This article is about the 2000 video game. For the series, see Deus Ex (series). For other uses, see Deus ex machina (disambiguation).
Deus Ex (abbreviated DX[3] and
/ˌdeɪ.əs ˈɛks/ DAY-əs EKS) is an action role-playing game developed by Ion Storm Inc. and published by Eidos Interactive in 2000, which combines gameplay elements of first-person shooters with those of role-playing video games. The game received universal critical and industry acclaim, including being named "Best PC Game of All Time" in PC Gamer's Top 100 PC Games[4] and in a poll carried out by UK gaming magazine PC Zone.[5] It was a frequent candidate for and winner of Game of the Year awards,[6][7][8][9] drawing praise for its pioneering designs in player choice and multiple narrative paths.[10][11] It has sold more than 1 million copies, as of April 23, 2009.[12]Set in a dystopian world during the year 2052, the central plot follows rookie United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition agent JC Denton, as he sets out to combat terrorist forces, which have become increasingly prevalent in a world slipping ever further into chaos. As the plot unfolds, Denton becomes entangled in a deep and ancient conspiracy, encountering organizations such as Majestic 12, the Illuminati, and the Hong Kong Triads throughout his journey.
First published for personal computers running Windows, Deus Ex was later ported to Macintosh systems, as well the PlayStation 2 game console, the latter under the title Deus Ex: The Conspiracy. Loki Games worked on a Linux version of the game, but the company went out of business before releasing it.[13] The game has spawned both a sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War, which was released in December 2003, for both Microsoft Windows and the Xbox video game console[14] and a prequel, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which was released in August 2011.[15]
Gameplay
Deus Ex incorporates elements from four video game genres: role-playing, first-person shooter, adventure, and "immersive simulation", the last of which being a game where "nothing reminds you that you're just playing a game".[16] For example, the game uses a first-person camera during gameplay and includes exploration and character interaction as primary features.[16]The player assumes the role of JC Denton, a nanotech-augmented operative of the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition (UNATCO).[17] This nanotechnology is a central gameplay mechanism, and allows players to perform superhuman feats.
Role-playing elements
As the player accomplishes objectives, the player character is rewarded with "skill points". Skill points are used to enhance a character's abilities in eleven different areas, and were designed to provide players with a way to customize their characters;[16] a player might create a combat-focused character by increasing proficiency with pistols or rifles, while a more furtive character can be created by focusing on lock picking and computer hacking abilities. There are four different levels of proficiency in each skill, with the skill point cost increasing for each successive level.[18]Weapons may be customized through "weapon modifications", which can be found or purchased throughout the game. The player might add scopes, silencers, or laser sights; increase the weapon's range, accuracy, or magazine size; or decrease its recoil and reload time. Not all modifications are available to all weapons; for example, a rocket launcher cannot be silenced, and recoil cannot be reduced on a flamethrower.
Players are further encouraged to customize their characters through nano-augmentations—cybernetic devices that grant characters superhuman powers. While the game contains eighteen different nano-augmentations, the player can install a maximum of nine, as each must be used on a certain part of the body: one in the arms, legs, eyes, and head; two underneath the skin; and three in the torso.[19] This forces the player to choose carefully between the benefits offered by each augmentation. For example, the arm augmentation requires the player to decide between boosting their character's skill in hand-to-hand combat or his ability to lift heavy objects.
Interaction with non-player characters was a large design focus.[16] When the player interacts with a non-player character, the game will enter a cutscene-like conversation mode where the player advances the conversation by selecting from a list of dialogue options. The player's choices often have a substantial effect on both gameplay and plot, as non-player characters will react in different ways depending on the selected answer (e.g. rudeness makes them less likely to provide assistance).
Combat elements
Deus Ex features combat similar to first-person shooters, with real-time action, a first-person perspective, and reflex-based gameplay.[16] As the player will often encounter enemies in groups, combat often tends toward a tactical approach, including the use of cover, strafing, and "hit-and-run". A USA Today reviewer found "At the easiest difficulty setting, your character is pureed again and again by an onslaught of human and robotic terrorists until you learn the value of stealth."[20] However, through the game's role-playing systems (see above), it is possible to develop a character's skills and augmentations to create a tank-like combat specialist with the ability to deal and absorb large amounts of damage.[21] Non-player characters will praise or criticize the main character depending on his use of force, incorporating a moral element into the gameplay.[22]Deus Ex features a head-up display crosshair, whose size dynamically shows where shots will fall based on movement, aim, and the weapon in use; the reticle expands while the player is moving or shifting his or her aim, and slowly shrinks to its original size while no actions are taken.[17] How quickly the reticle shrinks depends on the character's proficiency with the equipped weapon, the number of accuracy modifications added to the weapon, and the level of the "targeting" nano-augmentation.
