Deus Ex is Still (Mostly) Great After 20 Years | Retrospective

Ойындар

Deus Ex is probably the best immersive sim ever made...but the story is a little uncomfortable in 2020.
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Intro - 0:00
Making of - 2:27
Story - 11:28
Gameplay - 31:42
Map Design - 48:59
Conclusion - 1:04:14
#DeusEx #IonStorm #JCDenton #ImmersiveSim

Пікірлер: 1 000

  • @ChrisDavis_Games
    @ChrisDavis_Games4 жыл бұрын

    Here are the timestamps: Intro - 0:00 Making of - 2:27 Story - 11:28 Gameplay - 31:42 Map Design - 48:59 Conclusion - 1:04:14

  • @Gungrave123

    @Gungrave123

    4 жыл бұрын

    Chris, you are defiling this masterpiece with your pointless and incredibly biased rhetorics. Just... stop.

  • @Dermetsu

    @Dermetsu

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@Gungrave123 how dare he express his opinion on his own video.

  • @SirAdrian87

    @SirAdrian87

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@Dermetsu How dare people have an opinion of their own and not kiss the content creator's ass unconditionally.

  • @dark1810

    @dark1810

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@Dermetsu how dare gungrave express his opinion!

  • @Dermetsu

    @Dermetsu

    4 жыл бұрын

    Chris expressed his own opinion, and each and every one of you has made posts crying about it. And you all sound like robots while doing so.

  • @Indigo_Gaming
    @Indigo_Gaming4 жыл бұрын

    > Still (Mostly) Great... I'm not gonna sit here and listen to you badmouth the greatest...

  • @Ner0mancer

    @Ner0mancer

    2 жыл бұрын

    😂😂👍

  • @danielcalabrese5769

    @danielcalabrese5769

    2 жыл бұрын

    Nothing is perfect

  • @jasonmoyer

    @jasonmoyer

    2 жыл бұрын

    No mantling. I SHUT IT OFF RIGHT THERE. And then immediately reinstalled it.

  • @Elitistb616
    @Elitistb6164 жыл бұрын

    I found Anna's death on the plane annoying. I didn't kill her, she committed suicide by LAM. I shouldn't be guilt tripped because of her lack of explosive safety and low environmental awareness.

  • @jasonlescalleet5611

    @jasonlescalleet5611

    4 жыл бұрын

    Elitistb616 same here. I booby trapped the plane to take out the inevitable (to me not knowing the story) stream of baddies that i was sure was going to come in after me, Then anna shows up and sets off my mines.

  • @Elitistb616

    @Elitistb616

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@jasonlescalleet5611 Oh, glad I'm not the only one. I was just talking to the guy, then "Boom!" and the tech is yelling at me that I'd killed Anna.

  • @torreydonnell769

    @torreydonnell769

    3 жыл бұрын

    Hahahaha i never used mines except for droids and mechs

  • @unfa00

    @unfa00

    2 жыл бұрын

    She threw a LAM and took the blast during your playthrough?

  • @Elitistb616

    @Elitistb616

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@unfa00 Oh, no, I threw the LAM. But its her fault she walked onto it. There was no way I could have known she'd walk onto an obvious LAM on the floor. Maybe she should have knocked.

  • @xanaxodgrindcorelover9191
    @xanaxodgrindcorelover91914 жыл бұрын

    id argue that the story is uncomfortable for the right reasons

  • @akivak4660

    @akivak4660

    4 жыл бұрын

    Just wait when he discover Plague Inc.

  • @torreydonnell769

    @torreydonnell769

    3 жыл бұрын

    Choose your own adventure game content prediction of reality 20 years ago. Yeah best game of all time. And i hated choose your own adventure books and games back then. Cyberpunk 2077 looks promising but i don't have time for games really.

  • @megamike15

    @megamike15

    3 жыл бұрын

    i get it. 2020 and all that. it's why i kinda don't want to even touch police quest anymore due to recent events. but deus ex had no idea this was gonna happen.

  • @torreydonnell769

    @torreydonnell769

    3 жыл бұрын

    I think the game developers did know. The human 2.0 project was started a couple years before this game was released... and i think they know biblical theology. what we are seeing is end game for satan and hes about to lose to the creator of all. Sky party

  • @GymBossAniki

    @GymBossAniki

    3 жыл бұрын

    Agreed. Just because something makes someone uncomfortable doesnt mean its bad. If we never felt uncomfortable, we would never have our beliefs questioned or revised to understand our world better. I also love how dismissive chris is towards the grim simularities in the plot to irl either to say "yeah, it exists. Everyone knows, who cares" or "only people I disagee with/dislike and call names will ever gleam insight from the simularities". Especially when he disregards the illuminati's existance is just a "anti Semitic stand in" when its more of a stand in for governments, companies, or the such who pull crap to get more money or influence (a point more impartially and scholarly pointed out by Ross Scott's vid).

  • @Madvillain47
    @Madvillain474 жыл бұрын

    I'd argue the story in Deus Ex, especially in its world building is some of the most timeless parts of the game. Themes of terrorism, consolidation and surveillance the game covers only became far more prevalent in our world as time passes.

  • @khankhomrad8855

    @khankhomrad8855

    4 жыл бұрын

    The only timeless theme there is consolidation. All of the other you mentioned aren't timeless, but rather modern day consideration. They will most likely continue to be important from now on,, but that doesn't exactly make them timeless as there is a whole lot of TIME behind us.

  • @Chaosian

    @Chaosian

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@khankhomrad8855 Timeless in the sense of being relevant to what we were experiencing in the 90s, to what we are experiencing in the 20's. There has never been a time when the topics of the game were not prophetic. He does not mean timeless as in 'the content of game will be relevant up to and beyond heat death of the universe'.

  • @fuzzydunlop7928

    @fuzzydunlop7928

    4 жыл бұрын

    They existed during that time - the devs just read the writing on the wall that John Q. Citizen ignored. Ultimate Davis here seems to agree with you, that the themes have become so relevant that it's uncomfortable. Sometimes it's good to feel uncomfortable.

  • @rexnihilum7822

    @rexnihilum7822

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Bwa Bwa Yoshi MGS2 argued on the merits of modern day social engineering before it was even as widescale as it is

  • @CliffjunglingNagaSiren

    @CliffjunglingNagaSiren

    4 жыл бұрын

    not to mention how prophetic it was in predicting the aftermath of 9/11

  • @rulfus7
    @rulfus73 жыл бұрын

    JC doesn't have to betray UNATCO on Paul's word only, he directs you to a heavily fortified vault where you can find evidence of their corruption.

  • @kevinhayes3672
    @kevinhayes36723 жыл бұрын

    “I’m constantly amazed at how accurate our view of the world ended up being. Frankly it freaks me out a bit,” Spector wrote. Later he continued, “Interestingly, I’m not sure I’d make Deus Ex today. The conspiracy theories we wrote about are now part of the real world. I don’t want to support that.”

  • @matthewdietzen6708

    @matthewdietzen6708

    2 жыл бұрын

    I played through the game pretty exhaustively, and there are enough cultural artifacts scattered around that strongly suggest that one or more people smelled a rat about what current events were actually about and where they were actually heading. Of course, "fiction" provides the perfect plausible deniability for getting a political message out.

  • @esotericbrain2689

    @esotericbrain2689

    6 ай бұрын

    Yeah he's a bitch. He hit the nail on the head and got embarrassed and scared and bitched out

  • @consumer1073

    @consumer1073

    4 ай бұрын

    remember spector is a j

  • @esotericbrain2689

    @esotericbrain2689

    4 ай бұрын

    @@consumer1073 based

  • @consumer1073

    @consumer1073

    4 ай бұрын

    @@esotericbrain2689 everything in deus ex came true because you were being told what would happen, of course they wouldn't make it now because our window to change things has long been closed. they call it the revelation of the m*thod

  • @beantowncrocodile8327
    @beantowncrocodile83274 жыл бұрын

    I don't know why you would think a deus ex nowadays would celebrate antivaxxers and flat earthers, the first game just uses those conspiracies as decoration for their story, it doesn't actually want you to believe aliens or lizard people exist. Warren even says in the panel from which you've edited clips into this video that he just took all the ridiculous conspiracies he could and imagined a world where they were all real. The game does unironically have the spirit of a conspiracy theorist, but I think there's a pretty obvious line between when the game is having fun with Men In Black, plasma guns, and aliens, and when the game is going on a long dialogue about how corporations manipulate the government and media in order to create a self substaining loop of profit and control. There's a reason the NSF commander at the beginning quotes tax rates instead of eye witness accounts at Roswell.

  • @jeremyrobertson7267

    @jeremyrobertson7267

    3 жыл бұрын

    I don't think he said anything of the kind, actually. It's all in the language and he used the term' ridiculous conspiracies" and left out the dismissive and decisive word of 'theorist' used to discredit the truth. It's not a mistake or a coincidence, or even a poorly worded phrase, it's the extreme opposite in fact! He just said it was ridiculous, which is true b j t doesn't say anything or even imply that it wasn't still true. You're seeing what ya wanna see and 'conspiracy theorists' is a cia term to keep people from exposing them, y o ure j u st helping them with their scumbag bullshit

  • @Knifegash

    @Knifegash

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@jeremyrobertson7267 "'conspiracy theorists' is a CIA term" You're gonna wanna brush up on that one fam, your nose will follow the truth!

  • @megamike15

    @megamike15

    3 жыл бұрын

    if human revolution and man kind divided showed. deus ex should have just stayed in the early 2000's. not due to content but them just not being as good games.

  • @kuribojim3916

    @kuribojim3916

    3 жыл бұрын

    I don't think he's really saying that the game "celebrates" those specific (more modern) conspiracy theories. He's just saying that when you're a teenager, conspiracy theories can be quite a bit of fun. But when you grow up, it's easier to see that they can be quite harmful - and they're not nearly as interesting, anyway. So it's more about how growing up can change the way you view (or enjoy) a classic game.

  • @JustSiouxMe

    @JustSiouxMe

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@kuribojim3916 So growing up reduces your ability to differentiate an obvious work of fiction from actual crackpots who believe in similar conspiracies? You do know that there have been conspiracy theories about the Illuminati and Majestic 12 for decades before Deus Ex released right? The reason the final chapter of the game is in Area 51 is because its Majestic 12 who are purportedly supposed to have recovered the UFO that people believed crashed in Roswell.

  • @deetoxDK
    @deetoxDK4 жыл бұрын

    Rating the story lower for current events is quite weak. i would actually think that it's a big plus on that behalf. that the game actually portrays a futuristic world that was incabable of controling the spread despite their technology and knowledge on human enhancement.

  • @nboy7

    @nboy7

    Жыл бұрын

    Agreed, that was a woke "in the moment" take. He looks really stupid 2 years later.

  • @borekstvorek

    @borekstvorek

    Жыл бұрын

    He has a lot of moments like that

  • @AVI-lh6rm

    @AVI-lh6rm

    9 ай бұрын

    "I have to give Fahrenheit 451 a lower rating because it's getting closer to our reality and I don't like it."

  • @FSVR54

    @FSVR54

    7 ай бұрын

    he has a lot of shit opinions to be honest. When he said the new characters were ok/good in Baldurs Gate EE I stopped taking him seriously @@nboy7

  • @doalwa
    @doalwa4 жыл бұрын

    Deus Ex. Also known as: 2020: The Game.

