Deus Ex: Invisible War

Deus Ex: Invisible War, also know as Deus Ex 2 (DX2), is a first-person video game developed by Ion Storm and published by Eidos Interactive. Released simultaneously for Windows and the Xbox on December 2, 2003, it is a sequel to the critically acclaimed Deus Ex. It has sold more than 1.2 million copies, as of April 23, 2009.

Invisible War takes place twenty years after Deus Ex, in a world being rebuilt after a catastrophic event called The Collapse. Following a terrorist attack that destroys the city of Chicago, the player assumes the role of Alex D, a trainee at the fictional Tarsus Academy, whose support is sought by several organizations. As the game progresses, the player learns of conspiratorial factions which seek to drastically change the world. Invisible War was designed to allow player choice in both plot and gameplay, with branching plot lines and emergent gameplay elements.

Gameplay
Gameplay is the core of every game. Flashy visuals and revolutionary technology just aren’t enough to make a game FUN. Invisible War’s gameplay looks to be even better than the original, allowing you to choose what experience you will have in the game. Let’s start with gameplay elements that are remaining the same. IW is still focused on story and character development. However, this time it is more about you than your character. Invisible war is about player expression, letting you play it how you want. Of course, there will still be a lot of action in the game, but you can now play it without ever drawing a weapon. The goal is to allow a non-violent gameplay style without discouraging the people who enjoy the violent style from acting on that.

You’ll still be able to explore and accomplish goals in any order, but now you can even choose your own mission goals. You still get a chance to create who your character is right from the start. However, it’s not like tradition RPG character creation where you define strength, charisma, intelligence and wisdom. You do get to choose your gender, though. Gender will only be an aesthetic as the only difference is a few conversation modifications. Of course, it wouldn’t be Deus Ex without the game throwing tough questions at you like “What is a terrorist?” and “What is the difference between terrorists and freedom fighters?” Ion has learned from the mistakes of the first game and has made many modifications to make this one more enjoyable: Reducing linearity and minimizing chokepoints are very important, because even though it SEEMED like you had a choice at points, it was illusionary. You can now choose who you are fighting for and play the game they way you want it to be played. Decision-points are now replacing choke points so you can play the game without joining a faction for a while, but at some point you’re going to have to choose.Another change is that inventory items now take up one slot each. This way, you don't have to spend gametime making a jigsaw puzzle every time you get a new item. Invisible War is designed to appeal to casual gamers and hardcore gamers alike. While you could spend a ton of time exploring the gameworld and doing as many side missions as you can find, it's quite possible to shorten the game by skipping things you don’t want to do and just playing the meat of the game. The game is only as short or long as the player makes it. And that is a relief to many DX fans who have found their free time cut quite small.

User Interface
For Invisible War the developers are completely retooling the interface to make it more accessible. Instead of the gameplay being interrupted by a series of menus, the interface has been consolidated to a retina overlay. It represents the nano device in Alex’s eye and has a circular design that lies on the outside of your screen. The overlay has a series of rings that rotate to reveal different functions and options depending on what items are selected or active. The overlay displays information such as available weapons, biomod abilities, biomod energy level, health, light exposure, and current direction. If anyone is afraid that this new overlay will take up too much space and obstruct the action happening on screen, the team has made sure to allow the player to define a custom transparency level--or you can set it to "0" transparency, in which case it will only be visible when you cycle through your weapons, enable a biomod, or interact with the interface in some other way. The main ring of the interface displays the contents of your equipment belt and the biomods you have installed. The inventory, your current notes and goals, and other sub-menus overlay this main ring when summoned. More subtle changes include the loot corpse popup...there is none! Instead of shoving an interaction window at you, the game lets you pick up items up from where they lie. You pick the weapon up from the ground where it fell from your enemy’s hands or take a sidearm out of their holster. Manually searching the corpse allows you to become more immersed in the game and gets rid of a layer of unneeded interface. Instead of seeing textboxes appear at the top of your screen when someone is talking in your head, the developers have opted for holograms. These holomessages can be played on devices that double as jukeboxes. The holo-jukeboxes allow you to watch a recording of a performer as they sing. The controls have also been simplified a bit. However, this change was to make the game more accessible, not to “dumb it down.” Invisible War is to be on Xbox as well as the PC, so ION had to think outside the box (no pun intended) to get in all the functions they want. Even with the limited number of buttons (for Xbox that is, PC users can still remap their keys) IW will still include features such as jumping, leaning around corners, mantling, and alternate-fire. To get around the constraints, the devs put in code that allows certain buttons to do different things at different times. For example, if you’ve ever played System Shock 2 (or its demo) you’ll know how mantling works: out in the open the jump button makes Alex jump. When standing in front of a desk or other low object the jump button makes Alex climb onto the object.

