I'm 32 and DX1 was my first immersive sim when I was a kid. Have beaten all DX games, and all of them except DX1 are just easily forgettable. The awesome late 90s artstyle, the gameplay, the memetic JC, the prophetic story... Damn
Warren Spector once said that he was about to sign a contract with a different company when he got a call from John Romero (Ion Storm at the time). Romero told him to wait because he had an offer for him. He met with Spector and told him that if he joins Ion Storm he'll be able to make whatever game that he wants with no creative interference and any amount of money he needs. And we got Deus Ex. This game is what happens when smart people get the resources and freedom to realize their vision. This will probably never happen again.
Great video. Despite also being nearly old enough to have experienced the dawn of space invaders I didn’t play Deus Ex until after I had played Human Revolution and Mankind Divided. Based on videos I had seen I was reticent to give it a try, assuming the gameplay was going to be really rough, but I wanted to experience the story. In the end I found the gameplay utterly immersive, to the point where the levels feel more physically real to me than in the newer games. It gives me a shock to see footage of areas I remember, because in my memory they are highly-detailed locations, not the low-res polygons of the game. Ironically, if anything, it was the story that broke my immersion somewhat - for the first 2/3 of the game the lore, story and gameplay combine flawlessly but it does get a bit silly at the end - when JC comes across an alien-cloning facility or whatever that place is, you’d imagine it would alter his plans in some way but no, he just carries on like nothing’s new. And I never did work out what those weird chicken things that kept shooting at me in the last couple of levels were.
The aliens were really genetically modified monkeys, the greasels were reptile/bird hybrids. It's explained in the game if you hack enough computers & talk to enough characters. Versalife created them.
Contender for best PC game of all time. Simply incredible game. By the way, you should always, always install Kentie’s Launcher when playing vanilla Deus Ex. If installed correctly, it fixes most of the problems of running DX on modern hardware, including the performance issues. Old versions of the Unreal engine don’t play nice with modern APIs, so you typically will need to install a wrapper like DGVoodoo 2 or in this case, Kentie’s Launcher, to get old games that use Unreal to look and run properly on modern hardware.
I never thought you could use utility push carts as vehicles for TNT boxes lol. It's those little moments of sandbox cleverness that make this game. "Play smarter, not harder" is a philosophy that will get you to places in this game. I'd also like to point out how delicious the item descriptions in this game are. Every tiny detail is described, to the point where an item almost mechanically useless like a Bottle of Wine has three whole paragraphs of scientific information. Every item in Deus Ex makes in-world sense. The art of item descriptions have been sadly lost in modern... RPGs As a final note, Deus Ex got the 3D plasma rifle RIGHT. Bethesda never knew how to port Fallout 1 beastly plasma rifle into 3D and instead of designing a powerhouse they made a toy gun made of scraps. But Deus Ex's plasma rifle... goodness me how animal that looks and sounds. It's exquisite
Warning: Do not play this game if you fear to become a conspiracy theorist! 9/11: Deus Ex did it first. Social Media: Deus Ex did it first. War on Terror: Deus Ex did it first. and the list goes on. While playing this game remember every second that it's from 2000.
The new Deus Ex games have better UX experience and production values. But this is one gives the player waaaay more freedom. As for newer versions and mods for the original. I haven't tried them myself but they look really good.
Great analysis friend, so I'm one of your younger audiences being only 25 years old (just turned a few weeks ago!) and despite that I grew up on alot of older games and systems like the Gameboy, Nintendo 64, SNES and even the original PlayStation (perhaps not that old). I remember picking up my first game around the age of 3-5 and were fond of the simpler days so when I encountered Deus Ex I was admittedly confused but having Underrail under my belt (I'm sorry for the potential pun I wasn't trying) I got the hang of it overtime despite having some trouble getting used to it at first. Also in terms of clunkiness luckily there are mods like Deus Ex Revision and other mods that can help polish its shortcomings but that would kinda break away the point you were trying to make, yes unfortuantely I do get carried away from the bells and whistles these newer games come but know when something is a straight up snoozefest, something I'm sure will be honed in me as I grow older, and the conspiracy aspects of the Deus Ex franchise is so great I love it, thank you for your wonderful review.
@@YeOldEntertainment yeah I got to both play revision and the original but the og experience like you've said when it first dropped I didn't get to see in the same eyes you and others did, haha and thanks.
I tried this, put all my points into swim, because I assumed it was useful. I found swim to be useful in Morrowind. I assumed this game was the same. Did not have fun at all, played Human revolution instead.
The products it takes inspiration from are far more unique, popular and interesting than the game, and some story elements work better seen as an audience member than "immersing" yourself in the plot as you would do with any other game after 2001, as the graphics lack a distinct atmosphere and game wants to be a movie, but I get it that "philosophy" wants to dominate your experience.