  • @nikobellic570

    @nikobellic570

    4 жыл бұрын

    I was hoping for a 20th anniversary remake from Square Enix, but not irl

  • @doalwa

    @doalwa

    4 жыл бұрын

    Niko Bellic yeah, Square Enix really overdid it a bit with that 20th anniversary special, didn’t they?!?

  • @BigC60

    @BigC60

    4 жыл бұрын

    Need Corona Antidote but communists keep it for themselves in China

  • @D00000T

    @D00000T

    3 жыл бұрын

    still no ambrosia vaccine though and the conspiracy theories this time around kind of suck compare to what's going on in deus ex

  • @Scorp006

    @Scorp006

    3 жыл бұрын

    Lol, covid is totally grey death light.

  • @tomtas9526
    @tomtas95263 жыл бұрын

    As many others have pointed out, I can't believe how utterly insane (not to mention irrelevant) the critique on the story is. Not only is this a work of fiction (you don't need to believe in the Force to enjoy Star Wars, do you?), but if anything, the themes DE tackles (terrorism, a distrustful global political climate, a heavily polarized world wherein huge corporations control ever more aspects of our lives, and so on) make the game stand out as being still relevant, and in some areas downright prophetic, seeing as how it was released in 2000. In the end, though, not only is Deus Ex not a political game by any means (but rather a sci-fi / cyberpunk story that happens to delve into a few good old-fashioned conspiracy theories like the Illuminati and Freemasons etc), it's also about so much more -- the human condition, artificial intelligence and its possible role in mankind's future, identity, and so forth. In general, I absolutely don't understand how DE's story could be seen as "not having aged well" because conspiracy theories abound, and most especially not why this might make someone feel uncomfortable. Novels like Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 might feel a tad "uncomfortable" to read too now, as they seemingly predicted a fair amount of things we see in society today, but to criticise them for it would simply be ludicrous, as in effect it only makes them relevant and poignant even today. Wholly apart from all that, in the end, DE's story (and especially its execution, its reach, its characters, its massive attention to detail in its worldbuilding) remain something to be marvelled at. Who can forget the dialogues with Lucius deBeers, the Morpheus AI, or characters like Anna Navarre and Gunther Hermann? The curveball it threw at you when encountering the terrorist leader at the top of the Statue of Liberty, who made you question who and what you worked for (rather than being the boss-fight I think most players were expecting)? Or even the 'Jacob's Shadow' and 'The Man Who Was Thursday' novels you kept encountering throughout the game, whose story snippets always seemed to be so fitting to where you were in the game? That's not to mention the mood of the music, which set the tone perfectly through every segment of the experience. I realise I'm veering off course with these things, beyond the boundaries of the story in itself, but suffice to say that Deus Ex has one of the greatest and most wonderfully executed science-fiction storylines I've ever seen in a game. How anyone might twist it into having potential politically-incorrect overtones twenty years later, then call it uncomfortable and indeed criticise it for not having aged well despite the game obviously being mainly sci-fi at its heart, is beyond me. For the record; I'm not much into one-world-government conspiracy theories (fascinated me as a teen though), but all I see in Deus Ex is a fantastic SF tale that was developed to perfection, which happened to contain elements which, sadly, proved to become ever more relevant to our present-day society. Uncomfortable and at times a bit spooky for how much it "got right", way before the game's setting of the mid-2050s? Sure! A relevant point of criticism? Not at all.

  • @AntiNihilist
    @AntiNihilist4 жыл бұрын

    i don't understand his uncomfortableness with the conspiracy storyline. It was always supposed to be uncomfortable. It's the source of this dystopian society...

  • @dirtydard4870

    @dirtydard4870

    4 жыл бұрын

    He can hear the truth scratching and clawing at his door, but he won't open it because it would destroy him

  • @austinthefreak

    @austinthefreak

    4 жыл бұрын

    I think he's talking more about how conspiracy theorist culture has evolved since the game released, rather than the conspiracy storyline itself. When this game was released, conspiracy theories were just mere entertainment. It was a bunch of internet nerds spitballing crazy ideas, not really taking them super seriously. Now people are so absorbed in conspiracy theories that they have a core part of their deeply held political views, which is a serious problem that has enabled a lot of regressive, anti-intellectual movements and policies. So in short: the game is fantastic and its intentions were harmless. But replaying it in 2020 makes it feel more like "Infowars: The Game" which is a little awkward.

  • @BigC60

    @BigC60

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@austinthefreak Please allow me to say something that may prove disturbing, your belief that everyone is obsessed with conspiracy theories is false. You may think that crazy theories can influence people's political choices, that is wrong, it is propaganda aimed at the other side, I am European and my country is governed by the left, but even still people say that the opposition is "mentally ill" and is completely brain washed by flat earthers and the like. I guess it is the same in your country. You should understand that people are smarter than that. You may even think that democracy is only possible when people are "educated" and when the government control the media so that moral standards are respected, this belief is dangerous in my opinion and everything that "dehumanize" the opposition is bad. You can see that the left and the right can use the same wrong tactics and usually it leads to bad things.

  • @austinthefreak

    @austinthefreak

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@BigC60 I think you are misrepresenting what I said. I don't think "everyone" is obsessed with conspiracy theories. It is definitely a vocal minority situation and I acknowledge that. However, conspiracy theories have a much bigger impact on my country than they once did, mostly for the worse. It's a very real issue because it's now being weaponized in mainstream politics from our own government officials. Some "conspiracy theories" are a good example of citizens simply searching for truth where it is clearly being obstructed (such as the theories surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's death), but the majority of popular conspiracy theories are more on the level of pizzagate, QAnon, flat earth, anti-vax, etc. These kinds of theories are not organic or warranted. They are a result of astroturfing, misunderstood satire, or just plain ignorance.

  • @BigC60

    @BigC60

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@austinthefreak What you say is just a belief, based on ZERO evidence, it's not rational. You probably want to believe that because it makes you feel superior , but in the end you sound like you live in a fantasy universe.

  • @MidnightSt
    @MidnightSt4 жыл бұрын

    "Especially the freedom to solve problems in many ways, something that few games were doing in the nineties *and ever fewer games do nowadays* . " fixed that for you.

  • @aburrki6732

    @aburrki6732

    2 жыл бұрын

    there are plenty of games nowadays that let you have many choices, just fucking play those instead of yearning for the good old days. deus ex wasn't mainstream back then either, it shouldn't be hard to look outside the biggest games to find exactly what you want to play

  • @MidnightSt

    @MidnightSt

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@aburrki6732 i am sorry, has my freedom to express my thoughts angered you?

  • @ehrtdaz7186

    @ehrtdaz7186

    2 жыл бұрын

    ever heard of prey? dishonored? new deus ex games? whole new hitman trilogy?

  • @davidsentell1226

    @davidsentell1226

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@MidnightSt Damn son, they goin hard on your ass.

  • @MICKEYrenraw
    @MICKEYrenraw4 жыл бұрын

    i don't know if it says more about me or you that you missed a lot of the nuances in gameplay elements, like the threshold damage for doors, or even cameras, for example, at rifles Master you can deal enough damage with 1 shot to destroy cameras with a sniper rifle, with melee at Master you can break through the threshold of doors that have a strength of 50 with the dragons tooth sword, which is most destructible doors in the game. Melee is greatly the stronger option in the early game because of how bad you are at shooting then, but quickly falls off as your shooting skills increase and so does the enemies damage output. You mention the assault rifle was horrible, it's actually only horrible un-modded and with low skills, once you reach that 100% accuracy while moving threshold it becomes broken, shotguns on the other hand are trash by comparison, slower dps, and much MUCH shorter range, not to mention the assault rifle has the built in grenade launcher which is good enough for light and medium mechs if you don't want to carry the hefty gep gun also gep gun sniping with it's lock on function never gets old :D you didn't mention the health medical or energy maintenance bots that also break the game, having infinite health or energy at hand when those bots are nearby, and with a health regen mod, the energy bot also functions as a health bot, or the spy drone when near an energy bot is essentially infinite emp grenades as they explode with emp damage on detonation. Or the flame thrower, how setting someone on fire with a single tap immediately renders that enemy useless as they can't shoot while on fire (bar the commandos) or the mini crossbow which is actually incredibly strong early game, line up you aim, head shot, then walk away as the tranc does the job speed running jumpy legs is hilarious I'm sure theres a lot more that i could cover, but as i said, i don't know if it says more about me that i know these things or you that you didn't mention them :D (also i could have sworn in a patch the power recirculation mod auto activates when you enable any other active mod)

  • @rosodudersd260

    @rosodudersd260

    4 жыл бұрын

    Two corrections: -The Dragon's Tooth Sword needs Master in Low-Tech and Tech 2 in Combat Strength (or Advanced and Tech 4, or some other combination with the Targeting aug) to break damage thresholds of 50. The reason is that it does 20 damage in 5 separate hits, which all count individually when going up against a damage threshold. So you need at least +150% damage, while Master weapon skills only provide a +100% damage bonus. -The Power Recirculator never auto-activated in vanilla, as all augmentations are require manual activation. You're thinking of Biomod or GMDX. But yes, there's a ton more he could have mentioned in gameplay discussion, both good and bad. In fact, he wouldn't be able to get through it all if the entire hour long video had been spent on gameplay!

  • @MICKEYrenraw

    @MICKEYrenraw

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@rosodudersd260 well spotted, yeah you're right :) also the Deus Ex death match patch :D who thought that was a good idea :D was fun tho :)

  • @cinnamontoast1586

    @cinnamontoast1586

    3 жыл бұрын

    hey, thank you this information is pretty useful for me since im on my first playthrough

  • @MICKEYrenraw

    @MICKEYrenraw

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@cinnamontoast1586 also i forgot, sticking mines on walls allows you to use them as makeshift stepping stones :)

  • @lovrepetric

    @lovrepetric

    3 жыл бұрын

    you can destroy cameras with a sniper rifle?????? i've been through this game 10 times...

  • @NicheGames
    @NicheGames3 жыл бұрын

    "but the story is a little uncomfortable in 2020"... lol indeed it is. And even so more in 2021 :)

  • @hironshy5337

    @hironshy5337

    Жыл бұрын

    2022 even more than 2021 . . . HELLO 2023

  • @thesummerofmark
    @thesummerofmark4 жыл бұрын

    This game was prescient on so many different levels. Deus Ex predicted meme wars 20 freaking years ago. You get this information from one of the terminals at UNATCO. It really makes you wonder how much of it was a case of the writers doing extensive research, or them just throwing all the crazy conspiracy theories imaginable in the game and seeing what’ll stick.

  • @JZStudiosonline

    @JZStudiosonline

    4 жыл бұрын

    MGS2 did it shockingly well too.

  • @morgan79737

    @morgan79737

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@JZStudiosonline MGS2's GW conversation touches more on cancel-culture, safe spaces and social media than Deus Ex does with political conspiracy and societal commentary, imo. Especially with "Rose" and her line about "Everyone withdraws into their own small gated community, afraid of a larger forum. They stay inside their little ponds, leaking whatever "truth" suits them into the growing cesspool of society at large." and is followed up by Colonel Campbell's AI stating: "The different cardinal truths neither clash nor mesh. No one is invalidated, but nobody is right."

