Ion Storm 's Deus Ex might look like any other mediocre first-person shooter. Based on the ageing Unreal engine, laden with gameplay clich s such as crates hiding ammunition and health packs, and afflicted by a number of problems, from sluggish performance to an inconsistent AI, unfavourable first impressions had quite a few people scratching their heads if this was really supposed to be Warren Spector's latest masterpiece.
Closer inspection tells a different story, however.
All of these elements work together to create perhaps the most convincing illusionary world yet seen in a computer game. The fa ade may be paper-thin in places but always manages to hold together. Still the game is so irresistibly addictive that it had me playing into the wee hours of the morning, just to see what's around the corner. Deus Ex presents a gloomy extrapolation of our status quo, similar to movies such as Blade Runner. The world of 2070 has been shaped by rapid technological progress provided by global corporations.