Deus Ex features twenty-four weapons, ranging from crowbars, electroshock weapons, and riot baton, to laser guided anti-tank rockets and assault rifles;[17] both lethal and non-lethal weapons are available. The player can also make use of several weapons of opportunity, such as fire extinguishers.
Player choice
Players are given multiple ways to traverse obstacles, from lockpicking to armed combat.
Because of its design focus on player choice, Deus Ex has been compared with System Shock, a game that inspired its design.[24][25] Together, these factors give the game a great degree of replayability, as the player will have vastly different experiences, depending on which methods he or she uses to accomplish objectives.
Multiplayer
Deus Ex was designed as a single player game, and the initial releases of the Windows and Macintosh versions of the game did not include multiplayer functionality.[26] Support for multiplayer modes was later incorporated through patches.[27] The component includes three game modes: deathmatch, basic team deathmatch, and advanced team deathmatch. Only five maps, based on levels from the single-player portion of the game, were included with the original multiplayer patch, but many user-created maps now exist.[27] The PlayStation 2 release of Deus Ex does not offer a multiplayer mode.[28]Plot
Setting
Deus Ex takes place in a dystopian future in a world that draws heavily upon present day conspiracy theories. This dark setting is enhanced by the fact that the entire game takes place at night, a backdrop that adds to the atmosphere of conspiracies and stealth. The game contradicts itself in several instances regarding the exact year in which the events of the story take place, but information in the sequel Deus Ex: Invisible War reconciles this inconsistency via retroactive continuity, placing the events of Deus Ex in the year 2052.[29] Most of the game takes place in fictionalized versions of real-world locations, including New York City, Hong Kong, Paris, Vandenberg Air Force Base, and Area 51.The plot of Deus Ex depicts a society on a slow spiral into chaos. A lethal pandemic known as the "Gray Death" ravages the world's population, especially within the United States, and has no cure. A synthetic vaccine, "Ambrosia", manufactured by the company VersaLife, nullifies the effects of the virus, but is in critically short supply. Because of its scarcity, Ambrosia is available only to those deemed "vital to the social order", and finds its way primarily to government officials, military personnel, the rich and influential, scientists, and the intellectual elite. With no hope for the common people of the world, riots occur worldwide, and a number of terrorist organizations have formed with the professed intent of assisting the downtrodden, among them the National Secessionist Force of the U.S. and a French group known as Silhouette.
In order to combat these threats to the world order, the United Nations has greatly expanded its governmental influence around the globe. The United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition (UNATCO) is formed, with the intent of maintaining peace internationally and combating the world's ever-growing number of terrorist groups.[30] It is headquartered near New York City in a bunker beneath Liberty Island, placed there after a terrorist strike on the Statue of Liberty.[31]
Synopsis
The player assumes the identity of JC Denton, a nanotechnologically-augmented ("nano-aug") UNATCO agent. After completing his training, JC takes several missions given by Director Joseph Manderley to track down members of the National Secessionist Forces (NSF) and their stolen shipments of the "Ambrosia" vaccine, the cure for the "Gray Death" virus. Through these missions, JC is reunited with his brother, Paul, who is also nano-augmented. JC tracks the Ambrosia shipment to a private terminal at LaGuardia Airport. Paul meets JC outside the plane, and explains that he has defected from UNATCO and is now working with the NSF after learning that the Gray Death is a man-made virus, with UNATCO using its power to make sure only the elite receive the vaccine.[32]JC returns to UNATCO headquarters and is told by Manderley that both he and Paul have been outfitted with a 24-hour kill switch, and that Paul's has been activated due to his betrayal. Manderley orders JC to fly to Hong Kong to eliminate Tracer Tong, a hacker whom Paul has contact with, and who can disable the kill switches. Instead, JC returns to Paul's apartment to find Paul hiding inside. Paul further explains his defection and encourages JC to also defect by sending out a distress call to alert the NSF's allies. Upon doing so, JC becomes a wanted man by UNATCO, and his own kill switch is activated by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director Walton Simons. JC is unable to escape UNATCO forces, and both he and Paul (provided he survived the raid on the apartment) are taken to a secret prison below UNATCO headquarters. An entity named "Daedalus" contacts JC and informs him that the prison is part of Majestic 12, and arranges for him and Paul to escape. The two flee to Hong Kong to meet with Tong, who deactivates their kill switches. Tong requests JC infiltrate the VersaLife building. Doing so, JC discovers that the corporation is the source for the Gray Death, and he is able to steal the plans for the virus and destroy the "universal constructor" that produces it.[33]
