In the year 2000, as a new millennium dawned, Ion Storm unleashed Deus Ex on the world. This conspiracy-laden, X-Files-inspired cyberthriller was and still is one of the freest, open-ended video games ever created. It’s the pinnacle of the immersive sim genre, featuring massive, intricate stealth sandboxes that encourage and reward creative, improvised play. Ask anyone to list games that define PC gaming and Deus Ex always appears high on the list. It is a classic in every way and still holds up today. The visuals are terribly outdated, but the depth and scope of the design is as impressive as ever.
Yes, I am an enthusiast. But my introduction to Deus Ex was not the PC version. My crappy old Pentium 2, with its built-in graphics and lack of any sort of 3D accelerator, couldn’t run it at the time. So I had to find another way to play this groundbreaking game that I had read so many breathless, laudatory magazine articles and forum posts about. In 2002, Ion Storm surprised everyone by bringing this, most PC games, to the PlayStation 2. Some sacrifices had to be made, but the developer managed to run its incredibly complex game on a console with a fraction of the power of the gaming PCs it was designed for.
The PS2 port launched as Deus Ex: The Conspiracy, presumably because publisher Eidos found the name a little weird and off-putting to a wider audience that owns PS2. The blurb on the back of the box was also remarkably more exciting than the PC version. “Eliminate, evade or extract information from those who prey on you using stealth, strategy or sheer firepower,” it said. “Would you like to be the charismatic master manipulator, the clever tactician or the deadly avenging angel?” It’s clear that the publisher was trying to make this deep, cerebral, slow game a more appealing prospect on Gamestop’s shelves.
As you might expect, the PS2 version was inferior in some ways to the original on the PC. Those big levels had to be broken up into chunks because the PS2 couldn’t hold that much data in its RAM. This meant a lot of loading breaks as you progressed through the levels. The textures were at a lower resolution, which was a significant downgrade given the fuzziness of the PC game. The usability of the user interface also took a dent, as it had to be redesigned to match a controller. However, despite its shortcomings, it was still a legitimate way to play an otherwise fat Deus Ex without spending a fortune on a gaming PC that can run it.
In some ways – albeit not very important ones – the PS2 port was actually an improvement. The famous opening sequence, once awkwardly rendered in the engine, was remade as a much more dramatic pre-rendered CG sequence. The rousing opening theme was orchestrated. The character models have been improved and more polygons have been added, making the cast look less stubborn. Some levels were also brightened up, with additional lighting making locations like Liberty Island and Castle Clinton look less gloomy but, most importantly, retaining the game’s signature dark and moody cyberpunk vibe.
There were also some minor gameplay tweaks. In the PC version, augmentations can only be installed if a medical bot is nearby; on PS2 you can install them anywhere. The three endings also got a CG makeover. Between all this, the revamped controls and the new controller-focused UI, it’s clear that a lot of work has gone into The Conspiracy. A game like Deus Ex, which was designed with a keyboard and mouse in mind, shouldn’t really work on a console, but Ion Storm got it done – and made the game available to a much wider audience as a result of its hard work. work. If this port didn’t exist, I might not be the superfan I am today.
Unfortunately, there’s not much reason to play it today. Deus Ex plays ball with modern PCs and you can run it with even the leanest specs. There’s no reason to pick the PS2 version over it, if only to avoid those constant mid-level loading pauses. Moving through the city nodes, in and out of buildings, is especially difficult. But it served its purpose at the time and it’s an interesting game to have in your library if you’re a PS2 collector. Not many PC games made a successful transition to console, but The Conspiracy went against the trend. It’s a quality port of a game that had no right to a console with 4MB of video RAM.
0 Comments