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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.
I feel mixed myself about the demo. Yep, it's definitely Deus Ex, but there are a few things that seem "dumbed down" about the game. For instance, the inventory is ridiculous. Instead of a 8x8 square that DX1 uses, DX2 has this weird arc that you have to cycle through in order to access your stuff. Sound confusing? That's because it is. There are a couple other things that make it feel too console-ish, but on the other hand, it most definitely feels like DX1. Will I be buying the game when it comes out? That's really a tough one -- I loved DX1 so ya, I'll probably get it, but I really, REALLY hope they get those performance issues dealt with, as the game is pretty choppy in even 800x600 (Athlon XP 2000+, 512 MB DDR, Geforce 4 4200 128MB, WD Caviar Special Ed 8MB Cache 7200RPM, SBLIVE!); take it for what you will.
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
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.
I downloaded it last night (the Gamespy release got Bittorrented) and have played it through several times.
It does drop you straight into the middle of the game, so I don't really know what's going on, but the glimpses of plot sound pretty interesting. It's impressively non-linear, too, especially for two tiny maps - but there are problems...
A lot of the complexity of the original has been stripped out, and I'm not sure if that's always a good thing. One of the oddest changes to gameplay is the 'unified ammunition' - basically, all weapons use the same ammo, and if you run out when using one weapon you can't change to another.
Another big change is the apparent lack of location-specific damage. You can't neatly and efficiently dispose of enemies in a stealthy manner, instead you have to keep shooting at them until they eventually drop dead, having alerted everyone else in the vicinity.
Oh, and the electric shock prod is woefully ineffective. Ten or more shocks are needed to take down a guard, and is blatantly non-stealthy.
The interface is very fiddly and uses large-print text for everything, which means reading anything longer than a sentence takes numerous pages. It might be like that because of the Xbox version and television screens, but last time I looked I had a PC underneath my desk, not a games console.
The graphics aren't significantly better than the original - yes, it's got excessively sharp real-time lighting for everything, along with normal mapping and so on, but it really doesn't look hugely different, despite requiring a fairly hefty graphics card. Halo runs way better on my old, creaky PC than this.
The AI is pretty terrible. I lobbed barrels at a guard for a few minutes without him caring, and even vaulted over the gate he was protecting without him bothering. I (eventually) shocked him unconscious with the prod and carried him inside, to drop him in front of the other guards. Yes, they became suspicious because of the appearance of this body, but never realised I might have been responsible, even when I threw the body at them, and then down the lift shaft.
I really hope the demo isn't indicative of the final game - it shows some promise, but it seems too much of a step down from the original. A shame.
There's a Petition asking them to fix some of the more important problems before release. I hope they pay attention to the fans.
This game might be really neat with a console controller. As is, mouse and keyboard don't really fit it.
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.
Im not sure about the realism responses, (I managed to use up all my ammo, it was just a demo remember)
:)
As for it being horrible to play, I had my fears, what with my 1.6ghz Athlon and 512 megs of ram.. But my Direct X 8 loving 4200TI played it great, a tiny bit choppy, but no slow down. I didnt have any trouble with any of the settings.
I thought it was very close to the original, just not that complete (it was a small demo anyway). I didnt catch much of the story, but then again, that would take lots more of the missions. If I had to say honestly, I'd say yeah, they dumbed it down slightly with the ammo bit, and the AI probably could use some work, but I think it will be a fun game, and all the x-box owners can rejoice. It will probably make a great rental
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Then open User.ini and find the four movement speeds ("W=Move*=1.000000"). Change "1.000000" to "0.800000." This helps with the floaty mouse control and brings movement speed more in line with the original DX (you can, of course, change "1.000000" to another value if you so wish).
Then go into the Default.ini file (in the "System" directory) and change "FOV__d=61" to "FOV__d=68" (or 69 or 70). This will place the HUD closer to the edges of the screen; it turns out the default setting is for the Xbox version, where the HUD is further away from the edges so as to avoid getting cut off by TV overscan. Since this isn't so much an issue with PC monitors, change it ASAP. It's a lot better-looking. Change the settings for Volumetric Lighting and Trilinear Filtering from OFF to ON and change "CacheSizeMegs" from "1" to about 20. Change "MouseLagThreshold" from 75 to 0. Change "Use32BitTextures" to "TRUE" (if your card can handle it). If you want more realistic damage (including one-hit-kill headshots), find the "Difficulty" section and change the values for "Difficulty_AI_Damage_[insert difficulty level here]__d" to about 5.0.
You can make these adjustments with this tweak tool if you prefer (the site is in German but the download links aren't hard to find). The above fixes will address some of the main complaints about the demo; you can also play around with some other settings if you like (there are also settings for player damage, physics, and the font used for in-game text). Unfortunately the new inventory management system and the goofy unified ammo system can probably not be fixed by a mere .ini tweak.
Im not getting too worried about a buggy demo. Most demos are buggy, anyway.
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.
Doesn't seem to - it starts, but crashes immediately (opens an exception window). This is wineX 3.2 compiled from source, ymmv...
I played through the demo once using my typical play style: mix of stealth and well-placed explosives. And it was okay. Today I went back to the demo and played for crazy kills. Walked up to guard and just started knifing him. Amazingly enough I killed him and he only fired one or two rounds - right as I knifed him for the 7th or 8th time. Weird. So I pick up his flamethrower and attack all the guards. Guess what? They all burned to death and I beat the demo without a scratch. WTF? That "unified ammo" system let me expend half and flame half a dozen guards with no trouble. This can't be right. http://www.petitiononline.com/DXIWDemo/petition.ht ml
my book