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1* In the penultimate mission JC launches a nuclear missile at the Area 51, so shouldn't the place be radioactive as hell (well, a radioactive hell, that is) when he arrives there later?
2** Probably an airburster, they tend not to create a great deal of fallout.
3** In numerous parts of the game, you can expose JC to intense enough radiation where it can ''kill him in seconds'', but he soldiers on unaffected so long as you pull him away while he's still got some health left and get him first aid, an even simpler proposition if you have the radiation resistance and regeneration augs. Given that, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation I think an hour or less at even a really messy nuke crater would be peanuts to him]].
4** IIRC, the entrance to A51 took place around Hangar 18 and a the nuke hit on the other side of a hill, absorbing the worst of the blast. Maybe it kept the radiation level down too.
5
6* The "Secret [=MJ12=] facility"... how come no-one at UNATCO noticed all those bots, [=MIBs=], technicians and abducted scientists trailing through the base? Not to mention the Karkians and Greasels...
7** Probably because all said stuff only occurs in the restricted area of UNATCO base that no "clean" staff has access to.
8*** Granted, but they still all need to get in and out... through Jaime's medical centre apparently. You'd think he'd notice.
9*** No one said he ''didn't'' notice. But Manderley could easily have just ordered him to shut up and not tell anyone, especially considering UNATCO has a standing secrecy policy.
10*** The way you leave the [=MJ12=] zone through the med lab doesn't mean there were no other entrances. Although I do agree that to make a medical lab, which by default requires peace, quiet and sterility, a pass-through room is a rather strange decision.
11*** I think we have to go with the "other entrances" idea... although I'm not sure where they would be. Anyone feel a variation of the cheese shop sketch coming on?
12*** You can explore the whole lower base and find no other entrance.
13*** The [=MJ12=] facility is primarily a nanotech and medical lab. Most of the equipment needed for that facility will naturally be going through the medical lab anyway. Anything else that needs to go down there can pass through while Jaime is off-duty. Also keep in mind that the fact that there is a restricted area is known to everyone in the UNATCO base, and they're also acclimated to secrecy. Manderley can just pass it off as a secured, secret section of the UNATCO facility, and while Jaime might not like it, he will follow orders. Anything else can be sealed in a crate, and the [=MJ12=] personnel passing through would just wear UNATCO uniforms and masks until they get to the secured area.
14*** Real reason: If there were another exit out, it would be too easy to [[SequenceBreaking sequence break]] your way out, avoiding Manderley, Navarre and Walton Simons altogether.
15** They probably change out of the [=MJ12=] uniforms before leaving that level. The greasels/karkians are brought in caged, and kidnapped scientists/illegal prisoners sedated for transport.
16
17* While Liberty Island may be a wonderfully symbolic place to build UNATCO HQ, it's hardly practical. The administration and a guard I can understand, but I begin to wonder when you get to the [=MJ12=] facility. Is there really that much trouble on Liberty Island to justify an entire platoon of patrol bots?
18** Let's see... scores of terrorists blew the Liberty Statue's head off, stole priceless Ambrosia vaccine, attacking UNATCO men... yes, all in all, there is a damn lot of troubles on the island. And if you refer to the assault bots inside [=MJ12=] territory I'm pretty sure they were delivered disassembled via a separate entrance.
19*** Not a lot of use down there though, are they?
20*** They guard the armory. Figures.
21*** That's great if you like overkill (given that it's at the far end of a heavily defended hidden military base and doesn't contain anything world shattering enough to warrant two top grade warbots) - what about the other ten or so medium weight bots that just sit there in the maintenance facility?
22*** The armory contains a prototype plasma cannon, which there are precious few of out there.
23*** There might be little world shattering stuff in the armory just then. And as for the rest, they might be there just in case of a full-scale assault on the base.
24*** I believe it's stated that the medium bots were taken offline due to a programming glitch. A more paranoid person than me might believe Daedalus had a hand in that...
25*** The original purpose of the armory could have been to store ambrosia, which would make sense of everything. The UNATCO headquarters would be a hastily built stronghold, away from the public but close to the big cities, and the closest the elite would get to the supply would be the medical center. That would explain why they need to put so much hardware between the "armory" and the surface. When the ambrosia didn't arrive in large quantities UNATCO found another use for the secure area.
26*** I was assuming the bots ''were'' the weapons in the armoury - that's where they make repairs, reload the guns, and store them when they aren't patrolling, so...
27
28* Whilst we're thinking of UNATCO, what exactly does Shannon do when she's not up to no good? I assume she's a PA/Administrator like Janice, but she seems not to have an office or workstation...
29** Actually, where do most of them work? Manderley has a good sized office. The Dentons presumably have to share (although Paul apparently doesn't have a log-in in game). ''Corporal'' Collins of all people has his own office, but Hermann and Navarre have a terminal set up in the corridor. Reyes's surgery apparently only has two tables, while Jacobson has enough floor space to host a convention. Where are the offices?
30** The base on Liberty Island was founded just recently - they haven't yet accomodated
31** I always saw it as the upstairs offices were shared between the grunts as they only really needed access to computers to write up reports, the denton's office (initially paul's) is because the nano-aug project was Manderley's baby and I wouldn't be supprised if said office originally belonged to anna and gunther (would help explain their hostility at nano-augs and fear of being replaced). as for anna and gunther being stuck in a corridor, well just look at where they are, they are in perfect position to question prisoners and should someone try to break out they have to first get past a pair of psychotic cyborgs.
