I had this game years ago, and all I remember from it was trying to kill that lady with the machine gun at the desk and watching something called "Gobs" kill each other in a dirty underground arena like dog fights.
It's stunning that folks on youtube like favson have so much more selling charisma than me. I know because I used to work at hello fresh... not gonna talk about the results...
This was actually my first imm-sim as a kid, and honestly, I loved it. There was nothing like it for me before it and it Kickstarter a lifelong love of the genre and series. Even if it’s the “worst”, I imagine it was magic for people who never had an experience like it.
Same story for me, I played this on the Xbox long before I knew there was a prequel. When I finally played Deus Ex 1 years later, I realised that it was much better in almost every way. But I still have a soft spot in my heart for Invisible War. It was unlike anything I had experienced as a child and I still replay both games every now and again.
Exactly my experience with DXIW. I know it's a downgrade, I know it's the 'worst' of the series, but I love it nonetheless. And it does genuinely have things to love.
Hey, it's that game that nobody played and everybody said was way worse than it actually was! I remember renting this one from Blockbuster when it first came out while walking home from school and keeping it a day past the return date 'cause I was legitimately enjoying it. Not as good as the first, but then, nothing really is.
Invisible War was my first DE, got it whet gaming paper added it on CD. i was blown away at how enjoyable it was and how many ways it had to complete your tasks. Sure, it was a bit linear, but at this time it was still a good game. In my opinion it suffered Duke Nukem Forever syndrome - game itself wasn't too bad, but it didn't love to meet the hype/brand
Such a shame that Ion Storm were forced to make DX2 with the confines of the console and also running with a custom engine and splitting the team to work on Thief 3 ruined both games . Great work man .
It wasn't written on Unreal 3, they used an in house proprietary engine and the time taken to develop it and the toolset was quoted by Harvey Smith as being one of their bigger mistakes as it cost a lot of time and resources developing the engine rather than the game
@@Robocop_1987 Hey Robo, that was a reply to a comment now deleted rather than throwing shade on your comment. Glad you appreciated the info though. If you're interested google Deus Ex Post Mortem for a conversation between Warren Spector and Harvey Smith about Deus Ex 1 and 2. It's a really good watch!
@@Wildeheart79 I appreciate being corrected as I've learnt something new . You shouldn't have removed your comment , this shows how nice a person you are . I did watch through a bit of that conversation between them about DX 1 .
A great retrospective of DX:IW. I agree; not as good as the original (it's definitely "dumbed down" in almost every way), but it's still a game I come back to on a (semi) regular basis. One of the highlights of the game is the N.G.Resonance sub-story; both AI Construct and her "real" appearance later in the game! For those who don't know, the N.G.Resonance music (which plays in every bar/club you visit in the game) was taken from the "Trickster" album by industrial-rock band, Kidneythieves. N.G. is voiced by Free Dominguez, lead singer of Kidneythieves.
I was more surprised that people didn't know Paul can survive in deus ex 1 I've never had him not live in all my deus ex 1 playthroughs since I first played it in 2002 imagine my shock when I learnt that people find it surprising ahaha
This was my first Deus Ex! I got this and the OG xbox for my birthday and fell in love with the universe haha. Having never played the first game before it, I really do have a soft spot for this game.
This is why I follow you. You're not afraid to give the same level of care and detail to the black sheep of various franchises. It feels like a more complete education than other youtubers who actively leave this title off from their Dues Ex analysis.
Not quite there gameplay experience wise, but I did somewhat find enjoyment from the atmospheric tone and music. I’m quite a bit of a sucker for 2000s and late 90s game styles and world-building and I faintly remember renting this game from blockbuster back then. Good Video
A lot of my favorite gaming memories come from this game and all the ways you could go about things. I loved all the random apartment complexes and all the optional areas that lead into other areas. As a dumb kid, my favorite thing to do was gather as much beer as I could throughout the whole playthrough. I'd drop it at the very end and see how big of a pile I had collected.
I have a soft spot for this game but I get why people dislike it. I will say this through. The world in Invisible War is probably one of my favorite. Not the story or lore but the actual world you explore. It feels like its real and people exist there - in every location. Like the little coffee shop outside of the starting location is a great example. It feels like people go there to drink coffee. Its something I can't quite articulate in text but I hope those who played the game (and at least finished it without hating it) understand what I mean.
I still have a nostalgic soft spot for this game as it was my first Deus Ex game and first immersive sim. I can see years later how it pales in comparison to the rest in the series/genre, but if the exact same game didn't have the name Deus Ex on it and had a better quality PC port it'd be considered a great classic immersive sim.
At the end of 2003, the graphics and ragdoll were excellent. Everyone treats Inwisible War poorly because it is worse than Deus Ex 1, that's true. But I completed it in January 2022 and I liked it just as much as the original, the cyberpunk 2072 setting is cool, the ambient music is stupid top. And the game also creates the illusion of choice, and then it turns out that all these organizations are the Illuminati. But the biggest problem is when at the end of the game there are few cartridges, and half of the enemies are in armor
you probably wont see this, but i will go ahead and post these bits of knowledge anyways regarding the stealth in Invisible War. strength augmentation is actually a massive factor in whether you can use the baton for stealth (energy blade makes noise when hitting enemies, not just surfaces), as at Level 3 you can two shot an enemy with just the baton by hitting them in the head, allowing for takedowns in about a second or less (technically its possible to one shot them, but that requires getting behind them and hitting them in the head, which is impossible without silent running. its actually more do-able than the OG technically which required a specific spot on the body you wouldn't think of immediately). the Tranq Gun is also just as useful, tho slightly less reliably so. basically if you headshot the enemy with it, they go into an animation as they take the poison damage, which you can repeat by timing your next hit for close to when the animation ends. its actually a fairly lenient timing, however you generally want a clear LOS to do this, otherwise they can easily break out and start shooting you. finally, on a miscellaneous note, if the person your targeting is around the corner, you can hit a wall nearby, and they wont instantly find you, they will walk over to investigate, allowing you to circle around while they are out of position (in general the baseline stealth mechanics are 10x better, but the environments don't lend themselves to it at all, also making it seem worse than the original) otherwise great review
the baton was insanely good. you can sneak up and take anything down super quick and the big knight guys you whack a few times put some distance finish them with a bullet to avoid the explosion. and the skill to take control of robots with a smack
My 'gaming career' only really started with the OG Xbox. I remember reading about IW in Xbox magazines and playing the demo. I get that it was a let down for Deus Ex fans, but to me this was one of my fave games on the system and I still remember it fondly to this day. I got rid of most of my OG xbox games collection, keeping only a select few titles. IW is one of the titles I still have on my gaming shelf.
