Deus Ex Invisible War
Deux Ex: Invisible War is a computer game. It is the sequel to Deus Ex (2000), and (like its predecessor) is the product of Austin, Texas based developer Ion Storm. It was released (for Microsoft Windows computers and the Xbox game console) in the US on December 3, 2003 (with a worldwide release scheduled for January 2004). There is no indication of the game being ported either to Macs or to other consoles.
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
The protagonist of the game is "Alex D.", a 21-year-old (players can pick both Alex's gender and race). Some of the characters from the original game reprise their roles in this sequel - including Paul Denton, Tracer Tong, and JC Denton (the previous game's protagonist). As before, the action takes place in a number of real-world locations, including Seattle, an arcology and surrounding medina in Cairo, the Black Gate and its environs in Trier in Germany, Antarctica, and concluding on an ice-bound Liberty Island, the starting point of the first game.
Like its predecessor, the game features nonlinear gameplay, while still retaining a largely linear central plot. Similarly, nanotechnology and conspiracy theories again play a major role in the action, and action once more concerns the conflict between the Illuminati and Majestic 12. However, some players feel that an in-depth story line took a back seat for more action. This is possibly due to the removal of some items from the original Deus Ex, such as computers that allow the player to read email, as well as less character development.
Unlike the original game, Invisible War was intended from the outset to run on both the PC and a console platform, and its design reflects this: many elements of the game appear to be a compromise between the abilities and environments of both platforms. Some players perceived this dual release as Ion Storm "selling out" to the console crowd. Indeed, the initial (unpatched) default.ini file had many irrelevant configurations or misconfigurations; this ranged from Thief 3 references (a game also developed by Ion Storm) to outright misconfigurations that included the Field of View being set to X-Box settings.
In fan communities, debate has raged over what effect various design changes have had on the experience of the game: some fans have voiced concern that the game has been "streamlined" (simplified) too much, others agreeing that the changes were for the best. The game received mix reviews on its release, ranging from denouncement to being worshipped. The game was criticised for its inability to run on certain graphics cards, such as the GeForce 4 MX line of graphics cards from Nvidia due to its lack of pixel shaders and for the relative shortness of the game compared to Deus Ex.
Ion Storm has already released two patches for the game to address some major concerns. However, many players argue that these do not go far enough and that the game is still problematic. The horrible condition that the game was released in was evidenced by the fact that there was a pinned thread on the official forums for configuration modifications.
