Video games, despite their electronic nature, are not entirely static, and the same can be said of role-playing games, which have grown significantly in scope and scale over the last few decades. In terms of Eastern RPGs, the original Final Fantasy is far more simplistic than the grander and grittier Final Fantasy XVI. The evolution of technology, particularly software, has had a profound impact on video games overall. Of all genres, role-playing games have arguably been the most significantly impacted by this evolution, with many eager to showcase new features as a result.
One role-playing game that stands out above the rest is Deus Ex, first released on June 23, 2000. Deus Ex wasn’t the first RPG to incorporate features like a first-person perspective or a wide, customizable world, but it was arguably the first to do so effectively. It was justifiably acclaimed at the time for these innovations, and even twenty-five years later, Deus Ex deserves to be celebrated for its accomplishments. Not bad for the same team that made Daikatana.
Deus Ex was developed by Ion Storm, a video game studio headed by Doom co-creators John Romero and Tom Hall, along with Warren Spector, who had clear technical foresight for the game. Ion Storm, which operated out of both Austin and Dallas, Texas, was known for underrated gems like Anachronox and, less charitably, major misfires like Daikatana.
On the flip side, Deus Ex was published by Eidos Interactive, owners of Ion Storm and a major player in the video game industry in their own right, best known for franchises like Hitman and Tomb Raider. This combination of developer and publisher proved to be a fortunate one for Deus Ex, whose development began around 1997 and wrapped shortly before its release on June 23, 2000. That relatively long development period helped ensure Deus Ex could be as big and innovative as possible for a role-playing game.
Non-Deus Ex Ion Storm Game | Release Date |
Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3 | June 11, 1998 |
Daikatana | May 23, 2000 |
Anachronox | June 27, 2001 |
Thief: Deadly Shadows | May 25, 2004 |
Deus Ex’s title refers to the ancient Latin phrase deus ex machina, or God from the machine; in essence, the phrase refers to an event in a dramatic performance that comes out of left field and does little but to quickly resolve a major plot point. Indeed, Deus Ex was deliberately designed with the phrase in mind, featuring many convoluted plot points that can either unfold endlessly or be resolved with haste. Warren Spector, who led the game’s development team, was very keen on connecting Deus Ex to the old Latin phrase.
There are several forces in the game who aspire to God-like powers or actually end up having them. But it also refers to the fact that so many computer game plots are so hopelessly lame.
Developing a game as extensively as Deus Ex was going to require more than any pre-existing knowledge of design and programming, hence why the game was one of the earliest to make use of the Unreal Engine. This, in of itself, helped to set a new standard for game development, as many video game developers began to use Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, along with its successors, for their own commercial projects.
Deus Ex is set in the year 2052, in a dystopian cyberpunk world ruled by what appears to be a one-world government. The United Nations may seem to be the dominant global power, but in reality, more nefarious groups actually control the world from behind the scenes. These factions have either infiltrated the UN or acted in direct defiance of it. Two of the most prominent are the Illuminati and the more malevolent Majestic-12, the latter being an offshoot of the Illuminati with an especially strong grip on global affairs.
There are numerous other factions with more localized power, including the Triads and X-51, the latter comprising defectors from a major scientific organization. Beyond all this, the game’s technologically advanced setting has given rise to an increasingly sentient and intelligent AI infrastructure, which holds the key to many of the world’s secrets.
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The main protagonist of Deus Ex is JC Denton, who, along with his brother Paul Denton, works within the United Nations, specifically its Anti-Terrorist Coalition. Their primary target is the National Secessionist Forces, a violent group labeled a terrorist organization by the UN. But even greater concerns loom beyond these factions, chief among them the deadly Gray Death plague that has ravaged the world.
Compounding the crisis is the lack of effective treatments. The only vaccine, Ambrosia, is in increasingly short supply. The hysteria surrounding the Gray Death has driven people to take matters into their own hands, pushing society further into chaos. It’s up to JC Denton to manage this hysteria and uncover the true nature of the world he and his brother inhabit.
Deus Ex is an action role-playing game in the vein of some of Bethesda’s best titles, like Fallout and The Elder Scrolls. It effectively borrows the first-person perspective of The Elder Scrolls and the complex weaponry of Fallout. The game also incorporates elements from other genres, including first-person shooters, again echoing The Elder Scrolls, and stealth. All of this sets Deus Ex apart from just about any other RPG of its time, or any video game released in the twentieth century. While the game truly innovated on many fronts, it’s even more interesting from a gameplay perspective than these technical accomplishments alone would suggest.
In a pre-release interview with Computer Gaming World, Warren Spector said he hoped Deus Ex could build on the games that came before it. “I hope people can look back at some earlier games and say, ‘I liked those. Deus Ex is the next step in the evolution of games like that.'” During the same interview, he highlighted several titles that helped inspire Deus Ex. “What earlier games would I cite as our predecessors? Ultima Underworld… System Shock… Thief… Half-Life. I’m not saying we’ll be as great as those games—though I hope we will!—but they’re the games we took the most inspiration from.”
I hope people can look back at some earlier games and say, ‘I liked those. Deus Ex is the next step in the evolution of games like that.’
Befitting the phrase that Deus Ex takes its title from, just about anything can happen in the game at any given moment that can abruptly change the player’s path. More accurately, Deus Ex presents players with choices that can ultimately affect the game’s outcome. Before those consequences unfold, however, the player must accept quests and missions that tie into the main story in one way or another. These may include errands for one of the game’s many factions, which can influence which ending the player receives.
All of these quests are woven through not just one but multiple large hub worlds, based on real-world locations like Hong Kong and New York City. This gives the game a level of non-linearity and openness that could only be matched by the Grand Theft Auto games that followed.
Upon its release on June 23, 2000, Deus Ex was acclaimed for its versatility and customization, with some critics considering it more in line with an immersive sim. The game was also a financial success, selling over one million copies since its launch. Later mainline entries in the Deus Ex franchise proved just as successful; Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the most recent entry, has sold over 12 million copies since its release.
Strangely, despite these successes, the mainstream popularity of the Deus Ex series has temporarily waned. It’s known that a sequel to Mankind Divided was canceled despite being well into development. Had it not been for the original Deus Ex celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary, the franchise might have faded into obscurity by now.
Deus Ex Game | Release Date |
Deus Ex | June 23, 2000 |
Invisible War | Dec. 2, 2003 |
Human Revolution | Aug. 23, 2011 |
Mankind Divided | Aug. 23, 2016 |
While the Deus Ex franchise has faded in the public eye in recent years, its influence on video games, especially the role-playing genre, continues to linger to this day. Bethesda Softworks, a pioneer of the Western RPG, has clearly taken cues from Deus Ex, with newer games like Fallout 76, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, and Starfield carrying over elements of its gameplay and presentation.
Above all, the one RPG most influenced by Deus Ex is Cyberpunk 2077, which makes sense given its similarly dystopian cyberpunk setting. Like Deus Ex, Cyberpunk 2077 has players uncover the true nature of their world while completing tasks for competing factions. While Deus Ex has been forgotten by many, the title had a disproportionate impact on the gaming industry, and its legacy can still be felt today.
Deus Ex
June 23, 2000
M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Violence
Ion Storm
Eidos Interactive
Unreal Engine 1
Local Multiplayer
Deus Ex
1