"The game does nothing new." All while showing the story beat where your school is being attacked by terrorists. "Then I repeat everything that has been said before, ad nauseum."
Deus Ex: Invisible War | A Complete History and «Retrospective» Couldn't disagree more with the guy who has made this «Retrospective». I played this Game the last three Days, beat it while achieving and experiencing all four Endings - as always - and its Gameplay and Story is still good and is keeping up with nowaday Games. Even the Graphics of this Game are - for a Game that was published back in End of 2003 - still okay and good looking. If you actually play it in 4K - what I did for the first time -, it's even really nice looking for a twenty year old Game. It's clear that the original Deus Ex (2000) - the first Game were JC Denton is the Protagonist - is by far the better and more advanced Game. There are more and bigger Cities/Locations, more Areas/Maps to each of these Cities/Locations and even more possibilities. That's for sure. And I personally played and beat the original Deus Ex (2000) between 2000 and 2010 more than 10 times! But I «only» played and beat Deus Ex: Invisible War (2003) between 2004 and 2010 - in Europe and Germany the Game was published three months later in March of 2004, not in December 2003 like in the US and Canada - three times! Compared to Deus Ex (2000) it's 7 times less in that time period. And that has a good reason. Reasons are the above mentioned reasons. But I would never go that far and actually call Deus Ex: Invisible War a mediocre Game. Because it definitely is not. It was originally developed firstly for the Xbox, that's the reason why Deus Ex: Invisible War is not as big as and as long as the original Deus Ex. Because the Developers missed to add more Cities/Locations with more Maps per City/Location to the PC-Version of this Game. If they actually added up to three to five more Cities/Locations with up to 8 or 10 Maps per City/Location, this Game would've been amazing and not only good in my opinion. And they even could have made a longer and more convincing Story, that's also for sure. Nevertheless, this Game is still a good Game. Not an amazing and outstanding one, but good enough for me to actually defend it. And the Soundtrack of this Game is again also really great and easily as good as the one of the original Deus Ex, which helps to recognize and classify this Game as a good and solid Game/Work. Again, not as good as the first one, but good enough. Plus: It sold more copies than the first Game. Never forget this fact! 1.2 Million Copies instead of 1 Million. Even if the Players and the professional audience were disappointed, that doesn't mean that the Game is bad. They simply had too high expectations. And lets not forget that Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Deus Ex: Mankind Devided are both great Prequels to the original Deus Ex and to the Franchise- Story. So in the End, we still got what we wanted. At least to a degree. Conclusion: Totally over-exeggarated pseudo «Review» and «Retrospective» of this Game to only please your RUclips-Subscribers' one sided feelings by fulfilling the commen narrative of Deus Ex: Invisible War being a bad and mediocre game. This is so predictable and a really cheap move! Sorry, but I do not agree. Sincerely yours Erkan Boğan
What a huge essay of copium. Good thing your shit opinion is in the minority. If you're trying to defend such a mediocre game, you need to do better than that. Try harder next time bud.
It's amazing how much people's demonic hatred for this game cooled off when Human Revolution was released. I think it's because Human Revolution succeeded in mimicking the gameplay of the original. I feel IW was the opposite: it succeeded in every way EXCEPT the gameplay. If Human Revolution had been the follow up to Deus Ex, I think the fan rage would have been almost as great. I think both had a void the other filled.
I had fun with it myself I only played through the game once when I was 8 and had never seen the rest of the series (I still haven't but I'm getting to it) I think your description is best way to put it "if this was the worst that the series could offer then the series lows are something to be envied"
Its insane seeing this deus ex get 💩 so relentlessly given that it was one of my fav childhood games and my first deus ex game lol nostalgia got me in a chokehold
Hey Son, just curious, will you ever make videos covering the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series? I can't get enough of Fallout New Vegas and Oblivion reviews, retrospectives, game essays, etc.... lol
@@YourFavoriteSon1 Awhnnn okay, that's completely understandable. Definitely can't wait to see them when you do 😎 Just came across your channel a day or two ago and subbed right away after having seen how good your videos are. Have been binging your Dead Space and Yakuza retrospectives mainly, appreciate all the work your put in. 🙏🏼
The name 'Invisible War' and the quote in the opening are references to 'silent weapons for quiet wars' a classic conspiracy document from the 90s and a big focus of Bill Cooper.
The OG Xbox was my first true console that was MINE (not hand me downs or pawn deals) and I have fond memories of Invisible War. The only hardware I had at the time was the Xbox so I never got to experience the first game. The sense of freedom really hooked me, also probably why I really liked Deadly Shadows lol.
We have the same eyes when it comes to certain things. I played this on Xbox, the tools of my generation. Although it was weaker in so many aspects to the original, I didn't hate it. But it didn't have the replayability of the original. Proud of you son.