I love this game but there was one part that annoyed me. I started focusing on my lockpicking and hacking skills late in the game and couldn't unlock the door to the ending route I wanted because of a shortage of the tools needed to unlock the door. The ending choices shouldn't be restricted due to build decisions IMO. Edit: You forgot to mention that the events which led to the formation of the original NSF are actually starting to look disturbingly feasible. Basically in the Deus Ex universe the gun control extremists got enough power in the 2040s to making owning Hunting Rifles illegal for civilians leading to a few states declaring independence. At the time the idea of the anti- gun ownership factions gaining that much influence seemed so absurd I almost laughed but no it looks far too likely for my tastes.
Holy sh*t I totall forgot about the NSF origin and how incredibly familiar it looks today. As for the door you couldn't unlock... I played this time only using my initial perks I never upgraded anything! (did it as a test to see how deep opportunity cost rand in the game) and I by the end I saved and re-loaded to get all the endings. (I did have enough tools though).
@@YeOldEntertainment I probably burned too many tools exploring, and missed picking up some. I think what would have been better is the locked doors being the direct routes, and there more difficult alternative paths around them. If you've saved enough tools fine but if not you can still get there you just have to work a little more for it.
5:12 But there isn't even a door there! Being stingy on multitools is what really killed you. Which is totally understandable, of course. But speaking of sudden death scenarios in general, you can protect yourself from most of them, as there is an augmentation/protective gear to guard against any type of damage. The issue is to activate it in time -- and this is where mods like GMDX or Revision can be game changers as (depending on setup) they may change protections into passives, consuming energy based on damage absorbed, rather then time. Makes the game much more suited to iron man playstyle.
The fact that the footage doesn't coincide with the action doesn't mean it didn't happen. I wrote the script first and then went through the footage. It turned out I wasn't recording chen that happened... but IT DID happen.
@@YeOldEntertainment I believe it. I may not remember any particularly malicious doors in Deus Ex (it's rather the ladders I watch out for), but I've played enough Build Engine games to know you just can't trust those things. And not just in the older games either, my friend once killed himself with a cabinet door in Dishonored 2.
Thank you for pronouncing Deus Ex correctly. Thank you.
I'm 32 and DX1 was my first immersive sim when I was a kid. Have beaten all DX games, and all of them except DX1 are just easily forgettable. The awesome late 90s artstyle, the gameplay, the memetic JC, the prophetic story... Damn
Warren Spector once said that he was about to sign a contract with a different company when he got a call from John Romero (Ion Storm at the time). Romero told him to wait because he had an offer for him. He met with Spector and told him that if he joins Ion Storm he'll be able to make whatever game that he wants with no creative interference and any amount of money he needs. And we got Deus Ex.
This game is what happens when smart people get the resources and freedom to realize their vision. This will probably never happen again.
Great video. Despite also being nearly old enough to have experienced the dawn of space invaders I didn’t play Deus Ex until after I had played Human Revolution and Mankind Divided. Based on videos I had seen I was reticent to give it a try, assuming the gameplay was going to be really rough, but I wanted to experience the story. In the end I found the gameplay utterly immersive, to the point where the levels feel more physically real to me than in the newer games. It gives me a shock to see footage of areas I remember, because in my memory they are highly-detailed locations, not the low-res polygons of the game. Ironically, if anything, it was the story that broke my immersion somewhat - for the first 2/3 of the game the lore, story and gameplay combine flawlessly but it does get a bit silly at the end - when JC comes across an alien-cloning facility or whatever that place is, you’d imagine it would alter his plans in some way but no, he just carries on like nothing’s new. And I never did work out what those weird chicken things that kept shooting at me in the last couple of levels were.
The aliens were really genetically modified monkeys, the greasels were reptile/bird hybrids. It's explained in the game if you hack enough computers & talk to enough characters. Versalife created them.
I actually described Baldurs gate as turn based fantasy deus ex to a friend.
The gmdx mod makes some quality of life changes and visual updates that you may appreciate in current day
Contender for best PC game of all time. Simply incredible game.
By the way, you should always, always install Kentie’s Launcher when playing vanilla Deus Ex. If installed correctly, it fixes most of the problems of running DX on modern hardware, including the performance issues.
Old versions of the Unreal engine don’t play nice with modern APIs, so you typically will need to install a wrapper like DGVoodoo 2 or in this case, Kentie’s Launcher, to get old games that use Unreal to look and run properly on modern hardware.
Such a classic game, nd a hallmark in Immersive Sims
I never asked for this
What a shame...
I never thought you could use utility push carts as vehicles for TNT boxes lol. It's those little moments of sandbox cleverness that make this game. "Play smarter, not harder" is a philosophy that will get you to places in this game.
I'd also like to point out how delicious the item descriptions in this game are. Every tiny detail is described, to the point where an item almost mechanically useless like a Bottle of Wine has three whole paragraphs of scientific information. Every item in Deus Ex makes in-world sense. The art of item descriptions have been sadly lost in modern... RPGs
As a final note, Deus Ex got the 3D plasma rifle RIGHT. Bethesda never knew how to port Fallout 1 beastly plasma rifle into 3D and instead of designing a powerhouse they made a toy gun made of scraps. But Deus Ex's plasma rifle... goodness me how animal that looks and sounds. It's exquisite
Warning: Do not play this game if you fear to become a conspiracy theorist!