  • @Exigentable

    @Exigentable

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@morgan79737 literally my favorite chunk of that whole conversation. Its nail on head accurate to the current climate, with the resurgence of PC culture, as you mentioned, being especially toxic.

  • @BobExcalibur

    @BobExcalibur

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@morgan79737 Equally that sentiment echoes the way that the powers that be have requested greater net censorship, which has been seen as a way of increasing societal/cultural control and curbing the exposure of actual conspiracies before the public become widely aware of them (Regard the destruction of Wikileaks over the last decade). A lot of cultural capital has been invested in making the public more accepting of censorship. Ask anyone what they think of the media and they'll tell you "Oh I don't trust them, they're always lying." but equally if you ask them for their opinion on a controversial public figure they are only aware of through media osmosis, and they'll say, "Oh yeah, they're evil right?".

  • @JZStudiosonline

    @JZStudiosonline

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@morgan79737 The guy just said Deus Ex predicted some things. As far as I'm aware aliens, area 51, and the Illuminati are all non issues. I think MGS2 got much closer, despite the fact that it's a game about giant fucking robots and nanomachines. Though it is fun to look at stuff in retrospect. Ironically, my first time ever watching Blade Runner was in November of 2019. Like "Holy shit! This movie is happening RIGHT NOW!"

  • @uuuibeubeo
    @uuuibeubeo3 жыл бұрын

    Conspiracy theories in modern times are quite scary, but the fact that the game is about them is largely what makes it interesting. It's a thing that needs to be talked about. It didn't age poorly at all; it became even more relevant. And it goes both ways: I grew up surrounded by a lot of pseudo scientific contrarian quackery, but have this game to thank for making me think critically about what I was being subjected to. It could be either Infowars: The Game, or Infowars: The Game (The Satire) depending on your mood

  • @TayTayMakesBeats

    @TayTayMakesBeats

    3 жыл бұрын

    It would be wrong to write off Deus Ex' story for "glorifying conspiracy" when there's so much truth in there. Stuff like Qanon (which I believe is a disinfo op) and Alex Jones paint the public image of conspiracy theory (or questioning power) as inherently crazy. We have CEOs and execs being given governmental positions over things that directly benefit their business, lobbying, high level corruption like the 2008 crash going unpunished, the patriot act, the rise of PMCs, bipartisan support for the rich, Epstein, the CIA toppling democratic governments for trade and resources (for like 70 years,) the media keeping half of the population hysteric over everything but the reality of our corporate overlords etc. No doubt there are lunatic conspiracy nuts out there, I've met some, but just because a lunatic said it doesn't mean it's wrong. Alex Jones is a grifter and a madman and yet in between all the accusations of baby eating, crisis actors and devil worship he'll often say something completely based (and true) that you'd never hear on the "news." Basically the dangers and consequences of conspiracy theorism have been used as a smokescreen for the reality of the corporate oligarchy, keeping us complacent to quell any kind of revolt or calls for reform.

  • @aburrki6732

    @aburrki6732

    2 жыл бұрын

    in what way does this game satirize conspiracy theories lul. they're presented at face value

  • @JustSiouxMe

    @JustSiouxMe

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@aburrki6732 It doesn't satirize anything. It merely uses the concept of conspiracy theories to tell a story, that is never presented as anything other than fiction. The existence of 9/11 truthers, antivaxxers and infowars/Alex Jones doesn't detract or make the story uncomfortable. There have been crackpot conspiracy theories for decades, if there hadn't been the game probably would never have been made, or at least it would be very different.

  • @kingstarscream320
    @kingstarscream3203 жыл бұрын

    Game is a damn masterpiece. Makes you feel enlightened after finishing it.

  • @AmariMarvelous

    @AmariMarvelous

    Жыл бұрын

    I never got the chance to play this game although I've heard how influential it was and still is but I've played Human Revolution and Mankind Divided and I enjoyed both games but I might give HR the edge but MD fixes some the issues from HR that made it more accessible and the graphics helped alot.

  • @benkai343434
    @benkai3434342 жыл бұрын

    the fact that the story was able to make you feel this uncomfortable given the current situation is EXACTLY why this game is so timeless.

  • @nboy7

    @nboy7

    Жыл бұрын

    Yeah this was a smooth brain take on the vaxxing scenario by him. Agree or not with how the game portrayed it, it IS accurate and thats a big plus for the games story writing.

  • @alexscriabin

    @alexscriabin

    Жыл бұрын

    @@nboy7 no it's not. covid wasn't artificially manufactured by Pfizer or China (or whatever conspiracy you think is "accurate" and "not smooth brained").

  • @Don11037

    @Don11037

    Жыл бұрын

    @@alexscriabin it was man made

  • @BinBinBinBinBinBinBinBin
    @BinBinBinBinBinBinBinBin3 жыл бұрын

    I feel like the story has aged, really well, I feel like it's still a good commentary, about how the modern world operates and the unfathomable secrets kept by Elites, I genuinely feel like it's never left Prevalence, and could fit back in 2000, as well as in 2020

  • @TheSuperQuail
    @TheSuperQuail3 жыл бұрын

    I applaud your efforts with this longform retrospective but it felt like you didn't fully understand some of the story elements and what it was trying to do. You also mention how 'current events' make you feel uncomfirtable but 9/11 happened just over a year after the game's realease --- conspiracy is in Deus Ex's blood.

  • @SuperMagicNinjaBunny
    @SuperMagicNinjaBunny2 жыл бұрын

    I think your takes on a lot of this aged worse in 1-2 years than this game did in over 2 decades

  • @kacperprzysiezny3185
    @kacperprzysiezny31854 жыл бұрын

    Anti-Conspiracy, huh so Chris is Anti Ross Game Dungeon.

  • @DetlevvanLoenhout

    @DetlevvanLoenhout

    4 жыл бұрын

    Well, differences of opinion make for interesting discussion. I don't think Chris is Anti-Ross, just because their interests don't align on this specific subject.

  • @kacperprzysiezny3185

    @kacperprzysiezny3185

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@DetlevvanLoenhout It's a joke.

  • @Exigentable

    @Exigentable

    4 жыл бұрын

    I love Game Dungeon

  • @BobExcalibur

    @BobExcalibur

    4 жыл бұрын

    Ross has always been honest about his position of a sceptic against power and never being comfortable withing the corporate system. Chris is honest that he has acted as an accountant and lawyer in servitude to the corporate system. Inevitably one of them was going to come down on the side of putting more faith in the public to make their own decisions about what media and corporations want them to think, while the other would come to the opposite conclusion.

  • @fuzzydunlop7928

    @fuzzydunlop7928

    4 жыл бұрын

    Ross made that a little while ago, things have changed a bit - that said I didn't get a "pro-conspiracy" vibe from what Ross said, more of an anti-authority/oligarchy sentiment which shouldn't be confused.

  • @earl2461
    @earl24614 жыл бұрын

    In terms of Conspiracy Theories, I used to think like you do. I would ask this simple question to debunk any Conspiracy Theory, which is "If true, who has the money and the power to pull off such an operation?". Then I learned that Central Banks around the World are PRIVATELY owned, controlled and/or operated. I also learned how Fractional Reserve Banking works. Together, that answered the Q of "Who has the money and power". I am an engineer by training/education. Then, from a scientific/engineering perspective, I did research and tried to debunk many of the Conspiracy Theories I have been hearing. Instead of disproving them, I found many are true. Many are false (such as UFOs, Aliens, etc.), but many of the disturbing ones are true. Anyway, my efforts to debunk Conspiracy Theories have led down a Rabbit Hole that is truly frightening. Just to add clarification: I am AGAINST the Private Central Banking SYSTEM. It does not matter who is on top. Eliminating the people on top does not solve the World's problems if the SYSTEM remains in place. It is the SYSTEM that needs to be eliminated.

  • @itsarchie1261

    @itsarchie1261

    4 жыл бұрын

    Fractional reserve banking is crazy stuff. Unfortunately observing _who_ the vast majority of those private owners of the banks, or controls of the Federal Reserve, or came up with the ideal of fractional reserve banking in the first place, is considered hate speech now. Funny how that works.

  • @earl2461

    @earl2461

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@itsarchie1261 Good point, I should add a Clarification to my original comment.

  • @wind2536

    @wind2536

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@itsarchie1261 It truly is masterful work. Any and all discussion can be shut down by being called a racist.

  • @CelestialArboretum

    @CelestialArboretum

    3 жыл бұрын

    Once you understand how global banking works, how the UN operates, and how almost all information now passes through 7 global media/social media corporations before it reaches the public it becomes really easy to see how a global elite could feasibly accomplish some sinister things while keeping the wool pulled over most people's eyes. I think the manufactured chaos of 2020 (a pivotal election year in the U.S. hmm....) should be a wake up call.

  • @earl2461

    @earl2461

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@CelestialArboretum The "Wool was pulled over my eyes" for most of my life. I wish I learned the truth sooner in my life.

  • @bkr_vids
    @bkr_vids3 жыл бұрын

    You can break your fall with the leg augmention that allows you to jump higher. Also, technically he meets 4 AIs, Daedalus, Icarus, Morpheus and Helios.

  • @FoxAzureOfficial
    @FoxAzureOfficial4 жыл бұрын

    Saving Paul is simple. Either try to escape the hotel via the FRONT door, or get taken down by the UNATCO troops in the hotel. DO NOT escape via the fire escape window if you want to save Paul

  • @km099

    @km099

    3 жыл бұрын

    I think you have to stay inside the hotel to save Paul, don't exit at all. If you kill everyone inside the hotel and make it to Battery Park, Paul still dies

  • @SimoExMachina2

    @SimoExMachina2

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@km099 If you exist through the front door or "die" trying , Paul lives. Exiting through the window, even if all the troopers have been taken care of, means Paul still dies. It is just simple logic the game uses to determine the outcome.

  • @imberny
    @imberny3 жыл бұрын

    I always assumed the title was a reference to "Deus Ex Machina", but in a more literal sense than simply the story-telling cliché, especially because of the Helios ending. After JC merges with the AI, he talks about bringing enlightenment to the masses, and to top it off you get Voltaire's quote "If God didn't exist, it would be necessary to create it." That ending makes for a very literal "Deus Ex Machina", since it magically "solves" society by way of cyborg Jesus.

  • @nyktophylax8855
    @nyktophylax88554 жыл бұрын

    Just a note from a classicist : "Deus ex" (without machina) can't mean "out of God", which would be "e(x) Deo" or "a(b) Deo" (from God), because latin uses declensions (is that the word you use in English ?) So I always thought it was a reference to the expression, since to be the god from the machine is the objective of the antagonist, and is something you can choose to do. Anyway, very good work as always ! I just get nitpicky when it's about my job. ^^

  • @khankhomrad8855

    @khankhomrad8855

    4 жыл бұрын

    Yes, declensions.

  • @BobExcalibur

    @BobExcalibur

    4 жыл бұрын

    I'm surprised that a person who has worked in law wouldn't make a correct call on the latin grammar. Then again, tax law is a different animal from Latin legislature.

  • @tydendurler9574

    @tydendurler9574

    4 жыл бұрын

    Thanks. One of many points where he thinks he knows what he's talking about.