32
33* And the Dibbuk... oh my... those high efficiency ethanol fuel cells must be really something if they can fly from NY to Hong Kong without refuelling. Of course they may be powered by the beers that Jock cadges off people in bars.
34** Also, we must assume that the Dibbuk has autopilot, toilets and a coffee machine given how long it seems to stay in the air.
35** The Dibbuk is an outgrowth of the technology used by commercially-available aircraft in 2027 going by ''Human Revolution''. The Dibbuk's flight capacity is, compared with Malik's VTOL, mostly just established, mature technology.
36** Eh, its autopilot got snared by the Hong Kong [=MJ12=] heliport without anybody even noticing, perhaps the Dibbuk's ID is still valid at UNATCO's global helipad/in-flight refueling network.
37*** It seems like an EXTREMELY shitty plan to use as your escape vehicle a helicopter that the evil conspiracy can randomly take control of by remote at any time. What if they hadn't flown you to a base for you to escape? What if they had crashed you into the middle of the Pacific Ocean?
38*** Also, why is it that when they force said helicopter to land in the [=MJ12=] base, there is no "welcoming committee" of any kind? The point was to force you to land there and capture you, right? So why the hell weren't there any enemies waiting? Instead they just chill in the barracks and wait for you to slit their throats. There's even multiple military bots set up to charge into the helicopter bay, but they don't send them out until after you have freed the helicopter and it escapes.
39*** This actually might be justified. The soldiers are currently in the lower floors, and the helipad apparently accepts all sorts of clandestine transport all the time, and Jock was a regular flyer for them (and [=MJ12=] hasn't entirely twigged to the fact he's a traitor by this point), so him landing is nothing special, though it's more or less stated that if they discover you are with him, his life is gonna suck, hence the urgency with which you have to get his chopper disengaged from the remote lock before he and you get your asses shot off. Also, note that later he is explicitly identified to be working with you as a fellow terrorist, so they wised up after you liberated his chopper. To be fair, it does seem odd that the two guards on the roof weren't doing shit, but from looks of the wine bottles lying around, they were probably drunk off their ass, and the other [=MJ12=] guys (assuming you sneak up on them) were also taking a break, which makes things somewhat more plausible.
40*** There's a note in the helibase that mentions that all vehicle crew and troops have been confined to barracks due to munitions-related issues and the control rooms are sealed off. No one is even in the helibase's control rooms at the time, so they'd have no idea a helicopter had even arrived, let alone that it was one associated with the UNATCO snafu halfway across the globe.
41
42* What about the Ocean Lab? Why the hell did someone put one of only two [=UCs=] on the planet at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean? Why is the crew module as far as possible from the dock - that's a hell of a long way to schlep your luggage, even if it wasn't through labs? How did people get to and from the crew module before they dug that extra tunnel? Why does the tunnel contain the world's shortest (and least safe) railway? And how the hell did they get that mover/grader down there? Surely they didn't schlep ''that'' through the greasel lab?
43** Can't really explain the layout, but the location makes sense. The base isn't in the middle of the ocean at all, it's on the coast in what used to be ''Pasadena'' after [[AllThereInTheManual South California collapsed into the sea]]. I imagine that this means the remains of the US leave the area well alone, considering it's probably the watery grave of ''millions.''
44** The crew module is far from the surface to keep the crew far away from prying eyes. The staff are basically prisoners, and by putting the crew module underwater the staff can be conveniently "disappeared" in an emergency. The whole base has a creepy feeling to it.
45** It seems plausible that the [=UCs=] were being used to manufacture [[spoiler:bioweapons such as Gray Death]]. Given that, the location makes sense.
46
47* [=MJ12=]. They're apparently operating lawfully in France, yet J.C. know nothing about them, and can gun them down to the last man upon discovering a giant paramilitary base hidden in the New York sewers without the slightest comment to or from Manderley and Paul.
48** France is under paramilitary rule by an organization that controls most communications. It's not unlikely they just pass themselves off as a private security force and eliminate most references to themselves.
49** "Sir? I just wiped out a large paramilitary base underneath New York. How did I discover it? Well, an illegal arms dealer asked me to do a favor for him..."
50*** How about this one? That's how I'd see it:
51--> '''JC:''' "Sir? I just wiped out a large paramilitary base underneath New York."
52--> '''Manderley:''' "Re-really? Uh, erm, outstanding job. Yeeesss. Now, uh... I have matters to attends to. Yeah. Matters. Very, er, important ones. Tough luck. Come by later."
53--> '''JC:''' (leaves)
54--> '''Manderley (to himself):''' [--"Phew, seems he hasn't caught on. Now, I need to talk to Simons about his operational security..."--]
55** How do the [=MJ12=] operate openly in France yet still be called a secret organization? They've been at it for a while, as implied by the barman complaining about the "Gestapo", and a few people at least know the name. How after all this does the Internet Oracle, which data mines all communications, only speculate [=MJ12=] to be trying to take over the world (with less than 30% accuracy at that!).
56*** While the organization may operate openly in France, the size and true goals of the organization are probably not known to the general populace, or indeed anyone outside the organization. A name can be easily overheard. [=MJ12=] has it's own AI, Icarus, which can be presumed to have similar or better specs than Daedalus, and could probably run interference for [=MJ12=] communications. Even if there was evidence that [=MJ12=] was stockpiling huge amounts of military hardware, and was running a number of their own secret weapons projects, how could anyone tell for certain that those weapons were going to be used for world domination as opposed to, say, merely overthrowing the French government. Most people may even believe that [=MJ12=] IS a branch of the French government. And finally, even if Daedalus or Everett compiled that information and gave it to someone, who would believe them, who would respond and which group, not already in [=MJ12=]'s pocket, would have the political clout and firepower to take on [=MJ12=]?
