Deus Ex, what does it mean? We certainly had a long enough time to think about it as it seemed that this game was never going to appear on the Playstation 2. Well we have been rewarded for the long wait. Upon first inspection Deus Ex looks like another run of the mill first person shooter, but the trick is that is not. Instead it comes from the creative genius Warren Spector, the PC gaming god. So what? You have to play the game to understand that an incredible amount of thought went into conceiving this game. From the high quality dialogue to the numerous branching paths to the ability to fully customize every option, Deus Ex offers more than any other first person shooter before it on the PS2.

One of the reasons the game took so long to complete was the decision by Eidos not to simply port the game from the PC version. The game was intricate on the PC and thus a reworked engine would only make it successful on a console such as the PS2. The visual outing for the most part is solid but there are areas where the frame rate is choppy and the textures lack the detail they could of had. Another issue is the long loading times in between levels and sometimes within the levels themselves. This results in unnecessary breaks in the action and for some this may well be a breaking point for putting down the controller. Regardless the visual package is nice enough to complement the meat of the game which is its gameplay and story lines.

The main character is J.C. Denton a rough 007 type of individual who prefers to take care of his enemies secretly and quietly. There is the option to blow your way through missions with run and gun tactics, but that method forces confrontations with some very formidable soldiers, which will more than likely not keep you alive for very long. The game rewards those players with the smarts to take out each threat one at a time, using electric rods, gas grenades and sniper rifles as your weapons of choice. You can interact with every single thing in the environment. Some items are useless while others will find their own creative uses. The biggest playability tactic is the on-going ability to upgrade Denton's various abilities. In addition everything in the game involves some degree of decision making from the non-stop shoot/stealth philosophy switching to the different routes in the buildings, that inherently affects how the game will play out. It is this aspect alone that propels Deus Ex into its own category of FPS that surpasses the excellence of the likes of Red Faction and Half Life. Some FPS may find that the game lacks pace but its true freedom easily compensates for this.

While Deus Ex may not be for everyone since its themes and execution are mature. It requires intelligence and some thought that teenagers may not have the time for. Regardless it is easy to see why Deus Ex was awarded the game of 2001 by over 40 top magazines and websites. Do not be fooled into thinking that Deus Ex is yet another mindless FPS. It is not and to the contrary, a rather intelligent game that should not be missed.