Harvey Smith is the man who's been at the heart of production of Midway's forthcoming game BlackSite, but once upon a time he worked alongside Warren Spector at Ion Storm on a little game known as Deus Ex.
It means his work at Midway isn't his first dalliance with the area in and around Area 51, as it provided quite an integral part of the original Deus Ex - but if Smith had had his way, Area 51 would never have featured in the acclaimed FPS-RPG.
"I didn't want to put Area 51 in Deus Ex!", its illustrious lead designer told PC Zone magazine recently. "I didn't find it that interesting. In fact, initially it was a moonbase. You were going to use the rocket to get to the international space-station (which in our fiction was just sagging and falling apart and barely held together), and from there you were going to use a shuttle to get to a luxury space-station which was going to be like the Titanic.
"From there, you were going to go to the moonbase, where the game was going to end."
And so it was, then, when the decision was made to cut the space-stations, the moonbase where a climactic AI originally dwelt similarly bit the dust, even if the tunnels beneath it would later be re-realised as the winding corridors beneath Area 51.
"It was totally crazy - we finally realised this was an Earth-bound game. Deus Ex was all about moving through an alley and going up a fire escape, then running on the roof so you can get into somebody's apartment...", Smith explained.
Deus Ex proved a shining star amongst PC games, and while the sequel failed to live up to expectations that's by no means dampened enthusiasm for a new outing in the series. News on a new Deus Ex game from Eidos actually slipped out in May this year, but since then we've heard nothing.
I know im going to sound like a heathen philistine to most of you but....i diddnt like Deus Ex.
Its was too dark, i diddnt like the characters, i couldnt figure out how to use the upgades, the "non leathal" approach was dull and innefective. The parts that were supposed to be clever were impossbly difficult, stealth sections inparticular. All that i managed to do was gun and run the whole time. And the AI was over powerful, they coud kill you very quickly.
All in all i found it a dull experiance with many frustrating parts.
While i do except that the game could be frustrating in parts, perhaps it was your gun and run methods that made it so hard? Deus Ex was no normal FPS. It was a FPS that rewarded people who didnt choose the obvious route and thought about the situation...
Instead of charging down a well defended front entrance, spend a little extra time talking to a NPC to find a back entrance, snipe to clear a few guards and you were into the base undetected where you were able to use your Mad Skillz (bionics) to help bring down the evil empire.
Seriously, the storyline was great and engrossing, the characters were interesting and the places were diverse and challanging. In short, try it again, i can assure you that it is brilliant.
p.s - too dark? never came accross that myself. possible older graphics card for the time maybe...?
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