57*** The restaurant owner in Paris thinks that [=MJ12=] is an arm of the EU - which implies that French people in general do know vaguely about [=MJ12=] and assume that it's technically above board.
58*** If ''[[VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution Human Revolution]]'' is any indication, media-control AI tech was already around as of 2027. [=MJ12=], which is much more powerful than the anemic Illuminati at this point, would be far more effective at media and transmission control. Worse comes to worse, [=MJ12=] can just pass themselves off as yet another Belltower-esque PMC.
59
60* How can JC die from being tranquilized while an enemy human just goes unconscious?
61** Who says he dies? Defeat is defeat.
62*** It's probably just a simplification. I mean, if I were to tranq someone who had just killed a number of my friends, I would probably get something sharp and/or heavy and finish the job. Alternatively, I'd haul the person off to my boss, who'd have him "interrogated" for a few weeks and then killed. Ion Storm probably didn't have the time or inclination include a "slugged-in-the-head-with-a-crate"-cinematic or a "sitting-in-a-chair-with-electrodes-on-your-nipples"-cinematic", and the end result is the same anyway.
63*** It's one thing if this happens when you're in the middle of an enemy base, but if you're among allies who could defeat the enemies and revive you, there is some chance that you could realistically survive.
64*** If you're unconscious for about 12 hours that's probably long enough to stop you saving the world.
65*** Maybe all the genetic tinkering required to make JC capable of tolerating nano-augmentation also introduced some less desirable 'quirks', like severe allergic reactions to the tranquilizer in the tranq darts - and, for that matter, the tear gas in the gas grenades.
66
67* The Dark Ages ending. I'm sorry, does ''anyone'' buy the idea that completely knocking out global communications would usher in a new age of world freedom, as Tracer Tong tries to argue? Most of human history has been spent without global communications, and most of human history has been spent living under tyrannical rule of some sort. His suggestion comes across as almost the argument of a mad man, or at least an alarmingly ignorant one.
68** In the ''Deus Ex'' universe, the world has been ruled by the Illuminati for thousands of years, who were responsible for all those periods of tyranny. Now that the Illuminati have been overthrown by [=MJ12=], who are dependent on technology and global communication, Tong thinks the human race has the chance to be free; it will be the first time in known history that the human race is not controlled by a global conspiracy. But the sequel shows that the writers agree with you, and Tong was wrong - the Collapse just brings chaos and war, not freedom, and Tong deeply regrets his actions in Invisible War.
69** Despite being a rather crazy plan, I thought Tong at least made a case for global collapse; "A dark age, an age of city-states, craftsmen, government on a scale comprehensible to its citizens" is a notion that stuck with me. Perhaps it indicates a difference between the real world and the world of Deus Ex. In our world, communication is bad for tyranny. In Deus Ex, technology gives tyrants a chance to control the world.
70** Tracer Tong's plan makes sense, he wants to damage [=MJ12=] as much as possible since they're the ones doing damage ''now'' and after that problem is solved, they can start working on world peace. It's not a perfect solution, but then again, all the endings in ''Deus Ex'' involve some sort of [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-intentioned extremism.]]
71*** Tracer Tong's plan makes a ''worrying'' amount of sense once you consider [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs who his patrons are]] and what their role might be in a city-scale government (and that Hong Kong is explicitly mentioned as left alone by the PRC, so it's already a semi-model for what he has in mind).
72** It could be just to stop the [=MJ12=] and the Illuminati (and Helios to a lesser degree) from taking over the world and creating liberty is just what Tracer Tong tells himself to justify the aforementioned.
73** Global communication isn't the problem - it's just that since it's all centralized in one facility, anyone who controls Area 51 has the power to censor and change all the information in the world.
74*** Tong is, "Well, like a lot of madmen. Somewhat accurate view of the problem, really insane view of the solution." His condemnation of 2052 Earth is; "As long as technology has a global reach, someone will have the world in the palm of his hand." He's ''right'' in this one very specific case; the Aquinas Router is a system that(hopefully) does not yet exist in real life - a system that monitors and controls ''all'' communication on Earth. If that power existed, it would be used - and '''abused.''' Add in the other two super-technologies in Area 51's tech hoard - the [[MasterComputer Helios AI]] and the [[MatterReplicator Universal Constructor]] - and it becomes blatantly obvious that it's too much power for any single person or organization to control. Helios/Denton's efforts throughout ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar'' are dedicated towards correcting that. But at that precise moment, Aquinas had to be destroyed at all costs, or the world would fall under the control of another tyrant; "If not Bob Page, then Everett, Dowd…"
75
76* The fake mechanic in Everett's house and the helicopter bomb just raises a huge number of questions. Firstly if [=MJ12=] can get a spy into the building why not just blow up the entire place, attack the residents, SOMETHING. More importantly why the hell to they wait to activate the bomb in the copter until JC gets to Area 51, once JC doesn't need it any more? Ever consider how much shorter the game would be if they just blew you up over the ocean?
77** While Page does get some use out of JC by having him get the UC plans from the Ocean Lab, I'm not convinced that none of their agents could manage it, and without the inconvenience of giving the plans to X51. Even then there is no reason to keep him alive once this has been done.
78
79* On the subject of Everett, if he's so paranoid about hiding where he lives, why does he let you and Jock use his personal helipad at all? Wouldn't he just have his assistant drug you again and take you to some randomly selected area big enough for the chopper to land?
