Am I The Only One Who Liked DX:IW Better Than DX?

[Catman]

Of course this isn't a matter of personal opinion. We're discussing an issue which will forever alter the course of human events. Eventually, the world will divide into two warring groups, those who enjoyed DX:IW and those who hated DX:IW, and the destruction from the fighting will spread across the face of the earth like hellfire.

When the dust settles, the Omar will win by default.

[HOC]

Originally posted by Catman

When the dust settles, the Omar will win by default.

omar= playstation/gamecube gamers?

[James Warren]

Did I like Invisible War BETTER than Deus Ex?

No, Deus Ex came to me as a wonderful surprise that forever changed the way I look at games. It is a milestone game for me. For that reason it CAN'T be bested by ANY other game for me, probably, forever. It was a huge game with a literary feel to it akin to living inside of a great Epic Novel like War and Peace or, better, the Dune series. There was "all the time in the world" to form attachments to and expectations of NPCs and organizations within the actual game play that could, later, be manipulated for emotional affect by a changing plot line.

This "dramatic scope" is missing in Invisible War. It is just too "small" dramatically and too short to allow for the same kind of attachment / disaffection / reattachment roller coaster ride the first game held for me. However, there is nothing in the structure or technical presentation of the new game preventing this other than the amount of dramatic content which has been limited, presumably, by time (budget?) constraints.

As an example of what I mean, we are TOLD in the story that Billy is our longtime friend and that Nassif is our mentor but we are not allowed to EXPERIENCE Billy as our friend or Nassif as our mentor during the actual gameplay in the rather full way the first game developed relationships between the player and the NPCs and organizations. This blunts the emotional affect when we must choose or discover that we are going to have to part ways with our old buds. For me this is the biggest single failing of the game as I compare it to DX1. And, in fact, perhaps the ONLY failing. I could easily live with the small levels that had to be implemented and even the shortness of the game itself IF what I am calling "dramatic scope" had somehow been implemented as fully as in DX1. And I don't think that could have been done in Invisible War without adding "pages"
of content to the story making the "read" (play) longer.

BUT, I did like almost everything else about the game better than DX1.


The "skill" and "character development" system:

I LOVE the way the biomods have COMPLETELY replaced the old skill system. They are imaginative, diverse, create unique game play with each new choice and (unlike the BORING and non-playable skill system) are completely integrated into dynamic game play. Lets have even MORE of them in DX3.

I liked the way you could use your "skill" to get money with which to buy even more "skill" producing biomods. Let's see even more things to buy in DX3. I liked being a "preferred customer" of the Omar! I also enjoyed accumulating money and spending it. Lets see MORE of that in DX3. The Omar needed more competitors for my wealth! In addition to finding and stealing mods and tools I would have been greatly amused SHOPPING and perhaps bargaining for them in other little "speakeasy" shops similar to the Omar shops in Trier and the Vox club that can be discovered by exploring the "town."


The "reality" system:

The physics, lighting and the accurate lip animations all work well and improve the game immensely. The arm crossing, body swaying, head nodding animations of the NPCs during their speeches lacks variety and is a tad too predictable but it is a big improvement over DX1

There is also something that I love about Invisible War and that is not present (I don't think) in any way in DX1. I am talking about a subtle randomness to the game play that gives a kind of "alive presence" or "immediacy" and a slight uniqueness to each new run through from any location in the game. You can experience what I am talking about for yourself if you get all of the scripted conversations out of the way in upper Seattle and then save the game so that you can reload from that point. Now reload repeatedly and get the thugs by the inclinator to chase you back into the main area and let the two security guys, bots and even the shop keepers and the "towns folk" deal with the situation on their own. Just watch the show. It's slightly different every time. The dialogue is different and the outcomes are different.


The "weapons" system:

I view weapons as tools. I liked being able to modify my weapons into my own personal tools. I love the modified bolt caster that can be made with glass destabilizer and EMP damage. Lets see even more mods for DX3 weapons. Why limit the mods on the weapons to two? Have more types of mods and allow 5 or 10 mods per weapon allowing for unpredictable combinations. That way, no one knows just quite HOW the player is going to be equipped because he has CREATED the weapon / tool during game play (emergent game play - get it?) I never saw or used DX as a combat sim so I really don't care if the ammo goes away completely and is replaced by atomic powered weapons that do a variety of interesting things. Unreal (1) had that little blaster that never ran out of ammo, remember? I liked it.


The enemy NPC IQ:

They will seek you out and defeat you in a variety of relatively unpredictable ways with a variety of vocalizations AND they can be defeated in a variety of interesting ways. What more could I want or expect from a game that is NOT a combat sim?


The "music" systems:

The background mood music and sound effects are understated perfectly for me. They worked well I thought. I am, however, an old man and, by now, quite curmudgeonly in my evaluation of "popular" music so I was looking for a way to remove the musical kidneys from the Kidney Thieves at the "Juke Boxes" in the three "bars." An "off" option so that I could better hear the conversations would have been appreciated. Of course the "real" music of the Kidney Thieves DID add a certain reality to the experience in the Club Vox but wouldn't it have been even more atmospheric if the "red neck" bar in lower Seattle had something different like the "country music" you might find in such a bar and the German bar in Trier had some kind of local German music?
Too expensive? Shop harder!


Bottom line:

I'm still up for DX3 and you have my permission to call me a "fan boy."

[urefinger]

Thank you, I believe i shall "Fan Boy"

and, furthermore, the game with the everlasting blaster to which you refer is "quake"

PS - anybody feel like a game of C.M.A.K (?)

[James Warren]

No, I really WAS refering to the little blaster in the first Unreal game.

Please define "C.M.A.K" for me.

[urefinger]

*sniff* there was one in quake too

Combat Mission Arika Korps (type it into google - get the game and I'll whip you at it. it's a semi turn based (uses the WE go principle rather than I go then you go) fully 3d stratagey simulator on which you can control whole armoured battalions on a single battlefield - its also the most realistic game ever made)