Yeah, I played invisible war first when it came out on the xbox. I thought it was good but not great. I didn't play the orginal until much later. If I hadn't played invisible war first I wouldn't have liked it as much.
Hey Son, i wonder if you'd take my original Xbox FOC. This game was a memory. I played this game far longer and more in depth than any game i owned. The original Xbox was my first console. I played the 2 games I owned Halo 2 and Invisible Wars.
The nightclub and hanger are the best levels to go through undercity, and penthouse are amazing and stacking up ammo, and using stealth. Using bio mods isn't very good stealth. i had no issues with once, and i found out that the Npcs are pretty dumb i snuck past pretty easy.
I remember struggling to run it on my PC! Never completely finished it but I've played the original for hours on end. The PS2 port of the original was actually pretty good and thats how i got into the Deus Ex world back in 2001
The only thing that could make IW better is remaking it as a mod for the first Deus Ex. Classic mechanics worked well and it being kn the old engine with better hardware can mean bigger or detailed maps.
I think this or KOTOR was the first game I actually completed. Was barely aware of what I was doing but even at nine years old I knew that sharing ammo thing was bullshit
Most importantly, I really enjoyed playing the game. The interface was simplified for the Xbox but that made it smoother, which fitted with the style. The endings are fantastic! Though I never got enough Omar. I wanted to make my character fully transhuman, not just help some weird-looking (horse head), outcast arms dealers in the alleyways. Though I must say that Eidos Montreal did a masterful job on Human Revolution (or Humdn Revolution like it's spelled, they use a delta for the A).
Excited to jump into this video. It’s funny that you say it should have come out before deus ex 1 because I played this game before 1. Maybe that’s why I still remember it fondly
The OG actually doesn't make you choose between organic cloak and inorganic cloak, you'll just have to be patient. You can get one in Hong Kong and the other on the ship.
Excellent video and retrospective! Having played DX:IW a few times when it first came out, I agree with your point about how it feels... "off" compared to the original. And Warren Spector himself admitted that they prioritized the wrong feedback during development, pushed the art and tech in the wrong direction, and ultimately created something that was "A good game, but not a very good Deus Ex game". There are moments where the Deus Ex soul pokes through, but then disappears again. I think calling it "Invisible War" without tying itself to the original, or consider it a "spiritual squeal" makes it more palpable to me :)
I love this game back in the day never got to finish it because my CD got scratched up now I'm downloading it and I'm going to play it through fully for the first time after 15 years
I unexpectedly loved Deus Ex IW back when it came out. Gameplay was way more constrained but I loved the world and story. I vastly prefer Mankind Divided over Human Revolution as well, so I’m kind of a Deus Ex weirdo I guess haha. Maybe I’ll replay both :)
This is Unrelated to the video which is great btw. Can you do a retrospective on Sunset Overdrive? It’s such a fun and creative game with super unique parkour and gunplay. Really over the top in every way and I loved it. If you haven’t played it already I highly recommend it even if you don’t do a retrospective.
I just replayed the game, some things are nice (smaller inventory forces us making choices, door codes need to get them,..). What stroke me - talking to the dancing AI.. it notified the authorities with comment the data need to be handled responsively. It gave me a pause - the devs had this idea 20y ago and still valid today
The only good point I can say is that Invisible War was the one to introduce a lot of kids to the franchise, not the first game, because it was mainly PC so it was limiting to a lot of audience. Invisible War helps elevated the series, so even with its poor reception causing the franchise to be put on hiatus, it was popular enough to gain a soft reboot. Eventually the kids grew up, easier access to the first game - making them fall in love with it more than Invisible War - enjoying Human Revolution and Mankind Divided, and can look back at Invisible War with nostalgia. Other than that, no one is going to touch Invisible War after playing the other installments, and the extreme prejudice is justified, even if it was exaggerated. Too many corporate meddling that put the franchise on ice, similar with Mankind Divided, but at least that game was fun to play with great level designs and mechanics.
Tbf devs managed to condense the level design functionally - it’s sometimes laughable because you can see multiple ways to progress in the same room, but overall it’s better than huge empty hangars of a buildings in the first game. I just wish loading could be removed just like fans did with Thief 3. That mod alone elevated Thief 3 to the level of original games.
What a lot of people don't realize this was the turning point of AAA games being lead developed from PC shifting to console first dev. Warren Spectre is on record saying that this game was built for console (Xbox) first and then brought to PC which made it more "accessible" but severely hindered the game compared to its PC predecessor.
Don't know if you did play the PS2 version of the first Deus Ex, but it has similar inventory and power management/screens as DX2 (both PC and Xbox, I have both) with the exception that they are straight vertical menus instead of curved. It is hindrance since, as with many console problems, it doesn't allow for very efficient switching of items/powers during gameplay and rips you right out of any presence in the game you might feel. I really enjoyed the retro on DeusEx and I'll be watching more of your content as I get time for it. Do keep it up.
I know you said there were only four Deus Ex games, but I'm guessing the fifth game you omitted for one reason or another (it was very forgettable). Deus Ex: The Fall. Personally I enjoyed it, but it was basically "one mission DLC for Human Revolution". As for invisible war, I really wanted to enjoy it, but it crashed every single time the game went through a loading screen - which you know is a lot. When reopening the game, I was in the new area, but I didn't have the patience for that. As for these retrospectives in general, I personally love them. I don't know if you've seen Ross's Game Dungeon retrospectives of Deus Ex (By Accursed Farms), but I appreciate those for their quality and thoroughness. Those kinds of reviews are why I love yours too - the same thoroughness and passion for the games, pointing out much and more about the games, what is good and what could be improved. Different, yet both incredibly insightful and informative. Keep up the awesome work.
