Game of the Month #3 - April: Deus Ex

Set in a dystopian world during the year 2052, the central plot follows rookie United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition agent JC Denton, as he sets out to combat terrorist forces, which have become increasingly prevalent in a world slipping ever further into chaos. As the plot unfolds, Denton becomes entangled in a deep and ancient conspiracy, encountering organizations such as Majestic 12, the Illuminati and Hong Kong Triads during his journey.

I got this on steam but the resolution was capped at something below 1920 X 1080 , so I couldn't play it as I'm not used to playing like that, I've hear good things about this game and I have a friend who never stopped playing it since its release so I will have to buy this on PS2 or find a way to increase the screen resolution.

I'm debating giving it another shot with everyone playing it now, but the first level was enough to kill it for me a few years back. I don't know if I'd say the gameplay was bad, but I definitely wouldn't agree it was good, and it reinforced why I tend to hate most stealth games that aren't Mark of the Ninja (and even that I never finished), or stealth sections in games, or stealth elements in games: they're usually terrible. Hey, you can sneak past these guys with incredibly bad AI, but just for fun, have zero visual feedback on whether you're in cover or they can see you or not. You know what would be a better use of my time than that? Just about anything, including sitting there punching myself in the dick.

Man, I sure did hate the tutorial and first level and UI and a whole lot of things about the first not-really-all-that-long of the game now that I think about it, and there wasn't really much interesting going on yet by that point to make me care enough to keep pushing past that even though everyone always talks about how great it is. I think I just talked myself out of giving it a second chance. Heh.

I'm debating giving it another shot with everyone playing it now, but the first level was enough to kill it for me a few years back. I don't know if I'd say the gameplay was bad, but I definitely wouldn't agree it was good, and it reinforced why I tend to hate most stealth games that aren't Mark of the Ninja (and even that I never finished), or stealth sections in games, or stealth elements in games: they're usually terrible. Hey, you can sneak past these guys with incredibly bad AI, but just for fun, have zero visual feedback on whether you're in cover or they can see you or not. You know what would be a better use of my time than that? Just about anything, including sitting there punching myself in the dick.

Man, I sure did hate the tutorial and first level and UI and a whole lot of things about the first not-really-all-that-long of the game now that I think about it, and there wasn't really much interesting going on yet by that point to make me care enough to keep pushing past that even though everyone always talks about how great it is. I think I just talked myself out of giving it a second chance. Heh.

I'm debating giving it another shot with everyone playing it now, but the first level was enough to kill it for me a few years back. I don't know if I'd say the gameplay was bad, but I definitely wouldn't agree it was good, and it reinforced why I tend to hate most stealth games that aren't Mark of the Ninja (and even that I never finished), or stealth sections in games, or stealth elements in games: they're usually terrible. Hey, you can sneak past these guys with incredibly bad AI, but just for fun, have zero visual feedback on whether you're in cover or they can see you or not. You know what would be a better use of my time than that? Just about anything, including sitting there punching myself in the dick.

Man, I sure did hate the tutorial and first level and UI and a whole lot of things about the first not-really-all-that-long of the game now that I think about it, and there wasn't really much interesting going on yet by that point to make me care enough to keep pushing past that even though everyone always talks about how great it is. I think I just talked myself out of giving it a second chance. Heh.

This may work

I'm usually good in stealth games but in this I had to try 8 times before I finished the sneaking TUTORIAL. X_x You could drop the stealth altogether and specialize in weapons. I try to knock out as many people as possible... usually ends up in me killing half of them.

I've tried to start a new game a few times now but for some reason it's just not clicking with me. I'll give it one more go, but if I can't make it through the first 15 minutes I'm not sure how I'm going to make it through a ~20 hour campaign...

Is there anything specifically annoying you or is it just not your kind of game?

I can relate though, the first time I ever played it, years ago, it didn't click with me either, I just tossed the disc aside and let it collect dust. It wasn't until a few years after that I decided to try it again, gave it a real shot to get into and when it eventually clicked I loved it.

It can be an interesting conversation point, why someone might not click with a game, what puts them off it, could the designers have done something differently etc. It exposes potential failings in the games design and ways others could avoid doing the same thing. Or it could expose how we as players have adjusted to changes in game design over the years. Looking at your completed list you played Human Revolution and rated it positively was there something it did right that the original doesn't?

One of the things that put me off initially is that very first choice where your brother asks you what equipment you want and I just sat there thinking "how should I know...I don't know how I want to play the game yet? I don't even know what's effective". Combined with the more open ended feel to the levels, coming from someone who at the time preferred more linear / directed shooter games like Half Life etc. ended up making me feel lost and confused most of the time.

At the end of the day if it's not clicking definitely no reason in trying to force it, just a recipe for a bad time..

