Now that Deus Ex has been cancelled, what other games scratch the Deus Ex itch?
It’s kind of sad that one of the greatest video game series is on hold for now.
Conspiracy theories, multiple ways of solving a mission, game lore hidden in computer inboxes…
Are there any (pre-2010) games that gave you the same feeling or do a similar thing?
Doesn’t check all the boxes, but Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater hits a lot of notes, most notably in the boss fight department.
3rd person, Cold War spy, stealth, action game
A hunger mechanic that effected performance (stamina and at around 50% would affect aim or have stomach growls that would alert enemies) and could get food via hunting, trapping or stealing and in a few situations could be used offensively
Camo system
Majority of the bosses that you could defeat lethally or no lethally
Medical system was pretty nifty, not fully realistic doing first aid during battle, but had the spirit of battle injury management
Can get a lot of lore tidbits here and there by being stealthy and eavesdropping either being nearby or using a longe range listening device and by communicating with your operational support
And there is probably other systems I am forgetting ( played it on a ps2 many moons ago). Seems there is a pc version but appears to be a port and with a controller requirement, but otherwise I thought it was a loaded game for its time ( released 2004)
Ctrl Alt Ego is new, but is a fantastic immersive sim. If you want pre-2010 though, you’re limited to System Shock 1 and 2, Thief Gold/2: The Metal Age, Hitman: Blood Money, and the original Deus Ex.
Immersive Sims are coming back, but pre-2010 cuts you to essentially the formative classics of the Immersive Sim genre.
If you want to branch out of the strict boundaries of Immersive Sims, Fallout: New Vegas and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines are both incredible.
Indies are absolutely crushing it, especially in the ImSim scene. Not an ImSim, but In Stars and Time recently blew me away with how much I loved the characters, even if it was cheesy.
I’m a half-patient gamer, I play older AAA and AA games, and newer and older indies. It’s a good mix!
It’s not quite as deep down the solving missions without bullets rabbit hole, but STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl is ripe with disturbing mystery and conspiracy. It gets darker and weirder with each abandoned secret lab that you explore, and as you get closer to the center of the Exclusion Zone. I wish I could replay it again for the first time.
Not pre 2010 but Shadows of Doubt is worth a mention. You are a former cop turned private eye, solving crimes in a procedually generated city trying to make ends meet. You pick locks, hack emails, use air vents and “Jensen your way in” to chase leads, collect evidence and bring justice that the megacorporation government won’t.
It’s far from perfect but is the best “Deus Ex 1 we have at home” I’ve seen.
As one person mentioned, EYE Divine Cybermancy. Not sure if it’s pre-2010, but it’s good. Iirc it was originally intended to be a Warhammer 40k game, but the devs couldn’t get the license. As such, Warhammer 40k fans in particular will probably enjoy it, even if all the Warhammer 40k specific stuff has been stripped out or reskinned.
A post-2010 game would be Cruelty Squad. Looks and sounds like shit, but the gameplay is fucking amazing and the crustiness makes sense in the context of the game’s world. It’s set in a “final-stage” capitalist/cryptobro hellscape where you work as a for-hire hitman. There are no good people left, morality is dead, and death is only temporary. Don’t worry about collateral, everyone’s evil in some way, so go gas a cruise ship to kill a mob boss and don’t feel bad about it. Features an augmentation system which lets you use your appendix as a grappling hook or install an organ to generate ammo, so it’s more biopunk than cyberpunk, but damn the game is fun. I know this is patient gamers, but it’s worth the full price. Trust me, sire.
Eye was one of the first games I bought on steam and I don’t think I’ve ever played more than 30 minutes of it. It just seemed so janky and didn’t really guide you at all. Am I missing something? Because I really like the aesthetic and the customization seems awesome but it just seemed a little obtuse to me.
I think you might like Deus Ex. You play as this dude named JC Denton and you try to solve who stole the Statue of Liberty’s head. I think. It’s been a couple years. But I rememer the voice acting being top notch, especially in the Hong Kong level
It was always a great game IMO, nothing fundamentally changed about it. But I also understand what you mean. I bounced off it once or twice because the combat system is very, very different and I wasn’t sure I was getting it. Didn’t quite find a flow.
Eventually I just sat down and beat it, because it’s actually not a very long game. Like 5 to 7 hours. And the story/music/art is just unbelievable.
You don’t need to get great at the combat. Just kind of learn what builds work for you and be a little flexible when they’re not working.
Cool, thanks for the write up. Maybe I’ll install it and give it another try. I have tried it a couple of times and it has been quite a while since my last attempt. It definitely was the combat system I had difficulty with.
If you’re like me, just get over your pride and play on the easiest difficulty/use whatever cheese is effective. It’s a beautiful game worth experiencing and if it requires you to completely leapfrog the combat then so be it.
I wish I had done this for each of Supergiant’s games before Hades. They’ve always had the writing, voice acting, music, and the aesthetic in particular down pat, but I feel it took them a while to get to solid gameplay.
Bastion clicked immediately for me. Pyre is an oddball (hyuk hyuk) but I actually did find a good rhythm there and fell in love with it. I replayed it a year or so ago on True Nightwing mode and it was incredible. They’re just so good at making defeat a part of the game and it makes the stakes feel way more real. I’d spend sometimes 15min before a match planning my team and talismans and have these absolute nail biter matches. I got so emotionally invested in it lol
AP is one of the greatest RPGs of all time with amazing mechanics, your choices really matter and the dialogues are amazing. But at the same time the mechanics are janky AF, some skills are bonkers and the graphics are mediocre even for the era.
I gave it a shot because Bioware, but I didn’t stick with it because dialog choices are timed. I can see why, I think, but I was being picky and put it down for the moment.
It reviewed badly, but there’s actually a gem of a game hiding in there. A lot of the gameplay feels clunky, but the RPG aspects are really well done (it’s Obsidian, they’re kind of good at that). It’s a spy game that lets you decide whether you’re James Bond, Jason Bourne, or Jack Bauer, and really respects those choices in the way the story plays out.
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