I enjoyed Invisible War, though I do understand that it was a much more stripped down game. Deus Ex was incredible, but for a lot of reason they had to simplify the mechanics of the game. In terms of story, I enjoyed IW quite a bit. From what I remember, I did the Omar ending lol
I might be biased becaue this was my first Deus Ex game but i really like this game. I also never got in to the first game because i just find boring. Im not trying to shit on one of the classics or anything but it never hooked me. The first mission in OG Deus Game is just a big level without much story and a Counter Strike Hostage Scenario. Invisible war on the other hand starts with a set up which I really enjoy. I was curious about facility we start in and then i see how "my home" gets attacked by terrorists. After that short introduction you are able to explore Seattle (?) and it feels like an interesting place you can try to understand. Liberty Island on the other hand is mostly filled with NPCs who start shooting at you when you come near them. Never got farther than Liberty Island. And again im not trying to say that the OG game is bad.
I don’t mean to sound hostile, but there are six or so direct conversations you can have, excluding repeated conversations such as being able to talk to Paul three times right from the get go offering a lot of backstory, a number of conversations you can eavesdrop on, infolinks and a chunk of readables. There’s a ton of story in that first mission. There’s also a number of people you can interact with (they talk to you), so I don’t really know what you’re talking about. It also has nothing resembling Counter-Strike whatsoever. Liberty Island is like 40 minutes long. It’s an introduction that’s immediately followed up by being able to talk to positively everyone in your home base as well as a million things to read. You certainly didn’t give the game a fair shot. Invisible War’s story is comparatively childish… all of Chicago wiped out in an instant? All religions turned into one? Really???
I always thought that this should have really got that cancelled sequel to flesh out what they were trying to do. At least we got Human Revolution, I consider that game to be perfect.
I didn’t have a good enough PC to run Deus Ex well, so Invisible War on Xbox was my first experience with the series. I liked it a lot. Solid 7/7.5 out of 10 because it had some wonk lol
Completed DX1 and various ports and overhauls probably 25-30 times. Can't force myself to finish IW even once. I probably should, but the downgrade is too painful. Many series took a hit when embracing console design, but this one prolly hurts the most. What a shame.
Can you please do a retrospective of A Plague Tale, I just finished the series and imo it’s one of the best games I’ve played in the recent years and one of the most heartrending games with a interesting interpretation of what it’s based off of, The Black Death
I actually want to try to play Invisible War. It just took me a long time to figure out how to get past the character creator because the game always froze.
Strongly disagree respectfully of course. I played the first one on ps2 and the second on the OG Xbox. Those two game were my fist introduction to Sci fi rpgs pc was just not and option for me growing up. I did also play half life but on ps2. The problem with the final 2 was the market was over saturated with both sci-fi games and rpgs and they didn't have the same gravitas as the first two. But there inlies my bias I have always played console. But huge impact on me and my tastes in games. Great channel.
If you're gonna do all the deus ex games PLEASE don't skip out on project snowblind. Started as a deus ex title, but then changed later on. It's exceptionally short so wouldn't take much time.
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I had this game years ago, and all I remember from it was trying to kill that lady with the machine gun at the desk and watching something called "Gobs" kill each other in a dirty underground arena like dog fights.
It's stunning that folks on youtube like favson have so much more selling charisma than me. I know because I used to work at hello fresh... not gonna talk about the results...
YOO WHERED YOU GET THAT CHARLS CARROLL SHIRT
@@consumer1073 I believe he sold them limited time
@@YourFavoriteSon1 you're lucky and have great taste
This was actually my first imm-sim as a kid, and honestly, I loved it. There was nothing like it for me before it and it Kickstarter a lifelong love of the genre and series.
Even if it’s the “worst”, I imagine it was magic for people who never had an experience like it.
Same story for me, I played this on the Xbox long before I knew there was a prequel. When I finally played Deus Ex 1 years later, I realised that it was much better in almost every way. But I still have a soft spot in my heart for Invisible War. It was unlike anything I had experienced as a child and I still replay both games every now and again.
i had it on a demo disc when i was a kid and i’d play the fuck out of it. bought it more recently and didn’t even finish it :/
Exactly my experience with DXIW. I know it's a downgrade, I know it's the 'worst' of the series, but I love it nonetheless.
And it does genuinely have things to love.
I'm all about those black market canisters that enables non-Piezochem functionality
Hey, it's that game that nobody played and everybody said was way worse than it actually was! I remember renting this one from Blockbuster when it first came out while walking home from school and keeping it a day past the return date 'cause I was legitimately enjoying it. Not as good as the first, but then, nothing really is.
It's true!
I bought it for Xbox last year and actually enjoyed it. Very surprised that it's so hated.
Invisible War was my first DE, got it whet gaming paper added it on CD. i was blown away at how enjoyable it was and how many ways it had to complete your tasks. Sure, it was a bit linear, but at this time it was still a good game. In my opinion it suffered Duke Nukem Forever syndrome - game itself wasn't too bad, but it didn't love to meet the hype/brand
It wasn't so bad. I still play it every now then, not nearly as much as Deus Ex but still got a soft spot for it and enjoy it to this day.
I finished it on PC, its a solid game but not as good as its pequel. Still more of a deus ex game than deus ex the fall lmao
There are Omar traders in both upper and lower Seattle, you don't have to wait to get to Cairo before you encounter them.
Based Omar communists.
Great video as usual Son,why is the screen blurred at around 11:25 though?
youtube doesnt like biomods ig
Proud of what you have done with your life, son.
Thanks Dad!
this was actually my introduction to the deus ex world. i loved it. i loved how you had the freedom to do whatever.
Such a shame that Ion Storm were forced to make DX2 with the confines of the console and also running with a custom engine and splitting the team to work on Thief 3 ruined both games . Great work man .
Rough situation that's all too common.
