Deus Ex: Invisible War – XB – Preview

It begins with the
destruction of Chicago. A weapon of horrific consequence is used and a secret
research facility, known as Tarsus, was seemingly the target. But why kill an
entire city to get to one group?

What is really going on? Who
is the bad guy? Trainees from the Tarsus facility are whisked away to the
research facility in Seattle, but from the moment your avatar awakens, it is
apparent that this place offers not much security.

Alex D. awakens to a
pounding that seems to be rocking the building. Dr. Nassif, who first appears as
a hologram, is not exactly forthcoming with answers. Only two trainees were able
to escape the devastation in Chicago – the avatar the player controls and
Billie. But the orange-haired Billie seems not to be exactly in step with
Tarsus.

Deus Ex: Invisible War has a
lot to live up to. It is the sequel to the June 2000 mega-hit Deus Ex, which was
a groundbreaking game in its own right. The former title was rife with
deception, twisting paths that challenged gamers to figure out who to trust and
why? A brother could turn in a heartbeat to be an enemy, or maybe your biggest
ally. But what Deus Ex taught was that nothing was absolutely certain in this
cyber world.

Eidos and Ion Storm have
taken up the challenge for the sequel – Invisible War. This Xbox title is slated
for release December 3. Rather than simply ease players into the world and
unveil the deception and twists slowly, the game jumps into the middle of it,
and bonks players over the head with doubts.

The game seemingly has two
opponents locked in a battle. There is The Order, which may be a world-church
organization, but may be something more sinister. And there is Tarsus, which is
a facility that does a lot of biomod research, has been known to use implants in
its agents/trainees and supposedly deals with covert ops on the anti-terrorist
front.

While that is all well and
good, the question quickly becomes who to trust.

What truly sets this title
apart is the peripheral action that evolves around your character. You will hear
background conversations that will give you clues and or lead you down another
track. That this game is rather non-linear is amazing. Yes, there are objectives
and goals, but you pace yourself and each objective may have several solutions.
And while this is a shooter title, you don’t always have to go in with guns or
other weapons blazing.

Early in the game, you are
told to head back to your apartment, and seek out an entrance to the bio-lab,
which was blasted in your wall. Ok, doesn’t look like a blast effect, rather a
cutout, carefully planned for your convenience. But as you enter the hallway to
your apartment, you meet a security guard who states there is an Order Seeker
(armed enemy) up ahead. You are given a choice of following the guard as a
backup (let him engage in the firefight), doing it yourself, or even using a
pipe system to avoid all confrontation.

You can enhance your
abilities with the biomods, and upgrade weapons. You can hack into systems,
bribe your way into unauthorized areas, use stealth and acquire superhuman
abilities. The interesting thing about the biomods is that they are area
specific but not multi-purpose. You can use a biomod to enhance your speed or
make you much more stealthy, but you can’t use it to do both.

Can one game be all things
to gamers when it comes to action? Invisible War certainly gives it a try.
However, it does not allow for multiplayer gaming. This is a single-player
action title which combines first-person shooter elements and role-playing for
an immersive, intriguing and addictive experience.

The graphics are very well
done and the game does have a lot of cutscenes to propel the storyline. The
musical score does a terrific job of generating the mood and the vocal acting is
very well done. The control elements have been kept simple enough to allow
players to jump right in and go with a minimum of time spent studying the
manual.

Deus Ex: Invisible War is a
wonderful excursion into futuristic corporate/terrorist warfare. If you are
looking for a shooter with intrigue, look no further than this title.