  • @nyktophylax8855

    @nyktophylax8855

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@tydendurler9574 I genuinely don't know what you are talking about. He seems reasonable enough on the rest.

  • @SahiPie

    @SahiPie

    4 жыл бұрын

    Ludovic Thed I think he might be talking about in general. Not this video specifically. I like his content well enough but he has a tendency to make anywhere from minor to quite major errors generally at least once in most of his videos. Stuff that either could’ve been averted had he done a little more research in the topic to outright completely misunderstanding or misinterpreting something.

  • @GymBossAniki
    @GymBossAniki3 жыл бұрын

    Decent video but when he starts talking about the story, its more worth while to just watch Ross Scott's coverage of it in his video for that aspect. Some of the other parts of chris' video have incorrect info/insight but the story is best understood thru personal experience and the analysis Ross did as Chris really dropped the ball (especially when he starts shying away from modern day relevance in the story details and starts injecting "this is insensitive/only people I dislike politically see anything in this" ) when stuff involving how corperations, news, economics, and the military industrial complex relate between in game and irl. I dont mind some political details/knowledge in games/analysis to give it a insightful angle but the way Chris handled it here and some of his other videos just feels like him flaunting "im politically correct" for a minute or so instead of actually staying relevant/informative like the rest of the video pretty much is.

  • @kuribojim3916

    @kuribojim3916

    3 жыл бұрын

    I’m not sure you’re using “politically correct”, er, correctly here. 🤔 I don’t see political correctness here, I see a discussion on the increasing pervasiveness of conspiracy theories, and their pernicious effects (especially some of the underlying prejudices associated with some of them). Admittedly, some younger conspiracy theorists may not understand or be aware of those historical links.

  • @-Alluvium-
    @-Alluvium-2 жыл бұрын

    " The ending of the story had the protagonist, JC Denton merging with the AI to combine an incredible intelligence with *Human Compassion* " *Murders an innocent man in cold blood* -What a shame.

  • @Ashkimbo
    @Ashkimbo4 жыл бұрын

    Incoming wall of text: >the shooting is terrible and always was Literally just get better at the game. >Deus Ex is a world run by corporations It's run by individuals, not organisations - the organisations are tools the individuals use to maintain their power. >conspiracy theories bad because of these strawmen examples!!! Research the history of the term "conspiracy theory" and how it was used to discredit those that question authority. The examples you've given are actually examples of this, in my opinion. >planning to do a series retrospective Don't forget to cover Deus Ex: Frozen Hell >may give the crown to invisible war Objectively wrong opinion >Game models looked inferior to half life I really have to disagree with this - the textures in vanilla half-life were flat and blurry. Not to mention the mouth animations. >Paul could've told JC not to kill the NSF soldiers He does, in a way - he repeatedly tells JC to choose the non-lethal approach. If he had been more explicit, he would've given away that he was working with them - and JC might not have joined him. >Triad war feels pointless I agree that it doesn't feel 100% relevant at the time, but I believe (just conjecture, I have no evidence) that this quest gives you a reason to explore Hong Kong before moving on. If Tong just sent you straight to Versalife, you could easily miss half of the map, and Hong Kong is probably the best "hub" map in the game. >Illuminati ending sucks Yes >Tong Ending best Yes >Alex Denton This is an interesting one - how did they get the clone out of Area 51? There's a theory that the "Alex Denton" we see in the tank is just a hologram, which makes some sense. >Deus Ex/Machina name When I first saw the cover art, I understood it as "of God" as you did, but wasn't really sure how that fit into the game - the helicopters in the background seemed to imply that the light JC was caught in was a searchlight from one of the choppers and I didn't even consider that it could be a holy light - in my defense I was 14. The ending of the game certainly fits Deus Ex Machina both intentionally - with "God from the machine" referring to creating a new God out of a machine - and unintentionally, with the ability to choose whatever you want right at the end, which feels a bit weak. Much better than Human Revolution when you just choose a button to press. >Walter Simons "Do you have even a passing interest in remembering my name?" >he doesn't save Paul To be fair I do like that this is optional - the fight to save him is tough as nails, and it feels rewarding if you actually manage to beat it. >Killing Anna early is meaningless You have to lie directly to your superiors when they call you up on this, and that did make me feel tense at the time. I think this worked well. >Corporations rule real life as well Corporations are dependent on governments to exist, so how can they rule everything? It's in the definition of the word Corporation - it allows people to not be personally financially responsible for making bad decisions in business - this would not be possible without a government and legal system that supports it. >apologizing for helping companies pay less tax again, this is a symptom of the system that encourages this behavior, so you can't take responsibility for it. If you were a CFO that purposefully paid more tax than the bare minimum, the shareholders could fire you for not doing your job properly. >Deus Ex champions conspiracy theories In the game, they're not theories. If you choose to compare them to real life, that's your decision, not the games. >the illuminati is too similar to anti-semitic theories The fact that you drew this comparison seems to suggest that you're more concerned about appearing anti-Semitic than you are about questioning authority >Conspiracy theories are harmful even when they don't encourage violence Yeah just believe everything you're told I guess >Flat earth theory is a refuge for angry white men You haven't really explained the relevance of race in this point? >the algorithm promotes anger I do agree with this - I think that social media in general has tapped into a human desire to be outraged and angered, and this (purposefully or otherwise) ends up making you more likely to see posts you disagree with >The virus theory isn't fun because it's real now I've got some bad news - this isn't the only thing in Deus Ex that's uncomfortably similar to real life. >Killing DeBeers has no tangible consequence Since it's completely optional, it felt like I made this moral decision not as the JC Denton character, or to progress the game in a certain way, but as me. I liked this, but I see your point too. >footsteps sounds suck yes >JC can't jump Should've picked the good leg augmentation >you can't distract guards you can throw things that make sounds and it will distract them. Also firing flare darts will do this, and you'll probably keep hold of the crossbow if you choose to play stealthy. >Sending the broadcast at the NSF HQ triggers the alarm I thought this worked really well for the reasons you described. This was a scary moment to me, and possibly one of the best twists in the game - Walton Simons has been watching you fall for his trap the entire time. He then tells you that all those armed guys you walked past on your way in are now coming to kill you. It really makes you think "oh fuck" >played the vanilla game for the retrospective Nice one. It wouldn't be much of a retrospective if you played a conversion mod like Revision that came out a couple of years ago! Especially since it changes the levels. Fuck Revision. I did like this video and I don't mean to come off as mean spirited in any of the points I've mentioned, but I really do disagree with a lot of your points around the plot and conspiracy. Still, I'm looking forward to your videos on the rest of the series.

  • @sevenkaylive

    @sevenkaylive

    4 жыл бұрын

    Man that's a long post

  • @Ashkimbo

    @Ashkimbo

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@sevenkaylive dialog mode was set to verbose

  • @leonardofernandez6488

    @leonardofernandez6488

    4 жыл бұрын

    You have destroyed this video. Thank you.

  • @Jesion-kv9tu

    @Jesion-kv9tu

    4 жыл бұрын

    >the fight to save Paul is tough as nails Bruh just lock yourself in a secret closet and wait

  • @Ashkimbo

    @Ashkimbo

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@Jesion-kv9tu Does Paul not die if you do this? Last time I played was GMDX so not necessarily a good representation of how the game plays. I suppose I didn't consider hiding because I usually set lams and gas grenades in the hallway to own the MiBs and UNATCO troops epically - this tends to destroy Paul's closet.

  • @etrs
    @etrs2 жыл бұрын

    You know that the game must be good when his immediate criticisms with it are aspects which aren't problems at all