I think it's just not my type of game, but there are a few things I can definitely point out.

Part of it is actually similar to your problem with the weapons you get in the beginning. I had no clue how to dole out my skill points initially because I had no idea what to expect. Like I'm sure the game is playable even if you make a "bad build." But it gives you that swimming option and at first I laughed, but then it really made me wonder "Are there going to be a bunch of swimming areas--and will I be prepared for them?"

I remember I didn't really like Human Revolution at first either, but I once I started getting augs and upgrades then things started becoming more fun. But I did have the impression that the difficulty was the same from the beginning to the end with just my character becoming more powerful (and therefore everything else seemed relatively easier). Maybe this is the same?

I think I just have a problem with games in this specific aesthetic. I kind of lump Half Life 1 and System Shock 2 in the same category. Although both of those games were outstanding enough on their own merits that I could deal with it. Could also be an issue of pacing... HL1 and SS2 build their way up, but DE pretty much just drops you into enemy territory before you have a real chance to get a grasp on the way the game works. And let's be honest: that tutorial is pretty boring and useless.

But I can't be clear enough that all these complaints are literally based on 15 minutes in the first level so these aren't opinions I'm all that firmly attached to.

I'd say the complaints are valid in that they are significant enough to stop you enjoying the game enough to progress. I actually deleted a line from my previous post though saying that like many RPGs the beginning does tend to be much more restrictive and at times more difficult than it should be due to your augs / equipment being of low quality thus limiting your options, it certainly does get much better once you start finding better stuff and upgrading augs, so if you did find yourself able to push through that initial area you might enjoy what comes after.

I completely agree though about the first level in DE, it put me off the first time I played it as well. It's good in some ways, but "overwhelming" in others. I actually consider it to be very similar to the situation I had with The Wind Waker. The first area being Outset Island serving as the tutorial, the first real area in the game being "The Forsaken Fortress" where they literally throw you into a hostile environment, remove your sword and force you to stealth your way from place to place. There was a disconnect in what I expected from the game and what the game wanted me to do, it disturbed the flow of the game.

That also happened in Majora's Mask where instead of starting the game as Link with the familiar moveset you're forced to play as a Deku Scrub. Both times put me off the game until I could force myself through those "awkward" segments.

I'm wondering whether this is a problem that RPG's suffer from more or if other genres encounter it as well? Most other genres tend not to have choices that could lead to decision paralysis etc.

I actually had a pretty similar experience with Wind Waker, but I think the reason I initially gave up was because I just had no clue how to navigate the Forsaken Fortress. But I kept coming back to WW because the Outset portion was engaging enough to show me that the rest of the game had promise. With Deus Ex I haven't really had that same impression.

As for the general concept of character builds, I can fortunately name very few instances where you can unintentionally make a worthless character. Most of the time it's pretty obvious if you're lumping all your traits into something worthless, but one observation I have--which you guys can either back up or refute--is that a lot of games (at least from DE's era) seem to discourage making a "jack of all trades" sort of build. System Shock 2, for instance, basically requires you to specialize in a certain combat field to stand a chance at normal difficulty. This isn't necessarily a complaint because it lets you explore different angles of a game, and most people seem to have an archetype in mind when they boot up anyway. Just wondering if anybody else wanted to weigh in on that idea.

Majora's Mask is an interesting case, though, because I remember the first time I played it was at a friend's house and I was utterly awestruck by it. I didn't manage my time well in the first 3-day cycle so the game ended before I even transformed back to Child Link--and yeah, it infuriated me. But it also made me want to try damn harder to do it right. That game has made me ragequit more than any other but it's still my favorite of all time. I tend to give up on things when they don't go my way (an unfortunate character flaw) but MM has always been one darling little exception.

Obviously I won't be completing Deus Ex, at least not for this month... I'll try it again, probably over the summer, and hopefully it'll click. Part of it may just be stress from life and finals.

I've gotten a fair bit into the game by now (or maybe not, I'm not sure. It takes me forever to get anything done in this game). And I'm enjoying it, but there are a fair few annoyances in the game. The stealth is really quite clunky and weird, and I'm really bothered by the fact that you can't take down guys with one hit (it messes with my play style, cause I can't just knock everyone out). And it's hard like kinda unfairly hard at times. Overall I'm still enjoying it, but I probably won't finish it by the end of the month.

You can with melee weapons, at least with the baton to knock them unconscious but you have to get really close to do so. The prod can 1 hit knock out most enemies as well if you aim for either the neck or the small of the back. With higher low tech weapon skill it's easier to accomplish, but not impossible with lower skills. Headshots with weapons like the sniper rifle tend to be 1 hit kills as well, weapons like the stealth pistol just lack the power, though I don't know if it'd be better to use the normal pistol with a silencer attachment, never tried it.