Deus Ex

Deus Ex, which contains a number of RPG mechanics (okay, just two - skills and augmentations) and a definite focus on character development, presents an outstanding vision of a futuristic crapsack world handled in the rich colours of blue and gray. The game is long, certain reviewers often complain that it's too long, it's immersive like few other video games, every location is painstakingly crafted and filled with numerous ways for the player to express their own distinctive playing style (mine is silently taking out every enemy before they notice Denton even exists). Criticizing a game like Deus Ex is nothing like criticizing Oblivion or Dragon Age - the latter type of Action/RPGs are nothing more than sets of colourful CG-models meant to trigger knee-jerk reactions from the dumb fanbase. Deus Ex was an earnest attempt by a talented team of developers to tell a story and create a world where the player may navigate freely. It is an outstanding success, and I cannot help but feel depressed thinking how unlikely we are to ever see a game of this level released in the near future.

However, every time I played through Deus Ex, I couldn't help but feel the game possessed a fundamental flaw which kind of created a vacuum in my perception of the game. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that this flaw is also contained in the Matrix trilogy of films - depicting another futuristic dystopia. Namely, I don't care about the main character and any of his allies, regardless of how well-intentioned and benevolent the plot of the game makes them out to be. More so, it doesn't appear that the main character JC Denton cares very much about his allies himself. Nor does he seem to possess any personality or any attachment to the world he is trying to save. This feeling is less pronounced during the early part of the game, where JC is simply performing missions for a branch of the global government, but it really came in force during the phase where JC divorces himself from UNATCO and turns his back on everyone he ever knew (almost everyone). There just didn't seem to be any chemistry going on between him and his friends/enemies, he was just there fighting the bad guys because the plot required him to. Kill a bunch of NSF terrorists today, join them tomorrow. Say "yes, sir" to Manderley today, shoot him in the face tomorrow. Indeed, like in the Matrix, it is much easier to be interested in the bad guys and their motives, however unacceptable their goals may be.

At the end of the game we are given the opportunity to merge with a near-omniscient AI and rule the world as a benevolent dictator, an easy choice because after all JC Denton has been through, it didn't feel like he had any life or individuality to sacrifice in the first place.

The new EYE Divine Cybermancy game has that same lack of effort to get the player to care about the game world and its inhabitants. But EYE has more problems than just that.

I've been slowly working at a DX game over like a year now. This was truly an excellent game in its day. I think it's fairly quirky in its gameplay compared to some more refined modern titles. But cyberpunk fans should never pass this game up.

well it is call the conspiracy and conspiracies usually lead to isolation. i can kind of understand what you mean. jc denton is very robotic and devoid of many feeling but his is not entirely all human afterall. it fits the game though as the overall story "the conspiracy" is what keeps you entralled and i beg to differ on the only 2 rpg elements as quests with how you can complete them to me are not solely a rpg trait but a huge one in all great ones in my view. i remember originally playing the demo when it can out an 1) not being a fan of 1st person shooters and 2) feeling the game was a bit cold and robotic meant i didn't actually play the full game til over a year later. deus ex 2 in my view had a better story (well writing and more grounded in reality at least) and characters but was lacking in other elements. but from my experience gameplay is what most people are after and remember and thus become more forgiving in other departments.

Glyphwright said:

More so, it doesn't appear that the main character JC Denton cares very much about his allies himself. Nor does he seem to possess any personality or any attachment to the world he is trying to save.

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I remember reading something by one of the Deus Ex team about how they made him emotionless in an attempt to make it easier for the player to instill their emotions into him. He admitted that it never really worked. That's the problem with a voiced hero in a game. The very act of speaking can turn the PC into an NPC that the player gets to move around if it's not done carefully, and it very seldom is. It doesn't make a game bad by any means, but for me it can totally kill immersion and turn it into a completely different experience.

A voiced protagonist with a rich backstory and an engaging personality can make a game much more appealing than it would have been otherwise. Sometimes disagreeing with the PC you're controlling can provide immense satisfaction, as you're forced to perceive the world from a completely different perspective. Deus Ex really botched the job on this one - it defines a protagonist, makes us listen to him speak, but fails to give him any individuality. I don't really buy into the "inserting the player's emotions into a video game" formula very much, to be honest, for me it creates a feeling of surreal loneliness and eventually breaks the suspension of disbelief. The latter levels of Deus Ex feel completely random and unmemorable, the only thing I remember myself thinking of the plot was "why hasn't this story ended yet?".

I don't think every game needs to have an emotional protagonist. JC Denton was a heavily trained, nano-augmented agent. I got the impression that he wasn't really supposed to have much individuality.

I had no problem with the way he was voiced, or his dialogue responses. In fact, I actually found it refreshing that he wasn't the typical protagonist I'm used to seeing in games.

In a perfect world the game could write the story completely around my choices. But reality is all compromise of course.

Mass Effect's fake dialog choices disgusted me though I have to say.

JDR13 said:

I don't think every game needs to have an emotional protagonist. JC Denton was a heavily trained, nano-augmented agent. I got the impression that he wasn't really supposed to have much individuality.

I had no problem with the way he was voiced, or his dialogue responses. In fact, I actually found it refreshing that he wasn't the typical protagonist I'm used to seeing in games.

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Indeed.

JC is the soulless corporate/government automaton. That is the point of him really. Through the game he wakes up and find his humanity (maybe) but he is still JC at heart.

yeah it would be so much better if JC was a whiny insecure little girl from anime. that would make him far more realistic and cool!

damn nerds

Namely, I don't care about the main character and any of his allies

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I had no problem identifying with JC as a closet idealist. The part where he rescues his brother easily solidified that RP identity for me. Getting to blow away your own 'fellow' agents, and then the optional ending makes this all work perfectly. I found myself more readily identifying with Denton than Gordan Freeman in HL2…and I have a scientific research background.

Deus Ex is a masterpiece.

There are always a few people who don't like any given thing, but that doesn't mean there's a debate here. The OP is one of the very few people who didn't like DE, no problem, there are thousands of other titles out there to choose from.

I had no problem identifying with JC as a closet idealist

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I'm pretty sure it's possible to imprint any kind of character trait on top of JC's monotone voice.

The OP is one of the very few people who didn't like DE

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DE is one of my most favourite games of all times.

there are thousands of other titles out there to choose from

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So?

Glyphwright said:

DE is one of my most favourite games of all times.

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Ah, case of tl;dr then, my apologies.