Analysis of the virus shows it was manufactured by the Illuminati, prompting Tong to send JC to Paris to try to make contact with the organization and obtain their help fighting Majestic 12. JC eventually meets with Illuminati leader Morgan Everett, and learns that the Gray Death virus was intended to be used for augmentation technology, but Majestic 12, led by trillionaire businessman and former Illuminatus Bob Page, was able to steal and repurpose it into its current viral form. Everett recognizes that without VersaLife's universal constructor, Majestic 12 can no longer create the virus, and will likely target Vandenberg Air Force Base, where X-51, a group of former Area 51 scientists, has built another one. After aiding the base personnel in repelling a Majestic 12 attack, JC meets X-51 leader Gary Savage, who reveals that Daedalus is an artificial intelligence borne out of the ECHELON program. Everett attempts to gain control over Majestic 12's communications network by releasing Daedalus onto the U.S. military networks, but Page counters by releasing his own AI, Icarus, which merges with Daedalus to form a new AI, Helios, with the ability to control all global communications. After this, Savage enlists JC's help in procuring schematics for reconstructing components for the UC that were damaged during Majestic 12's raid of Vandenberg. JC finds the schematics and electronically transmits them to Savage, but they are intercepted by Page as well, who launches a nuclear missile at Vandenberg to ensure that Area 51, which is now Majestic 12's headquarters, will be the only location in the world with an operational UC. However, JC is able to reprogram the missile to strike Area 51. JC then travels there himself to confront Page.
When JC locates him, Page reveals that he seeks to merge with Helios and gain full control over all nanotechnology. JC is contacted by Tong, Everett, and the Helios AI simultaneously. All three factions ask for his help in defeating Page, while furthering their own objectives, and JC is forced to choose between them. Tong seeks to plunge the world into a second Dark Age by destroying the global communications hub and preventing anyone from taking control of the world.[34] Everett offers Denton the chance to bring the Illuminati back to power by killing Bob Page and using the technology of Area 51 to rule the world with an invisible hand.[35] Helios wishes to merge with Denton and rule the world as a benevolent dictator with infinite knowledge and reason.[36] The player's decision determines the course of the future, and brings the game to a close.
Literary and popular culture allusions
Name etymology
The title "Deus Ex" is derived from the Latin expression deus ex machina, literally meaning "god out of the machine". It is used in drama and literature to describe an outside force that suddenly solves the seemingly unsolvable problem(s) the characters face in an extremely unlikely or impossible way. Warren Spector, executive producer for Deus Ex, has stated the name was both meant as a reference to the various factions in the game who aspire to god-like powers, as well as a dig at the typical video game plot, which tends to be laden with "deus ex machina" artifices and other poor script writing techniques.[37]What the JC initialism in the protagonist's codename, JC Denton, means is unclear. The story itself makes no references to what the initials stand for. Harvey Smith, lead designer for Deus Ex, has stated that originally JC was supposed to be a descendant of Jesus Christ; however, Warren Spector has said the name "JC" was chosen for its unisex qualities when the developers were still planning to let the player choose the gender of the main character, which was used later in the game's first sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War, where the player took on the unisex name 'Alex D' and could choose for the protagonist to be either male or female.[38][39]
Literary works
Deus Ex features a text-reading system that allows the player to read terminals and notes, as well as excerpts from newspapers and books found in various locations within the game level. These various bits of media serve a variety of purposes, from providing the player with useful gameplay information (such as a needed keycode), to the advancement of the plot, to the creation of atmosphere and metafictional irony. It is this last aspect that is most prevalent in the novels found in Deus Ex, with excerpts usually providing reflective commentary on the player's current situation. Such real-life works as The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton, Sun Tzu's The Art of War, Common Sense by Thomas Paine, and Shakespeare's Richard III are used for this purpose throughout the game.Along with these is Jacob's Shadow, a work of fiction created by Chris Todd, one of the writers for the game. It is attributed to the fictitious author Andrew Hammond (in homage to crime writer Andrew Vachss).[40] The first chapter displayed is Chapter Twelve with a subsequent six other chapters (fifteen, twenty, twenty-three, twenty-seven, thirty-two, and thirty-four) that portray the cyberpunk themes of the game in the style of William Gibson. The book appears to be a violent, spiritual journey of a man named Jacob as he searches for a woman, who is never named, through a city described as 'Hell'.[41] A chapter from a "sequel" to Jacob's Shadow, titled Jacob's War, can be found in the game's sequel Deus Ex: Invisible War.
