I've played a lot of games that depict some kind of futuristic setting whether it be a dystopia, a wasteland or where space travel and equal rights for aliens have both been invented. Now I'm split to what I think the future will hold for us. Part of me is excited for the prospect of having all this technology to help you get by, not to mention actual hoverboards and not that electric scooter stuff. However the other part of me is both worried and scared of the future because for all we know, there could be a robot or alien uprising or what we have seen in games, television and films actually happens (the amount of times the Simpsons accurately predicted the future is just scary as hell). So this brings us to the Deus Ex games. A series of games set in a dystopian future where secret factions want to control the world by proxy while various humans deal with the rapid change in technology and behaviours. I have all five games in Steam so let's get to it:
Deus Ex
Our first game takes place in the year 2052 (this means we have only about 36 years before this game happens in real life...probably). Our main protagonist is an anti-terrorist agent with nanotechnology called JC Denton (voiced by Jay Anthony Franke) who sets out to combat various hostile forces in a world where its ravaged by inequality and a deadly plague. All this, while getting himself in a conspiracy that brings him into conflict with various factions such as the Traid, the Majestic 12 and the Illuminati. Because of when this game came out, the graphics will not be at the standard that graphics in games are at now, but for its time, it was revolutionary. The gameplay combines various genres together such as first person shooting and RPG as well as various gameplay mechanics such as stealth and adventure and while that may sound like a lot roled into one, it works reasonably well for the most part. In a nutshell, this is a game that follows gaming 101 and allows the player to handle various missions in a variety of ways. It does have a number of familiar elements that we often see in games today, but the game manages to handle them without any problems. The game in my opinion, is a good game that like I said, allows you to play the game your way and rewards you for doing so (kind of like the Hitman games). It is a hard game, but one worth playing. 9/10
Invisible War
Before Mass Effect came around, Invisible War was one of the first games to play on the idea of making decisions that can and will effect future events in the game's overall story. It also allows players to play as a female or male character as opposed to just one or the other which is good as it makes the game be tailored to both genders. Of course there will be some changes in some dialogue and quests, but it otherwise the same story regardless. So taking place in 2072 (20 years after the first game and 56 years for us to prepare if the game happens in real life). You play as a character called Alex D (voiced by Christopher Sabat as a male and by Laura Bailey as a female) who lives in a world that was rebuilt following a catastrophic event called The Collapse. A terrorist attack destroys the city of Chicago and various organisations seek out Alex D for his/her support in their respective causes, leading Alex D to believe that these factions are planning to change the world drastically. So I've already mentioned some customisation options made available. The game continues the gameplay elements seen from the first game and improves upon them to give us more things to upgrade, mods to take advantage off and many more challenges to take on. Is it better than the first one? Well most people would say that it over simplifies on certain things which I have to admit, is a common thing seen in the game, but other than that, its a good sequel, but could've been better at the time of its release. 8/10
Human Revolution
Of the games listed here, Human Revolution was the first game of the series that I played and because it acted as a prequel, it meant that I didn't need to play the other games before playing this one to understand it, though I would've played the other games at a later time. Anyway so set 25 years before the first game (which means we only have 11 years to prepare for the game in real life...if that ever happened), we play as ex-SWAT officer Adam Jensen (voiced by Elias Toufexis) who is employed as a security officer at a company called Sarif Industries who specialise in advanced and controversial artificial organs dubbed "augmentations". The company one day gets attacked which results in a few members being killed and Adam critically injured. The company then use their extensive resources to revive Jenson and 6 months later, he makes a full recovery and sets out to find the attackers and the shadowy organisation behind them. Much like with the games before, the game explores similar themes such as transhumanism, the growing power of megacorporations and their impact on social class. To start with, the game has a mega graphical overhaul which makes it look and feel more real than its predecessors which I'd say is a good thing as it makes it more up to date with the current generation of gaming which was the 7th at the time of this game's release. And much like before, it use gameplay from the previous games and just makes it more and more better. The game is much harder and for some areas of the story, I was scratching my head in trying to understand any of it. Because at the time I played this I was inexperienced with hardcore games unlike what I'm now like with such games, it was a hard one to do so I spent some of it exploring areas and taking on side missions as I went. But one of the toughest things in this game are the boss fights and you really have to prepare yourself when you get into these fights as they are very tough in comparison to other games I've played. Its a good looking game and plays, but its not for the faint hearted so be careful and you may want to consider getting the director's cut to have a better experience with the game. 9/10
The Fall
So after a few home console games, Square Enix (who managed to take over the distribution rights for many of Edios's games such as Hitman and Tomb Raider as well as Deus Ex) then move the series onto mobile platforms for the 4th game and as you'd expect, a lot of things had to change to accommodate for the limitations that mobile platforms tend to have. Being related to Human Revolution as well as tying in with its tie in novel Icarus Effect, the game has you play as Ben Saxton (voiced by Barnaby Kay), a former British solider who now serves as a mercenary for a private military company. A lot of people will say that The Fall is the worst of the series and to be honest, its pretty much what a mobile port of what should only be a home console or PC game, will look and play like. I mean with there being so many limitations on mobile ports of games, it just really goes to show that sticking to home platforms is really the way to go. 6/10
Mankind Divided
So five years after Human Revolution, we get Mankind Divided which is the first of the series to be seen on 8th gen platforms and when you think about, its also the first to have a returning protagonist as opposed to having a new protagonist in every game. Mankind Divided takes place 2 years after Human Revolution (and no, I'm not doing the joke again because it gets old after the first couple of times) following an event called the Aug Incident in which mechanically augmented humans become uncontrollable and lethally violent. Unknown to most people is that these augmented humans are controlled in secret by the Illuminati. Adam Jenson (reprised by Elias Toufexis) returns to help a special Interpol unit to capture a terrorist group of augmented humans while Jenson also in secret works for the Juggernaut Collective, a hacker group who help him find the Illuminati and take them down once and for all. Pretty much the same gameplay as before with some new things added that can work in our favour. Plus a graphics improvement, makes it a worthy 8th gen game to play. In a year when heroes go against one another due to government actions, this game continues that theme where we see augmented humans now being outcasts and not longer allowed to be with regular humans and work in perfect harmony which makes the name of the game not misleading in any way which is a nice thing considering most films and video games these days tend to be very misleading with their titles. Is it the best game of the series? Well it definitely comes close and for the best experience, get it on PC. 9/10
In some way, this can be seen as a game series with a confusing plot and storyline, but having said that, it has some of the best gameplay seen in any game to date and the graphics improve every time which is a great thing. Its not where the phrase deus ex machina comes from, but it is to do with the future and whether or not it can be seen as a more realistic future is left for debate. Well we'll see what happens in about 10 years time. But for now, enjoy these games and just hope the future doesn't end up like what you see in these games. 9/10
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