It wasn't written on Unreal 3, they used an in house proprietary engine and the time taken to develop it and the toolset was quoted by Harvey Smith as being one of their bigger mistakes as it cost a lot of time and resources developing the engine rather than the game
@@Wildeheart79 Thanks for the info much appreciated .
@@Robocop_1987 Hey Robo, that was a reply to a comment now deleted rather than throwing shade on your comment. Glad you appreciated the info though. If you're interested google Deus Ex Post Mortem for a conversation between Warren Spector and Harvey Smith about Deus Ex 1 and 2. It's a really good watch!
@@Wildeheart79 I appreciate being corrected as I've learnt something new . You shouldn't have removed your comment , this shows how nice a person you are . I did watch through a bit of that conversation between them about DX 1 .
A great retrospective of DX:IW. I agree; not as good as the original (it's definitely "dumbed down" in almost every way), but it's still a game I come back to on a (semi) regular basis. One of the highlights of the game is the N.G.Resonance sub-story; both AI Construct and her "real" appearance later in the game!
For those who don't know, the N.G.Resonance music (which plays in every bar/club you visit in the game) was taken from the "Trickster" album by industrial-rock band, Kidneythieves. N.G. is voiced by Free Dominguez, lead singer of Kidneythieves.
It was weird playing Deus Ex Invisible War and learning that Paul can survive
I was more surprised that people didn't know Paul can survive in deus ex 1
I've never had him not live in all my deus ex 1 playthroughs since I first played it in 2002 imagine my shock when I learnt that people find it surprising ahaha
My god is weird
My god is scared
My god paints a pretty picture
This was my first Deus Ex! I got this and the OG xbox for my birthday and fell in love with the universe haha. Having never played the first game before it, I really do have a soft spot for this game.
This is why I follow you. You're not afraid to give the same level of care and detail to the black sheep of various franchises. It feels like a more complete education than other youtubers who actively leave this title off from their Dues Ex analysis.
Not quite there gameplay experience wise, but I did somewhat find enjoyment from the atmospheric tone and music. I’m quite a bit of a sucker for 2000s and late 90s game styles and world-building and I faintly remember renting this game from blockbuster back then. Good Video
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed the video!
20:30 you can encounter the Omar twice in Seatle.
A lot of my favorite gaming memories come from this game and all the ways you could go about things. I loved all the random apartment complexes and all the optional areas that lead into other areas. As a dumb kid, my favorite thing to do was gather as much beer as I could throughout the whole playthrough. I'd drop it at the very end and see how big of a pile I had collected.
One of the first pc games I played extensively over the years. The funny thing was, the loading times never improved as my pc got more powerful.
stealthing is def possible. u can knock out an npc with the baton when sneaking up unnoticed with one hit. so stealth is absolutely viable.
I have a soft spot for this game but I get why people dislike it.
I will say this through. The world in Invisible War is probably one of my favorite. Not the story or lore but the actual world you explore. It feels like its real and people exist there - in every location.
Like the little coffee shop outside of the starting location is a great example. It feels like people go there to drink coffee.
Its something I can't quite articulate in text but I hope those who played the game (and at least finished it without hating it) understand what I mean.
"well the story of invisible war is actually a little bonkers.." well said, well said indeed
I still have a nostalgic soft spot for this game as it was my first Deus Ex game and first immersive sim. I can see years later how it pales in comparison to the rest in the series/genre, but if the exact same game didn't have the name Deus Ex on it and had a better quality PC port it'd be considered a great classic immersive sim.
At the end of 2003, the graphics and ragdoll were excellent.
Everyone treats Inwisible War poorly because it is worse than Deus Ex 1, that's true. But I completed it in January 2022 and I liked it just as much as the original, the cyberpunk 2072 setting is cool, the ambient music is stupid top. And the game also creates the illusion of choice, and then it turns out that all these organizations are the Illuminati. But the biggest problem is when at the end of the game there are few cartridges, and half of the enemies are in armor
It’s strange, I have no memory of being born in Area 51.
you probably wont see this, but i will go ahead and post these bits of knowledge anyways regarding the stealth in Invisible War.
strength augmentation is actually a massive factor in whether you can use the baton for stealth (energy blade makes noise when hitting enemies, not just surfaces), as at Level 3 you can two shot an enemy with just the baton by hitting them in the head, allowing for takedowns in about a second or less (technically its possible to one shot them, but that requires getting behind them and hitting them in the head, which is impossible without silent running. its actually more do-able than the OG technically which required a specific spot on the body you wouldn't think of immediately).
the Tranq Gun is also just as useful, tho slightly less reliably so. basically if you headshot the enemy with it, they go into an animation as they take the poison damage, which you can repeat by timing your next hit for close to when the animation ends. its actually a fairly lenient timing, however you generally want a clear LOS to do this, otherwise they can easily break out and start shooting you.
finally, on a miscellaneous note, if the person your targeting is around the corner, you can hit a wall nearby, and they wont instantly find you, they will walk over to investigate, allowing you to circle around while they are out of position (in general the baseline stealth mechanics are 10x better, but the environments don't lend themselves to it at all, also making it seem worse than the original)
otherwise great review
the baton was insanely good. you can sneak up and take anything down super quick and the big knight guys you whack a few times put some distance finish them with a bullet to avoid the explosion. and the skill to take control of robots with a smack
My 'gaming career' only really started with the OG Xbox. I remember reading about IW in Xbox magazines and playing the demo. I get that it was a let down for Deus Ex fans, but to me this was one of my fave games on the system and I still remember it fondly to this day. I got rid of most of my OG xbox games collection, keeping only a select few titles. IW is one of the titles I still have on my gaming shelf.
"The game does nothing new." All while showing the story beat where your school is being attacked by terrorists. "Then I repeat everything that has been said before, ad nauseum."
