h, the Black Block. This real-life anarchist collective effectively freaked out most of the mainstream media during the WTO riots in Seattle during 1999. Their effect is still palpably felt in the conspiracy-theorist, science-fictional storyline of Deus Ex: Invisible War.
Of course, it's far in the future, and nothing is as simple as it was back in the 20th century. In Invisible War, Seattle has been divided into Upper Seattle and Lower Seattle—literally, with one half of the city built on top of the remnants of the past. The WTO is still alive and well, and as Alex D (a character that can be played as either a man or a woman) players train to be covert ops security in the WTO's Tarsus Academy, making sure all that free trade keeps flowing.
But Alex is no corporate patsy. He takes issue with the scientists who observe his every move and questions the motivations of his supervisors. He's thinking of finding out more about "the Order," a cult with followers who warn him about commercialism run amok, even as they shoot at him. Meanwhile, Alex's friend, Billie Adams, takes a rogue approach to her training, encouraging Alex to pick up any little items that might be left behind in other people's rooms—adding to his formidable weapons supply.
There's a lot of data for players to manage in Invisible War, even though it's a first-person shooter (FPS). Alex receives maps and missions—all of which are catalogued for reference later—as well as a full line of high-tech gadgets and guns. Pistols are in plentiful supply, as are knives and other hand-to-hand combat weapons. In addition, the character can be upgraded with powerful and interesting "biomods" that allow Alex to slip out of tight spots unseen, or to carry extra weapons with his enhanced strength.
Not your typical first-person shooter
A few years ago, the humor weekly The Onion ran one of its classic headlines: "Starbucks to Begin Sinister 'Phase Two' Operation." A caption that ran with the story explained, "A Starbucks barista near the Indiana-Ohio border engages in reconnaissance of an undetermined
nature." The makers of Deus Ex: Invisible War clearly took this idea to heart.
Early in the game, one of Alex's side missions is to fight on one side of a coffee war: helping out Pequod's in its battle against rival QueeQueg's Coffee. (Both, like Starbucks, references from Moby-Dick.)
Invisible War cleverly incorporates these side missions, and with the gloomy Blade Runner-meets-Minority Report look of the game, quests are more compelling than corny. There seem to be no true good guys in this game; nor is there a side that has Alex's interests at heart.
With regard to the gameplay itself: Fans of other FPS games should be warned. Players will spend as much time sneaking through vents as shooting people in the face, and because of assignments like the coffee side mission, conversation with seemingly inconsequential characters
really does matter. In other words, don't expect to blast through Invisible War.
Much of the inventory management, inventory and controls for the game is clunky. We reconfigured our controller after playing for only a few minutes. While we tested the Xbox version, which ran smoothly, we've heard from other gamers that the PC version is often buggy, and—worse for fans of the original, best-selling Deus Ex—dumbed down
graphically.
The best part of Invisible War by far is the "biomod" functionality, through which players can enhance Alex's body. Passive biomods, like the "Strength Enhancement," for the arm region, and "Neural Interface," which gives the "cranial region" the ability to hack any computer system, automatically improve the character. Others are more general—the "Health Leech Drone" lets Alex heal when close to a corpse—but require players to activate them manually.
Deus Ex: Invisible War's designers are trying to do something big—make an action game that's as meditative and interesting as a really good film—and for that, no matter what, they should be commended.
— Jen
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