Biomods
Ion has combined the augmentation and skill systems into one sleek feature called Biomods. These augmentations have now been sanctioned for by the government for civilian use and allow you to upgrade your abilities. There are now 15 different mods to choose from, but only 5 mod slots. You have to choose wisely because while you can overwrite an existing mod with another one, you can’t reuse an old mod.

The biomods range from defensive and skill enhancing to creepy and illegal. More specifically, you can buy your mods from the black-market. While this allows you to use more unique and ethically questionable abilities, each comes with a downside. Each slot has three potential enhancements: 2 "legal" and one sold on the blackmarket by the Omar. Once installed, an augmentation can be upgraded twice, optimizing the mod and sometimes adding new abilities.

Weapons and Items
There are several new weapons in this game including the Boltcaster (a gun version of the riot prod), concussion prox mine, glass destabiliser, spider bomb and Energy blade, as well as old ones, such as the pistol. There are also six secret weapons, powerful weapons in not-so-obvious locations: the Toxin Blade, Widowmaker SMG (a gun powerhouse), Red Greasel Hunter (a projectile weapon specialized for killing Red Greasels), Assassin Pistol, Hellfire Boltcaster (the Boltcaster version of the flamethrower) and Dragon's Tooth Sword.

Multitools still exist, but are more reminiscient of screwdrivers than mobile phones (like in the first game). In this game, Multitools still serve their electronic bypass function, but can also serve as lockpicks. Datacubes, bioelectric cells and medkits also continue to exist in this game.

Plotlines
In Deus Ex Invisible War which takes place in 2072 (20 years after the events of the first Deus Ex )you play as Alex D. Alex grew up in Chicago and is training at the Tarsus Academy there. Tarsus is a new organization that apparently has powerful enemies, as the first event in the game is a terrorist attack on the Academy. The nanite detonator used in the terrorist attack completely destroys Chicago, forcing the survivors (including Alex) to flee to the Seattle headquarters. As if that wasn’t enough, the headquarters are attacked soon thereafter. In the midst of this turmoil, it’s your job to figure out who to trust by uncovering their secrets. Factions include the aforementioned Tarsus Academy as well as these:

The Order A unified world religion. Headed by the shadowy " Her Holiness," the Order can be seen as a disjointed mish-mash of every religion known to man, or a bunch of low-life terrorist tree-huggers, or an inspired amalgamation that brings true balance to one's soul. It largely depends on who you're talking to.

World Trade Organization A global trade syndicate run by Chad Dumier, formerly of the terrorist group Silhouette.

The Omar A secret network of merchants seeking to make a hefty profit on illegal goods such as blackmarket biomods. Although they aren't necessarily interested in politics, they are still a force that must be taken into consideration when making decisions.

Templars Bet you thought Manderley killed them all and stole their gold. Well, they’re back! And they have a real grudge against biomods.

You will find out that these factions are founded on what took place in DX. In IW, factions are always vying for your loyalty. At first, it’s only two factions, and then more start taking an interest in you. Each faction has a parallel goal in each mission, and often you will have to choose which goal to complete to show loyalty to one and only one faction. Unlike in the first game, you have complete control over which faction you fight for and what you do.

Story
Note: Given the non-linear nature of Invisible War'', encountering certain plot elements depends on the actions of the player. The game also offers several subplots which the player may or may not encounter, depending on their actions within the game. This synopsis will concentrate on the main, unavoidable plot thread of the game. For simplicity, Alex D will be referred to throughout as male, though the player can choose a female Alex instead.''

The plot of Deus Ex Invisible War assumes that a combination of the three endings of the original Deus Ex had taken place. JC Denton merged with Helios, but destroyed Area 51, triggering the Collapse event. This had paved the way for the Illuminati to seize control of the world through two organizations, the WTO (World Trade Organization) and the Order Church. The former upholds the capitalist ideals of the Illuminati and regulates any activity that conflicts with the free market (non-profit or otherwise). The latter is the exact opposite, utilizing pseudo-religious ideals to combat the capitalist ideals of the WTO. Also, an AI collective known as the Omar appears periodically in the game.

