Todd Simmons who worked on the first DX.

DX2 claims to be an open-ended adventure where the player’s decisions determine the path and the outcome of the story. Sounds great but sadly the way this feature has been approached is lacking. The motives of each faction are a little too vague for too long and I felt no true motivation to choose one over another. And while the desired effect seems to be open moral choice, the only real choice is which of these warring factions the player will support (i.e. who will I shoot and who will shoot at me). I would rather have seen some definitive separation between the available choices and for these choices to have a recognizable impact on the storyline. It felt like regardless of my choices, the story would proceed in only one way and I could always change my mind later.

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Ion Storm has a reputation of putting a lot of work into writing the backstory for their games and DX2 is no exception. It is clear that this story is not an afterthought tacked on to a video game but an outstanding work of science fiction that holds the gaming elements together. The depth of storyline is immense and numerous tangents can be found in newspapers, random books, and even the game’s coffee shops.

Too much reading up there for you? Here’s the USA Today version:

The Good

• Excellent visuals, audio and music
• A strong and well written storyline continuing in the style of the game’s classic prequel
• Many choices in gameplay including stealth, action, hacking, sniping, and brute force combined as the player sees fit
• More, better biomods than DX1 and an easier way to manage them

The Bad

• Even though my PC far exceeds the recommended specs, the visuals felt sluggish at times.
• There is no reason to use the ability to move and hide bodies. This game feature served primarily as a source of amusement.
• If you shoot someone in the head with a shotgun, they’re dead. Period. DX2 does not agree.
• The credits for completing missions are almost useless. You can buy weapons from a couple of vendors, but every bad guy is carrying free guns, grenades and ammo.
• As Chris mentioned long ago, there is no screenshot key. That’s just dumb.

Even though DX2 left me wanting in a few areas, it was still a solid title which lives up to the quality of its prequel. Since we still have no defined rating scale, I choose to give Deus Ex: Invisible War a 30/34.