Yes I'm going back in time quite a few years again. It's hard to believe that it's been already over a decade since this game came out. The memories of its release are still fresh in my mind. Either time started moving faster, or I'm getting old.

The game wasn't without its initial problems. When it first came out it was a mess. They accidentally left the HUD on console parameters, so it was almost in the middle of the screen on a PC monitor. It ran like a slideshow on any hardware that an average student gamer (like me) could afford, and the realistic difficulty setting was messed up (it took 5 shots in the head for enemies to die)

The game also had some very forward looking graphical features which meant they compromised in other areas, of course this didn't sit well with the average uninformed gamer. (that included me at the time, so I don't mean it pejoratively)

So it's not a recent thing that games are released in an unfinished condition.

But they patched the game and solved or improved on all of the above issues.

Unfortunately that didn't help much with the reputation of the game. It went down in history as a disappointment and a failure. But it's not really that bad. When you look at it objectively it is a great game.

So those who dismissed it based on the first pre-patch impressions, made a mistake. Because behind all that, IW is actually a very good game that while doesn't live up to it's predecessor in complexity, still offers a very immersive and enjoyable gaming experience. In my opinion it's a far better game than the remake DX: Human Revolution.

And while many people praised Mass Effect for the ability to play the game both with a male or female character, they forgot that Invisible War offered the same choice 5 years earlier.

The game offers the same murky dystopian atmosphere as the first and then some. The story is as good as it gets. The roles of good and bad are even more blurred, you can play to the benefit of either of the game's major factions. Like the power hungry illuminati, or the survivalist omar, the secretive knights templar, and a few more.

They overcome the subject of effects of the ending choice in Deus Ex quite well. There is no save import, instead, the setting is like if all endings happened simultaneously. (spoiler for DeusEx 1) If you did not yet, I strongly recommend that you play the original game before spoiling it, it's in my view still the greatest PC game ever created.  

The biggest problem of the game is the fact that it was co-developed to the Xbox and the PS2, which means all the maps are smaller, and even these smaller maps are divided to even smaller areas. Sometimes it takes 5-6 area transitions to finish a side mission, which makes them quite a chore. There were only two maps that I actually liked, the Versalife facility on Antarctica, and Trier, which reminded me of NYC with a bit of Paris flavour from DX1.

Let's have the +/- shootout.

+

  • The atmosphere is as good as it gets  
  • The places you visit are quite varied and well designed within the given constraints  
  • You can't run trough levels without thinking, because you'll find yourself dead in seconds  
  • The story and the future it paints is very believable you don't need suspension of disbelief to get immersed.  
  • The story is interesting and captivating, you'll be interested to know what happens next at any point.  
  • Numerous references to the first game  


-

  • Much less intrigue and conspiracy, all the factions are acting out in the open, even the "invisible hand" illuminati.  
  • stupid AI, you almost have to dance in front of them to take notice, and when they do, they start running at you without consideration, so if you hide behind a corner you can take them all with a sword easily.  
  • The decade old graphics that wasn't considered very good even back then seems that much worse now, and I didn't find a single active "re-texturing" project for it.  
  • It can be finished in 6-7 hours easily.  
  • The complete eradication of RPG elements  
  • All weapons have the same ammo, from slingshot to atomic bomb. The only difference is the amount they use for one shot. So it's very easy to waste all your ammo with powerful weapons, and then you're screwed. I admit that I used ammo cheat because I couldn't bear the fact that if I take 3 shots with the railgun then I can't even use a cattle prod anymore.  
  • Because the game had to be run on PS2, and XBOX, everything is small in scale to be able to fit in the memory constraints of those consoles. There are almost no external maps, and the ones that you get are smaller than most internal levels in DeusEx one. This also means you get a loading screen between almost every room.  
  • You get contradicting missions from all factions on all levels, who all want you to work exclusively for them. But it makes no difference who you prefer during the game, you can still choose any faction in the endgame, even one that you screwed over every chance you got until then.  
  • bad inventory  
  • it's impossible to properly loot ammo from fallen enemies, because you always end up picking up their carcasses, and if you're in a small place you can't even put it down.  


8/10 it really is that good, just give it a chance don't let the bad reputation of the game dissuade you.