Is Invisible War actually that bad? I own it because it was like, a dollar, but I keep hearing things ranging from it's bad to it's okay. Maybe once I actually get around to beating Deus Ex for once, I'll have my own opinion, but I figured it was in the "it's good on its own, but it's a bad sequel" bucket.

Just be ready to fling furniture across the room with every nudge, it happens every time. You're also not allowed to discover hidden paths on your own, they're laboriously spelled out by voiced NPCs.

The game got dumb down a lot because of consoles. It's not bad, but probably the worst Deus Ex game.

Hello Warloch_Ahead!

In my humble opinion, "Deus Ex 2: Invisible War" is a good game on it's own! It is not great, though and has many flaws (especially, when compared with other concurrent games of the time or its predecessor).

My first contact with "Deus Ex" was with the Playstation 2 port of the original game. Hence, some of the flaws of the direct sequel did not bothered me as much as would have, if I had known the original PC game, already.
I mean, the PS2 version of the first game ported almost the complete content, details and even alternate paths and solutions, but included (lots of) more walls to separate the original's large areas into smaller chunks. Thus introduced many additional loading screens and intermediate 'level' transitions, that were not present in the PC original, rendering the PS2 version a little bit easier to play.

Later, it was not a surprise to me, seeing that "Invisible War" had similarily small level sections and plenty of loading screens (due to its lead design platform, the original XBox).
The overall texture quality was low, even in comparison to the PS2 port of the first one, because now all textures included those 'normal mapping' shader effects (which by the way, were used much more effectively in "Thief 3 Deadly Shadows").
The two most impressive aspects for me though, were the (for its time) advanced sound engine with a more authentic sound propagation and the utter freedom on how to tackle each task and area! You always have at least three approaches or ways/paths.
True, the sequel was lacking in the consequences of all your choices and actions, but many of them had perceivable albeit minor effects. (I do love the implementation of the "coffee manufacturer war" and how the "hologram lady" serves multiple purposes in the game world!)

I think, "Invisible War" gets or got so much adversity, because those players of the original PC game did not got what they wanted or expected from the sequel. 'Fans' wanted an even more in depth roleplaying character system, a similar 'open' and not so claustrophobic game world and a familiar control and user interface scheme.
And the huge difference between early promotional material from within the development process and the final end result (again due to the shift in development from the PC platform to the then new first XBox console) contributed to the negative reception.

So, in conclusion, I think "Invisible War" would have fared much better, if it has not been marketed as the "Deus Ex Sequel".

-

Back on topic regarding the 'üprequel' "Deus Ex Human Revolution":

I did not played the Director's Cut, only the original version alas by a friend on his Playstation 3 console.
In both of the first two games I appreciated the free-form gameplay. But "Human Revolution" felt too restrictive and formulaic. Both story and events (or available actions) were too predictable for my tastes.

On repeated playthroughs of the first two games, I still found another details and alternatives on how to achieve my goals, that I did not found or realized before. In "Human Revolution" the 'rooms' and challenges appeared to be more self-contained and obvious, what could or should be done.

The new presentation and augmentation system were both pleasant and unique in the beginning, but soon monotony settled in...

I am sorry, for not actually being able to "sell anyone" on the newer Deus Ex games.

Kind regards,
foxgog

Do you like the ideas of the cyberpunk genre but would like something a little less over-the-top with depravity and depression? Then the Deus Ex series is worth playing for that reason alone. Its approach to cyberpunk is more "high tech w/ a balance of low life & good stuff" instead of that "high tech low life" approach the genre usually takes.

However, a more detailed pitch might be like this...

It's a game that offers well-balanced stealth gameplay (meaning it's not unnecessarily difficult), RPG mechanics and freeform level design. While it's not strictly ANY one genre, its focus does tend to lean into stealth and RPGs, and the balance works so well. It's not a sandbox in the Elder Scrolls sense, but when it comes to the missions, you're given the freedom to approach your objectives however you want. It's a very replayable game for this reason. It also has a really solid story, in my opinion.

In general, it's a very affordable game. If you enjoy cyberpunk, stealth, RPG and freeform gameplay, you definitely need to play it!

I hear everyone say this about Deus Ex 1 but have any of you played it in recent years? I tried to play it a few times in recent years without playing it when it was first released. The combat just seems incredibly dated and clunky. Consequently I just couldn't get into the game

I have played a good portion of Human Revolution and enjoyed it though.

Maybe you have a watersports fetish and would like to see a world drenched in piss.

Yup, played Deus Ex 1 earlier this year w/out any mods; loved it still. Keep in mind, I'm okay w/ the jank and played this back in the day not super long after it was released.

I still play Vampire Bloodlines yearly, BTW.

And recently began a Fallout 3 GOTY playthrough again, if we going into the jank department talk here.

There was no way to stealth the bosses. That isn't a stealth run.

It's mostly okay.
That's what some guy with 4.7 million views on a video said, so I assume there's some legitimacy there.