Deus Ex: Invisible War | A Complete History and «Retrospective»
Couldn't disagree more with the guy who has made this «Retrospective».
I played this Game the last three Days, beat it while achieving and experiencing all four Endings - as always - and its Gameplay and Story is still good and is keeping up with nowaday Games. Even the Graphics of this Game are - for a Game that was published back in End of 2003 - still okay and good looking. If you actually play it in 4K - what I did for the first time -, it's even really nice looking for a twenty year old Game.
It's clear that the original Deus Ex (2000) - the first Game were JC Denton is the Protagonist - is by far the better and more advanced Game. There are more and bigger Cities/Locations, more Areas/Maps to each of these Cities/Locations and even more possibilities. That's for sure. And I personally played and beat the original Deus Ex (2000) between 2000 and 2010 more than 10 times! But I «only» played and beat Deus Ex: Invisible War (2003) between 2004 and 2010 - in Europe and Germany the Game was published three months later in March of 2004, not in December 2003 like in the US and Canada - three times! Compared to Deus Ex (2000) it's 7 times less in that time period. And that has a good reason. Reasons are the above mentioned reasons. But I would never go that far and actually call Deus Ex: Invisible War a mediocre Game. Because it definitely is not.
It was originally developed firstly for the Xbox, that's the reason why Deus Ex: Invisible War is not as big as and as long as the original Deus Ex. Because the Developers missed to add more Cities/Locations with more Maps per City/Location to the PC-Version of this Game. If they actually added up to three to five more Cities/Locations with up to 8 or 10 Maps per City/Location, this Game would've been amazing and not only good in my opinion. And they even could have made a longer and more convincing Story, that's also for sure. Nevertheless, this Game is still a good Game. Not an amazing and outstanding one, but good enough for me to actually defend it.
And the Soundtrack of this Game is again also really great and easily as good as the one of the original Deus Ex, which helps to recognize and classify this Game as a good and solid Game/Work. Again, not as good as the first one, but good enough. Plus: It sold more copies than the first Game. Never forget this fact! 1.2 Million Copies instead of 1 Million.
Even if the Players and the professional audience were disappointed, that doesn't mean that the Game is bad. They simply had too high expectations. And lets not forget that Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Deus Ex: Mankind Devided are both great Prequels to the original Deus Ex and to the Franchise- Story. So in the End, we still got what we wanted. At least to a degree.
Conclusion: Totally over-exeggarated pseudo «Review» and «Retrospective» of this Game to only please your RUclips-Subscribers' one sided feelings by fulfilling the commen narrative of Deus Ex: Invisible War being a bad and mediocre game. This is so predictable and a really cheap move! Sorry, but I do not agree.
Sincerely yours
Erkan Boğan
What a huge essay of copium. Good thing your shit opinion is in the minority. If you're trying to defend such a mediocre game, you need to do better than that. Try harder next time bud.
It's amazing how much people's demonic hatred for this game cooled off when Human Revolution was released. I think it's because Human Revolution succeeded in mimicking the gameplay of the original. I feel IW was the opposite: it succeeded in every way EXCEPT the gameplay.
If Human Revolution had been the follow up to Deus Ex, I think the fan rage would have been almost as great. I think both had a void the other filled.
I had fun with it myself
I only played through the game once when I was 8 and had never seen the rest of the series (I still haven't but I'm getting to it)
I think your description is best way to put it
"if this was the worst
that the series could offer then the
series lows are something to be
envied"
Its insane seeing this deus ex get 💩 so relentlessly given that it was one of my fav childhood games and my first deus ex game lol nostalgia got me in a chokehold
Did you forget about Deus ex: the fall? It was on iOS and Android
Nope, I'll be talking about the fall in the Full Retrospective
Is there a way to still play that one?
And Breach
@@thegamingprozone1941yeah on steam
@@TheJayson8899breach is just a side game for a mankind divided dlc lol
the reticle focusing in deus ex 1 was clearly a design decision, and a damn good one.
WhY dOeS tHiS RpG pLaY lIkE aN rPg?!?
Hey Son, just curious, will you ever make videos covering the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series? I can't get enough of Fallout New Vegas and Oblivion reviews, retrospectives, game essays, etc.... lol
I want to cover both series eventually, but they're both big behemoths so it'll probably be a while.
@@YourFavoriteSon1 Awhnnn okay, that's completely understandable. Definitely can't wait to see them when you do 😎 Just came across your channel a day or two ago and subbed right away after having seen how good your videos are. Have been binging your Dead Space and Yakuza retrospectives mainly, appreciate all the work your put in. 🙏🏼
@@YourFavoriteSon1 It says there's a 2nd reply but I can't see it 😭
Yeah, from the story, to the gameplay and even the UI every choice made seemed like the most bizarre one. It's like a real life STALKER anomaly
The name 'Invisible War' and the quote in the opening are references to 'silent weapons for quiet wars' a classic conspiracy document from the 90s and a big focus of Bill Cooper.
I wish every channel indicated sponsor segments as obviously and as cleanly as you do.
This game opened me up to the whole sci-fi/ cyberpunk/dystopian genre.. it may not have been a stellar game, but it holds a special place in my heart
The OG Xbox was my first true console that was MINE (not hand me downs or pawn deals) and I have fond memories of Invisible War. The only hardware I had at the time was the Xbox so I never got to experience the first game. The sense of freedom really hooked me, also probably why I really liked Deadly Shadows lol.
We have the same eyes when it comes to certain things. I played this on Xbox, the tools of my generation. Although it was weaker in so many aspects to the original, I didn't hate it. But it didn't have the replayability of the original. Proud of you son.
That Silent Hill 2 skateboard deck is sick son.