  • @rosodudersd260
    @rosodudersd2604 жыл бұрын

    Very nice job discussing how the level design intersects with the gameplay systems. It's something a lot of people miss when discussing what works about Deus Ex, and also when analyzing other games that attempt to offer multiple routes. Different routes will test multiple (player and character) skills, with branches and loops that afford a multitude of combinations in various character builds. Because character upgrades have a degree of granularity, this is also more nuanced than the binary ability gating you see in the modern Deus Ex games, as opening up paths will require different amounts of resources depending on your character upgrades and equipment choices, adding a long-term layer of resource management to your decisions. Investing into technical skills doesn't just open up options for tackling levels, but also can grant access to helpful items such as ammunition/grenades, lockpicks/multitools, medits/biocells, or even weapon mods and augmentation upgrade canisters, which feeds back into stealth, combat, and exploration. Every player is expected to engage with these core tenets of gameplay, but it's up to them exactly how they want to do it. The level design is really what brings everything together, as no individual gameplay element in Deus Ex is terribly impressive (in fact, most have major flaws). You brought up the Vandenberg mission where you have to bring down four bots in the courtyard and have the option to release friendly bots to aid you. The difficulty with that one isn't just getting to the bots, it's finding and activating two generators which grant access to the bot hangar. This requires sneaking or fighting your way through the interior of the building, which is the bulk of the level. I also wanted to bring further attention to Maggie Chow's apartment where you mention the secret door opened with a paper lantern. This level is actually pretty brilliant -- the player has likely gathered by this point that their goal is to speak to Maggie and figure out where her allegiances lie. She falsely claims that Majestic 12 is working with the Luminous Path (when they are in fact using her to manipulate the Red Arrow) and sends the player to break into the police station to find evidence exonerating her. If you do this and come back, you'll find her mysteriously gone and her maid will release the guards from a secret compartment to attack you. However, an observant player will suspect Maggie is lying and poke around, finding one of 4 distinct paths from the street level into the secret MJ12 command center next to her penthouse apartment -- there's a maintenance access to the elevator shaft which takes you to the top of the building which you can also access by jumping across nearby rooftops, where you'll find a locked door to the area. You can also get in from the floor under construction below Maggie's, but you'll have to make it through a locked door and a laser grid with a guard. Or you can use the paper lantern to open the secret wall panel, which you can find out about by hacking into the security computer on Maggie's desk, or you can simply listen carefully for the hum of a laser grid behind the wall, which clues you in using a simple gameplay element you're already familiar with. This is the strength of having objectives that aren't spelled out for the player with objective markers. There are some aspects of the mechanics and systems worth mentioning in greater detail. Despite my prior praise for the RPG elements in conjunction with the level design, is that the skills and augs are balanced quite terribly. Every technical skill is basically a ripoff beyond Trained -- you already noted how you can hack every terminal with only Trained Computer (upgrading just lets you control turrets at Advanced and hack more money from ATMs ), but the other ones are nearly as bad, with exponential costs for marginal increases. Each rank of Lockpicking/Electronics nearly doubles in cost when tools already crack most doors and devices at Trained. Trained Medicine doubles medkit healing for only a handful of skill points, with subsequent skill increases offering half the increase at higher cost. Environmental Training just improves the effectiveness of situational inventory-hogging equipment. Ironically, the Swimming skill is the cheapest and I'd actually argue that there are enough swimming paths to justify its inclusion, but you can nearly always find a rebreather nearby to obviate investment. The optimal skill allocation leaves Lockpicking, Electronics, Computer, and Medicine at Trained while dumping everything into Pistols or Rifles skills. Demolitions isn't important as mines are easy enough to defuse at Untrained, the game scoffs at Low-Tech investment by handing you a laser sword halfway through that can kill most enemies in a single swipe, and Heavy weapons take too much inventory space to be worth the effort. While solid in concept and integrated well into the level design, the skill system is implemented quite poorly if the goal is to offer meaningful character differentiation with many viable choices. Augmentations don't fare much better. While they can be fun and empowering to use, essentially acting as Deus Ex's magic system, there's usually an obvious superior choice among each of the binary upgrades. I noticed you using Run Silent in the video while crouched, which is pointless -- you're already completely silent while crouchwalking. In fact, this is still the case even when with the Speed Enhancement aug which otherwise amplifies running noise, making it the clear winner between the two. Ballistic Protection easily beats out EMP Shield, as electrical damage makes up less than 10% of the damage in the game compared to at least 70% coming from bullets and blades, and both must be activated manually. Regeneration similarly demolishes Energy Shield, offering an insane amount of HP restoration compared to situational defense against fire and plasma. There's an argument for Combat Strength to bust down doors, but the Dragon's Tooth's potency makes this redundant in combat and Microfibral Muscle is arguably better for opening paths. Aqualung would be a decent choice compared to Environmental Resistance, but the rarity of swimming paths and abundance of rebreathers rears its ugly head again. Vision Enhancement is okay for spotting guards through walls on initial runs, but the bonus accuracy AND damage from Targeting wins. The rest are a bit more even. Spy Drone is EMP damage on demand, vs Aggressive Defense System which has situational use for destroying incoming projectiles. Cloak is extremely overpowered for rendering you completely invisible to human enemies, while Radar Transparency only works on cameras, turrets, and bots, and stealth players can forgo Ballistic Protection and install both. Power Recirculator is cumbersome to manage and drains energy of its own accord but can drastically improve the cost of using multiple augs at once, while Synthetic Heart is nice for allowing boosted aug performance in a pinch. While the choices are at first interesting to ponder, the balance can leave a lot to be desired. I wanted to touch on some of the problems with combat. While the stealth AI is notoriously underdeveloped, I'd imagine it's not as much of a turnoff as Deus Ex's wonky gunplay. Deus Ex requires the player to stand still to stabilize their aim which is frequently maligned, but I'd argue Deus Ex's gunplay is janky for reasons other than its accuracy system, such as: -Unpleasantly slow recoil "climbing" effect. It can take up to a full second after you stop firing for you to regain full control of your view -Inconsistent communication of accuracy from targeting reticles thanks to an insanely stupid programming of the range stat, which makes the sniper rifle pinpoint accurate while the pistol can't reliably hit a guy from 10m away, even when they have the same accuracy stat -More range shenanigans which apply bullet drop only when you would have hit your target, so you can't actually compensate for it in long-range firefights -Low quality assets and poorly fleshed out effects, such as the lack of weapon bob and lame sound effects -Limited/poor communication of hit registration, whether through enemy reactions or abstract indicators like hitmarkers -Miscellaneous issues like weapon bugs, restrictions on the scope state, and hit detection problems The abstracted accuracy system is actually one of the strongest assets of Deus Ex's gameplay in concept, even if it has problems in execution. Early on, the game plays like a stealthy tactical shooter where you have to either give yourself enough time to line up a shot or close the distance with your enemy, while later on you'll be able to target enemies at range while moving, which opens up the space of available combat strategies. The abstraction is important, as it allows the user's aim stability and targeting speed to occupy the same category as inherent weapon accuracy, which means that it can be influenced by both character upgrades AND gear upgrades. The overlapping upgrade design, particularly with the weapon modding system, adds a lot to build depth and offers satisfying routes to character progression. Deus Ex is still probably my favorite game of all time, though it's hard to disentangle my feelings for the game when I originally played it from all of the dissection I've done over the last several years (I'm one of those modder guys trying to improve it, see). Its numerous flaws are generally offset by its excellent level design, strong player agency, and integration of story and gameplay in a manner that enhance rather than handicap one another. There are Immersive Sims that have stronger systems design (System Shock 2, Thief, even Prey), but Deus Ex is still the most complete package, and one that changed my view of games are capable of.

  • @thejoin4687

    @thejoin4687

    3 жыл бұрын

    Excellent commentary.

  • @dnaderelmasry7973

    @dnaderelmasry7973

    2 жыл бұрын

    Based RSD P.S GMDX RSD update when?

  • @rosodudersd260

    @rosodudersd260

    Жыл бұрын

    @@dnaderelmasry7973 Ehhhh someday I'll get back to it. I have a half-finished build on my PC waiting for more bugfixes, but I've been busy with System Shock 2 modding the last few years.

  • @kingkyle2217
    @kingkyle22174 жыл бұрын

    i dunno about the whole "conspiracies make me feel bad" angle, there has always been conspiracies that are wacked out crazy, that does not mean we cannot rebel in them, one thing is to convince people they're real by telling us they are, but just having fun with such concepts isn't bad and is not like you're telling ppl the earth is flat. I dunno, it's a very 2020 mindset to just be scared of conspiracies, regardless on whether they're believable or not.

  • @kingkyle2217

    @kingkyle2217

    4 жыл бұрын

    also why single out young white men? there are lots of people of other races that believe in these things, sounds kind of racist ngl

  • @Scawking

    @Scawking

    4 жыл бұрын

    Spot on. I had to stop watching, frankly. Even the idea that Deus Ex somehow glorifies conspiracy theories is silly. It asked "what if the following theories were true." Notably, it left out the more outlandish stuff like Flat Earth.

  • @ciapatyciapacz5354

    @ciapatyciapacz5354

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@Scawking Was flat earth even a thing back in 2000? Anyway Chris (just like Noah) is a "progressive" so criticizing minorities is generally out of the question, not to mention mainstream media tend to associate this kind of mindset with fringe right wingers while all the controversial things left-wingers might believe are treated like valid opinions to discuss or outright ignored.

  • @iopklmification

    @iopklmification

    4 жыл бұрын

    Hey have you guys heard about the crazy new conspiracy theories? Apparently, sometimes the Church doesn't tell the truth and our divine monarchs do not hold their power from God, those conspiracy heretics sure are crazy!

  • @CelestialArboretum

    @CelestialArboretum

    3 жыл бұрын

    Being uncomfortable, and scared of ideas not sanctioned by the corporate media is a very 2020 take and the obvious result of endless fear mongering by the media and politicians. Plz big corporations/guberment tell me what to think.

  • @chivayos
    @chivayos4 жыл бұрын

    First of all good video on one of the greatest games ever made to this very day. But I'm not really seeing some story parts the way you do. Liberty Island for one could have been swept clean by unatco with absolute ease, but they actively ordered a retreat in order to create an opportunity for JC to prove himself to the force, and also to see if you are more 'suitable' for coworking with Anna and Gunther (and by this - also with MJ12) than Paul who just got pulled out of Hong Kong for not being able to do just that. This is conveyed to you as obvious fact throughout your progress on the island and in later convos with Anna and Gunther, should you choose to be the guns blazing type . Also saving Gunther is not the objective, but only a side quest here, you can skip freeing him completely if you so choose. The kills witches of JC and Paul were not activated at the same time as you suggest. Jcs was flipped after the distress signal to silhouette while Paul is already severely weakened when he gives you above task. I love the never actively conveyed part of being able to save him here. I restarted my first play through out of feeling guilty for him, it was a fkin revelation back then!! There's 4AIs, not 3, even if icarus is Only deadalus big mean brother. the resentment of the Public towards mechanical augs comes from the humanitarian view of sacrificing humanity to improve performance. There's a genius bit of dialogue between two nsf troopers on this on liberty Island. This is pretty strong, see Gunthers mails or rile up Jordan Shae to see more of it. Don't let HR obfuscate your view on this. Jcs defection from unatco is a bit more logical after seeing a bit of Paul's world - and him naturally being the most trustworthy person in Jcs world - and later realizing that somebody from within unatco, namely manderly who even straight up tells you, can kill your only surviving family member By pushing a button instead of arresting and trailing him. Remember, unatco is supposed to be the good guys. I also don't agree with your view that The Denton Brothers being the outcome of controlled breeding is how it really went down. the game never clearly conveyed it(to M knowledge) , that's something HR introduced for Adam. I don't recall a single hint towards this in the original deus ex. Based on the info I came across (and still remember) it's more likely they were artificially created entirely and had implanted memories of their childhoods, with real memories starting somewhen maybe in their early twenties. These implanted memories don't even seem consistent, if you take the first ever conversation with Paul into account where he and JC seem to have different types of men in mind when talking about their supposed father. the conversations with lebedev after you kill Anna("you never had parents. The ones you knew were employees... ") and later the conversation with Morpheus seem to emphasize that theory, as do the new creations, including Alex in the vats in a51 . Also some very late game hints on some MJ12 computers which I can't fully remember anymore also do, but my memory really fails me on those.

  • @km099

    @km099

    3 жыл бұрын

    I recommend looking up the "Deus Ex Bible", which is based on the original design documents of the game: Paul Denton: "The conspirators' agents, posing as nurses and doctors, in pediatricians' offices and elementary schools across the nation, used the smallpox census data, to keep track of high potential candidates. The specialists in charge of the project were updated regularly on the progress of potential candidates. All the conspirators had to do was wait. Ma and Pa Denton -- two such potential candidates -- fell in love (perhaps even with some help from the conspirators!) and produced young Paul under the watchful, albeit covert eye of Majestic 12 operatives who played the parts of friends, family doctors, neighbors, school teachers and so on..." J.C. Denton is Paul's clone: "She and her husband agreed to the experiment, unaware that their lives had been closely monitored by the cabal for many years. Although Paul's mother believed that the surgery would let her become pregnant again, in reality the Majestic 12 operatives implanted her with a cloned embryo of Paul. Nine months later, J.C. Denton was born. Paul and J.C. were raised as brothers, under the careful and clandestine scrutiny of Majestic 12. Their parents never knew that the children were identical twins born eleven years apart." Of course that's according to the design documents. The information the game provides should stand on its own and is open to interpretation.

  • @biggaston1820
    @biggaston18202 жыл бұрын

    "It's a little uncomfortable innit?" Bro stick to your Downton Abbey reruns, you're clearly intimidated by the plot's complexity and JC's unironic manliness.

  • @Unatcowomensbathroom
    @Unatcowomensbathroom2 жыл бұрын

    This was more a meek virtue signal than a review

  • @fanmovie357
    @fanmovie3574 жыл бұрын

    If you think people are stupider now with the internet than they were before oh man, you really need to study History.

  • @aspaceproductions

    @aspaceproductions

    4 жыл бұрын

    I know. That shit bugs the fuck out of me. It's almost as if the internet let's stupid people get a million times more exposure than they would on the past.

  • @Mike-zd8wq

    @Mike-zd8wq

    4 жыл бұрын

    "Why contain it?"

  • @CelestialArboretum

    @CelestialArboretum

    3 жыл бұрын

    Before the internet we had people sacrificing children to the sun on top of Mayan pyramids.... so yeah.

  • @ginge641
    @ginge6413 жыл бұрын

    "Some people have opinions that I don't like, therefore the idea of conspiracy theories is inherently bad."