80** Everett is only concerned about who enters his home and not who leaves it. (His paranoia is justified though, given [[spoiler:the mechanic who brings a bomb in with him]].) Although why he would still trust JC after [[spoiler:he kills Lucius]] is a bit of a mystery.
81*** Probably because he doesn't have any other options, and he probably assumed the JC did it out of mercy and not anything else.
82* If Page can see everything through JC's infolink, why doesn't he use the information to get the drop on JC and the allies he contacts? Just imagine if you were betraying every ally you even talk to by betraying their presence to the enemy.
83** If I remember correctly the Aquinas Protocols and Icarus weren't activated until about the same time JC reaches Paris. JC's only there a short time before meeting Everett, who proceeds to run interference (somehow) and it's not until he reaches Vandenberg that Page has complete control. By that time it's a bit of a moot point though, as everybody tends to know what everybody else is doing by that stage.
84** It could be assumed that Daedalus is preventing Icarus from accessing JC's infolink anytime it likes as such limiting what Page is able to know. Also Alex states on Liberty Island, that they can switch off the infolink, suggesting that he and Tong simply changed the codes and only activate it when you're in the field, which is when Page and everyone else hounds you. Or Alex and Tong change the codes and Icarus keeps breaking it, forcing them to change it again which would explain the sporadic communications.
85
86* You're sneaking around in a top secret military base. One of the guards almost spots you but you manage to get behind cover just in time. The guard responds with "'''Must have been a homeless guy'''" and walks away like nothing happened. Spot anything wrong here?
87** It's even worse if you get them to say 'I thought I saw something! A guy in a coat!'... 'I must be hearing things'.
88*** It wouldn't be the first time a homeless guy had snuck in. "I'm the captain here!"
89
90* One of the [=MJ12=] troopers randomly says he will make commando in a 2 months, suggesting it is a basis of time to become a commando, but at the end of the game, [[spoiler:Bob Page sends the troops that killed JC's parents to fight him]] but none of them are commandos IIRC.
91** Page sends ''the'' guy (note: singular) who killed JC's adoptive parents and he's an MIB. The grunts take a different promotion path to fully-integrated [=MJ12=] members.
92** Was I the only one thinking that whole little exchange was a load of crap? Like, I thought Page was just trying to get JC angry. He was a clone, right? Why would he have parents?
93*** It was mentioned some time earlier that he had foster parents, who despite being employed to be parents still had some affection for him. The game gets a little confused by the end though, when some sources state that he underwent growth acceleration and memory implants while others say that he went to school and had adoptive parents. It's all a bit up in the air at that point.
94** Many militaries have a point system where based on your preformance, conduct, how much action you've seen depends on how fast you get promoted, some even have diffrent point requirments for ranks for diffrent positions (infantry, heavy weapons, technicians ect) so the guy saying he's going to make commando in 2 months could simply be saying "i've seen so much action and I'm such a brown nose they're going to promote me" also it could be like the UNATCO mech-augs where it's a voluntary position and the 2 months is the waiting list (time taken to for the augs to be manufactured to fit the particular body, medical checks, building the armour and so forth)
95
96* Am I the only person who, after shutting all the doors to the Karkians and Greasels, Greys, and bots, then deciding which ending path to pursue, feel disappointed that I didn't get a final, climatic battle with Bob Page? I conserved a bunch of ammo and got myself to full health and power because I had myself psyched up all game for the final Big Bad fight, then the game ends by flipping a switch...
97** On the one hand, I hear ya. It's always nice to have a huge punch-out at the end. But, on the other hand, I felt that the cerebral nature of the Page "boss fight" made perfect sense -- logically, thematically, and trope...ically. Think of it this way: you're a nano-teched warmachine; a born-and-bred killer. Bob Page is a schemer and a scientist, but he's not the muscle. He always had other enforcers (Anna, Gunther, Simons...) to do the dirty work for him. It's that old BigBad vs. TheDragon concept. You beat down the brawn, but you ''outwit'' the brains. And ending the game on an essentially philosophical question -- not by pulling a trigger, but by "flipping a switch" -- really felt right to me. It felt like the perfect way to wrap up a game that'd have you pasting gangster against the wall one second and having sociopolitical debates with Chinese bartenders the next.
98** Oh, I remember how psyched before the ending and final fight with Page I was... I asked my friend, who already finished DX, for some advice on how to defeat him. Friend answered with a poker face: "You know what? Let me know if you have any troubles defeating him, and I'll help you then."
99** The only way for you to have any sort of cinematic fight with Page would be for him to climb into a mecha or something, and to be honest that would not really have jibed with the rest of the game. I wasn't expecting a boss fight at the end because DX is fairly realistic (relatively speaking). The bots are tough but you can EMP them in one shot, the augmented agents are strong but by then you're essentially a walking tank, and the only two fights that could be thought as "boss" can be skipped. And even if you don't skip them you're not fighting unstoppable tanks that require shooting a weak spot; pepper them with bullets and they'll go down rather quickly.
100** According to the Deus Ex bible, Bob Page in his cyber-assimilated form he uses to merge with Helios was going to lead "an army of Nano-creatures" and has "fairly amazing power over the elements themselves". A developer stated in an interview about it "We clearly didn't want it to boil down to a Big Boss Fight. ("You can't fight ideas with bullets!") But early on we hoped that it would feel more like Page was gaining mastery over the environment... that he was becoming a holistic force (first in Area 51, later in the world)".
