How does Deus Ex play?

I'll admit - I've never played Deus Ex 1 or 2; was never in the right place at the right time. The new one coming out sounds like it's the sort of thing that would be pretty good, though.

Just wondering if anyone out there could give me some idea of a game that it's similar to in terms of gameplay?

I found Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines to be the closest experience that comes to playing original recipe Deus Ex, though the Thief games have a fair bit in common. The sequel, not so much.

For the most part the original plays like your typical FPS, though with far better level design which (usually) offers a bunch of different ways to complete levels, ranging from alternate paths depending on what skills you've maximised, to alternate encounters depending on gameplay choices. There are also RPG elements in the construction of your character — while you can't change his looks or his gender, you can choose to emphasise certain skills, like his ability with different weapons, or locking picking and hacking. There's also an element of inventory management common to CRP Gs as well.

Word to the wise: if you are going to play the game, don't maximise swimming and remember to put points into guns. Most fights cna be avoided, but it's very hard. The game's far more painless when you're sneaking and shooting.

The first two thirds of the game work out fairly linearly, but with something of a hub based design that offers a few optional side quests and dungeons. The last third is more linear though there are still a few oportunities for choice.

The second game's a third person shooter, and works with a faction based system, like somethign that would appear in Fallout: New Vegas, or Alpha Protocol, though the system's less developed here than in those games. It's also something of a stylistic departure from the first game, in that it's outwardly less grim, though it's still just as dark as the original. This may be a case of milage varying, but I also thought that the storytelling in the second game was better than in the original, but that the actual plot and world building weren't quite as good. Again, time will tell on the third game, but... well... you're not going to find a fan of Squeenex's writing deparment in my corner of the sky.

Unlike the first game there are less RPG elements, though the levels (usually) remain as open and well designed as they were in the previous games, at least for the first two thirds of the game, with an increased emphasis on hub-based game play.

That said, gameplay is pretty different between both generations, both of which are fairly different to the coming game, which seems to swich between the 3rd person mechanics of the sequel and the 1st person perspective of the original — seriously guys, pick one and stick to it! Only time will tell whether the game's as choice filled as Alpha Protocol, or it travels down the JRPG route.

A few corrections: Invisible War was still a first-person game, and Eidos Montreal is working on the writing for Human Revolution, not Square-Enix.

Whoops. Is it a 1st person/3rd person toggle? Because I seem to remember playing in 3rd...

Soz for the misleading info; memory cheats, and all that.

edited 21st Dec '10 2:34:20 PM by Nicknacks