  • @roelandvanonckelen3554
    @roelandvanonckelen35543 жыл бұрын

    I find the remarks Chris gives about conspiracy theories quite strange. I think one needs to notice the difference between fiction and non-fiction. I remember that in the 90’s and early 2000’s The X-files were criticized by some scientist and moralists who felt that the adventures of Mulder and Scully were far too close to reality while embracing both religious ideas and conspiracy theories. They got nothing against conspiracy theories or religious ideas themselves, but they thought it was harmful that this show offered us a mix of (more or less) realistic FBI-work, combined with fantasies about aliens and demonic creatures. Because of the realistic elements of the show, people would be too easily persuaded into all of the supernatural conspiracies and (I guess) Satanism. The problem with this kind of critique is that in short they are saying you can’t make a show that says: ‘The truth is out there’ or ‘Trust no one’. It is quite obvious that the latter tagline is a bad advice for almost everyone. (If you never trust anyone in your life, you’ll probably wind up very lonely after a totally meaningless life.) How much risk can any artist take in creating art or entertainment? If no risk is ever taken, all art and entertainment will become meaningless. It will become harmless too, that’s for sure. In order to make something meaningful, one has to take the chance that it will probably be harmful for some people. But what potential harmfulness does Deus Ex offer us? The idea that there is a secret World Government ruled by the Illuminati or the Temple Knights is among us for so many years, that is has become some sort of a blueprint for any creator to make up a conspiracy theory that is utterly harmless. If I had to guess, I think this is where the creators of Deus Ex went for. They did not want to create a very political, religious or even philosophical game that could divide their audience. Why do you think the Assassins Creed franchise is about the Templar knights? The answer is very easy: since the Templar Knights no longer exist - only if you believe they secretly rule the world, you might believe they still exist - the game is for Christians and atheists alike. Because of that any adept of any religion might pick up the game.

  • @maximum4615
    @maximum46154 жыл бұрын

    I am younger than this game and first played it like 1 or 2 years ago, so there is 0 nostalgia there for me. I also didn't use any kind of mods to modernize the experience, yet despite the game's age, I finished it on my first playthrough and immediately started a second one, because the experience was so captivating. I remember not putting any skill points into guns at first, because in any modern game, your guy or girl can shoot any gun they find quite competently, even if you invest no points at all. Instead I put all points into mastering hacking and was surprised when weapons were more or less useless against the first batches of NSF troops. I never engaged in any direct combat during the first half of the game, but hacked everything I could and got through it pretty quickly that way. After hearing you talk about your adventures with a sniper rifle, I kinda wanna boot up the DE:Revision and just put all my points into weapons this time, to shoot my way through the entire game lol. I think Deus Ex definitely holds up to this day, it has aged quite well for a 20 year old game, although my perception might be a bit warped by the fact that games like this and Half Life 1 or System Shock 2 came out before I was even born, and are probably more interesting to me than to people who were around at the time of release to play them.

  • @SlothPossum
    @SlothPossum4 жыл бұрын

    Man so glad you're covering this classic, I remember being so impressed with this game when it came out, truly ahead of its' time.

  • @shantyguy
    @shantyguy4 жыл бұрын

    You talked for over an hour about Deus Ex but didn't once mention the great music from Alexander Brandon. I still listen to his music from Deus Ex's soundtrack and Unreal's soundtracks. Great video overall though.

  • @DD-fs9xt
    @DD-fs9xt2 жыл бұрын

    "I can't enjoy the game anymore because of antivaxxers and Alex Jones". Lol, to each their own. But I'm gonna stop there and seek out a more intelligent breakdown of this game.

  • @hokorikera
    @hokorikera2 жыл бұрын

    30:12 how to tell someone puts their own political biases over the substance of the story they're reviewing. Also that comment about the algorithm promoting content based on views instead of substance? That also applies to you bud.

  • @videopostrrr
    @videopostrrr4 жыл бұрын

    i wanted orange, it gave me lemon-lime!

  • @akivak4660

    @akivak4660

    3 жыл бұрын

    A machine does not make mistakes.

  • @morgan79737
    @morgan797374 жыл бұрын

    You waited years for Chris to finally make this video? THAT'S TERROR.

  • @D00000T
    @D00000T3 жыл бұрын

    The only game where the AI knows that strafing around you is better than standing still or moving in straight lines

  • @Modenut
    @Modenut4 жыл бұрын

    I was always of the mind that it was short for "deus ex machina".

  • @roguerifter9724
    @roguerifter97244 жыл бұрын

    A nice video. I disagree with a couple of your story points though. First I think the events of the first mission actually make more sense taking place where they do then elsewhere. Its a test and if it goes bad UNACTO can pour in more resources and personnel with ease due to their main base being so close. Second I think you overestimate how hard it should have been for Paul to turn JC. Remember Paul is by far the person JC has the most reason to trust at UNACTO because he has known Paul far longer then anyone else there. Also by that point JC has seen signs that something is wrong at UNACTO like an elite agent executing a man who had surrendered if JC didn't fight Anna on the plane, and if memory serves the head of UNACTO scolds you if you refuse to kill the leader of the NSF after he surrenders. So the head of UNACTO gets upset because you protest orders to commit murder. If that isn't obvious proof that UNACTO has gone bad what would be?

  • @XxXVideoVeiwerXxX
    @XxXVideoVeiwerXxX4 жыл бұрын

    Hm. So the reactions from this guy...hmm. Ill just say it. I find it odd/funny/weird how he points out how conspiracy theories back in the day were "fun" but now are "uncomfortable". I thought he was going somewhere...else with that but oh well. What I; personally, found uncomfortable however was his benign reaction to the "reality" of how corporations run and ruin the world. Because hey! "Its just part of life". Which sure, that WAS his life; since he stated his background and all, still odd to be cool with that. However, given the comparison he makes is what has me scratching my head. When he claimed how modern day "conspiracy" was all about anti-vax and flat earth. And how the red pill is just white nationalists and misogynists. I was like...wait what? So the world being slowly fucked by groups of wealthy usually evil/selfish/greedy people who have ACTUAL power is OK to you, but some small minority of whackjobs is where the real damage is being done?? Ya, can't say I agree with that. Like, at all. Not to mention there are other actual conspiracies that are going on besides flat earth and anti vax. I still find it funny how people swore up and down about how that pizza place was nothing but conspiracy, late night show people made actual jokes about it. A year later? Oh look there is this guy named epstien who has a small island for the sole purpose of prostituting kids to the wealthy. So, a small pizza place is crazy, but a whole private island makes sense. I mean, I can't make this shit up. No one even brings up the pizza place ever since Epstein. I think the biggest strike against that conspiracy was "THE PLACE HAD NO BASEMENT SO ITS ALL FALSE!" And I'm over here looking at Podesta's murals depicting naked young boys in his house, ya, totally nothing weird going on AT ALL. That is all.

  • @DanMcLeodNeptuneUK
    @DanMcLeodNeptuneUK4 жыл бұрын

    Ah man, Deus Ex.... I love it. I recall playing a version from a PC demo disc when I was about 12 or so near it's release date in the UK..... I remember being unnecessarily enthusiastic and impressed at the shiny floor in the UNATCO HQ on the training level! And that my ATI Rage Pro with a whopping 16 or 32 mb of video memory could process such 'realistic graphics'

  • @TheConspiracyZero
    @TheConspiracyZero4 жыл бұрын

    Rolling my eyes at your portrayal of it as uncomfortable. Terrible review, you jumped the shark here.

  • @megamike15

    @megamike15

    3 жыл бұрын

    he has been like this for awhile now.

  • @whynotcaptaincrunch
    @whynotcaptaincrunch4 жыл бұрын

    Imagine being the guy who had to pitch that Paul Denton test subject plan to his Illuminati boss. "Hey, we need funding for our incredibly complicated, expensive, and failure-prone plan that, assuming all goes well, should deliver us a single test subject 20 years from now."

  • @BobExcalibur

    @BobExcalibur

    4 жыл бұрын

    It worked out for Werner Von Braun. A lot of research projects operate as sunk cost fallacies for decades. Look at how much money is spent on fossil fuel alternatives, and the time frames in question. Not to say it isn't a valid subject of research, far from it, but "failure prone" is only the start of it.

  • @CTOOFBOOGLE

    @CTOOFBOOGLE

    4 жыл бұрын

    BobExcalibur that is a bit different then putting enormous amounts of resources into the creation of a potentially good test subject 20 years from now, upon which you might actually be able to begin the proposed research.

  • @BobExcalibur

    @BobExcalibur

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@CTOOFBOOGLE That's why vivisection is popular. If you want to test human viability for the application of a scientific innovation, you have to operate on a human timescale.

  • @christoptheillusiveman9875
    @christoptheillusiveman98754 жыл бұрын

    Isn’t there a sunken boat submerged under the dock at the start of the game? Use the light aug to see it

  • @SirAdrian87

    @SirAdrian87

    4 жыл бұрын

    Yes there is.

  • @robertjorg6645

    @robertjorg6645

    4 жыл бұрын

    I found it 6 years ago after a friends hint (actually it was the reason to replay it :-)) It contains decent weapon mods.

  • @JoinMeInDeathBaby
    @JoinMeInDeathBaby3 жыл бұрын

    You CAN distract guards with the crossbow. Jost shoot at wall with normal dart.

  • @DarthRadical
    @DarthRadical4 жыл бұрын

    I played the game in middle school, and I always knew that the title was short for Deus Ex Machina.

