Junior Adventurer's Guild - December: Deus Ex: Invisible War

[SpellSword]

Victory!

► Spoilers

Deus Ex IW - Why is this portal a bridge too far.png

Deus Ex IW - ALIENS.png

Deus Ex IW - Disintegrating.png

Deus Ex IW - SHE HAS HATE.png

Deus Ex IW - A Discount.png

Deus Ex IW - The glory of humanity.png

► A Few Random Thoughts

The entire game felt undercooked.

Grenades shouldn't have been split between thrown and proxy.

Weapon mods were a bit more interesting.

An endless supply of biomod canisters with nothing to spend them on.

Unexpected Omar victory.

Overall Game Rating For Deus Ex - Invisible War:


I can see why they changed the intended sequel Deus Ex: Clan Wars into the unrelated Project: Snowblind. Although the game was definitely better than its bad reputation suggests it still isn't very good when compared with the original Deus Ex. I did find it pretty funny that if you wipe out all of the factions the Omar give you another discount on future purchases.

As a special Christmas Bonus, anyone who earns any badge this month will have $10USD ($20CAD) donated in their name and unlock HQ Platinum as well as the iconic 2024 Paypig which you can optionally display. Make my life worse and support Rusty by playing RPGs.

@Oyster Sauce +1 For the "Festive Fundraiser"

[Roderick]

I'm finally caught up in this whole Deus Sex thing.

► Show Spoiler

[Roderick]

Muh IW badge
Nominations come only from the list of potential games?

[Oyster Sauce]

Nominations come only from the list of potential games?

nah, kind of a relic from before we had nominations

[Lord of Riva]

Nominations come only from the list of potential games?

nah, kind of a relic from before we had nominations

How does that actually work now, i suggested two games in this other thread, is that now potentially nominated?

namely Ultima underworld (never played it) and Terranigma (for SNES)

[Oyster Sauce]

Nominations come only from the list of potential games?

nah, kind of a relic from before we had nominations

How does that actually work now, i suggested two games in this other thread, is that now potentially nominated?

namely Ultima underworld (never played it) and Terranigma (for SNES)

Anyone who beats the game of the month gets to nominate an RPG for the next poll.

[SpellSword]

How does that actually work now, i suggested two games in this other thread, is that now potentially nominated?

namely Ultima underworld (never played it) and Terranigma (for SNES)

Looking Glass Studios and Quintet. Such excellent developers.

[rusty_shackleford]

@Roderick did you finish IW?

[1998]

nah, kind of a relic from before we had nominations

How does that actually work now, i suggested two games in this other thread, is that now potentially nominated?

namely Ultima underworld (never played it) and Terranigma (for SNES)

Anyone who beats the game of the month gets to nominate an RPG for the next poll.

Put me down for....KCD! It just makes too much sense.

[logincrash]

What are the nominated games for January so far?

[Oyster Sauce]

What are the nominated games for January so far?

Great question

[Valter]

Kingdom Come Deliverance lobbying in full course

[Tweed]

Sure, vote for KCD.

[Roderick]

@Roderick did you finish IW?

Yes I included it in the original post.

[Lord of Riva]

Not gonna Vote for KCD not because it is not a great game but I will be hard pressed to find time for such a monster of a game. I plan to replay it before two comes around but I'm not hopeful.

[1998]

What are the nominated games for January so far?

KCD, Kingdom Come Deliverance, Vavras Chud Simulator, and Henry and the Holy Kingdom

[1998]

Not gonna Vote for KCD not because it is not a great game but I will be hard pressed to find time for such a monster of a game. I plan to replay it before two comes around but I'm not hopeful.

If you plan to replay it before 2 comes out, you literally only got Jan. Might as well vote. Start 2025 as a Winner - VOTE KCD

You can finish it later anyway

[1998]

When do you open the vote? @Oyster Sauce Another 24 hour bang or longer this time?

[rusty_shackleford]

Oyster sauce said he's wanted gothic to win

[J1M]

I nominated DARK.

[1998]

Oyster sauce said he's wanted gothic to win

and it should win. The month leading up to the surprisingly good looking remake. Current release date is Dec25

[Valter]

Oyster sauce said he's wanted gothic to win

I've been curious about that franchise so that would be a welcome choice

[1998]

Oyster sauce said he's wanted gothic to win

I've been curious about that franchise so that would be a welcome choice

After KCD, no way you are allowed to vote for anything else with that pfp

[Valter]

Oyster sauce said he's wanted gothic to win

I've been curious about that franchise so that would be a welcome choice

After KCD, no way you are allowed to vote for anything else with that pfp

My own vote was never in question

[1998]

I've been curious about that franchise so that would be a welcome choice

After KCD, no way you are allowed to vote for anything else with that pfp

My own vote was never in question

I'll lend you my gothic vote if needed for another month

[Statesman]

So Invisible War wasn't as bad as expected but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone besides diehard Deus Ex/Cyberpunk fans. The story was a disjointed mess (choices didn't matter, poor characterization, retcons, pointless cameos). At least the barely disguised corridors, I mean Console-sized maps still retained some of the free-form design language from the original game (not enough for the approach variety to merit a second playthrough). The gameplay was quite serviceable (outside the janky AI) but balance favored the player too heavily, even on Realistic. Should have gone for a no-biomod run

Overall, the whole experience ended up feeling like Deus Ex Lite (which is what it was supposed to be back in the day). I rate Deus Ex: Invisible War an unbiased (add an extra watermelon if taking into account OG Deus Ex nostalgia).

► Show Spoiler

This game is quite DEI-fied (especially considering it was made in 2003).

But at least that can be easily remedied.


Thanks for the useless endgame "reward", Omars.


Should have gone for the Templar Ending, but I killed Saman with a grenade by mistake (played the whole game in Rusty-mode).


In the end, it took me more than most...guess I can't stop myself from reading useless lore nor from exploring/completing everything.

Guess I lost my Junior Adventurer's Guild virginity.

[Roderick]

Had the feel of rpgs from that era and I though Alex was alright. Too much woke nonsense especially in Cairo and when they try to tie in previous game it goes off a cliff terribly.

[J1M]

Oyster sauce said he's wanted gothic to win

and it should win. The month leading up to the surprisingly good looking remake. Current release date is Dec25

Not to be contrarian, but that sounds like the absolute worst time to play a game unless you regularly love playing games twice in a row.

Unless you were saying the remake would count for AG.

[Nooneatall]

What are we playing next year?

[1998]

Oyster sauce said he's wanted gothic to win

and it should win. The month leading up to the surprisingly good looking remake. Current release date is Dec25

Not to be contrarian, but that sounds like the absolute worst time to play a game unless you regularly love playing games twice in a row.

Unless you were saying the remake would count for AG.

It's a full blown remake. Unless you are playing Gothic only for the story, I don't think that will be a problem.