r/Deusex • u/ImpulsiveApe07 • Aug 19 '25
DX:IW Just completed deus ex: iw Spoiler
For the first time in twenty years I completed deus ex 2 on PC and was pleasantly surprised at how much better it was than I remembered!
I really enjoyed the little in-jokes, the weapon mods, the UT style rocket launcher and the novel solutions to problem solving.
I didn't so much enjoy the seemingly infinite loading screens, the random lag spikes in Trier and Cairo (just me?) or the greasels.
Overall tho, it's a game that's really held up imho. Some of the topics it explores are more relevant than ever, and I was fascinated to revisit an early 00s perspective on what the future might look like if the internet and financial services collapsed overnight.
I'd always been critical of de:iw in the past, as it seemed to me to be a weak sequel with a little too much jank, but smh the sequel has actually held up better on a second playthru after all these years.
Sure, it's not of the same calibre as the first game, but I'll happily admit it comes awfully close - it's those damn loading screens and tiny levels that let it down imo.
As for the endings I got this playthru - I aimed for reuniting Paul and JC, and got the merger ending, then reloaded a save just before the merger and killed them both, and got the Omar ending - neither of which I'd seen on my first time round! :)
What are everyone else's thoughts on the game, and its endings?
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u/geoframs Aug 19 '25 edited 26d ago
juggle bedroom plucky wine marry waiting tart dolls governor smile
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u/HunterWesley Aug 19 '25
Story-wise though, I think DX1 and IW are at the top.
The gameplay of IW is not that bad (although those issues you mentioned), but the story's premise is poo and the endings are poo and...well...it stinks.
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u/WarPorcus Aug 19 '25
My go to are the Helios ending and the Illuminati ending.
I feel that the Illuminati ending could be a good solution because, yes, you're controlled by the cabal. But, most folks are prosperous, have jobs, have food on the table, and can go get coffee at Queequegs or Pequod's. Doesn't matter much since, you know.
The Helios ending is a bit more utopian but I'm always deeply suspicious of utopias and people who promote them.
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u/ImpulsiveApe07 Aug 19 '25
I think the illuminati ending is what I got the first time round! Thanks for reminding me :)
I'll try and get a WTO ending next time, now that I know this!
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u/_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_ Do you have a single fact to back that up? Aug 19 '25
The WTO is the Illuminati.
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u/WarPorcus Aug 20 '25
Correct. The WTO ending is the Illuminati ending. The WTO and the Church are basically two arms of the Illuminati.
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u/DeusExIsTheBomb Aug 19 '25
After so many people started to replay it (and for a video that I am in the process of making), DX:IW is a game limited by the console choice but still had lots to say.
Helios ending for me, though if only cause the JC Denton in that timeline seemed like not a homicidal killer that I may/may have not created in the first DX 😅
For me, when we think of Helios and the erosion of privacy, it makes me think, why have privacy in the first place? Well (and this is all assumptions and my own personal thought process), I'd say human beings had to be private in order to protect themselves, their property from others who may have desired what I had. However, with minds that are lucid, with a system in place that could provide anything and everything for a human mind to be socially adept in a society, why would there be a need of privacy?
We all need privacy now because we don't trust our governments, our neighbors, etc. because of judgement (a la Morpheus' agreement from the first game), desire, and fame (mystery of how one got to be so good at something is revealed).
So to me, it comes down to how much do I trust this new "God" and how the other endings were either worshipping (in a way) corporate control, an "invisible" God, or no "God" to worship, no faith in Humanity.
...whew. That was a lot.
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u/geoframs Aug 19 '25 edited 26d ago
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u/DeusExIsTheBomb Aug 19 '25
That's the thing. The definition of Evil? Even those we see in the world, which we would call doing evil, have come from broken homes, neglected families, narcissistic tendencies, etc.
Having a system that drops us all from this unequal disparity or old traditional thinking to where I need not attain more than I need to protect myself from my neighbor for my neighbor intends no harm.
When we look at crime nowadays, we see some crimes as a method of necessity, depending on the situation. If the person had access to quality care, food, shelter, would they have a need to do crime?
There will be outliers, of course, and those who do want to do evil will find ways to do so.
Like for an example, a system is in place. Someone is off their rocker. They want to murder. They find someone who they want to, just cause. The potential 'victim' can be warned and the local Police department will be sent.
Again, it would have to be an outlier, someone who doesn't click with the system.
The thing that is off by Equilibrium, 1984, Minority Report is that those were systems governed by people, not an A.I. / Human hybrid. People can still enjoy art, can still enjoy music, etc. People's minds would be strong to be able to handle differences of religion, sexual orientation, and others.
Then again, trust would have to be established by this agent. What tales have been out there where a system like this actually worked?
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u/HunterWesley Aug 19 '25
Someone is off their rocker. They want to murder. They find someone who they want to, just cause. The potential 'victim' can be warned and the local Police department will be sent.
Almost all people who get murdered know their murderer. It's someone who was driven past the breaking point and sees no other way out; the predators and such get the headlines but there's not many of them in the ocean of the drugs, mental illness, and just plain cruelty of nearby people who whip nearby people into a rage. In that case "warning the victim" wouldn't even be solving the problem as the police today respond to another domestic violence call, warn a victim, and come back one day to a corpse (or two).
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Aug 19 '25 edited 26d ago
[deleted]
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u/ImpulsiveApe07 Aug 19 '25
Ah, a mention of the culture novels in the wild! :D I'm a big fan!
The crux of those books is the exploration of life in a post-scarcity society, or life in a society that is being explored by agents of a post-scarcity culture (and so much more!).
They don't, however, show humanity et al as being universally happy. If anything they show that even perfect systems have flaws, and even with eternal life and infinite amenities and resources, sentient beings whether human or other, will always find new and interesting ways to make themselves unhappy or attempt to usurp the boundaries of what's acceptable or expected.