  • @Cephalopod51
    @Cephalopod513 жыл бұрын

    "Deus Ex was never a great looking game. It didn't run especially well, and the character models were inferior to those in games like Half-Life." That's very generous of you to say Half-Life's models are better than Deus Ex's, since other players I've encountered don't hold Half-Life's graphics with high esteem. I'm a fan of Half-Life's graphics, too. At the same, I think your assessment of Deus Ex's character models are unfair. Its character models may not be as fluid as the ones in Unreal or Unreal Tournament, but they still move rather well, and they have a nice look to their design too. I'm surprised when you said it didn't run well, because it ran quite well on my brother's Windows 2000 when I first played it, and on my Windows XP and Windows 7 computers. It does have some issues with some computers, depending on which version or system you're using. The current Game of Year version for some reason has lingering bugs, like Page not exploding at the end, or music not playing in level when it should. You are right that game reviewers regarded the graphics as dated at the time of its release. "Where Deus Ex hasn't aged well is in its general positivity in championing of conspiracy theories. The main conspiracies included in this game are aliens and the Illuminati, plus a general distrust of vaccines. [...] In 2020, conspiracy theories undeniably more dangerous. You have anti-vaxxers, 9/11 being an inside job, everything Alex Jones says, and even the world being flat." I can see what you mean. There are bits of dialogue here and there that border on the rhetoric I've heard by modern day political nuts, but the conspiracies in Deus Ex at least never reached the same level of unreasonably crazy conspiracy theories like the ones you mentioned. At the same time, while Deus Ex makes nearly every conspiracy real, there's a lot of moral grays and mundane realities mixed in with the conspiracies. While the NSF are right about there being a conspiracy behind the Gray Death, and right about the wealth disparity, they're not necessarily right about everything else. They're mostly inexperienced, trigger-happy initiates who resort to doing stupidly dangerous things under pressure, and have extreme notions of what they think maximum freedom should look like. Leo Gold is right about a number of things, but he also did his share of bad things, as the woman with Harley Filben attests. The NSF associate with Jojo and the Rooks, who are not very stable either. One NSF referred to Jojo as a punk who'll get them all killed. Before the NSF knew of the existence of Majestic 12, back when they were the NWSF, they mainly formed as an extreme overreaction to an act of gun legislation, and tried to violently overthrow the government in a reckless raid on Washington. Deus Ex shows many times that just because the NSF came to oppose MJ-12, that doesn't mean that all of their intentions or actions were entirely justified. Tracer Tong himself is a great and honorable character, yet his Luminous Path Triad members have been capable of great cruelty, like what the Dazed Girl at the Lucky Money said they did to poor Ching-kuo. Although UNATCO is full of trigger-happy soldiers who are more concerned with military operations than with law enforcement, you still see some honorable members here and there who try to operate according to proper procedure. Even if the United Nations is rendered as a tool by Majestic 12, keep in mind that Sam Carter, who worked for the UN back in his day, operates according to many of the ideals of the UN that shaped him as a soldier and a peace-keeper. Consider some of Carter's lines: "In my day international peace keepers were citizens first and soldiers second." Or "My unit killed a bunch of Afghans one time, but we weren't proud of it. In fact, our liaison at the UN went to the funeral." While the Silhouette are also right in their cause against MJ-12, other Frenchmen think they're either going about it the wrong way, or spend too much of their time playing dumb pranks on the police like cutting off their ties. MJ-12 are severe and cruel, yet they also seem to hold annual family picnics, too. Joseph Manderley even alternates between being a corrupt and slimy official to someone who's trying to prevent UNATCO from becoming an even more extreme version of itself. And although VersaLife is responsible for engineering the Gray Death, most of their scientists spend most of their time arguing over what experiments they are allowed to do, or if teams should share scientific data with each other. On the issue of the Ambrosia Vaccine, the NSF are not opposed to the use of the vaccine itself. Their concern is mainly that the vaccine is restricted only to the super rich rather than to ordinary people, and that the Ambrosia Vaccine was not designed to properly vaccinate victims of the plague. It's more of a reference to Johnny Mnemonic than to current day vaccine-based fears. As the AI from Johnny Mnemonic puts it: "Treating the disease is more profitable than curing it!" There are lots of other grays mixed in the conspiracies of Deus Ex that are too numerous to mention here. If one concentrated only on the superficial aspects of Deus Ex's conspiracies, that would be a problem. If you pay closer attention to how the conspiracies in Deus Ex are told, you find that there's a lot of awkward and ordinary humanity incorporated into the lives of the conspirators and their resistors. It's not as extremely morally gray as Invisible War, but Deus Ex is still grayer in how it approaches its world than most conspiracy theories or conspiracy-based games. It's often the awkward, ordinary human aspect of life which conspiracy theories usually ignore.

  • @edgepixel8467

    @edgepixel8467

    2 жыл бұрын

    Good points

  • @fuzzydunlop7928
    @fuzzydunlop79284 жыл бұрын

    One of the little white lies that's been spun regarding the immediate pre-9/11 era and 9/11 in earnest is that it came out of nowhere. It's easy to use that for exculpation, that there was nothing to be done. This fucking video game developer could read the writing on the walls - it wasn't like this was niche stuff, journalist Robert Fisk (whose claim to fame is being the first Westerner to interview Bin Laden, and who had a weird association with the dude) literally created a multi-part documentary series in the early 90's called "From Beirut to Bosnia" in which he all but yelled at the camera "IF WE DON'T CHANGE SOME SHIT THERE'S GONNA BE SOME EXPLOSIONS!" There's innocence, and then there's plain ignorance but I guess ignorance just fucking abounds.

  • @johnran6015
    @johnran60153 жыл бұрын

    You find conspiracy theories in the game "uncomfortable", hahah

  • @mrxanthios7045
    @mrxanthios70454 жыл бұрын

    The cyberpunk game. I got hooked with the genre since then. The story was just above and beyond.

  • @kieranholmes8086
    @kieranholmes80863 жыл бұрын

    He seems to miss a lot of gameplay nuances unfortunately. Also I know he wasn’t necessarily mentioning the discussions around conspiracies today as a negative against the story but either way it seems an odd thing to bring up?

  • @TM-vb1op

    @TM-vb1op

    2 жыл бұрын

    It was a really awkward rambling section that added nothing to the video. Great channel otherwise

  • @Paul-Denton_NYCNET
    @Paul-Denton_NYCNET3 жыл бұрын

    Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth.

  • @richardellis8193
    @richardellis81934 жыл бұрын

    Still best game ever made. If you disagree with me then modernise it with a mod (gmdx) and then inevitably agree with me that it is indeed the best game ever made.

  • @JZStudiosonline

    @JZStudiosonline

    4 жыл бұрын

    Does the mod make combat not dogshit? I couldn't finish the game because I hate how it played despite liking the overall story.

  • @kalenics123

    @kalenics123

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@JZStudiosonline it improves it a lot.

  • @JZStudiosonline

    @JZStudiosonline

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@kalenics123 Pretty sure I tried a mod or two, but it didn't really change the gameplay to a point I was happy. I hate the gunplay and melee is weird.

  • @tbone9474

    @tbone9474

    4 жыл бұрын

    100% agreed still my favourite game

  • @Exigentable

    @Exigentable

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@JZStudiosonline when were you born? Its not going to play like bioshock dude. It has more in common with system shock 2, a fanastic game you might never enjoy with your attitude.

  • @DagothDaddy
    @DagothDaddy4 жыл бұрын

    Forget mostly great it is still mostly accurate about how the modern government and UN works

  • @Implosionstechnologie
    @Implosionstechnologie4 жыл бұрын

    Your translation of "Deus ex" is false. What you talk about would be "ex Deo".

  • @GerSHAK

    @GerSHAK

    4 жыл бұрын

    Exactly. "Deus ex machina" means "God from the machine". "Deus ex" means "God from".

  • @peterdes6792

    @peterdes6792

    4 жыл бұрын

    Eriko. Oy but deus ex machina refers to theater..

  • @graye2799
    @graye27993 жыл бұрын

    Sounds like you are just afraid of questioning the things you believe is true. While many conspiracies are stupid, many do have legitimate concerns and points.

  • @graye2799

    @graye2799

    3 жыл бұрын

    Do you think there isn't a single flat earthen that isn't white?

  • @TM-vb1op

    @TM-vb1op

    2 жыл бұрын

    Agreed. Wasnt a valid criticism of the game and seemed more like an angry twitter take rather than a point about the games relevance today

  • @DD-fs9xt

    @DD-fs9xt

    2 жыл бұрын

    This is exactly what I got from it. He was "uncomfortable" because the game clearly made him question his views on current events.

  • @Don11037

    @Don11037

    Жыл бұрын

    @@graye2799 that's mad racist

  • @Baconbits16
    @Baconbits163 жыл бұрын

    Great video! Never heard of "ex machina" as a kid, I thought Deus Ex was made up. The JC initials are an easter-egg. There's an option to re-name him, the nickname was an innovative solution for consistent narration. In 2001 Gothic they had to constantly dance around a "nameless hero" loophole. Part of DX's greatness is you've missed more than a few things. Hong Kong has a "hidden" water level & story insights, 1st mission has a sunken freighter /w loot.. On max difficulty; tranq-dart kiting and stealth one-shotting with the Prod & baton is an exciting non-lethal way to play. Detection means surrounded by a crowd of crappy aim-bots, augments and assault weapons become relevant. Your map sniping AI & stealth-purity knowing it's a Spectre stealth-hybrid + cheesing Simons is just odd. Unlike Revolution, mech-augmentation is high-clearance personnel only; they're scorned for sacrificing limbs to be more effective enforcers.. NSF-Paul convinces JC because of relationship and evidence. All of the readable lore items have relevant explanations for game events and world-building. Restricted access routes give fun practical meaning to multi-tools & lockpicks, not a means to skipping the level. I also agree /w comments about the conspiracy criticism. From the very beginning It's about a corporate tyranny conspiracy. The Illumanti & vaccine control are just sub-plots. Also, the alien presence was minor & practical for location. A nice homage to "possibilities" w/o de-railing the game. There's more, but I think you get the idea and my text wall is already massive :DD

  • @wakesake
    @wakesake2 жыл бұрын

    this game makes you feel uncomfortable ...wake up and man up Deus Ex has been spreading truth 2 decades ago

  • @jjforcebreaker
    @jjforcebreaker4 жыл бұрын

    A real GOAT. Revision and GMDX mods are the best way to revisit DX1 these days. Don't care about IW, but can't way to see your HR and MD vids. Both fantastic games.

  • @iopklmification

    @iopklmification

    4 жыл бұрын

    As a ventilation shafts installator I agree 100%!

  • @curlybri4823
    @curlybri48234 жыл бұрын

    Chris, to your point on the title: The idea of Deus Ex meaning "of god" and seeing JC as a godly figure is also likely part of the meaning as well as it being short for Deus Ex Machina. Warren Spector said in a post-mortem presentation on the game that the JC stands for Jesus Christ. So it's possible that the image chosen was actually intentional and that the degree to which Denton was a god-like figure was reduced throughout the development process. I also hope you enjoy playing through the rest of series, Invisible War is a respectable game that I think gets slept on a lot although it is very buggy (My last playthrough was completely corrupted just before the very last room in the game due to a bug, Human Revolution and Mankind Divided are also two of my favourite games of the 2010s and I feel as though no one really gives them the attention they deserve.

  • @trmblingblustar
    @trmblingblustar4 жыл бұрын

    Anachronox and Deus Ex are the only two really good things to come out of Ion Storm. I'd ague that the game was a good looking game when it was released. I still remember the PC Gamer review gushing over how great the game looked. On a side note, I found a sealed copy of Deus Ex at a thrift store recently, and it's all mine!!!

  • @afishynado6812
    @afishynado68123 жыл бұрын

    I could have lived without your preaching about conspiracy theories.

  • @mrbouncelol

    @mrbouncelol

    3 жыл бұрын

    If only he spent that time productively researching details of the game such as the meaning of it's title...

  • @tristanyoung9673
    @tristanyoung96732 жыл бұрын

    Lame, the 'conspiracy theories' are MORE relevant today and we should be confronting the powers that be MORE openly. the notion that they're 'uncomfortable' is just your own lack of spine showing in not questioning whether or not governments and corporations (pharmaceutical or otherwise) have your best interests at heart

  • @captainsavs
    @captainsavs4 жыл бұрын

    I love this game so much. But I totally agree, I always tried every single route through a level, even when I already achieved the objective in an easy way

  • @hiddenmustache6422
    @hiddenmustache64224 жыл бұрын

    Im 16 and picked it up on steam last year but couldnt get into it. Fast forward to 2020 and when corona hit I gave it another try with some mods to make it run better because of bugs. I finally got into it and is now one of my all time favourite games. For me its unbelivable that a game which is older than me can be so immersive and filled to rim with stuff to explore and different choices to make.

  • @undisclosedmusic4969
    @undisclosedmusic49694 жыл бұрын

    Just saved my afternoon. Thanks Chris!

  • @adrenalin2957
    @adrenalin29574 жыл бұрын

    Still the best game of the series. DE > DE:HR > DE:MD > DE:IW

  • @doalwa

    @doalwa

    4 жыл бұрын

    Snowden I’m partial to being Human Revolution being my favorite entry...they really hit it out of the park with this one!

  • @alttia
    @alttia2 жыл бұрын

    31min in and I had to go and see from comments that am I crazy. And no, I think i am not. Really.... what is this analysis?

