When I get bored of trying to pass the same mission in
Delta Force the hundredth time (Snake Eyes mission, I think it is the 9th mission in the game), I'm trying to start
Deus Ex (with th GMDX mod, because the vanilla GOG version wouldn't simply run for me correctly).
I've played the tutorial of Deus Ex, but with starting the proper game I've gotten stuck.
First, the difficulty level. There are like six or so different difficulty levels, the most difficult one is locked (unlocked only by first finishing the game with some easier difficulty). My idea is to play the game through only once so I don't want to choose too easy difficulty either for my only playthrough, I like challenge as long as it isn't insane.
The difficulty level descriptions are so damn vague. "If you are first time player, select Normal"... ok, but what exactly is different between e.g. the Normal, Hard and Realistic difficulty levels? What happens if I select Realistic right away for my first playthrough, will I be bitching in the forums for the rest of the year how I hate Deus Ex, something I did for e.g. Descent Freespace, Tie Fighter or Fallout Tactics? Then again, I did select the hard(est) difficulty level in e.g. Fallout 1-2, Baldur's Gate 1-2, Icewind Dale, Dungeon Siege, Serious Sam etc. etc. etc. for the first time and I finished them fine, so...?
The second is which skills I should start investing in in the beginning? My first instinct was to start with e.g. gun and rifle skills (you have to start by killing some baddies, right?), but I decided to read some "beginner's FAQ" from gamefaqs.com, and it was more recommending on investing on hacking and electronics skills from the very beginning, even using all your points to them. I don't know if that was just that author's gameplay preference, or will I really be kicking myself in the head later if i don't do that, and try to proceed with weapon skills?
I'd rather not first start playing to learn the ropes, and then midway realize that I've been doing it all wrong and I should really restart the whole game from scratch, something I did in e.g. Fallout Tactics.
I guess I will go with Realistic difficulty, and invest at first to those skils the FAQ author recommends...
andysheets1975: ...
As an RPG, it's pretty much an extension of Bioware's Baldur's Gate games (real time with pause), only translated into 3D and allowing you only 3 party members in action at a time. If you like Baldur's Gate, both in terms of its gameplay and storytelling, there's a good chance you'll enjoy it.
...
There's good info for me as well! For some reason I always believed KOTOR 1-2 gameplay is more like System Shock 2 or Deus Ex (or maybe like Gothic games), rather than Baldur's Gate games. I think I like the less action-oriented "Baldur's Gate"-approach more. I'd say I actually disliked System Shock 2 due to its gameplay quirks, but at the same time I loved the first System Shock.
In a way I am in a similar boat as the guy who was asking. I certainly know about Star Wars and I have seen the first six movies, but to me the whole thing is meh, I don't care for the canon and whatever. Same as with Star Trek.
Babylon 5 though... no idea why I was so enthralled by it, while those other two bigger "worlds" have left me cold. Too bad the official Babylon 5 space combat sim was never released, but there are some of those fan-made ones which did feel great the last time I tried them a long time ago ("I've Found Her", and then those which were made on top of the Freespace 2 engine I believe).