101
102* This is obvious, and doesn't even need mentioning, but... The intro. Totally awesome. Totally doesn't make any sense at all. Everything Page says! He complains about the Illuminati, which has essentially been destroyed, and the remnants of which are under his direct control. He complains about Savage, who is actually such an insignificant worm that Page doesn't even try to kill him until JC tries to contact them. Then, most nonsensically of all, Simons says, "We have other problems..." and Page goes, "UNATCO?" What? UNATCO is just a pawn... under Page's control! I know, I know, the intro can't say that... but there must have been a way to write a script for Page that lets him rant and rave and chew the scenery without saying things that we absolutely know aren't true.
103** The conversation seems to be happening at a time when they are securing their position, and these things haven't been fully put under control yet.
104** Yes, I didn't understand how much time had passed. It may be a decade. How long do Dentons hang around?
105*** Simons specifically says that JC will be ready for activation "within six months", so it's half a year before the game starts.
106** Actually, it was ''Simons'' expresssing concern and ''Page'' being dismissive.
107-->'''Page''': (on the Illuminati) A bunch of pretentious old men playing at running the world. But the world left them behind long ago. WE are the future.
108-->'''Page''': (on X-51) Our biochem corpus is far in advance of theirs, as is our electronic sentience. And their... ethical inflexibility has allowed us to make progress in areas they have refused to consider.
109** Page is the one to bring up UNATCO, however. He doesn't seem that worried, though, more wondering what 'other problems' Simons could be referring to (given the relatively equal status of Page and Simons, it might be that Page generally trusts Simons to handle his side of things on his own, and so isn't up-to-date on UNATCO and MJ-12 subversion thereof).
110* Go in the ladies' restroom, and Manderley shall ''scold'' you, and everyone will assume you to be some kind of weirdo. But terrorizing civilians and killing homeless children doesn't have consequences and is okay. Ahh, Deus Ex.
111** Sadly, that's just the case with many secret agencies in real life.
112** It may be that word of the latter never got back, whereas someone can and will file a complaint if something happens in the office.
113** Manderley ''will'' reprimand JC for killing civilians, if he kills Joe Greene on his first visit to Hell's Kitchen. Then again, [[spoiler:Greene is a spy for UNATCO.]]
114* What was the point of [=MJ12=] framing JC Denton for crimes he didn't commit? In Paris you can read warrant claiming you led NSF raid on Liberty Island. Now imagine for a second that random UNATCO grunt has friend in Paris. And his friend, law abiding citizen writes him a mail: "Dude, you must've had tough night. Those bastards almost took over your island. I hope their leader, Denton, will pay for it." "But wait," said grunt will think, "Denton wasn't their leader. He was our agent who betrayed us later. Someone's bullshitting me here." Next day rumors will spread and people's trust in Simons will drop. Conversely: "Our new generation of augmented agents, JC Denton, betrayed us. He's trained, armed and dangerous. He killed many our agents and raided our armory (Mr. Carter insists he was very intimidating.)" Sounds pretty scary, and it's also true story. Why not use it?
115** [=MJ12=] controls the information flows. All the rumors would be swiftly rooted out, along with the people who spread them. Maybe even that e-mail wouldn't reach the recipient.
116** JC was only a rookie at UNATCO, '''nobody''' knows who he is. They spread the rumors as fear-mongering for the public, basically.
117*** After the first mission at Liberty Island, you can read an email about the incoming nano-augmentation program and a reassurance to the mechanically-augmented agents. That and a few other dialogues gave me the impression more people inside UNATCO knew more about JC's abilities than he did!
118** It's more likely that [=MJ12=] wanted ordinary people on the street to identify JC. He wouldn't be able to hide anywhere for very long with a few thousand people keeping an eye out for a suspicious man in a dark trenchcoat. But if that was the case, why not include some photos?
119*** The plan might have worked given that [[spoiler:Gunther tracks JC down in Paris]] after JC is seen in the club, on the streets etc.
120** I agree with the first poster, going with the real story will accomplish the same thing without fear of someone who knows different talking. They could put out that a UNATCO agent by the name of JC Denton went insane and killed several of his fellow officers including a top agent and the director. He is armed, insane and extremely dangerous. Do not approach at all costs but inform the proper authorities. Except for the insane part it is completely true (and the UNATCO agents would probably buy the insane part) and extremely scary. If I saw his picture on TV with that description with it and recognized him later I would get on my cell phone to report him. A nut like that could kill many people if he isn't caught quickly.
121** I don't see why it's so unbelievable. Paul was the UNATCO golden boy, yet nobody has any trouble believing that he was an NSF mole. Is it so hard to believe that both Dentons had been turned?
122
123* The NSF don't know about UNATCO's plans to give JC a test, so they can't know UNATCO isn't going to be using their helicopters to strafe all the troops they have out in the open. They also have ONE sniper and they put him at ground level behind a bunch of walls. Wouldn't it be better for him to have been at the very top of the building, popping this lone trenchcoated guy who's killing your buddies on the ground? Methinks the NSF commander took his "You can't fight ideas with bullets." mantra a little too literally.
124** The NSF are occupying the statue to waste UNATCO's time. The leader even says so at the top ("You're too late..." and then the peaceful surrender.) Their only purpose was to hold UNATCO up while the ambrosia was moved. Bombing the statue is not an option as long as Gunther is down there.
125** UNATCO probably know what the NSF are up to, so they send in JC, knowing that it won't be too dangerous.
