Deus Ex (video game)
Deus Ex, from the Latin expression deus ex machina, is a video game, released in 2000 by Ion Storm Inc. and distributed by Eidos Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh computers as well as the PlayStation 2 game console (under the title Deus Ex - The Conspiracy).
Created by the designer of System Shock, Warren Spector, and built on the Unreal game engine, the game combined the action elements of a first-person shooter (FPS) with the character development interaction of a role playing game. The game, set in a near-future dystopia, featured environments often drawn from real locations and that seemed to more accurately depict real environments than other games to date. It was also notable for the complex tactical possibilities, where players could choose many different ways of achieving evolving goals, from stealth (akin to Thief) and long-range sniping, to all-out combat with various heavy weapons, to character interaction and use of objects in the environment.
Deus Ex's plot drew together many current conspiracy theories into a narrative with characters with deeper development than those of most FPS games and presented a philosophical dilemma in the conclusion where the player must choose between courses which lead to the continuation of 20th-century style capitalism with all its flaws, returning the world to a dark age of medieval anarchy, or choose the peace offered by the benevolent dictatorship of an omnipotent and omniscient computer AI].
The amount of research demonstrated in the game's level of detail astounded the gaming world. One of Deus Ex's central issues is nanotechnology-- the character serves under the flag of UNATCO (United Nations Anti-Terrorist COalition) as an agent augmented by symbiotic microscopic computers called nanites. Deus Ex contains an impressive amount of literature on nanotechnology and defines its science quite accurately. Many allusions to classic literature and influences (predominately Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age and Snow Crash) can be found throughout the game environment (in e-mails, books, mottos, and notes). Erudite individuals often find the game quite humorous. The environment encourages the player to replay the game frequently to discover and learn more about the world of Deus Ex.
The game was hailed by many critics and users as a significant step towards a "reality simulation", as one of the first games to truly pioneer the effect of moral choices, and one of the only games in existence based on violence to offer a non-violent alternative; killing is not a necessary part of Deus Ex. Some have complained however of technical flaws (the graphics were not state-of-the-art and the game ran slowly on machines not fitted with 3dfx video cards) and found the game too difficult to complete.
A sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War, was released on December 3, 2003.
Single Player ESRB Rating: Mature Estimated Play Time: 70 hours