Deus Ex: Invisible War review

I can only assume that overcrowding is the cause of the smaller living spaces in Invisible War.

Hi there. Come on in. Take a seat. There's cookies in a jar on the table if you're peckish. Make sure you're comfortable, because I want to talk to you about Invisible War. The things I have to say might make you shift slightly, frown, smile or even gasp. I can think of no other occasion in PC gaming history when such a weight of expectation rested upon the shoulders of a single title. The great majority of us are familiar with the phenomenal Deus Ex, a game about taking the world by storm which, ironically, took the world by storm four years ago.

Despite what some people may claim, it wasn't as astonishingly original as was often stated, nor was it a perfect creation. The AI was terrible in places and the inventory and weapons systems borrowed from titles such as System Shock. Still, no matter, the fact was it merged so many elements into a single game, it crafted a beautiful and unique experience and it was successful at almost everything it tried.

It was, quite literally, one in a million. This bodes terribly for the sequel. Ask yourself - if you were to make a sequel to Deus Ex, would you want it to be the second game in that same million - only half as original, mathematically speaking (?) - or, once again, something very different? Have a think about it. Oh, and help yourself to a cookie.

The human organism always worships

He might look camp, but you don't know the half of it.

When iD released the sequel to their adrenaline-pumping, squeal-inducing, parent-traumatising Doom, they gave the world Doom II. They gave the world more of the same, except one of the weapons had two barrels. Personally, I was most disappointed with Doom II. I felt iD had given me Doom v1.1. Invisible War is not Deus Ex v1.1. In fact, it's visually barely recognisable as Deus Ex. However (and this is a big 'however'), it feels like Deus Ex in every way but one.

This one way is with regards to the scale. From the first moment you stepped off the boat on Liberty Island and looked up at the Lady herself, Deus Ex was a game grand in scope. The physical size of the maps was matched only by the breadth of the plot. The enormous locations and the elaborate theories have both been culled in the sequel and that is bound to disappoint many. One man's loss is another's gain and the smaller, more focused levels, as well as the emphasis on plot rather than theory, will please many and quite possibly appeal to a new audience. The length of the game itself is also somewhat shorter, in response to criticism that the original dragged on for too long.

That was never a complaint that I personally made, but I think the change serves to highlight the evolution that Warren Spector has subjected his creation to. Invisible War is markedly different and, without getting buried in discussions of subjective and objective analysis, I feel it's best I present the facts to you and you decide whether Ion Storm made the sequel you wanted them to. If you never played Deus Ex before then my job becomes slightly easier: Invisible War is a damn good game.

What good's an honest soldier if he can be ordered to behave like a terrorist?

Aliens! Or are they...?

The smaller levels feel cramped and restrictive, a contrast to the fact that they are actually far more freeform in how they let you approach the game's plot. Invisible War paints a somewhat murky and mercenary view of the future - people are trapped by circumstance and seem all too willing to pay a stranger to fix their problems for them, no questions asked. There are many more decisions to be made and, rather than simply making progress from A to B, levels are more about interacting with the locals, furthering the plot and making decisions that, whether you like it or not, tend to affect a balance of some sort somewhere. Of course, if you don't want your actions to have any real effect on the world you live in, my advice would be to stay in bed. This game is much more about making a difference than Deus Ex ever was - sub plots surface and re-surface, and your decisions have implications that stretch further than those of the original.

The almost claustrophobic nature of the levels reduces their appearance a little, but swinging lights that cast shadows over rat-infested store rooms, the character design, the iconography and near-future technology make Invisible War look the part. As far as the gadgets go, there's nothing that new to the sci-fi canon, with railguns, EMP weapons, spider robots and various other technological marvels populating the world around you, as well as your own body. Becoming au fait with technology is one road to success, as gunning your way towards victory isn't always practical or necessary and Invisible War does a better job than its predecessor when it comes to allowing for sneaky tactics. It's a bit of a shame that, as with its forebear, the very end of the game leans much more towards gunfights and direct confrontations.

You will be who you will be. We are our choices.

Disco inferno!

That's not as much of a problem as you may think, because the experience and biomodification systems have undergone a radical overhaul. Biomods can now be replaced so, should you install one you're unhappy with or feel you aren't using, you're not committed to it and, providing you can buy/beg/steal what you need, you can always change it to another later on. Illegal biomods are also available for sale on the black market or are often found laying around in areas of questionable repute. This means you're free to try more than one tactic throughout the game and do not have to become locked into a particular mindset. (I'd like to mention at this point, as a minor aside, that there is still far too many expeditions through air vents. The sheer number of problems that can be solved by crawling down a dusty duct beggars belief and it's rather pointless to present a challenge that is easily avoided by moving a few bits of furniture and investigating where that cool air is coming from.)

As for the experience system, well, it's gone. You no longer possess swimming skills, sniping abilities or l337 h4x0r sk1llz. Instead, your character customisation is based on your biomod architecture and the decisions you yourself make as a player - what you say, where you go, who you choose to support etc. The rewards, be they money, gadgets or weapons, further mould you and dictate your future options and approaches. To abandon an experience point system in a game calling itself an role-playing game is a brave move and, frankly, it works here. Of course, it's bound to rile some and, like many of Invisible Wars little revolutions, will divide fans and spark flame wars.

I wanted orange, it gave me lemon lime

Biomods have clandestine uses as well as offensive ones.

I don't think anyone expected Deus Ex to be quite what it was and that turned out to be one if its greatest assets. If we had doggedly expected a role-playing game or a first person shooter then there would have been much disappointment, but we didn't. With Invisible War, many people have expected Deus Ex again. They don't want their baby played with and, at the same time, they want to be excited by something fresh and new. Judged on its own merits, Invisible War is a great example of a game that offers meaningful freedom of choice, that rewards different approaches and that creates a coherent, intelligent world wrapped up in a very well paced and expertly written plot. European players are also blessed with v1.2, which irons out several of the complaints that US players had with the performance of the game, so ignore the complaints of the Yanks - we've got a more polished product out of the box.

The characterisation isn't as strong as that of Deus Ex, it's less funny (some of the jokes being references to the first that new players simply won't get) and - this is something of a selfish, personal quibble - it digresses less. It's less referential, people philosophise less and the conspiracy theories are mostly gone. I presume that's because virtually every mad theory became fact in the previous instalment and there's hardly any paranoia left to add to the mix. I miss the philosophical quotes, the distracting phenomenological discussions with a bored AI and spotting just one Betrand Russell quote was a little disheartening. Still, if I sound like a posturing intellectual tit then you probably won't miss those elements yourself. And that's the hook - Invisible War is different. Spector giveth and Spector taketh away; we'll all have slightly different opinions on the decisions he's made. Why not sleep on it? It's a comfy sofa.