126*** You misunderstand. UNATCO may know that and is holding back to give JC a test but the NSF should have expected a much more forceful response when they invaded Liberty Island. While their aim was to stall UNATCO, if the troops had not been given the order to fall back (and especially if they had air support) the NSF wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes. And Gunther wouldn't have been captured if the rest of his team hadn't fallen back as ordered. If they had continued the assault and the UNATCO troops were covering Gunther he could have taken the NSF out. Now I suppose all the NSF needed was 5 a minute diversion and the extra time of JC's approach was just a bonus, but even then the NSF has speedboats and UNATCO has helicopters.
127*** It's implied that UNATCO did put up a fight against the NSF (notice the dead bodies scattered around the island) but the NSF hit them by surprise (one of them even comments on that) then retreated into the statue and the base was put into lockdown due to the attack meaning noone can get in or out, thus the few guards outside were stranded with minimal weapons until the danger had past, UNATCO knowing that JC was due to arrive decided to use their new super soldier to take care of them. it's also implied that many of the NSF soldiers are just thugs and homless who have almost no training and don't really follow orders ([=JoJo=] is a good example of this as are the thugs on the basketball court) so the lack of a good defense is understandable.
128*** The whole thing stinks of a ad hoc set up. They have a couple of sentry guns - one they set up on the main door, the other in the stairwell and the last one to cover Gunther, the bulk of their troops on the ground patrol around the main entrance with a few others covering the flanks and (judging by the one guy in the bunker) trying to take out UNATCO's power to further stall them. On top of this the troops seem to be kitted out with whatever they happen to have (pistols, crossbows, one sniper rifle) implying it was a last minute plan using whoever happen to be available at the time.
129
130* How much time passes from the start to end of the game? While JC Denton gets to Hong Kong unrealistically quickly, the game never seems to change out of night, and it seems improbable that everything from the raid on the Statue to the attempted escape with Paul happened in a night.
131** As the game progresses, JC keeps switching timezone. I've never sat down and worked out the timeline, but it's reasonable that he just gets unlucky and always has to work at night because of the timezone changes. Given that, it could have happened over several "nights".
132** I recall one of the public computer terminals in Paris containing a news story about the raid on Liberty Island happening 'a few nights ago' or something to that effect. I think it's supposed to take place over several days, as you said, but JC only ever works at night for whatever reason.
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134* Technically, a nano-augmented agent is more dangerous than a mech-augmented one. So why can mech-augs be killed instantly with a single phrase, but for nano-augs, they instead implemented a killswitch feature, which takes a day or so to work? It just seems like a step backwards. As the game shows, there's a lot a person can do until their killswitch takes full effect, up to and including finding a way to defeat the killswitch altogether. Wouldn't it make more sense to use the killphrase system instead, so they can be put down instantly if they decide to go rogue? If the argument was that the killswitch works from everywhere but the killphrase must be used up close, well, you could just use the agent's infolink for that, no? Simons could've transmitted the killphrase right when he realized that JC had betrayed them after sending that signal to the NSF. Or he could have spoken it during one of their conversations over these holo-communicators. And that would've been it. Game Over.
135** The killphrases and killswitches are the triggers, not the mechanisms. They could very well have hooked up a radio receiver to Navarre and blown her up that way. You must also remember that the ability to kill somebody by remote control is top-secret (or Domination-5F if I remember correctly). The mechanism for the mech-augs is a bomb hidden within their augmentations, something that would be rather conspicuous if found in the nano-augs. The nano-augs self-replicating nanomachines are crude, yet subtle enough that Paul didn't even suspect it possible.
136*** Minor correction; JC is the one who didn't suspect it possible and expresses disbelief. Paul apparently knew about it, since his response is to explain that it works by setting the nanites for uncontrolled, cancer-like (presumably much faster though still not as fast as the mech-augs' bombs) growth.
137*** I meant he didn't suspect it when he revealed his defection. I doubt he would've publicly switched sides on the opposite side of the world from the only man who could help if he had known.
138*** Perhaps they thought that since the Dentons were clones that were given at least some false memories they thought it would be impossible for them to switch sides. They thought they had programmed them well enough to be loyal to their original cause. The infinite replication of the nanites was probably a bug not a feature, and that's why it's not as effective as a mech's killswitch.
139*** The idea behind a killswitch is that it kills when it's switched on. [=MJ12=] and JC's handlers didn't know about Tracer Tong's ability to affect the nanites, and twelve hours isn't enough time to do anything significant, given travel times. Paul and JC's killswitches are, to the people that activate them, irredeemable weapons of murder. In addition, Simons isn't patient enough to wait for the killswitch, telling the troops to kill JC and Paul instead. The killswitch is a fail-safe, and a good one. It's only by using resources that [=MJ12=] didn't know about that JC (and potentially Paul) are able to survive it.
140** The mechanically-augmented agents have enough space to put in a bomb. The nano-augmented ones don't; you just have to turn the nanobots against them and hope for the best.
141*** There is also a message (I believe in an e-mail) which states that the kill switch is highly ineffective and that they need something more akin to the instant killphrases used with the mech-augs. so one could assume that the killswitch was a makeshift last minute means to dispose of nano-aug agents. as paul states that they programed the nanobots to replicate to critical mass (which implies that the nano bots have a population control setting so they only replace lost nanobots and don't go all grey goo).
142*** As JC shows us, because of how their killswitches work, mechanical augs can be killed immediately by anyone who knows their killphrase, including opponents and with bad enough luck, even civilians. With a 24 hour timer, the agent whose killswitch has been activated can still take down their opponent, complete their mission, and cure themselves back at the HQ. They just didn't consider the idea that someone would betray them, or felt that if the phrase ever ended up in the wrong hands, they would lose their most effective and expensive agents in a gory explosion, and felt that removing the "instant kill" ability was an acceptable loss.
