<P>And it's true cutting-edge interactive storytelling. While the broad sweeps of the tale are pre-determined, the minutiae are determined by the player, leaving a distinct and beautiful lasting memory. Deus Ex joins Half-life and System Shock 2 as the leading practioners of this alchemy. We're reaching an age when the traditional storytelling devices in games (Pure cut Scenes, ala Vampire) are beginning to look as shoddy as a flick-book in an age of widescreen plasma-screens TVs. Several years ago it was stated that, by definition, gameplay and story were opposing forces. Bits of a game that are story are noninteractive, hence decorative. The bits where you actually do something are game, with only a causal link to the flow of the narrative, with no genuine interaction. That's just not true anymore.
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<P>But just how good is it? To take the two polar extremes of influence, while it's not quite as good as Half-life as a shooter or Thief as a sneaker, the - and here comes that word again - freedom to try both makes it the former's only peer. After two years we've finally got a genuine battle for the number one PC game of all time spot.
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<P>And hopefully it should sell millions. To the bloke in the street, they'll recall the X-files and the Matrix and be satisfied. The pretentious posers will be rewarded with nods towards everything from the Illumianti and French Situationalists. Clearly, Deus Ex has influences outside the normal world of games; it reaches higher and drags you with it.
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<P>Because games - like most other entertainment - have a terrible habit of making you less than you are normally, simplifying you into a stripped down cartoon. There's a direct line in the almost-autistic reduction-of-self required to succeed in the first arcade games (Robotron 2084, Defender) to the similarly emotionally grounded Diablo (Get sword, kill baddy, get stronger sword, Repeat, Repeat). Deus Ex is one of the few games that make you more than you're normally. Because in Deus Ex's reduced universe you feel as if you have more real freedom than you do in normal existence. Which like, say, Fight Club, reminds you of your own freedom in reality. After a session with Deus Ex you feel more alive. It's a slap in the face, a reminder how good art can be.
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<P>And this is art. It's beautiful. And I'm going to stop now before I start to cry.