Deus Ex: Why I feel the original is better

[_marrow_]

Ok, lets get a few things clear 1st, for a start there will be spoilers of both the original Deus Ex (DE) and Deus Ex Human Revolution (DEHR), So you have been warned.

Next I would like to make it perfectly clear that I really did enjoy DEHR, the combat was fun (I play stealth/lethal) the story was good, I loved the little bits of info and references to the original DE game and I thought the whole setting and concept were excellent. By setting and concept I mean the whole physical augmentation being a prelude to nano-augmentation and the ethical dilemmas that are associated with such a massive change to the human race. I know the game has a few rough edges (such as boss fights) but things like that im more than willing to overlook if the other aspects of the game make up for that, which in this case they did.
Lastly id like to state that everything here is my own opinion, you are more than welcome to agree or disagree, id just thought id share some of my thoughts on how I feel the original DE is better than DEHR.

Ok let?s start off with one of my main reasons, open space. This is something that was really lacking in DEHR, pretty much all locations in the game were a variation on a corridor. Throughout DE you had locations that opened up so you could stretch your legs and have a run around (liberty island, battery park, New York, Paris etc) and the game felt bigger for it. I do admit that you could go higher in DEHR than in DE by going across rooftops and see the streets below but it still didn?t feel like open space. One could argue that this does not really matter, and that open space does not need to be there to make a game great. But for me open space splits up the necessary corridors of military facilities and makes a game feel bigger and more open. This leads me to my next point?

Not enough locations in the game. One thing I loved about the original was the globetrotting, you visited cities and bases all over the world, all of which had a distinctive feel, style and look. But with this game we are in some big global conspiracy and we get to visit the same locations 2 times each! Even when you go back to the china city they mention on the communications ?we are heading to a different are in the city? so I was willing to let it go as it was going to be a different location, but no, it was the same place, again. It not right, the original made me feel like a globetrotting super spy and I just did not get that same feeling from DEHR.

The feel of the game is not as good. Yes the graphics of the day on the original DE game were not great, but they were good enough to make the buildings and style of the 3 main cities you visited look very different. Due to the fact that the whole game was corridor based (DEHR) you could see no significant difference in the structures which made to 2 main city hubs feel very similar. It was not just the look either, every Deus Ex fan remembers that 1st awesome Hong Kong moment where you exit the MJ12 facility, the lift doors open and bam, the market music starts. In less than 1 second Deus Ex made me feel like I was in a different part of the world with some vibrant music that starts out as simple Asian music then morphs into a combo platter of futuristic Asian techno. You had the Buddhist temple, canals, market place to explore and while it was not an open place, it didn?t have to be because other locations had felt open and the small scale of the Hong Kong level really made you feel like you were in a crowded Asian city.

My next reason and this is more a personal one, is the lack of the skills system. In DE the splitting up of augmentations and skills was genius as you could focus your skills on combat styles and your augs on more situational needs. In DEHR everything is done with the augmentations. This is a very personal thing and I totally get if people do not miss the skills system, but for me it added an extra layer to the game where I could put my personal touch and feel I was developing my version of JC Denton.

I think my final point is the ending. Now to be honest the endings to both these games was not outstanding, but both did do something pretty well. They put you in a position of tremendous world changing power and really gave you a moment to think ?what would I do?. Now DEHR pulls the same trick as the original by putting you in this situation but with a massive difference. You know the future, (well people who played the original do). I knew what the future held and my choice didn?t matter, Bob Page would still rise, Versalife would still bloom into an unethical world changing corporation and UNATCO would still be formed. So no matter what my choice was, it didn?t seem to matter as much because I knew how the future would play out. To be fair this is a harsh criticism and I still did enjoy the moral dilemma that the game presented me with and even if I had the right to take any action at all.

So yeah there it is, why I feel the original was better. DE does have nostalgia going for it which does cloud the judgement somewhat but in 10 years time will people feel the same nostalgic feeling for DEHR that many people now feel for DE? Im not sure they will. I will state again that I really do like DEHR, im on my 2nd play through, making different choices and a different aug spec (although I refuse to give up hacking, its too useful). There are aspects that I prefer about DEHR, the combat for example I like. Being compared to what is widely regarded as one of the best PC games ever tho is maybe very unfair on DEHR, but that?s the legacy it?s got to live up to and it does a fairly decent job.

I welcome comments and discussion, I can't guarantee il participate that much and I respect those people who feel the new one is better. If you actually made it through all my rambling thanks for reading.

One more thing, there is a mod thats just come out that improves 75% of the graphics in the original Deus Ex game, really is worth a look.