Thanks, I can't stop giving Konami my money
Yeah, I played invisible war first when it came out on the xbox. I thought it was good but not great. I didn't play the orginal until much later. If I hadn't played invisible war first I wouldn't have liked it as much.
Hey Son, i wonder if you'd take my original Xbox FOC. This game was a memory. I played this game far longer and more in depth than any game i owned. The original Xbox was my first console. I played the 2 games I owned Halo 2 and Invisible Wars.
The nightclub and hanger are the best levels to go through undercity, and penthouse are amazing and stacking up ammo, and using stealth. Using bio mods isn't very good stealth. i had no issues with once, and i found out that the Npcs are pretty dumb i snuck past pretty easy.
I remember struggling to run it on my PC! Never completely finished it but I've played the original for hours on end. The PS2 port of the original was actually pretty good and thats how i got into the Deus Ex world back in 2001
Look at you, all grown up, picking up Sponsors like a man. You truly are the favorite son !
*if they ever remake Deus Ex 1, I hope they include Invisible War in that package* 👍
That would be a gargantuan addition lol
The only thing that could make IW better is remaking it as a mod for the first Deus Ex. Classic mechanics worked well and it being kn the old engine with better hardware can mean bigger or detailed maps.
that is a fucking brilliant idea
This was attempted once but didn’t get very far.
I think this or KOTOR was the first game I actually completed. Was barely aware of what I was doing but even at nine years old I knew that sharing ammo thing was bullshit
Most importantly, I really enjoyed playing the game.
The interface was simplified for the Xbox but that made it smoother, which fitted with the style.
The endings are fantastic!
Though I never got enough Omar.
I wanted to make my character fully transhuman, not just help some weird-looking (horse head), outcast arms dealers in the alleyways.
Though I must say that Eidos Montreal did a masterful job on Human Revolution (or Humdn Revolution like it's spelled, they use a delta for the A).
I remember playing it and being fascinated by the holographic dancer, i just wanted to love the game so much! ... (deus ex 1 was so amazing....)
Excited to jump into this video. It’s funny that you say it should have come out before deus ex 1 because I played this game before 1. Maybe that’s why I still remember it fondly
A very accurate review, I am a fan of all deus ex games 🥰❤🤗👍
The OG actually doesn't make you choose between organic cloak and inorganic cloak, you'll just have to be patient. You can get one in Hong Kong and the other on the ship.
I took it to mean that you can’t actively use them both at the same time; you have to choose which to use in any given situation.
@@Road_to_Dawn you can though!
@@wYeL333Ah, my mistake then
Son, I'm a little sad you didn't mention the BEST/secret ending. I don't remember if you mentioned it in the first one, either. Such is life though.
Toilet ending
Excellent video and retrospective! Having played DX:IW a few times when it first came out, I agree with your point about how it feels... "off" compared to the original. And Warren Spector himself admitted that they prioritized the wrong feedback during development, pushed the art and tech in the wrong direction, and ultimately created something that was "A good game, but not a very good Deus Ex game". There are moments where the Deus Ex soul pokes through, but then disappears again. I think calling it "Invisible War" without tying itself to the original, or consider it a "spiritual squeal" makes it more palpable to me :)
From about 11:26 to 12:18 in the video. Is it supposed to be blurred out? Or is that just me?
I love this game back in the day never got to finish it because my CD got scratched up now I'm downloading it and I'm going to play it through fully for the first time after 15 years
I unexpectedly loved Deus Ex IW back when it came out. Gameplay was way more constrained but I loved the world and story. I vastly prefer Mankind Divided over Human Revolution as well, so I’m kind of a Deus Ex weirdo I guess haha. Maybe I’ll replay both :)
This is Unrelated to the video which is great btw. Can you do a retrospective on Sunset Overdrive? It’s such a fun and creative game with super unique parkour and gunplay. Really over the top in every way and I loved it. If you haven’t played it already I highly recommend it even if you don’t do a retrospective.
I just replayed the game, some things are nice (smaller inventory forces us making choices, door codes need to get them,..).
What stroke me - talking to the dancing AI.. it notified the authorities with comment the data need to be handled responsively. It gave me a pause - the devs had this idea 20y ago and still valid today
"...I would love to be your chamber boy."
The only good point I can say is that Invisible War was the one to introduce a lot of kids to the franchise, not the first game, because it was mainly PC so it was limiting to a lot of audience. Invisible War helps elevated the series, so even with its poor reception causing the franchise to be put on hiatus, it was popular enough to gain a soft reboot. Eventually the kids grew up, easier access to the first game - making them fall in love with it more than Invisible War - enjoying Human Revolution and Mankind Divided, and can look back at Invisible War with nostalgia. Other than that, no one is going to touch Invisible War after playing the other installments, and the extreme prejudice is justified, even if it was exaggerated. Too many corporate meddling that put the franchise on ice, similar with Mankind Divided, but at least that game was fun to play with great level designs and mechanics.
Why has there been no remake of the first or 2nd?
Tbf devs managed to condense the level design functionally - it’s sometimes laughable because you can see multiple ways to progress in the same room, but overall it’s better than huge empty hangars of a buildings in the first game. I just wish loading could be removed just like fans did with Thief 3. That mod alone elevated Thief 3 to the level of original games.
What a lot of people don't realize this was the turning point of AAA games being lead developed from PC shifting to console first dev. Warren Spectre is on record saying that this game was built for console (Xbox) first and then brought to PC which made it more "accessible" but severely hindered the game compared to its PC predecessor.
Man, I loved this game, when it came out. :D
why so blurry at 11:26 ?
@13:50 actually the game doesn't. You can cloak from both by using both biomods. But you have to avoid using another mod that goes into that spot.
Don't know if you did play the PS2 version of the first Deus Ex, but it has similar inventory and power management/screens as DX2 (both PC and Xbox, I have both) with the exception that they are straight vertical menus instead of curved.