143* How is it that Paul is too weak to climb out of a window and up a ladder, but is more than capable of winning a firefight with a dozen soldiers in a hotel lobby?
144** [[GameplayAndStorySegregation The same reason you can run past him on the dock and have him run through Liberty Island while obliterating his NSF allies with a plasma rifle, only to have him catch up to you and preach about the importance of pacifism.]]
145** Alternatively: [[HeroicSacrifice he's lying]].
146*** Simple fact is Paul describes it as feeling like a bad case of the flu, now think of the worse case of flu you've had, your muscles ache, you're unstead on your feet, you can't really think straight, now try climbing a ladder, not an easy thing to do even with the adrenalin pumping, but instead try picking up a gun and shooting it, takes a lot less effort and there is historical precident for people who were very ill/injured fighting off attackers (jim bowie in the alamo for example who is said to have killed 6 guys with a knife while being bedridden), there's also the fact he's going for the heroic sacrifice so his little brother can escape instead of slowing him down and risking them both getting caught.
147
148* Why do they take JC prisoner after he defects? Page turns on his kill switch and orders the troops to gun him down, and then they put him in a cell for... what, exactly?
149** Same reason they keep Paul alive; they want to study the way you die.
150** There is a note (either on a datapad or email) that talks about how they want to recover all possible wetwear from your body after you have died, as well as study the effects of the kill switch so that they can make a more effective one for future nano-augs
151
152* Why did they bother with the plasma pistol holdout? It'd at least make sense if it could one-shot, but it doesn't do that even to common mooks... yet it has a handheld model and full weapon functionality.
153** And they're fairly common, to. That it's a held weapon, maybe ION intended more for it. DX's Wikia entry said it came from a design to replace the ''stealth pistol'' (neon black blobs instead of green? heh) But it's just functional piece of decoration. It's not even that great for self defense or diversion
154** It managed to one-shot the guy destroying the missile for me. In general, it seems to be useful for a stealth player who occasionally needs to make a ''really'' good headshot.
155** The real problem is that you can only hold one. If you could hold a bunch, and discard them much faster than that silly twirling animation does, it could still be a useful weapon.
156
157* Why create JC and Paul and have them be raised as "normal" kids, if the goal was to have them be the elite, super advanced enforcers of [=MJ12=] (And replacements for Gunther and Anna)? Why not raise them in full knowledge of [=MJ12=]'s existence and thus be super loyal to "the cause" rather than risk them developping individually with their own set of morals? They could've taken Paul's mom out early, have Paul raised by MJ-12 and do the same to the clone, JC. Instead, they went, and when they see Paul's not turning out the way they want, eliminate the parents... Only to make JC grow up in some private school, where he can remain blissfully unaware of MJ-12 and grow out of their influence.
158** Children grown up from birth as loyal soldiers work very well as loyal soldiers - but in every other aspect, they're completely ineffective. [=MJ12=] doesn't want mindless shock troops - they have plenty of those. They want ''agents'', who are able to operate covertly and intelligently and independently. Brainwashed-from-birth soldiers can't really do that.
159*** Says who? Not talking putting loyalty chips in them, only teaching them from childhood to support [=MJ12=] and their goals and use their skills to widely serve their goals. I didn't say raise them as soldiers. I said raise them to ''believe in [=MJ12=] and what it stands for''. Give them the skills and training to be fine agent. Just make sure their moral compass is [=MJ12=]'s. Furthermore, the "[=MJ12=] doesn't want mindless shock troops" kinda flies in the face of ''everyone'' there bitching whenever JC takes an approach that '''isn't''' the "Run in like a shock trooper" approach.
160*** '' Furthermore, the "[=MJ12=] doesn't want mindless shock troops" kinda flies in the face of ''everyone'' there bitching whenever JC takes an approach that '''isn't''' the "Run in like a shock trooper" approach.'' No. The dominant personalities of [=MJ12=] actually praise JC for forethought and restraint if he uses stealthy or nonlethal methods. The only ones who complain if JC shows restraint are Navarre, Hermann, and some UNATCO troops; both of the former are psychos, and Simons is vocally disapproving of Hermann's personality.
161*** As for why JC and Paul weren't raised to be [=MJ12=] believers, remember the background here. When Paul and JC were being created, [=MJ12=] was not a separate entity, but an aspect of the greater Illuminati secret society. The Illuminati ruled through manipulation in the shadows, avoiding use of brute force (beyond, apparently, TYM's brute-force approach using Belltower troops in ''Human Revolution'') and would have preferred a well-balanced agent who grew up as a normal human being. It wasn't until Bob Page and Simons broke away and destroyed the Illuminati and built Majestic 12 in its stead that the iron-fisted militant aspect of the conspiracy began to form, and that was when they took JC and Paul from their parents.
162*** Not really considering that most children end up questioning the authority that they were brought up to follow. how many teens do you know who disapprove of the government despite always being told that the government is good. how many teens question the faith they are brought up in or the rules and laws that they are forced to follow as a kid. if JC was brought up in such a situation being told that [=MJ12=] is good and that they must always be loyal to [=MJ12=] they'll reach a point where they'll ask themselves "are they really good?" especially when they start to put 2+2 together and realise what they're doing.
