10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
Decisions, decisions.
Date of Review: Sep 13, 2002
The Bottom Line: This is a long and winding game with lots of replay value. Buy it!
I've played a lot of FPS games: GOLDENEYE, DOOM, RED FACTION, HALF-LIFE, MEDAL OF HONOR, etc. First-person shooters are essentially all the same, aren't they? AREN'T THEY?! Finally somebody came up with a new twist, and I absolutely love it!
DEUS EX: THE CONSPIRACY has all the essentials. A dark futuristic setting, a government conspiracy, a wide cast of weird characters, a multitude of weapons and lots and lots of fun. The difference between DEUS EX: THE CONSPIRACY and all the other FPS games out there is in the decision-making that you have to do.
You play JC Denton, a super-cop with state-of-the-art nanotechnology, and work for a government security agency called UNATCO. When UNATCO headquarters on Liberty Island is overrun by NSF agents (a "terrorist" network...the enemy) and hostages are taken, you're called in to save the day. But like all government/terrorist plots, this tale has more twists and turns than a pretzel. Pretty soon you're uncovering secrets about UNATCO, your brother Paul and running for your life while trying to save the world from a plague called "Grey Death".
GAMEPLAY: Excellent.
You run, jump, crawl, swim and shoot...BUT...how well you do these things all depends on how you upgrade your character. In DEUS EX: THE CONSPIRACY you are awarded points for finding secret areas and completing primary/secondary tasks. You are also awarded credits or can steal credits from ATM machines. How you used these points /credits to enhance your gameplay is up to you.
First, you can upgrade your various weapons with silencers or scopes, by adding to the clip length, by quickening the reload time, etc. This is done by finding or buying modulators to add to your weapons. There are different hand-held weapons (taser, baton, knives, swords) as well as the usual pistos and guns. There is also heavy artillery such as rocket-launchers and flamethrowers. However, the number of weapons you can carry is limited so be sure to pick-and-choose carefully. You can be sneaky with your sniper rifle, crossbow and stealth pistol or go in blazing with machine guns and explosives. It's all up to you.
You can also upgrade your tactical skills such as computer hacking, lock picking, swimming, medical recovery, demolitions, weaponry expertise and so on. The higher the level of upgrade in each category, the more points it will take. Do you want your character to be a weapons expert or a tech-god?! It's all up to you.
You can also find biological augmentation cannisters which cooperate with your character's nanomachines and bioeletrical energy to make your character stronger, faster or more resistant to hostile surroundings. For each portion of the body (eyes, skin, arms, legs, etc.), there are 2 different enhancements to choose from, and once again each enhancement can be upgraded to higher levels. This time, however, upgrades depend on finding augmentation upgrade cannisters much like upgrading your weapons.
Finally, there's the story itself. There are choices to be made at every turn which affect the game in its entirity. Talking to different characters and how you respond will affect the game. Accepting sub-tasks or killing main characters will also change the plot. Also, there are usually at least 3 different methods for completing the main task(s) on every level. I have talked with a close friend about this game, and our game experiences are apparently COMPLETELY different.
GRAPHICS: Average.
This is the game's only real disappointment. A lot of the backgrounds and surfaces are flat. Many of the characters and items are blocky. In fact, JC Denton's hand looks more like it belongs to Pinocchio than a man. Explosions look pretty good though! There are also many kinds of enemies and terrains
SOUND: Good.
The voice acting isn't too bad. There is definitely emotion in those voice overs, and the writing is very smart. The weapon effects are "dead"-on while the animals you encounter (whether pets or...otherwise) throughout the various levels are brought to live very nicely.
REPLAY FACTOR: Infinite.
With multiple paths to complete levels, decisions that affect the story and so many different ways to enhance your character, DEUS EX: THE CONSPIRACY will have you enslaved in front of your TV screen for months. No 2 games will have the same because we have made choices along the way which have affected everything about the plot. Very, very cool!
This one's a no-brainer...go get it!