The game begins with Chicago being destroyed in a terrorist attack. Alex D., the protagonist, and another Tarsus trainee, Billie Adams, along with several Tarsus leaders, are evacuated to another Tarsus Facility. Some time after their arrival, the facility is attacked by forces of the Order Church. Alex is contacted by Billie, who reveals that she is a member of the Order. She claims that Tarsus is using its trainees as test subjects in a biomodification program, and asks Alex to join the Order.Once at the Order base in Seattle knows Lin-May Chen the second-in-command, he is asked to find out what happened to a group of Order troops sent on a rescue mission to a Tarsus facility. He discovers that they defected to the Knights Templar(an offshoot of the Order) who take a more militant approach to matters than the Order,led by Order Luminon Saman.

For much of the earlier stages of the game the WTO (World Trade Organization), under the order of Donna Morgan (second-in-command of WTO), and The Order order Alex to perform investigations directed at the Tarsus Academy chain, and the activities of the Luddite faction, the Knights Templar, an offshoot of the Order,. The Knights Templar were responsible for the destruction of Chicago (targeted at the local Tarsus academy), and Alex, whose home was that very academy, becomes involved with their activities as a result. Alex later meets Saman at the Cairo Order Church in the first Cairo level, along with his former classmate, Billie Adams, who joined the Templars at that point. At the second Cairo level, Saman tries to convince Alex to join them in eradicating biomods.

The ApostleCorp organization, founded by Paul Denton, is later revealed to be behind the Tarsus chain and its experiments on students in terms of biomodification. The purpose of ApostleCorp, revealed by scientist, Dr. Leila Nassif, is to biomodify every human being, bringing about a peaceful "posthuman" civilization. At Trier, Germany, Alex meets Tracer Tong, the leader of the local ApostleCorp facility, who reveals that the organization was founded to fulfil the JC/ Helios entity's ideals by creating biomod infusions, special biomods that allow persons to biomods like they would use their regular human abilities, for every person on Earth. One such infusion was tested on Paul, but it wasn't perfected, so Paul's body rejected it violently, so Paul had to be frozen. He also reveals that JC had to be put into stasis, because his merger was unstable. Tong prods Alex to go to Antarctica through a portal at the Black Gate Ruins, which only persons with biomod infusions can access as a precaution. Alex also learns about the Illuminati at Trier from its two leaders, Chad Dumier (WTO leader) and Nicolette DuClare (Order leader).

Eventually, Alex goes to Antarctica to repair JC with his biomod architecture, only to be intercepted by Billie. When Alex finally bests her, he continues and revives JC, who confirms what Tong and Nassif had told him pertaining to ApostleCorp's goals, and he orders Alex to rescue Paul, who had been abducted from ApostleCorp Cairo.

When Alex arrives in Cairo in the second Cairo level to rescue Paul, he is confronted with three options, give his blood to the Templars to end biomodification, kill Paul by cutting off his life support (per orders from the Illuminati) or save Paul as JC wanted. When Alex goes to Liberty Island in the final mission, he learns of the global communications protocol used by Majestic-12 in the first game to control global networks, the Aquinas Protocol (stored in the old UNATCO HQ bunker). Each faction wants Alex to upload the protocol to them for their own use. Whoever he uploads it to will be his affiliation in the endgame, and will trigger one of three endings. If he uploads to no-one, and instead kills all the leaders, he will side with the Omar, triggering a fourth "Omar" ending. If the player carries a flag in the HQ bunker to the bathroom, and flush the toilet, he will be instantly transported to an Easter-egg ending, where every major character is seen dancing at Club Vox.

Endings
JC/Helios ending: Alex merges his biomods with JC/Helios and it sends the biomods to people across the world from the top of liberty island.

The Templars ending: biomodification is wiped from the face of the earth. JC and Paul are both killed and the templars rule the world with their religious beliefs.

The Omar ending: the world is plunged into chaos and war and the Omar fight until they rule the world completely.

The Illuminati ending: their vision of a perfect world is realized and it becomes a world run by the Illuminati as an age of light.

Creatures and Bots
Organic


 * Phase 2 Greasels


 * Karkians


 * Grays


 * Biomechanical Baboons(Apes with implants that will follow behind you in the dark, planting LAMs. This creature didn't actually make it into the game.)


 * Ceolacanth(Big, nasty fish--only attacks the player when he/she is hurt. Another creature that didn't make the final cut.)


 * Cyberdog(Watchdogs that don't sleep. This is another cool concept that didn't make it into the final game.)

Mechanical

 * Assault Bot- A mechanized guard/soldier bot.
 * Acquatic Security Bot- A squid-like security measure. Not found in the final game.


 * Cleaner Bot- Something to step on, and useful for spying as well.
 * Repair Bot- Maintenance revisted. Replenishes bioenergy whenever necessary.
 * Spider Bot- Quite menacing in appearance, but their size and durablity are not nearly as impressive.

