June 2, 2005 - Deus Ex was one of those titles that nobody really expected. Released in 2000 by Ion Storm, a developer whose reputation was in shambles after the massive public failure known as Daikatana, Deus Ex provided a style of gameplay and storyline still unmatched today, four years later.

As I sit down and write this review, I think back and can say I was truly inspired by Deus Ex. It is still my favourite title ever developed to this day, even with so many new games available. Although the game engine is archaic by today’s standards, and the graphics aren't a whole lot better, no other developer has taken on the challenge of a first-person shooter and RPG hybrid as expansive and complex as Deus Ex. It really is sad to see Ion Storm close shop, and though they were riddled with problems from the beginning, they were able to produce such legendary titles such as the Deus Ex and Thief series. One more casualty of the gaming industry, and unfortunately it raises the question will we ever see another title like Deus Ex again?

In the original, you were JC Denton, a biomechanically augmented human. A plague known only as the "Grey Death" is slowly destroying mankind. The world is in chaos, terrorist factions are the controlling bodies, and nothing is what it seems. A cure has been developed, but it is a heavily guarded secret, and only a select few have access to it. Working as a UNATCO Agent, JC Denton traveled around the world uncovering conspiracies and secrets on terrorist factions and UNATCO itself. Deus Ex contains three completely different endings, depending ultimately on your decisions; the sequel assumes you selected the most probable of these outcomes. Without giving too much of the original plot away, you end up discovering and understanding who the real terrorists are, and after taking down the global communications network, it initiated a phase in history called the Collapse.

In Deus Ex: Invisible War, twenty years has passed since the Collapse. Details about that time are scarce, and some even believe JC Denton to be a myth. Few people truly understand what happened, and details are shrouded in mystery. You are Alex D, a biomodified human, and are involved in a lot more than you bargained for.

The story opens with an attack on the city of Chicago. Through the explosions and chaos, you are whisked away quickly into a helicopter and taken to Seattle. As the story progresses, you’ll learn the truth about Chicago, and uncover the secrets behind the WTO and Order Church, and ultimately be left to made a decision on whom to support. Later, a faction called the Templar Paladins come into play, a cult-like group of individuals who are strongly against biomodification, and will do whatever they feel is necessary to stop it and “restore humanity”. The storyline is complex, and you’ll only really understand it from start to finish if you’ve played the original to completion. Bits and pieces of the original storyline are scattered on the loading screen, but they only give small amounts of information, enough to get an idea of what is happening but nowhere close to understanding the history and scope of the overall plot.

My first thought when launching Invisible War was the overly complex interface. Although the opening sequence and menu system is slick, weapon assignment and inventory management seemed overly complex. The actual in-game user interface took a bit of getting used to, and with so many menus (pausing the game, biomodifications, and weapons and inventory management), it’s easy to get lost quickly. My only other issue with the menu interface is one issue that if you are receiving a message from one of your contacts within an organization, you cannot pause the game or assign weapons. Should you be in a firefight and receive a message, simply run for cover as you won’t be able to restore health or activate your biomodifications until they have finished speaking.

These biomodifications are a core part of your survival; they allow you to complete tasks that would be otherwise impossible. By installing biomod canisters, you gain additional abilities, whether it’s a strength upgrade for the ability to carry large barrels, regeneration to restore your health, or simply a thermal masking augmentation which makes you invisible to most bots. In addition to these “legal” canisters, black-market biomod canisters can be obtained later in the game, these allow “non-standard” functionality. The most useful of these black-market upgrades is hacking, which allows you to shut down surveillance equipment or steal credits from ATM’s. These credits are very useful for bribes and other tasks, and are often difficult to come by if you don’t “obtain” them from the ATM’s.