Deus Ex comes into a crowded first person shooter market with quite a bit of momentum behind it. Everyone heard how good the demo was, and everyone hoped the final game was just as good. Well, the news is in: it is. This is the best FPS since Half Life, and while it may not be better than Half Life, it's the closest anyone's gotten since (and you know many have tried).
Using the Unreal engine, Deus Ex looks great. Strangely, though, the graphics aren't nearly as good as the wonderful looking Unreal Tournament, but that may be more to the unique artistic style of Deus Ex. Everything in the game is dark and foreboding to match the storyline. The sound is extremely nicely done, with some cool techno music and ambient sounds, as well as great voice acting.
Where Deus Ex truly shines is in the gameplay. Using a RPG type of skill system, you can play the game based on what you're good at skills wise. If you build up your sniper abilities, you'll want to take the enemy off from a distance. If you're good at computer skills, you'll be able to hack into systems to turn off cameras and open doors. The list goes on. It's an absolutely amazing feat they accomplished making the game so open-ended. There are almost always two or three different ways to get through a mission.
The interaction of the main character with other characters is also something cool. While you may not have direct control over what your character says at times, he'll usually respond appropriately to how you play the game. Sometimes it's eerie, because non-player characters will respond to you in absolutely appropriate ways. If you are a gun-crazed mass murderer, they'll respond totally different than if you sneak around trying kill as little as possible.
Unfortunately, everything is not perfect. The AI could use some help. The enemy is just plain stupid. When there are guards patrolling areas, I've run up to them and stabbed them in the head before they could sound an alarm. Other AI guards will come along and just walk right past the body. Other parts are inconsistent too, such as when the enemy is able to detect you or not. At times you can stand nearly right in front of them and they won't notice you, and at other times they'll start shooting at you from a distance, and you won't know what you did to give yourself away. This is a slight letdown, as I remember fondly the tough enemy AI in Half Life, who seemed like living, breathing soldiers.
Even with these flaws, though, Deus Ex has enough going for it to make it one of the best games this year. It's long, involving, and has enough conspiracies and plot twists to make you dizzy. While I can't say it's better than Half Life, it's really, really, close.
-Jerred
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