Technical
Invisible War uses a heavily modified version of the Unreal Engine 2 developed by Epic Games, Inc. Amongst the added or replaced features are a custom renderer with real-time lighting and the Havok v2.0 middleware physics engine, as opposed to the Unreal Engine's Karma middleware solution. Havok v2.0 is also seen in such titles as Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne and Painkiller. Many objects in the world have size, weight, mass and can be picked up and thrown, nudged, or blown around by the force of an explosion. Lights can be moved, and this alters the shadows cast by objects.

As a consequence of console-oriented development, the game's levels are significantly smaller than those seen in the original Deus Ex. The development for Xbox also has had consequences for the game's graphics; the game's characters are slightly less detailed and have somewhat lower polygon counts than those seen in, for example, Unreal II.

Reception
Deus Ex: Invisible War received largely positive reviews, receiving an average score of 80 for the Windows version and 84 for the Xbox version on Metacritic. Fan response to Invisible War is notable for being quite split. User rankings on MobyGames for instance are around 3.5 out of five for both versions of the game, while Metacritic users awarded 6.2 out of 10 for the Windows version and 7.4 out of 10 for the Xbox.

Electronic Gaming Monthly scored the game 8/9/7: Joe Fielder, the first reviewer, praised the game's freedom of choice, but found fault with its "long loading times, somewhat clunky combat, [...] crappy mapping system, and weak finales", and concluded that the game is "definitely the padawan to Knights of the Old Republic's Jedi master". Second reviewer Dan Hsu said, "This is a truly great, immersive experience only hampered by poor enemy A.I.", and third reviewer Bryan Intihar concluded: "If you can look past [its] technical hiccups, Invisible War shouldn't disappoint".

Criticisms of Invisible War generally drew negative comparisons to the game's award-winning predecessor. The most common complaints center around the length of the game (considerably shorter than the first installment), and the substantial reduction of RPG elements and the number of 'augmentation' abilities the player is able to find, and use.

Invisible War dropped the skill system from the previous game and used a simplified version of the biomod upgrade architecture. Also, the heads-up display was placed towards the center of the screen, but could be set up to fade out during play so as not to obstruct the player's view.

The Windows version of Deus Ex: Invisible War was notorious for demanding a powerful video card, effectively making a large number of the fan base unable to play the game. On the Xbox this was not an issue, and was largely the reason behind the higher-than-average rating of the Xbox version. Many graphics cards at the time, such as the Geforce MX series, did not support the Pixel Shader requirement. There is even a dedicated button on the CD's autorun menu for checking graphics card compatibility.

An IGN review of Invisible War compared the plot of the sequel to the original game by saying "In all, it's a much more comprehensible story arc this time around. To be honest, by the time I finished the original Deus Ex on the PC, I could barely remember how the game started. This time, it's much easier to visualize the overall path of the action." However, others have noted drawbacks of Invisible War's plot when compared to that of the original game, considering its attempt at moral ambiguity as a flaw. A review of Invisible War on GameSpot says "There really is no clear sense of right or wrong in this game, which is interesting—though odd—and not always conducive to a satisfying experience," later also noting "The characters themselves aren't well developed."

Soundtrack
The fourteen main tracks for Invisible War were composed by Ion Storm composers Alexander Brandon and Todd Simmons. All but the Antarctica levels were by Brandon. These were released in April 2004 for free download on the official site for the game.

In addition to these, the songs of the fictional pop star "NG Resonance" featured in Invisible War were actually original compositions by the industrial rock band Kidneythieves. The character's voice was also provided by lead singer Free Dominguez. All songs present in the game are included on the band's first album Trickster, released July 28, 1998 on the Push Records label.
 * 1) "Invisible War Title Theme" – 01:51
 * 2) "Seattle – Tarsus Apartments" – 02:32
 * 3) "Seattle – City Hub and Emerald Suites" – 02:55
 * 4) "Seattle – Mako Ballistics Interior" – 02:21
 * 5) "Seattle – Lower Seattle and Heron's Loft" – 02:34
 * 6) "Cairo – Mosque" – 02:24
 * 7) "Cairo – ApostleCorp Lab" – 02:21
 * 8) "Trier – Streets and Black Gate" – 02:59
 * 9) "Trier – Templar Compound" – 02:48
 * 10) "Antarctica – VersaLife Base Exterior" – 02:19
 * 11) "Antarctica – JC Denton's Lair" – 02:20
 * 12) "Return to Cairo – Shantytown and Arcology" – 03:05
 * 13) "Liberty Island – Statue Exterior" – 03:30
 * 14) "Credits" – 01:34

pl:Deus Ex: Invisible War