 

[Zhukov]

Hm. I neither agree nor disagree with you regarding open space, locations, or the skill system. These things are simply not a factor for me, one way or the other. Although the maps in DE:HR felt a lot bigger than those in DE, at least to me.

As for the "feel" of the game... eh. That's so subjective that I really can't think of a way to discuss it. It's like trying to argue over whether or not mushrooms taste nice. Aesthetically, I found DE:HR to be immensely superior. Although I don't really hold that against the original, since HR has an entire extra decade worth of graphics tech under its belt. But yeah... subjective.

Lastly, I agree with you regarding the endings. The inherent weakness of being a "in-canon" prequel is that the story is a forgone conclusion, no matter how hard they try and disguise that fact with multiple endings. So yeah, I found the endings (all of them) rather unsatisfying. Also the presentation of said endings was a bit... lackluster. "Here's a room with four buttons. Press one." Eh. I feel it could have been done better.

Personally, I would have preferred a more focussed, personal narrative. Although if they had done that, the developers would have been torn apart by rabid fans accusing them of not following "the spirit of the original".

 

[_marrow_]

You make a very valid point about the feel of the game being subjective. I think i may have phrased it wrong, I meant to point out the difference in feeling between the different locations within the game. Hong Kong felt totally different to New York and the same with Paris. Where as the locations with in DEHR really felt all the same to me, as I could not see more of my environment, Detroit and Shanghai felt too similar for me.

 

[Gunner 51]

I can understand where you are coming from in your critique. Please allow me to address your post in bits as I understood them.

1.) Spacial issues:

I think that the lack of empty horizontal space was a deliberate one to invoke a feeling of overpopulation. The height thing could also have been deliberate to reflect the higher position of the rich over the poor.

It is also worth nothing that the cleanliness of an area also reflects the owner's socioeconomic status. The poor lived in dirty slums close to the ground, while the rich lived in eerily sterile looking places way up in their penthouses and labs.

2.) Skills System:

I think that the skills system in DE1 was a needlessly complicated. The pure Augmentation used in DEHR simplified things without dumbing them down. But with Mr Jensen already being very proficient in combat - I wouldn't want to be dumping skills points into weaponry when my character is already an ex-SWAT member who is supposed to be good with all manner of weapons to begin with. In the future SWAT probably would probably have to deal with locked doors and some light hacking.

3.) The Ending:

Of course we all knew what the future was holding. That's the trouble with prequels - especially one that was only just released a good ten years after the first game had come out. Everyone in Geekland has played the first game, even if you hadn't played it - you'd have heard about it.

DEHR is a damned fined game in my own opinion, probably one of the best I've played in a long time. Is it a worthy successor to the original - like the man from Del Monte, I say "yes". Let's both be very thankful we didn't end up with another Invisible War scenario, if Eidos and Squeenix want to make another Deus Ex - I'd look forward to it.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

My one major problem with the original was the aiming. Dear gods, the aiming. If you don't sit still with your gun pointed at a nearby pigeon for five seconds, you won't be able to hit the broadside of a barn, let alone anyone's head, at any distance, regardless of your weapon skill. Sure, Human Revolution going for a 'cover' button and iron sights kinda makes it more like all the other shooters, but neither of them is absolutely necessary to make halfway accurate shots.

Also, the darkness everywhere just made the entire game feel more gloomy than really necessary. Just my 2c.

 

[Bostur]

A few months ago I realized I never actually had played through DE, even though I bought it at release. My memories of the game was probably mostly from the demo, so I got a very positive surprise picking it up again.

I especially agree about the locations in DE being better. DE:HR tends to degenerate into corridor layout with a few shortcuts. Detroit gets close to the feeling of the original in this respect, but most other hubs have building layouts that feel too linear. I think this has a big impact on the gameplay and limits the potential of the game system.

DE's lack of a GPS type map also make the layouts more interesting. In DE:HR I found myself blindly following the marker very often, while in DE I need to pay much more attention to the surroundings.


Of course DE has its flaws as well. The animations and pathing of NPCs makes combat look very silly and the quality of the textures are pretty poor, also by the standards of games back then. It is easier to immerse myself in DE:HR, but it lacks some gameplay depth.

 

[ImprovizoR]

Original Deus Ex is amazing, yes. But I'm not really a nostalgic person. I judge things from a detached perspective, as if I just played both games for the first time. And I have to say, I enjoyed Deus Ex HR more than Deus Ex 1. I never replayed the original Deus Ex. But I'm already deep in my second playthrough of Deus Ex HR. And I will definitely play it again.

Of course, there are some things that Deus Ex HR does worse than Deus Ex 1, but same goes for Deus Ex 1. It does some things worse than HR. It all comes down to a simple fact that I find HR more fun than Deus Ex 1. And that's all that really counts.