9/11: Deus Ex did it first.
Social Media: Deus Ex did it first.
War on Terror: Deus Ex did it first.
and the list goes on.
While playing this game remember every second that it's from 2000.
I am because of Deus Ex XD.
what a rotten way to die
Any thoughts on latest deus version? Was thinking it might be better for the interface
The new Deus Ex games have better UX experience and production values. But this is one gives the player waaaay more freedom. As for newer versions and mods for the original. I haven't tried them myself but they look really good.
Great analysis friend, so I'm one of your younger audiences being only 25 years old (just turned a few weeks ago!) and despite that I grew up on alot of older games and systems like the Gameboy, Nintendo 64, SNES and even the original PlayStation (perhaps not that old). I remember picking up my first game around the age of 3-5 and were fond of the simpler days so when I encountered Deus Ex I was admittedly confused but having Underrail under my belt (I'm sorry for the potential pun I wasn't trying) I got the hang of it overtime despite having some trouble getting used to it at first.
Also in terms of clunkiness luckily there are mods like Deus Ex Revision and other mods that can help polish its shortcomings but that would kinda break away the point you were trying to make, yes unfortuantely I do get carried away from the bells and whistles these newer games come but know when something is a straight up snoozefest, something I'm sure will be honed in me as I grow older, and the conspiracy aspects of the Deus Ex franchise is so great I love it, thank you for your wonderful review.
Hehe. You robbed yourself of the OG experience man! At least you played the game so it's cool.
@@YeOldEntertainment yeah I got to both play revision and the original but the og experience like you've said when it first dropped I didn't get to see in the same eyes you and others did, haha and thanks.
Deus Ex had great voice acting. But only for JC. The rest of the cast was very hit and miss. Especially the minor characters.
Yow widda polis? XD
@@YeOldEntertainment Veeeel'is Yevgeny?
I tried this, put all my points into swim, because I assumed it was useful.
I found swim to be useful in Morrowind. I assumed this game was the same.
Did not have fun at all, played Human revolution instead.
Deus Ex Revision on steam is the more modern version to (re)play
The voice acting in this game is awful but I want more! 😂
Yo widda polis?
They definitely don't write games like they used to. No way would a game be allowed to be this based.
The products it takes inspiration from are far more unique, popular and interesting than the game, and some story elements work better seen as an audience member than "immersing" yourself in the plot as you would do with any other game after 2001, as the graphics lack a distinct atmosphere and game wants to be a movie, but I get it that "philosophy" wants to dominate your experience.
I love this game but there was one part that annoyed me. I started focusing on my lockpicking and hacking skills late in the game and couldn't unlock the door to the ending route I wanted because of a shortage of the tools needed to unlock the door. The ending choices shouldn't be restricted due to build decisions IMO.
Edit: You forgot to mention that the events which led to the formation of the original NSF are actually starting to look disturbingly feasible. Basically in the Deus Ex universe the gun control extremists got enough power in the 2040s to making owning Hunting Rifles illegal for civilians leading to a few states declaring independence. At the time the idea of the anti- gun ownership factions gaining that much influence seemed so absurd I almost laughed but no it looks far too likely for my tastes.
Holy sh*t I totall forgot about the NSF origin and how incredibly familiar it looks today. As for the door you couldn't unlock... I played this time only using my initial perks I never upgraded anything! (did it as a test to see how deep opportunity cost rand in the game) and I by the end I saved and re-loaded to get all the endings. (I did have enough tools though).
@@YeOldEntertainment I probably burned too many tools exploring, and missed picking up some. I think what would have been better is the locked doors being the direct routes, and there more difficult alternative paths around them. If you've saved enough tools fine but if not you can still get there you just have to work a little more for it.
Nice video but you should let people know that it has major SPOILERS
5:12 But there isn't even a door there! Being stingy on multitools is what really killed you. Which is totally understandable, of course.
But speaking of sudden death scenarios in general, you can protect yourself from most of them, as there is an augmentation/protective gear to guard against any type of damage. The issue is to activate it in time -- and this is where mods like GMDX or Revision can be game changers as (depending on setup) they may change protections into passives, consuming energy based on damage absorbed, rather then time. Makes the game much more suited to iron man playstyle.
The fact that the footage doesn't coincide with the action doesn't mean it didn't happen. I wrote the script first and then went through the footage. It turned out I wasn't recording chen that happened... but IT DID happen.
@@YeOldEntertainment I believe it. I may not remember any particularly malicious doors in Deus Ex (it's rather the ladders I watch out for), but I've played enough Build Engine games to know you just can't trust those things. And not just in the older games either, my friend once killed himself with a cabinet door in Dishonored 2.
Yah should check out Colony Ship, its a new throwback CRPG
Never played it. I can't take seriously a game where the player character has almost a text-to-speech delivery. What a shame.
It was intentional. That being said, there is a mod where you can play a female instead 😆
The stiff delivery totally has an artistic intention. Think of Geralt of Rivia in TW games