Have you played the Deus Ex2-demo?
#1
The demo can be downloaded at http://213.167.99.110:808/de2demo.exe
if you don't have an account on fileplanet.

Various thoughts (that might spoil the demo for some):


Storyline
The plot unfolds 30 years after the grey plague-incident
in Deus Ex, and we take on the role of a young covert
operative, much like in the original game. We do not
play JC Denton, but according to
the
man behind the game
, we will get to meet JC, his
brother and many other characters from the first game
as Deus Ex II progresses.

This being just a demo, it's difficult to tell much about
the storyline, but having read some things and having
seen the intro, it seems to have something to do with
terrorism. If you've played Final Fantasy VII you should
also be able to notice the similar theme of classes. The
rich and powerful live on top of a round disc that covers
the city while the wretched masses live underneath in
the squalor. (Much like Midgard in Final Fantasy VII).

The gameplay
It's gotten some criticism from fans eager to play the
reincarnation of the best game ever. Some have
mentioned the lack of roleplaying-elements as
character-creation has seemingly disappeared. There
are still augmentations, but instead of skills there are
weapon upgrades. Many also frown on the "unified
ammo"- bit, meaning there's only 1 type of ammo which
fits all weapons. What I personally didn't care for, was
the fact that a headshot with a pistol is no longer
lethal, even on realistic difficulty, and that saddens me
greatly. I hope they'll fix this for the final incarnation of
the game. However, I'm pleased to see that the "make
your own destiny"-part of the game remains intact. It is
this which will raise the replayability considerably.

The main character you play can be either female or
male, and characters will respond to you differently
depending on which gender you choose. This is *very*
cool!


The graphics
This being Deus Ex II, the graphics shouldn't really be
all that important, as the ones in the original game
wasn't exactly ground-breaking. To the untrained eye
(meaning mine) I think the graphics are nice and
smooth. The only critique I can come up with is the
"console" in the heads-up-display, which seems rather
silly.

The sounds
Very cool. I really do like the weapon-sounds, and
hearing the main theme with a vocal line, is breath-
taking. Let's hope they bring a solid soundtrack to the table!



If you decide to play the demo you'll notice a few things:

* No quicksave/quickload
* The controls will reset every so often, especially when
dying, starting the game over, or entering a new area.
* The controls are a bit iffy. You press the "strafe right"
button, and half a second later, the character moves. I
got used to this after a while, but some people might
not adapt as easily. I've been told there's a patch out
there somewhere for it, but I haven't bothered looking.



[french_accent]Green, grizzly greasels.[/french_accent]

(Yes, they play an integral part of the demo) ;)
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#2
I haven't been able to play it, since the graphic engine uses pixel shaders which were introduced with the GeForce 3s (I have a GF2 MX).

There's a thread about it over on SA, and the general consensus seems to be that it's too "consoley" (huge HUD, lack of lean controls, unified ammo, lack of lethal weapons, etc).

I'll buy the game anyway (need to upgrade to at least a 1.2ghz processor to run KoTOR, might as well get a GF4 while I'm at it), but some of the stuff I've been reading about it makes me dread it - like the removal of the skill system. That was such a crock.

<Rant>
They take out the skill system, and when players start complaining that headshots with pistols are no longer instant kills (on the Ion Storm fora), Warren Spector himself puts up a post (don't have a link at the moment, but I can find it if anyone's interested) saying among other things that they did that because in DX1 players could run full-tilt at a guard and shoot him in the face before he could react. HELLO? YOU COULDN'T DO THAT IN DX1 BECAUSE OF THE SKILL SYSTEM/VARIABLE AIMING! Man, some of the stuff Spector says has me wondering if he even knows what game he's talking about.
</Rant>

Oh, and the controls resetting thing is fixable. Apparently the demo shipped with the configuration file set as "read-only". Look in your installation directory for the .ini file (main.ini? I forgot the exact name) and uncheck read-only from the Properties menu, and you should be good to go. I'm sorry, but what the heck kind of retarded monkey QA intern could miss something like that? That's the kind of thing I'd fire somebody over if I ran Ion Storm.
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#3
I've decided to refuse to pass judgment until I've finished the full game. I don't know what kind of changes they'll make or how the game as it is now will feel after I've played it for 20-30 hours. I want to wait and see how it's going to be, but I'm not as sure any more as I was 1 month ago of how epic it's going to be.
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#4
I'm very afraid for Deus Ex 2. I am very afraid. I really, really, really do not like what I see.

Fortunately, from the demo, I'm positive that the horrible interface, inventory system, weapons, unified ammo, lack of stealth will not rub off on Thief 3. Actually, if they do, I think I'm going to have to start a hate campaign against ISA.
"One day, o-n-e day..."
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#5
Slightly off-topic, but if they put a single zombie/dinosaur( :blink: )/giant spider in Thief3, I'm afraid it's already ruined.

I still can't believe how they managed to ruin what could've been one of the best games in history by introducing frikkin' dinosaurs in a game set in medieval time.
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#6
[wcip Wrote:Angel,Nov 30 2003, 02:14 AM] Slightly off-topic, but if they put a single zombie/dinosaur( :blink: )/giant spider in Thief3, I'm afraid it's already ruined.

I still can't believe how they managed to ruin what could've been one of the best games in history by introducing frikkin' dinosaurs in a game set in medieval time.
Thief is set in it's own universe. What's wrong with a few strange creatures here and there?

After all, corpses didn't pick up their weapons, and hunted for the living, and high-ranking priests couldn't shoot flaming gears from their hands back in the medival times.
"One day, o-n-e day..."
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#7
Of course; the game is what it is. But I still think it could've been so much better without the mystical factor.

I have nothing against the supernatural/bizarre/mystical; after all, Resident Evil is one of my favourite game-series.

But when it starts out, Thief gives the impression that's a realistic represenetation of and old time period in our universe. RE never does that. In the very intro they introduce the bizarre. They're not trying to be realistic. Thief, to some extent, did. (untill the rex'es started jumping out of the walls.)
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#8
That's the beef reviewers had with Thief: The Dark Project. Sadly, it appears that Thief 3 will be heading the same way as Thief 2 did, but without the metal beasts.

:S

Well, there's always hope... Although it's very, very had to be optimistic, after the let-down that Deus Ex 2 was.

Oh, also, aparrently, some polling has concluded that people who went through the game more then once tended to enjoy the undead/creature missions much more on the second time, then on the first play-through.
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