NOTE: I originally posted this in issue 7 of 2.5D

     Taking place 20 years after the events of the original Deus Ex, Deus Ex: Invisible War once again plunges you Ion Storm's world of conspiracy's, half truths, and whole lies. The game follows the path of Alex D. who's pulled into a convoluted narrative of who's screwing who after having to flee his/her (you get to pick) Tarsus training facility terrorist attack destroys the entire city of Chicago.

     Deus Ex: Invisible War can best be described as nonlinear linearity where, though the game takes you through a narrative, it's still your choice in what manner you wish to tackle said narrative. IW is all about choice. IW's environments are riddled with multiple paths, and hidden areas. There's more than one solution to every problem. It's your choice of how to forge ahead, and as to how you'll play the game. If you're the balls out player who wants to go in Rambo style, then the direct route will work the best for you. However, if you're the stealthy type, look for a back way into the area. Dead set against killing? Run through the game with non lethal weapons. It's all your choice.

     There's also an emphasis on making moral choices. Throughout the game, you'll even be given opportunities to make a moral choice. Many of these opportunities show up in the game's many optional side quests which often times feature shady characters offering you rewards in order to perform underhanded tasks to suit their purposes. One of the first sidequests is given to you from the owner of a large chain coffee shop in Upper Seattle who wants you to go destroy the coffee shop in the slums of Lower Seattle. When you meet the owner of the coffee shop in the slums, he wants you to hack into a computer at the WTO office any allow a zoning permit for him to build a shop in Upper Seattle. Do you help the big guy who will pay you more? Do you side with the little guy against the corporation? Or do you double dip and collect the money that comes with doing both tasks? It's all up to your sense of morality and justice.

     IW's gameplay at it's core is a first person shooter with RPG elements. The biomods act as kind of a magic system, and give you multiple abilities of your choosing such as the ability to cloak yourself from mechanical enemies, heal yourself, run at super speed, and so on. You'll even be able to upgrade your weapons with weapon mods that you'll find throughout the course of the game that give your weapons extra attributes as well. You'll also deal with inventory management of healing items and weapons.

     One of the coolest things about the game is the level of interactivity in the environments. Turning on and off light switches, buying a can of soda from a vending machine, and opening and closing cabinet doors, and refrigerator doors might not sound like a big deal in the real world, but in a game they really enhance the experience. You'll have fun just playing around and seeing which objects you can interact with. Flush toilets, turn sinks on, or throw a coffee pot across the room to watch it shatter. The objects in your environments aren't just there for decoration. They're there for the type of interactivity that really adds to the game.

     Graphically, the game shines for an original Xbox game. Even graphics whores won't be disappointed even if the visuals are dated when compared to your average next gen game. The physics engine it pretty good as well. Dead or unconscious NPCs will ragdoll when thrown, and often times make a sickening thud when hitting the ground after being thrown straight up in the air. The sound effects and voice acting are right on, and the music, though a lot more subtle in this game than the first, is also top notch.

     The biggest complaint about Deus Ex: The Invisible war is that it though it's extremely fun on it's own merits, it doesn't hold a candle to the original. It an attempt to make the game more open to the mainstream masses, they dumbed down many of the features that made the first Deus Ex game great. Though this makes the game more accessible for the mainstream crowd, many of the hardcore fans of the original took it as a slap in the face. The biomod system in IW has combined the skills system, and the augmentations of the original. The damage to individual limbs from the PC version of the original is gone and replaced with just a plain life bar (though the PS2 version of the original had already done this), and the story isn't as deep or complex either. The stripped away many of the hardcore elements that fans of the previous game loved. However, on it's own, IW is still an awesome game. Another complaint about the game is that there is some nasty slowdown as the action heats up (especially when someone throws a spiderbot). Plus the load times happen too frequently, and are rather long which can put a damper on the experience at times. These complaints, overall, are small, and don't stop Deus Ex: Invisible War from being one of the best games of all time.

Bottom Line: While slightly disappointing when compared to it's predecessor, Deus Ex: Invisible War is still one of the best gaming experiences out there. Even at it's worse, it's still better than the majority of other games on the market, and should be experienced by everyone.

Note: The Xbox Version of Invisible War is not compatible with the Xbox 360 at present time. Who knows it it'll ever be compatible.

Here is a vid I posted in Youtube showing the game in action: