Deus Ex: Киберпанк и свобода выбора

2000 video game

Deus Ex is a 2000 action role playing game developed by Ion Storm and published by Eidos Interactive. Set in a cyberpunk themed dystopian world in the year 2052, the game follows JC Denton, an agent of the fictional agency United Nations Anti Terrorist Coalition (UNATCO), who is given superhuman abilities by nanotechnology, as he sets out to combat hostile forces in a world ravaged by inequality and a deadly plague. His missions entangle him in a conspiracy that brings him into conflict with the Triads, Majestic 12, and the Illuminati. Deus Exs gameplay combines elements of the first person shooter with stealth elements, adventure, and role playing genres, allowing for its tasks and missions to be completed in a variety of ways, which in turn lead to differing outcomes. Presented from the first person perspective, the player can customize Denton's various abilities such as weapon skills or lockpicking, increasing his effectiveness in these areas; this opens up different avenues of exploration and methods of interacting with or manipulating other characters. The player can complete side missions away from the primary storyline by moving freely around the available areas, which can reward the player with experience points to upgrade abilities and alternative ways to tackle main missions. Powered by the Unreal Engine, the game was released for Microsoft Windows in June 2000, with a Mac OS port following the next month. A modified version of the game was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2002 as Deus Ex: The Conspiracy. In the years following its release, Deus Ex has received additional improvements and content from its fan community. The game received critical acclaim, including being named "Best PC Game of All Time" in PC Gamers "Top 100 PC Games" in 2011 and a poll carried out by the UK gaming magazine PC Zone. Deus Ex was praised for its ambitious plot, the freedom of its immersive gameplay, world building and diversity of character customization and choices, but its graphics and voice acting polarized critics. It received several Game of the Year awards, drawing praise for its pioneering designs in player choice and multiple narrative paths. Deus Ex is regarded as one of the best video games of all time. It has sold more than 1 million copies, as of April 23, 2009. The game led to a series, which includes the sequel Deus Ex: Invisible War (2003), and three prequels: Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011), Deus Ex: The Fall (2013), and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (2016).

Deus Ex incorporates elements from four video game genres: role playing, first person shooter, adventure, and "immersive simulation", the last of which being a game where "nothing reminds you that you're just playing a game." For example, the game uses a first person camera during gameplay and includes exploration and character interaction as primary features. This nanotechnology is a central gameplay mechanism and allows players to perform superhuman feats.

As the player accomplishes objectives, the player character is rewarded with "skill points". Skill points are used to enhance a character's abilities in eleven different areas, and were designed to provide players with a way to customize their characters;

Weapons may be customized through "weapon modifications", which can be found or purchased throughout the game. The player might add scopes, silencers, or laser sights; increase the weapon's range, accuracy, or magazine size; or decrease its recoil and reload time; as appropriate to the weapon type. Players are further encouraged to customize their characters through nano augmentations—cybernetic devices that grant characters superhuman powers. While the game contains eighteen different nano augmentations, the player can install a maximum of nine, as each must be used on a certain part of the body: one in the arms, legs, eyes, and head; two underneath the skin; and three in the torso. This forces the player to choose carefully between the benefits offered by each augmentation. For example, the arm augmentation requires the player to decide between boosting their character's skill in hand to hand combat or his ability to lift heavy objects. Interaction with non player characters (NPCs) was a significant design focus. However, through the game's role playing systems, it is possible to develop a character's skills and augmentations to create a tank like combat specialist with the ability to deal and absorb large amounts of damage. Non player characters will praise or criticize the main character depending on the use of force, incorporating a moral element into the gameplay. Deus Ex features a head up display crosshair, whose size dynamically shows where shots will fall based on movement, aim, and the weapon in use; the reticle expands while the player is moving or shifting their aim, and slowly shrinks to its original size while at rest. Support for multiplayer modes was later incorporated through patches. The component consists of three game modes: deathmatch, basic team deathmatch, and advanced team deathmatch. Five maps, based on levels from the single player portion of the game, were included with the original multiplayer patch, but many user created maps exist, while also many features of the single player game missing in multiplayer have been re introduced by various user RPG modifications. In April 2014 it was announced that GameSpy would cease their masterserver services, also affecting Deus Ex. A community made patch for the multiplayer mode has been created as a response to this.

Deus Ex takes place in 2052, as it exists if real world conspiracy theories turn out to be true. It is headquartered near New York City in a bunker beneath Liberty Island, placed there after a terrorist strike on the Statue of Liberty. The main character of Deus Ex is UNATCO agent JC Denton (voiced by Jay Franke), one of the first in a new line of agents physically altered with advanced nanotechnology to gain superhuman abilities, and the bureaucratic UNATCO chief Joseph Manderley. UNATCO communications tech Alex Jacobson's character model and name are based on Warren Spector's nephew, Alec Jacobson. JC's missions bring him into contact with various characters, including NSF leader Juan Lebedev, hacker and scientist Tracer Tong, nano tech expert Gary Savage, Nicolette DuClare (daughter of an Illuminati member), former Illuminati leader Morgan Everett, the Artificial Intelligences (AI) Daedalus and Icarus, and Bob Page, owner of VersaLife and leader of Majestic 12, a clandestine organization that has usurped the infrastructure of the Illuminati, allowing him to control the world for his own ends.

After completing his training, UNATCO agent JC Denton takes several missions given by Director Joseph Manderley to track down members of the National Secessionist Forces (NSF) and their stolen shipments of the Ambrosia vaccine, the treatment for the Gray Death virus. Through these missions, JC is reunited with his brother, Paul, who is also nano augmented. JC tracks the Ambrosia shipment to a private terminal at LaGuardia Airport. Paul meets JC outside the plane and explains that he has defected from UNATCO and is working with the NSF after learning that the Gray Death is a human made virus, with UNATCO using its power to make sure only the elite receive the vaccine. JC returns to UNATCO headquarters and is told by Manderley that both he and Paul have been outfitted with a 24 hour kill switch and that Paul's has been activated due to his betrayal. Manderley orders JC to fly to Hong Kong to eliminate Tracer Tong, a hacker whom Paul has contact with, and who can disable the kill switches. Instead, JC returns to Paul's apartment to find Paul hiding inside. Paul further explains his defection and encourages JC to also defect by sending out a distress call to alert the NSF's allies. Upon doing so, JC becomes a wanted man by UNATCO, and his kill switch is activated by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director Walton Simons. JC is unable to escape UNATCO forces, and both he and Paul (provided he survived the raid on the apartment) are taken to a secret prison below UNATCO headquarters. An entity named "Daedalus" contacts JC and informs him that the prison is part of Majestic 12, and arranges for him and Paul (if alive) to escape. JC and Paul (if alive) flee to Hong Kong to meet with Tong, who deactivates their kill switches. Tong requests that JC infiltrate the VersaLife building. Doing so, JC discovers that the corporation is the source for the Gray Death, and he can steal the plans for the virus and destroy the universal constructor (UC) that produces it. Analysis of the virus shows that its structure was designed by the Illuminati, prompting Tong to send JC to Paris to obtain their help fighting Majestic 12. JC meets with Illuminati leader Morgan Everett and learns that the technology behind the Gray Death was intended to be used for augmentation, but Majestic 12, led by trillionaire businessman and former Illuminatus Bob Page, stole and repurposed it. Everett recognizes that without VersaLife's UC, Majestic 12 can no longer create the virus, and will likely target Vandenberg Air Force Base (which in real life is now a space force base), where X 51, a group of former Area 51 scientists, have built another one. After aiding the base personnel in repelling a Majestic 12 attack, JC meets X 51 leader Gary Savage, who reveals that Daedalus is an artificial intelligence (AI) borne out of the ECHELON program. Everett attempts to gain control over Majestic 12's communications network by releasing Daedalus onto the U. S. military networks, but Page counters by releasing his own AI, Icarus. Icarus merges with Daedalus to form a new AI, Helios, which can control all global communications. Savage enlists JC's help in procuring schematics for reconstructing components for the UC that were damaged during Majestic 12's raid of Vandenberg. JC finds the schematics and transmits them to Savage. Page intercepts the transmission and targets a nuclear missile at Vandenberg to ensure that Area 51, now Majestic 12's headquarters, will be the only location in the world with an operational UC. However, JC can reprogram the missile to strike Area 51. JC travels to Area 51 to confront Page. Page reveals that he seeks to merge with Helios and gain full control over nanotechnology. JC is contacted by Tong, Everett, and the Helios AI successively. All three factions ask for his help in defeating Page while furthering their own objectives. Tong seeks to plunge the world into a Dark Age by destroying the global communications hub and preventing anyone from taking control of the world. Everett offers Denton the chance to return the Illuminati to power by killing Page and using the Area 51 technology to rule the world with an invisible hand. Helios wishes to merge with Denton and rule the world as a benevolent dictator with infinite knowledge and reason. The player's decision determines the future and brings the game to a close.

After Looking Glass Technologies and Origin Systems released Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds in January 1993, producer Warren Spector began to plan Troubleshooter, the game that would become Deus Ex. In his 1994 proposal, he described the concept as "Underworld style first person action" in a real world setting with "big budget, nonstop action". The game's working title was Shooter: Majestic Revelations, and it was scheduled for release on Christmas 1998. In early 1998, the Deus Ex team grew to 20 people, and the game entered a 28 month production phase. The development team consisted of three programmers, six designers, seven artists, a writer, an associate producer, a "tech", and Spector. Two writers and four testers were hired as contractors. Chris Norden was the lead programmer and assistant director, Harvey Smith the lead designer, Jay Lee the lead artist, and Sheldon Pacotti the lead writer. Australia on July 27, and the United Kingdom on August 4, 2000. and published by Eidos Interactive for Microsoft Windows. The team planned third party ports for Mac OS 9 and Linux.

The original 1997 design document for Deus Ex privileges character development over all other features. Once coded, the team's game systems did not work as intended. The early tests of the conversation system and user interface were flawed. The team also found augmentations and skills to be less interesting than they had seemed in the design document. In response, Harvey Smith substantially revised the augmentations and skills. was praised by critics for complementing the gritty atmosphere predominant throughout the game with melodious and ambient music incorporated from a number of genres, including techno, jazz, and classical. The music sports a basic dynamic element, similar to the iMUSE system used in early 1990s LucasArts games; during play, the music will change to a different iteration of the currently playing song based on the player's actions, such as when the player starts a conversation, engages in combat, or transitions to the next level. All the music in the game is tracked Gabrels' contribution, "NYC Bar", was converted to a module by Alexander Brandon.

Deus Ex has been re released in several iterations since its original publication and has also been the basis of several mods developed by its fan community. The Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition, which was released on May 8, 2001, contains the latest game updates and a software development kit, a separate soundtrack CD, and a page from a fictional newspaper featured prominently in Deus Ex titled The Midnight Sun, which recounts recent events in the game's world. However, later releases of said version do not include the soundtrack CD and contain a PDF version of the newspaper on the game's disc. Developed by Westlake Interactive, the Mac OS port was released on July 13, shipping with the same capabilities which can also be patched to enable multiplayer support. However, publisher Aspyr Media did not release any subsequent editions of the game or any additional patches. As such, the game is only supported in Mac OS 9 and the "Classic" environment in Mac OS X, neither of which are compatible with Intel based Macs. The Windows version will run on Intel based Macs using Crossover, Boot Camp, or other software to enable a compatible version of Windows to run on a Mac. A PlayStation 2 port of the game, retitled Deus Ex: The Conspiracy outside of Europe, was released in 2002 in North America on March 26, in the United Kingdom on June 7, and in Australia on December 13. and Along with motion captured character animations and pre rendered introductory and ending cinematics that replaced the original versions, it features a simplified interface with optional auto aim. There are many minor changes in level design, some to balance gameplay, but most to accommodate loading transition areas, due to the memory limitations of the PlayStation 2. The PlayStation 2 version was re released in Europe on the PlayStation 3 as a PlayStation 2 Classic on May 16, 2012. Loki Games worked on a Linux version of the game, but the company went out of business before releasing it. The OpenGL layer they wrote for the port, however, was sent out to Windows gamers through an online patch. Though their quality assurance did not see major Direct3D issues, players noted "dramatic slowdowns" immediately following the launch, and the team did not understand the "black box" of the Unreal engine well enough to make it do exactly what they needed. Spector characterized Deus Ex reviews into two categories based on how they begin with either how "Warren Spector makes games all by himself" or that "Deus Ex couldn't possibly have been made by Ion Storm". He has said that the game won over 30 "best of" awards in 2001, In September 2000, Eidos Interactive and Ion Storm announced in a press release that they would be releasing the software development kit (SDK), which included all the tools used to create the original game. Several team members, as well as project director Warren Spector, stated that they were "really looking forward to seeing what [the community] does with our tools". The kit was released on September 22, 2000, and soon gathered community interest, followed by the release of tutorials, small mods, up to announcements of large mods and conversions. The game's protagonist is a user of an Internet forum, with digital places represented as physical locations. The mod offers roughly the same amount of gameplay as Deus Ex and adds several new features to the game, with a more open world structure than Deus Ex and new weapons such as the player character's fists. The mod was developed over seven years and has thousands of lines of recorded dialogue and two different parallel story arcs. Upon its release, TNM earned a 9/10 overall from PC PowerPlay magazine. In Mod DB's 2009 Mod of the Year awards, The Nameless Mod won the Editor's Choice award for Best Singleplayer Mod. In 2015, during the 15th anniversary of the game's release, Square Enix (who had acquired Eidos earlier) endorsed a free fan created mod, Deus Ex: Revision, which was released through Steam. The mod, created by Caustic Creative, is a graphical overhaul of the original game, adding in support for newer versions of DirectX, upgraded textures adapted from previous mods, a remixed soundtrack, and more world building aesthetics. It also alters aspects of gameplay, including new level design paths and in game architecture. Another overhaul mod, GMDX, released its final version in mid 2017 with enhanced artificial intelligence, improved physics, and upgraded visual textures. The Lay D Denton Project, a mod adding the ability to play as a female JC – a feature that had been planned for Deus Ex but ultimately not implemented – was released in 2021. This included the re recording of all of JC's voice lines by voice actress Karen Rohan, the addition of 3D models for the character, and editing of all gendered references to JC including other characters' voice clips. The audio editing was the most difficult aspect, as any abnormalities would have been noticed easily; a few characters were too difficult to edit, and had to be recast for the mod.

According to Computer Gaming Worlds Stefan Janicki, Deus Ex had "sold well in North America" by early 2001. In the United States, it debuted at #6 on PC Data's sales chart for the week ending June 24, at an average retail price of $40. It fell to eighth place in its second week but rose again to position 6 in its third. It proceeded to place in the top 10 rankings for August 6–12 and the week ending September 2 and to secure 10th place overall for the months of July and August. Deus Ex achieved sales of 138,840 copies and revenues of $5 million in the United States by the end of 2000, according to PC Data. The firm tracked another 91,013 copies sold in the country during 2001. The game was a larger hit in Europe; Janicki called it a "blockbuster" for the region, which broke a trend of weak sales for 3D games. He wrote, "[I]n Europe—particularly in England—the action/RPG dominated the charts all summer, despite competition from heavyweights like Diablo II and The Sims." In the United Kingdom, Deus Ex reached #1 on the sales charts during August and spent three months in the top 10. The ELSPA later raised it to "Gold" status, for 200,000 sales. In April 2009, Square Enix revealed that Deus Ex had surpassed 1 million sales globally, but was outsold by Deus Ex: Invisible War.

Deus Ex received critical acclaim, attaining a score of 90 out of 100 from 28 critics on Metacritic. Computer Games Magazine praised the title for its deep gameplay and its use of multiple solutions to situations in the game. Similarly, Edge highlighted the game's freedom of choice, saying that Deus Ex "never tells you what to do. Goals are set, but alter according to your decisions." Eurogamers Rob Fahey lauded the game, writing, "Moody and atmospheric, compelling and addictive, this is first person gaming in grown up form, and it truly is magnificent." Former GameSpot reviewer Greg Kasavin, though awarding the game a score of 8.2 of 10, was disappointed by the security and lockpicking mechanics. "Such instances are essentially noninteractive", he wrote. "You simply stand there and spend a particular quantity of electronic picks or modules until the door opens or the security goes down." He poked fun at JC's "Joe Friday, 'just the facts', deadpan", and the "truly cheesy accents" of minor characters in Hong Kong and New York City. IGN called the graphics "blocky", adding that "the animation is stiff, and the dithering is just plain awful in some spots", referring to the limited capabilities of the Unreal Engine used to design the game. The website, later on, stated that "overall Deus Ex certainly looks better than your average game". Reviewers and players also complained about the size of Deus Exs save files. An Adrenaline Vault reviewer noted that "Playing through the entire adventure, [he] accumulated over 250 MB of save game data, with the average file coming in at over 15 MB." The game developed a strong cult following, leading to a core modding and playing community that remained active over 15 years after its release. In an interview with IGN in June 2015, game director Warren Spector said he never expected Deus Ex to sell many copies, but he did expect it to become a cult classic among a smaller, active community, and he continues to receive fan mail from players to date regarding their experiences and thoughts about Deus Ex.

A film adaptation based on the game was initially announced in May 2002 by Columbia Pictures. The film was being produced by Laura Ziskin, along with Greg Pruss attached with writing the screenplay. Peter Schlessel, president of the production for Columbia Pictures, and Paul Baldwin, president of marketing for Eidos Interactive, stated that they were confident in that the adaptation would be a successful development for both the studios and the franchise. In March 2003, during an interview with Greg Pruss, he informed IGN that the character of JC Denton would be "a little bit filthier than he was in the game". He further stated that the script was shaping up to be darker in tone than the original game. Although a release date was scheduled for 2006, the film did not get past the scripting stage. In 2012, CBS films revived the project, buying the rights and commissioning a film inspired by the Deux Ex series; its direct inspiration was the 2011 game Human Revolution. C. Robert Cargill and Scott Derrickson were to write the screenplay, and Derrickson was to direct the film.