Deus Ex

Developed by: Ion Storm

Published by: Eidos

Key Figures: Warren Spector, Harvey Smith

Release Date: 2000 (PC/ Mac) 2002 (PS2)

Deus Ex (DX) is a first-person shooter/role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive in 2000. Set during the 2050s, with a cyberpunk story and setting elements, the game combines the action elements of a first-person shooter with the character development and interaction of a role playing game.

It won much acclaim upon its release and was (and still is) considered by many to be a pioneering title, receiving praise for its depth and variety. The game's name is derived from the Latin expression deus ex machina literally meaning "god from the machine."

Some fans have speculated that the protagonist's name, JC Denton, is derived from the initials of Jesus Christ the savior sent 'from God' in Christian religions, leading some to believe that instead of referring to deus ex machina the title is actually meant to be translated literally as 'from God.' The names of several main characters reinforce this interpretation. Paul Denton, for example, uses the name of Paul of Tarsus, an early church leader during the formative years of the Christian church. However, according to Sheldon Pacotti, lead writer on the game, the name "JC" was merely chosen for its unisex qualities when the developers were still planning to let the player choose the gender of the main character.

What makes Deus Ex so great is the way you can complete a mission any way you chose. Players could choose many different ways of achieving evolving goals, including stealth , long-range sniping, all-out combat with various heavy weapons, character interaction, bypassing devices, computer hacking and use of objects in the environment. As the game progressed you could upgrade your skills with a series of implants. (Your character is an upgradeable cyborg) As well as being able to upgrade your skills such as hacking or accuracy with handguns, you could make physical upgrades to your character; these would range from increased strength to the ability to stay underwater for longer without needing to breathe.

Deus Ex's plot drew together several current conspiracy theories into a narrative with characters having a deeper development than those of most FPS games. It also presented a philosophical dilemma in its conclusion where the player is given a world-altering choice, of which none of the options are broadcast in-game as the "right" choice. This meant several people played through the game three times to see all of the available endings.

The game had plenty of replay value anyway due to the fact you could choose to upgrade different abilities the next time round. As well as this, the game is simply huge. A single play-through of the game will miss hundreds of lines of dialogue, alternate routes and large sections of the environment.

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. In fact, only one character must be killed in order to progress the game, and it is possible to accomplish that without using any offensive weapons.

Key Figures

Warren Spector

Warren Spector has a long history in the videogames Industry and has been involved primarily in RPG’s. It is no surprise then, that Deus Ex integrates several RPG elements into the traditional FPS frame. Whilst working for Origin Systems he worked on several games including Ultima, System Shock and Thief. After founding the Austin Branch of Ion Storm he was involved in the production of Deus Ex and its sequel, plus Thief: Deadly Shadows. His favorite games are Tetris and Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Harvey Smith

His work merges elements from RPGs and first-person shooters in the creation of games with strong fictional integrity that lends themselves to self-paced exploration and player-self expression. Throughout his career, he has had various roles on projects such as Wing Commander 3DO, Ultima VIII: Pagan, CyberMage, System Shock, FireTeam, Deus Ex, and Deus Ex: Invisible War and Thief: Deadly Shadows.

Based in Austin, Texas, Smith has worked at Origin Systems, Multitude and Ion Storm. Today he works with Midway.

Deus Ex – Drawing Inspiration?

As you can see, the lead designers from Deus Ex were very heavily involved with RPG’s and this shows. It is perfectly possible to consider Deus Ex an RPG with FPS elements rather then an FPS with RPG elements, after all, it is possible to complete the game without actually shooting anyone. I used to have System Shock, which was released a few years before Deus Ex, though you really can see strong similarities between the two games and I would definitely cite System Shock as the closest game to Deus Ex in terms of gameplay and overall feel. So whereabouts along the line of FPS games does it sit? The emphasis on puzzles and interaction with other characters and the strong story mean this is no mere brainless shooter like Serious Sam, or Doom.

If I had to pick contemporaries for Deus Ex to sit alongside, then I would pick the Metroid series on the GameCube, and the Halflife series also. The depth and solid feeling to the environments in these games is what is so key to Deus Ex, the feeling of being in there and it being YOUR story, so you can play it however you like. You want to play stealthily? Fine, use tunnel and pipe networks to get to your target, sneak around the CCTV cameras, knock out any guards who get too close to finding you and embrace the shadows as your friend. You want to play gung ho? Deus Ex has enough weapons to equip a small army and it’s all accessible to you, Rockets, Shotguns, and Assault Rifles, its all in there for you to experiment with so get heated up and go in all guns blazing.

When a game comes around that allows you to freely do whatever you want to complete a goal, you know its going to be special and Deus Ex certainly didn’t disappoint, and scooped up over 30 game of the year awards in the year 2000. It still figures highly in greatest game ever polls, appearing at number 21 in IGN’s latest best game ever poll.