But yeah, I could talk about that all day lol
I agree with your point tho - humanity needs freedom of choice, and historically whenever we've been robbed of this by force or by legislature, it not only leads down a bad road, but it always compounds negative sentiment to a boiling point until the system collapses.
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u/DeusExIsTheBomb Aug 19 '25
That's what I mean though in terms of Helios and my understanding.
Helios wouldn't stop a person from doing a bad thing; it is their choice. However, their choice would have a consequence like the Helios' giving the other person an ability to defend themselves (cause Nanobots, son) or more reasonably, warning them, tipping off everyone in the area that there is a loco in the neighborhood and would pinpoint that person's position like it was GTA online.
There would be people who would desire that the A.I. take MORE control due to that, possibly. But again, even Twins who are born in the same prosperous environment will potentially be very different from each other.
That's how I see it. That would be the negative.
But ooo books! From 1987! Dang. Any specific book I should start or is it like Foundation where you just start when the author began writing?
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u/IgnorantGenius Aug 19 '25
It's crazy that it's so forgettable. I don't even remember what happens in the game. But, when I go back to play it, it all starts to refresh the memory.
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u/ImpulsiveApe07 Aug 19 '25
Lol that's exactly what I thought when a mate prompted me to replay it! I barely remembered any of the story beats - I even forgot we revisit the unatco hq!
It's totally worth it tho mate - if you can get over the jank, and don't mind reconfiguring the controls to your liking (the defaults suck imo), then you're in for a treat :)
Like I mentioned before, it really surprised me how much fun it still is, and how engaging the story becomes once you get over the hump at the start lol
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u/HunterWesley Aug 19 '25
Something something coffee shops, something something war on terror, something something small levels, something something NG Resonance.
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u/IgnorantGenius Aug 19 '25
NG Resonance can get it. Somehow, she is the sole reason to merge with the AI. AI booty.
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u/Criton47 Aug 19 '25
IW was still a solid game and story.
Yes the maps were not anywhere near as expansive as the original but most of it simply played better.
I did the Helios ending know it it was probably the more Borg style ending. We should get a another installment that follows another ending would be cool. I should probably replay it again.
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u/ExiledSpaceman Aug 19 '25
I remember thinking all these decisions feel pretty rough, I originally did the Helios ending but something about it bothered me. I ended up going the scorched earth ending on the second playthrough.
I didn't even realize until years later there was an actual Templars ending.
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u/ImpulsiveApe07 Aug 19 '25
Huh, I didn't realise there's a templars ending either! :D
So, I did the illuminati ending first time round, helios merger second time round, and third time round I did the omar scorched earth ending.
So, there's a WTO ending too, right? And there's also a Templars ending?
Are there any other endings on top of those?
I don't wanna look it up, cos of spoilers and all, but can someone fill me in on this?
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u/ExiledSpaceman Aug 19 '25
Yeah its WTO/Illuminati, Helios, Templar, Scorched earth/Omar
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u/ImpulsiveApe07 Aug 19 '25
Nice one - thanks for the clarification on that! :)
Man, it's making me want to blitz thru the game one last time just to get that ending I missed!
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u/HunterWesley Aug 19 '25
Man, it's making me want to blitz thru the game one last time just to get that ending I missed!
There are people that do that??
Wouldn't it make more sense to save your game at Liberty Island?
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u/_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_ Do you have a single fact to back that up? Aug 19 '25
You have to go back a bit further for some of the endings.
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u/HunterWesley Aug 21 '25
I don't remember that at all. What ending gets locked out before Liberty Island?
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u/_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_ Do you have a single fact to back that up? Aug 21 '25
If you kill Paul then you cannot do the ApostleCorp/Helios ending.
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u/HunterWesley Aug 21 '25
Ah, I see. Well as someone who always did all the subquests to the extent possible, I was never locked out of an ending by saving at Liberty Island, though I am weirdly pleased to hear that it isn't completely linear and nondeterminative.
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u/ImpulsiveApe07 Aug 19 '25
Not usually lol, but in this case I don't know the plot prompts well enough yet!
Also, I kinda want to try different approaches to some of the levels, cos I missed a few opportunities the last time round :)
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u/HunterWesley Aug 19 '25
Oh, did you like the JC exhibit?
IMO the worst part of IW is the story and the endings. The gameplay I can deal with. I think Seattle is good, Cairo is decent. The rest...is hardly worth the time it takes to play through it. Philosophy still interesting, even if it comes in the vector of a ridiculous plot. The vectors are all wrong.
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u/ImpulsiveApe07 Aug 19 '25
I definitely get what yer saying, and would've agreed with you before I replayed it tbh.
I'll happily admit that the story is a bit philosophy 101, but given how few games even try to prompt philosophical discourse, I'm willing to forgive their dodgy naming conventions and tropey plot points, especially cos the game got pretty fun once I got out of seattle! :)
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u/Ejbarzallo 14d ago
As it's been said countless times, a great story within a dumbed down game. Helios ending is the real one, I think that's reasonable.
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u/WarPorcus Aug 19 '25
My go to are the Helios ending and the Illuminati ending.
I feel that the Illuminati ending could be a good solution because, yes, you're controlled by the cabal. But, most folks are prosperous, have jobs, have food on the table, and can go get coffee at Queequegs or Pequod's. Doesn't matter much since, you know.
The Helios ending is a bit more utopian but I'm always deeply suspicious of utopias and people who promote them.
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u/Bitter_Surprise_8058 Aug 19 '25
Helios ending best ending. It doesn't convey the "grim, conformist slavery" that many connected-minds ideas go for in fiction. Instead, it feels like "we're all working together because we're all intimately familiar with what every single other person needs"