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Deus Ex - Invisible War Demo Released
revmoo writes "The long-awaited demo for Deus Ex: Invisible War has finally been released! Blue's News has a comprehensive list of mirrors for the 224MB download, including BitTorrent via GameTab and another Torrent from FileRush." Initial feedback seems mixed, with echoes of the recent interview in which Warren Spector agrees with the observation that "complexity is not the same as depth" for this 'streamlined' sequel design.
Well, just from reading the 80+ comments on Blue's News, I'd say the initial feedback is overwhelmingly negative. Some of the issues people have with it can apparently be fixed by tweaking the .ini files (One entry contained a comment saying the current value was for the X-box, not the PC, and offered an alternate value. Why this wasn't set as the default, I have no idea.). Some changes apparently aren't sticking though as the .ini files are installed as read-only (which can of course be changed). It will be interesting to see what Ion Storm has to say about this.
Because, you know, major releases are always delayed on the say-so of a group of fans?
Apparently this game has been designed for the Xbox first with litle regard for the PC user. Another big disappointment for a title using the Unreal engine. I loved the original game. This sequel does nothing for me. It couldnt be less interesting. I was hoping this would easily be the game of the year but Max Payne and Raven Shield were both better. Yes its a "just" a demo but I wont pay $50 for this dung heap.
This game might be really neat with a console controller. As is, mouse and keyboard don't really fit it. My sentiments exactly. I think DX2 will be a good XBox game, but a mediochre PC game at best. And my hopes for Thief 3 have been dashed as well. Same engine, same AI, same consol-ish simplicity? No thanks.
What ARE you smoking? The graphics are standard for 2003, while the original's graphics were sub-par several years ago.
Well, it's different, but not necessarily for the better. The world textures are of a similar resolution to the original, the world geometry is just as bland and cuboidal, and the models still often look stiff and unconvincing.
Yes, there are fancy new graphical gimmicks, but compared with the (albeit few) decent-looking areas of the original game, the new game doesn't really look much better.
I would have rather they had worked with an engine using older rendering techniques - instead of the cramped, twisty architecture required by the new engine there could have been scenes of a decent size and complexity. The open alleyway in the demo makes my computer chug a bit, and it's a tiny fraction of the size of some of the locations in the original game.
Modern graphics hardware combined with a fairly simple engine could have provided much more impressive visuals. Imagine a decent-sized crowd shouting and cheering at the greasel fights instead of a single, muttering fan. Imagine realistic, open architecture instead of the weird vis-blocking mess that is dictated by the constraints of the 'modern' engine. Imagine standing on a rooftop and seeing buildings stretching off into the distance instead of a couple of rough, dark polyhedra.
The Deus Ex 2 graphics might tick all the necessary buzzword boxes, but under the skin things really aren't much of an improvement on the original. Which is again a shame, because it's one of the few aspects that could have been improved in the original.
Im not getting too worried about a buggy demo. Most demos are buggy, anyway.
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.