Deus Ex: Invisible War (PC/Xbox)

[Detomah]

As development wraps, the sequel to Deus Ex is coming together beautifully.

Platform: Windows - Xbox
Game Type: Action / Adventure
Official Website Deus EX Invisible War
Developer: Ion Storm
Publisher: Eidos
Release Date: Q4 2003
ESRB: Rating Pending
Preview By: Gamespy.com

It's Sept. 9th, and the Ion Storm Austin offices are a quiet, intense hive of activity as the staff begins to wrap up development on Deus Ex: Invisible War. In just a few days, the game will enter content-lock, meaning little to no new content will be added; instead, the focus will switch to finding and squashing bugs and other errata. As they prep us for a playtest of the Xbox version, Chief Kibitzer Warren Spector and Project Director Harvey Smith seem pleased with the state of the game.

Invisible War, for those unaware, is the sequel to Deus Ex, 2000's genre-bending adventure game that combined first-person "emergent" gameplay with an epic story that mined decades worth of conspiracy theories to make for one of the most original and gripping experiences to ever grace an interactive game. We even declared it our "Game of the Year", so it's no coincidence that we're eagerly anticipating the final version of Invisible War.

Said Smith, "I never wanted to make a game that was a sequel. ... What I wanted to do was see it as a single continuum. ... For me, this is the second half of the first story -- the two games make one arc. If you play the game you'll see that events and characters that aren't quite wrapped up at the end of DX1 [are explored further] in DX2. ... So DX3 might feel like a new beginning or something, but Invisible War is very much like the second half of the story."

Spector clarified. "This isn't just a rehash, it's not just the same game done over. If we ever fall into that trap, kill me, OK?" Indeed, the game is radically different than its predecessor, evolved and reworked to a remarkable degree. Some elements of Invisible War will be simpler; for example, all weapons will use one generic type of ammo. Other aspects, such as the twisting, branching, gameplay-affecting plot, are much more complex.

Speaking of the Plot

"I think the narrative is the place where we're taking the biggest risks," Spector said, and we're inclined to believe him. Veterans of the first game will recall that while each situation could be tackled in different ways, the overall arc of the plot was more or less set in stone. Not so now, though. Invisible War's labyrinth of a storyline is greatly affected by the choices players make. As one Ion designer noted, you might explore three or thirteen of the Lower Seattle maps, depending on choices you make while playing.

This was extremely apparent during my Xbox playtest. Soon after I begin a new game I began to get barraged with choices, ranging from simple conversation branches to completely different courses of action. At times I actually felt uncertain as to how I should act, something that didn't even come up in the original Deus Ex. (My Deus Ex character was an amoral cipher whose sole motivation in life was to milk every map of all its skill points ... and to destroy all chairs and sofas residing therein.) Now, you're required to actually consider what the long-term consequences of your actions might be.

Outside of a few PC RPGs, I've never encountered a game where my choices were so important to the unfolding story. And, while I only played about an hour total, Spector and Smith assure that even early choices can affect the plot's final outcome. "This time we really allow you to do some things, where all through the game from beginning to end you can play on one side or the other," said Smith. "And now we're getting some backlash from players saying, "There's no clear black and white, there's no clear path to follow." So it's a balancing act -- we're working on how to make it clear enough without it being on a rail." Such a high amount of meaningful variance will undoubtedly boost a game with already high replay value to whole new levels.

So, the plot is liquid and ever-changing, but how about some specifics? According to Smith, the number one question asked by fans is which ending from the first game is canon for part two. The answer may surprise you: it's all of them. Smith explained, "So one of the designers on the team, the guy who did all the Hong Kong stuff, had a really clever idea. He was like, 'What if we took all three endgames, and established that all of them happened?'" So that's exactly what Ion did.

This pistol's alt-fire is a flashlight -- super useful. In the fiction of DX2 (DX1 spoilers ahead), JC Denton assassinated Bob Page, joined forces with the Illuminati, merged with the Helios AI, and plunged the world into a new technological dark age. All in a day's work for a Denton, I suppose. Smith's enthusiasm for the unusual choice was apparent. "It's more interesting than any one of the three endgames that we ended up with, so ... I'm absolutely in love with it. It led to all these interesting plot twists in Invisible War."

As quoted on the official website:

Fifteen years following the events depicted in the multi-award winning Deus Ex, the world is just beginning to recover from catastrophic depression.

As an elite anti-terrorist agent, you must fight numerous militant factions bent on violently reshaping the world to suit their own agendas. Using high-tech gadgetry and futuristic body modification (or biomods), you are granted near superhuman powers.

Travel the globe while uncovering fiendish plots of world domination. Unmask the conspirators, while uncovering the shocking truth behind your own origins.

Features

· An action-packed first-person thriller with intense shooter and role-playing elements.
· True player choice provides the most advanced go-anywhere-do-anything freedom in a video game to date. This sandbox-shooter molds itself to the player's play-style and strategy - the real-time choice of violence, stealth, computer hacking or negotiation allow the player ultimate freedom of self expression.
· Countless tools and biomods enable the player to achieve objectives with dramatic flair - see through walls, run faster than cars, leap 40 ft in the air, regenerate critical body damage and become radar invisible to your foes.
· Sequel to the 35+ Game Of the Year award winning game Deus Ex.
· Invisible War is the most technologically advanced games developed yet, exploiting the technical manifest of the XBOX and pushes the envelope of the latest PC graphics cards.
· Benchmark Setting Graphics - a new benchmark in graphics quality for a video game, this game delivers the most realistic atmosphere and environments to date.
· State-of-the-art physics system, allowing for unprecedented interaction with objects in the world.
· Intense stealth gameplay, where darkness and sound affect enemy awareness.
· Artificial Intelligence - with an uncannily intuitive AI system, characters have a real awareness of the world that they populate and guard.

Deus Ex: Invisible War Screenshot Gallery

Preorder Deus EX Invisible War for the PC now, from Amazon.co.uk
Preorder Deus EX Invisible War for the X-Box now, from Amazon.co.uk

Final note: If you played and enjoyed the first installment, this is one to not miss, it looks a very exciting game indeed.