  • @Rib_knight117

    @Rib_knight117

    Жыл бұрын

    The reason deus ex could never be made today

  • @D3lor34n
    @D3lor34n3 жыл бұрын

    I like your content, you seem very levelheaded and on point with your observations. I haven't touched Deus Ex in decades but it sure is up there with my alltime favorite games of all time, so this was one of the more intertesting retrospectives i've watched over the years. Keep up the good work, i feel like i've found a rare gem among the vast number of channels. Off to the back catalog i go. Cheers!

  • @kozmikk5424
    @kozmikk54243 жыл бұрын

    The themes and content this game explores has stuck with me more than any other in the 15 years since I first played through it as a young teenager. It consistently made me question and experiment; both with the mechanics of the game (many of which I have to admit I had little to no problem interpreting with a little trial and error during my time with the game) and the major ideas it explores surrounding humanity, power and the nods to classical philosophical concepts and literature). I agree with you that it is a victim of the time in which it was produced - the tropes and stereotypes are tired, it wasn’t polished or perfect, there are some major narrative plot holes and a lack of meaningful character development for many characters) but I would also challenge that it was brilliant in its ambition and concepts for the time in which it was produced - and I had a whole lot of fun in this world which all at once felt eerily familiar and yet very alien. In my opinion, a masterpiece. Thank you for the review. 😊

  • @paulhumphreys919
    @paulhumphreys9194 жыл бұрын

    I do enjoy this retrospective but around the 30min mark you let your personal politics creep in. With so much becoming politicised recently it’s probably best you don’t do that in order not to alienate people.

  • @sean5388
    @sean53884 жыл бұрын

    Deus Ex was always more "Alex Jones" than "X Files". The entire game is absolutely steeped in conspiracy culture, yes, somewhat the kitschy kind that arose out of the UFO disclosure movement (MJ12), but predominantly the type that arose from the 80's/90's militia movement, the Bill Cooper/Behold A Pale Horse, None Dare Call it Conspiracy type. Much of the flavor text explicitly draws upon popular right wing/militia movement theories, the kind that go on about Black helicopters, the NWO, Rothschild banking family, Rockefeller foundation, CFR, Trilateral Commission, FEMA camps, false flags, eugenics, etc. Moreover, the writers were clearly well read in these subjects, verbatim repeating popular theories along with actual executive orders, quotes, and military readiness exercises. Just real enough to be uncomfortable- and it's only gotten more uncomfortable (a sign of its quality, I would say). All of this might have been lost on people that didn't grow up in the US, or didn't look into this subculture deeply. It actually comes off like a love letter to conspiracy theorists of the 80's and 90's - who, just like Deux Ex, happened to write some things decades ago that ended up being uncannily accurate. My guess is that if I were to talk to the person who made this video, we wouldn't have much in the way of a similar worldview. I would just encourage anyone who finds that Deus Ex suddenly makes them uncomfortable (in a different way) when it didn't 20 years ago to do some introspection, and earnestly examine why that is.

  • @BobExcalibur

    @BobExcalibur

    4 жыл бұрын

    Another interesting point about how these subjects are presented is in the characters that illustrate them. These conspiracy theories (Although several of them are a matter of concrete historical fact, just the scope of them is more dubious) were as you say perceived as "right wing militia" theories. The image of the white male prepper living in isolation come to mind, perhaps imagery such as the Ruby Ridge massacre in '92. The character who first gives voice to these subjects in the game? The NSF Leader, a tactfully spoken urbane black man. The one chomping at the bit to murderously oppress him? Gunther, an alabaster pale white German. I think people in the nineties had enjoyed a certain degree of deracialisation in their worldview, so they might not have noticed something as subtle as that or passed it off as unintentional. In retrospect you can observe it as a Plinkett-esque "You didn't see it, but your brain did" moment.

  • @sean5388

    @sean5388

    4 жыл бұрын

    Very good point. I hadn't even considered that. Perhaps that makes it easier to swallow. You sign up to play a video game, there's an element of fantasy, and then suddenly characters who aren't the caricature of the conspiracy theorist of the time are dumping real, actual conspiracy theories about our own very real world on you by the minute. It's kind of fun, because this is a game, and those are interesting topics- "hey wait, did Rockefeller actually say that quote about world government? What's RX84? If I look up that executive order the guards cited in their banter, does it really exist?". It's practically an initiation into the subculture, you are becoming "illumined". That's precisely why this game is beloved by people who were/are engaged with the conspiracy subculture. You can probably get a better overview of what these people believed by playing this game than you could spending a couple weeks reading the actual literature or listening to some old radio shows. And all presented by sympathetic characters - not necessarily the seeming wackjobs normally associated with them. Even if you don't think there's any merit to a conspiratorial worldview, or a conspiratorial view of history, or even if you think they're dangerous, I think the game still stands as an excellent snapshot of the reality many of these people believe we actually live in. The fact that they didn't take the route of simplifying a few basic theories and sanitizing them - but actually used them to enrich the world and create a sense of hyperreality (not knowing where the real and fictional end) was nothing short of artful. I find the following games lack that sense of hyperreality, and it hurts the longevity and depth of their narrative- dropping the first games approach in favor of generic cyberpunk science fiction.

  • @BobExcalibur

    @BobExcalibur

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@sean5388 Frankly there is no way that any kind of sequel within the Deus Ex setting could tap into the hyper-reality mood in the same way again. Games that are built around genre subversion such as Spec Ops: The Line can't milk the same sense of surprise if they go for the same emotional beat and subject matter. Arguable Taro's Drakengard has the same issue, which is why he quietly spun off that game into Nier without announcing it as a sequel as such. Deus Ex was lightning in a bottle in many ways. It wouldn't be impossible to make a new game today that touches on current affairs and hidden agendas while naming names, but the Overton Window has contracted to the size of a pinprick. Such a game mentioning the Rothschilds at all for example would get the designers labelled as antisemites. I am fervently in favor of the goatseing of the Overton Window.

  • @sean5388

    @sean5388

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@BobExcalibur Colorful way to put your point about the Overton Window, lmao. I agree.

  • @saisameer8771

    @saisameer8771

    4 жыл бұрын

    I have a more simple opinion. Conspiracies are fun and a world made up of these conspiracies is very interesting

  • 4 жыл бұрын

    Hey, loved the video, looking forward to your thoughts on Invisible War!

  • @drummingtildeath
    @drummingtildeath3 жыл бұрын

    I only ever played the PS2 version and despite the loading times, I absolutely loved it. Played it through many times.

  • @dotdotwav
    @dotdotwav4 жыл бұрын

    Deus Ex is the perfect candidate for a remake. Places like Hell’s Kitchen and the MJ12 headquarters would look incredible with 2020 textures. Plus, with extra funding and time, separate story branches which are hinted at within the game (like staying with unatco instead of betraying them) could be fully fleshed out. I really enjoyed the main game even as a person who’s more interested in competitive shooters than rpgs, but I think that a few improvements could make it one of the best games ever made.

  • @BobExcalibur

    @BobExcalibur

    4 жыл бұрын

    I wouldn't trust anyone to remake Deus Ex, not even Specter himself.

  • @SirAdrian87

    @SirAdrian87

    4 жыл бұрын

    It would only ruin the game. Nobody would be able to recapture the feel of the old game and you can be certain that in this day and age nobody would invest money into making separate story branches. Publishers now are interested in the cheapest way to make a profit. If anything they'd ruin it with microtransactions and multiplayer focus.

  • @stupidname4519
    @stupidname45194 жыл бұрын

    Mista jc dentin in da fresh

  • @jacobturnerart
    @jacobturnerart4 жыл бұрын

    Great video. I'd just bought my first PC in 2000 when I left university and this was my first game for it. I love the attention to detail in the oddest places - some parts of the main story may not be fleahed out, but then you get a fairly large tree of consequences depending on if you patch up the relationship between Sandra and her father. Perhaps we need Deus Ex sequels to show how conspiracy theories being twisted to the advantage of the villains. There were references to this in The Invisibles comics that inspired the Matrix (and arguably Deus Ex) - did you ever read this series?

  • @davyhotch
    @davyhotch4 жыл бұрын

    Regenning health(with the aug) faster than taking damage from drowning is so goofy :D

  • @Brownaut1993
    @Brownaut19934 жыл бұрын

    Excited for your Invisible War documentary if you haven't already!

  • @nilswaage7626
    @nilswaage76264 жыл бұрын

    Poor Chris, did you get Stuckmann? No but seriously, I got stuck there as well on my last playthrough! It's difficult to find, that staircase

  • @commandernomad2817
    @commandernomad28174 жыл бұрын

    Oh man, i cant wait for you to do system shock 2. after you rebind the controls it play super well imo.

  • @LiarpieVicinityFTW
    @LiarpieVicinityFTW4 жыл бұрын

    Chris! Love your work ;)

  • @kaleidoscopickait
    @kaleidoscopickait4 жыл бұрын

    Hello! I just wanted to say I really enjoyed the video! I’ve never played deus ex but I really enjoyed watching your critique of it! Thank you for putting in the time and effort to make such a great video, as always!

  • @nietzschean3138
    @nietzschean31384 жыл бұрын

    So he hates the story because it makes him feel uncomfortable because it's so close to reality?!

  • @dongvermine

    @dongvermine

    4 жыл бұрын

    Nope-and only someone who didn’t actually watch the fuckin video would comment that

  • @nietzschean3138

    @nietzschean3138

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@dongvermine He literally says it at the start you plank lol

  • @dongvermine

    @dongvermine

    4 жыл бұрын

    Mosley not fuckin once does he say he hates shit

  • @SirAdrian87

    @SirAdrian87

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@dongvermine He does. He even repeats it when talking about the virus.

  • @dongvermine

    @dongvermine

    4 жыл бұрын

    Sir Adrian timestamp?

  • @PRINCESSCUDDLY1
    @PRINCESSCUDDLY14 жыл бұрын

    i

  • @jollyotter1998
    @jollyotter19984 жыл бұрын

    "Deus Ex" as a title likely has 2 meanings. Deus Ex as Deus Ex Machina since JC effectively resolves the conflict of the story in a few days after becoming a UNATCO agent as per TV trope standard, and also as literally "God from the Machine" since Daedalus, Helios, and Icarus are extremely powerful AI units capable of controlling the entire world's technologies. A second note would be checking out the Errant Signal episode on DE1 since he breaks down the theme of technology as divine force running throughout the game: JC bathed in angelic light on the cover, Deus Ex as a title referencing gods, Morpheus and Helios literally being named after gods, fighting Gunther in a french cathedral to show the nanomachine aug firmly beating the old mechanical aug, and the Voltaire quote at the end of the Helios ending.

  • @erispapps9929
    @erispapps99294 жыл бұрын

    1:04 the conspiracy plot problem makes you nonconvertible because you help cooperation's evade taxes and you know you part of the problem.

  • @tbone9474
    @tbone94744 жыл бұрын

    Hands down my favourite game ever alongside the witcher series

  • @uncommonsense_3602
    @uncommonsense_36023 жыл бұрын

    The red pill isnt misogyny and white nationalism, its a concept that a lot of groups use (good and bad). It can be used the same as being "woke". Some take it to a dark irrational place and some take it to a light rational place.

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