A number of other more subtle fiction references also permeate the game. For instance, The Man Who Was Thursday protagonist Gabriel Syme's name appears in a hotel register, along with the names of fellow literary characters Gully Foyle, Oberst Enzian, Smilla Jasperson, and Hippolyta Hall (from the The Stars My Destination, Gravity's Rainbow, Smilla's Sense of Snow, and various DC Comics series respectively). Another comic reference is "Harleen Quinzel", being an MJ12 employee who sends an e-mail out about a "company picnic". Other literary sources alluded to include Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men, Neal Stephenson's cyberpunk novel The Diamond Age, Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, and the Ancient Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus.[3] The name of the AI Helios and the merging of JC with it may also be a reference to Euripedes' Medea, Medea appearing at the end of the play in the sun god Helios' chariot (a machine from the gods). Continuing the seam of literature references "O" and "René" from Histoire d'O can be found in conversation in Flat 12 in Paris.
Allusions are also incorporated into computer security passwords and e-mails encountered during the course of the game. An instance of this is the code "reindeerflotilla", a password originally used in the 1982 science fiction film Tron. Another is an e-mail found on Paul Denton's computer containing a notice from a movie rental company. It mentions the fictional movies See You Next Wednesday and Blue Harvest. "See You Next Wednesday" is a reference to the famous signature appearing in most of John Landis' films, while Blue Harvest was the code name used during the filming of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
Gunther's killphrase "Laputan Machine" is a reference to the fictional island of Laputa from Gulliver's Travels.
This practice also extends to the ubiquitous key codes found in most levels of the game, with examples including the first door-code in the game being "0451", "an allusion to System Shock's allusion to Fahrenheit 451 (the first code in System Shock was also 451)" according to Harvey Smith,[40] as well as the sequence "8675309" opening the only 7-digit key code lock in the game. There also exists a "Lord Brinne" tombstone found in the Baltimore Cemetery level, which is actually a memorial for the real life Bill Iburg, an RPG fan and regular of multiple forums who died in 1999.[42][43]
The name "Marcy Plaigrond" is also tucked into a message cube in Paul Denton's secret computer room, referring to the name of the band "Marcy Playground".
Real world parallels
Conspiracies are one of the main themes of Deus Ex, and the game draws heavily upon popular real world conspiracy theories for many of its plot elements. These include speculations regarding black helicopters, vaccinations, and FEMA, as well as Area 51, the ECHELON network, Men in Black, cow mutilations, chupacabras (in the form of "greasels"), and extraterrestrials. Mysterious groups such as Majestic 12, the Illuminati, the Knights Templar, the Bilderberg Group, and the Trilateral Commission also either play a central part in the plot, or are alluded to during the course of the game.During sections of the game where the New York skyline is visible in the background, the two towers of the World Trade Center are noticeably missing; the real towers were destroyed a year after the game was released. Harvey Smith has explained that due to texture memory limitations, the portion of the skyline with the twin towers exists in the game's data files but had to be left out of the final game, with the other half mirrored in place of it. According to Smith, during the game's development, the developers justified the lack of the towers by stating that terrorists had destroyed the World Trade Center earlier in the game's storyline.[38]
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