163** Try talking to anyone who is a member of a cult, a religious fundementalist, or has been brought up with strong beliefs (racism, political ect) especially if brought up in an enviroment with no other points of view. quite often they have the mentality "my view is the right one everything else is wrong all that evidence to the contrey is lies" which would make them useless as covert operatives as the moment someone says something they don't agree with they will tip their hand. it's one of the reasons the age old test for spies has always been to ask them something in what one suspects is their native language as they will instinctivly respond to it. where as if you've got someone raised in an enviroment where they are naturally exposed to multiple viewpoints they tend to get a greater apreciation for the one they are raised with and are better equiped to deal with situions where discression is key. otherwise [=MJ12=] may as well just build 10,000 bots and set them lose to kill everyone rather than have someone who can infiltrate the enemy ranks, possibly sow discontent, use their discression and think outside the box (i.e instead of killing the guy you were sent to kill, talk to him in hopes of being led to the bigger fish or capture him in hope he can provide more information)beter to have a thinking soldier who can adapt and change plans based on new information than a mindless killer. the series P (MIB/WIB) agents are examples of those brought up to be totally loyal to [=MJ12=] ignoring the unnatural skin colour and voices they still have an odd demeanour about them, one [=MJ12=] trooper in the catacombs talks about how Hela (the WIB) freaks him out
164
165* After it becomes clear that the Gray Death is an nanotecnological compound, wouldn't it the sufficient to EMP the infected back to health?
166** Not really it's stated in several ingame texts that the grey death (and the nano-augs) are part biological so producing a powerful enough EMP to affect the nanobots would also burn out the patients nervious system.... and probably fry them to a crisp in the process
167** This is supported by gameplay. EMP discharges your bioelectrical energy, but ultimately has no effect on the nanites. The fact that your passive augmentations (Infolink, IFF, etc.) are unaffected also indicates that it is impossible to completely de-power the nanites using an EMP.
168
169* So there's a freighter full of Gray Death nanovirus that JC Denton is given orders to sink... ''after it's already docked at the Brooklyn Naval Yard''. That seems to me rather like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. While sinking the freighter does make things a little more difficult to deal with, it's an indoor dock at a ''submarine maintenance facility'', which presumably means the water can be drained away. What precisely has JC accomplished?
170** Maybe the nanovirus can't survive in cold water. It's the only guess I have.
171
172* Why is J.C. seemingly the only UNATCO member with a codename? Why does Paul, who would be more comfortable using JC's real name, continue to call him JC even after he defects? Why do they also continue to call him JC in Invisible War, long after UNATCO is gone?
173** How do you know that the other named members of UNATCO aren't code names? Furthermore, JC and Paul are the ones with nano-augmentation, so they're already unique in comparison to the rest. They might have defected, but it's not like they're going to consider their allies to be able to be trusted with their real identities. By the point of Invisible War, it's probably JC's choice to still be known by that, perhaps considering whoever he was beforehand dead. Alternatively, keeping with real world agent work, it's quite possible they're really named JC and Paul, as it's hard for someone to not instinctively react to their real name, which can reveal an agent's identity. By Invisible War, they probably see no connection to their old last name, hence keeping Denton.
174
175
176* First, if you asked Jaime to work as a spy in UNATCO, how does he know to look for you in Paris? Second, given your mission in Paris is to find Everett, how does Tong know where to send Alex, and how does he get there so quickly?
177** I believe Daedalus informed them. He previously told Jock where to look for you after you defected.
178*** Except the entire point of going to Paris was that nobody knew where to find Everett, not even Daedelus.
179** (a) When you arrive in the sewers underneath the Paris metro area, Tong tells you that Reyes got in contact with him (presumably through Alex) and relayed his request to meet JC -- note that if you asked him to defect over to the Resistance, he basically knows where to go already in China, so it can be presumed he had contact with Tong regardless; (b) it can be presumed that after you establish the meeting signal with Everett, Alex and/or Tong were able to contact him and organize the former's participation at Everett's home; (c) they had to find a way for Alex to have some kind of role in the third act, and decided having him show up at Everett's to advise you was the best way to do so.
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181* It's been ages since I've played so I apologize if this is explained at some point but why didn't they just program you with a [[BrownNote instant kill phrase]] like with Gunther? Then all they would have to do is say "when you meet Denton, just say (Phrase) and he'll explode."
182** JC and Paul do have kill switches, but they work more like cancer and kill them over the course of a few days. I suspect they can't just blow up because their wetware doesn't have much explosive potential. If they planted a bomb inside them, one of their allies like Jaime would've found it and removed it.
183* JC has a hilarious "Yeah, right" reaction when the Illuminati is mentioned for the first time. Why doesn't he have a similar reaction when he learns about Majestic-12? Not really a plot-hole I guess, but a lost opportunity for JC to pimp Page about giving his organization such a stupid name. ("Majestic-12? Why didn't you just call yourself the Manhattan Project, or the Ag Department?")
184* Since he's JC's immediate predecessor, shouldn't JC's brother have been called John, and not Paul?
185* If you get spotted by an [=MJ12=] trooper, he might say, "It's Denton. Remember the briefing." The troopers can say this line during the raid on the [=MJ12=] hideout in Hell's Kitchen, so does this mean that their superiors briefed them about JC before he went rogue?
186** JC Denton is operating in the area, so it makes sense that they'd be briefed on Denton just in case they run into him. They were very likely briefed on the other augmented agents as well. Alternatively, the [=MJ12=] soldiers could've been briefed on ''Paul Denton''; he's already under suspicion for failing to assassinate the Triad leader in Hong Kong at this point. And other people do mix JC up with Paul in the game.

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