It is hindrance since, as with many console problems, it doesn't allow for very efficient switching of items/powers during gameplay and rips you right out of any presence in the game you might feel.
I really enjoyed the retro on DeusEx and I'll be watching more of your content as I get time for it. Do keep it up.
Despite its issues I love Invisible War.
I know you said there were only four Deus Ex games, but I'm guessing the fifth game you omitted for one reason or another (it was very forgettable). Deus Ex: The Fall. Personally I enjoyed it, but it was basically "one mission DLC for Human Revolution".
As for invisible war, I really wanted to enjoy it, but it crashed every single time the game went through a loading screen - which you know is a lot. When reopening the game, I was in the new area, but I didn't have the patience for that.
As for these retrospectives in general, I personally love them. I don't know if you've seen Ross's Game Dungeon retrospectives of Deus Ex (By Accursed Farms), but I appreciate those for their quality and thoroughness. Those kinds of reviews are why I love yours too - the same thoroughness and passion for the games, pointing out much and more about the games, what is good and what could be improved. Different, yet both incredibly insightful and informative.
Keep up the awesome work.
Breach makes six.
This was so good that I considered making a child support payment
These old games deserve remakes.
I enjoyed Invisible War, though I do understand that it was a much more stripped down game. Deus Ex was incredible, but for a lot of reason they had to simplify the mechanics of the game. In terms of story, I enjoyed IW quite a bit. From what I remember, I did the Omar ending lol
I might be biased becaue this was my first Deus Ex game but i really like this game. I also never got in to the first game because i just find boring. Im not trying to shit on one of the classics or anything but it never hooked me. The first mission in OG Deus Game is just a big level without much story and a Counter Strike Hostage Scenario. Invisible war on the other hand starts with a set up which I really enjoy. I was curious about facility we start in and then i see how "my home" gets attacked by terrorists.
After that short introduction you are able to explore Seattle (?) and it feels like an interesting place you can try to understand. Liberty Island on the other hand is mostly filled with NPCs who start shooting at you when you come near them.
Never got farther than Liberty Island. And again im not trying to say that the OG game is bad.
I don’t mean to sound hostile, but there are six or so direct conversations you can have, excluding repeated conversations such as being able to talk to Paul three times right from the get go offering a lot of backstory, a number of conversations you can eavesdrop on, infolinks and a chunk of readables. There’s a ton of story in that first mission. There’s also a number of people you can interact with (they talk to you), so I don’t really know what you’re talking about. It also has nothing resembling Counter-Strike whatsoever.
Liberty Island is like 40 minutes long. It’s an introduction that’s immediately followed up by being able to talk to positively everyone in your home base as well as a million things to read. You certainly didn’t give the game a fair shot. Invisible War’s story is comparatively childish… all of Chicago wiped out in an instant? All religions turned into one? Really???
It introduced me to one of my favorite bands at the time, Kidney Thieves.
I always thought that this should have really got that cancelled sequel to flesh out what they were trying to do. At least we got Human Revolution, I consider that game to be perfect.
I didn’t have a good enough PC to run Deus Ex well, so Invisible War on Xbox was my first experience with the series. I liked it a lot. Solid 7/7.5 out of 10 because it had some wonk lol
insanely underrated game
Deus ex invisible war; my review in a nutshell: it's a bad deus-ex, you should play it!
Completed DX1 and various ports and overhauls probably 25-30 times. Can't force myself to finish IW even once. I probably should, but the downgrade is too painful. Many series took a hit when embracing console design, but this one prolly hurts the most. What a shame.
Can you please do a retrospective of A Plague Tale, I just finished the series and imo it’s one of the best games I’ve played in the recent years and one of the most heartrending games with a interesting interpretation of what it’s based off of, The Black Death
retrospective????? 😂😂 bro plagues tale is not even a decade old. it came out in 2019
@@dathip ngl w you bro, I had just beaten the game around that time and I just really wanted to see content on it
ah ok@@Daka_9
How many times did you watch this:
Me: Yes
I would say Deus Ex: The Fall was the low point.
i liked this game the rag doll physics is amazing.
Still enjoyed it at the time. Some of the music in it is phenomenal.
Everybody lost their sh!t over this when it came out, but it was a lot of fun to play.
I actually want to try to play Invisible War. It just took me a long time to figure out how to get past the character creator because the game always froze.
This is a common problem. I solved it by playing the game on a fresh user profile on my PC.
Huh, I have the bell icon on but somehow didn’t see this video at all.
The low point in this 4 game series. But there are 5 games. It's only the low point if you forget: Deus Ex: The Fall.
Why did you blur a lot of the footage? Looks shitty and makes it hard to watch.
Strongly disagree respectfully of course. I played the first one on ps2 and the second on the OG Xbox. Those two game were my fist introduction to Sci fi rpgs pc was just not and option for me growing up. I did also play half life but on ps2. The problem with the final 2 was the market was over saturated with both sci-fi games and rpgs and they didn't have the same gravitas as the first two. But there inlies my bias I have always played console. But huge impact on me and my tastes in games. Great channel.
I know a game isn't too great when my favorite son only makes a 30 minute video on it :(
actually the first time ive seen this game from the series
Great job as always son.
WTF with the way you pronounce Walton Simons?
If you're gonna do all the deus ex games PLEASE don't skip out on project snowblind. Started as a deus ex title, but then changed later on. It's exceptionally short so wouldn't take much time.
I thought Project Snowblind was a really good shooter on Xbox , good shout 👍
He did skip it
@@saintpepsi8602 I know. Womp womp.
I really liked invisible war, even more the the third Deus Ex though not as much as the original
Man, I can't believe Deus Ex sold out
2:48 A bacon kind of guy?