Deus Ex
A first-person immersive sim with open-ended levels.
Where Deus Ex comes up5 episodes and tests
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testThe 100 Games That Taught Me Game Design
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testHow To Combine Video Game Genres
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testThe Power of Invisible Choices
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testThe Five Types of Stealth Game Gadget - School of Stealth Part 2
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testThe Genius of Prey's Gloo CannonDeus Ex let players beat goals by shooting, sneaking, talking or hacking, and its shooter, RPG and stealth parts each paled next to Half-Life, Baldur's Gate and Thief. Spector said it would be doomed if judged by one genre. Lesson: sell the freedom to choose a play style, track small actions to respond to players, and cap powerful tools, like its tracking limit.
- 1Face one objectiveLevels are open playspaces
- 2Pick a play styleShooter, stealth, conversation, or RPG skills
- 3Take any routeMany routes and solutions exist
- 4Win by clevernessGame reflects the player's creativity
From Warren Spector on Deus Ex design
What was said about Deus Ex
1Shoot, sneak, talk or hack: one goal, many play styles
Build levels as open playspaces so players win through their own cleverness. Deus Ex lets players tackle each objective as a shooter, a stealth game, a conversation-driven adventure, or an RPG using skills like lock picking and hacking. Levels have many routes and solutions.
Warren Spector said the aim was for the game to reflect the player's creativity, not the developers': "the game had to be about how clever and creative players were."
Letting players choose skills from several genres buys agency and replay value. Deus Ex is the standard example of combining genres through play style, one of three approaches alongside handing off between genres and blending them.
Persona hands off between dungeon crawling and life sim for pacing, and Portal blends first-person aiming with puzzles, while Deus Ex lets the player pick which genre's tools to use.
A multi-style game must sell the value of choice, not each part. Taken one by one, Deus Ex's shooting, RPG and stealth parts pale next to Half-Life, Baldur's Gate and Thief. Warren Spector said it would be doomed "if we get judged on the basis of any individual genre."
Marketing and in-game messaging need to explain the advantage of player choice so the parts are not compared to games that do one thing brilliantly.
2Smaller systems that make the world react
Track small actions so the game can react to them. Deus Ex scolds JC Denton for walking into the women's bathroom, showing players that even minor behavior is noticed.
It is cited with Hades, Shadow of War and Mass Effect 2 as games that build a detailed record of what the player does beyond a few big decision points.
Cap information tools so they give an edge without omnipotence. Deus Ex limits how many enemies the player can tag and track at once.
Similar limits include The Last of Us showing enemies through walls only when they make noise, and Ghost Recon Wildlands' UAV with limited battery and range.
Players turn tools into movement tricks the designers never planned. Deus Ex players climbed walls by sticking LAM mines to them and hopping up.
Prey's Gloo Cannon climbing is described as a more intentional version of the same idea.
The 100 Games That Taught Me Game Design
You can tackle goals by shooting, sneaking, talking or hacking. Warren Spector says the game had to be about how clever and creative the players were.
Build levels as open playspaces so players win through their own cleverness. Deus Ex lets players tackle each objective as a shooter, a stealth game, a conversation-driven adventure, or an RPG using skills like lock picking and hacking. Levels have many routes and solutions.
Warren Spector said the aim was for the game to reflect the player's creativity, not the developers': "the game had to be about how clever and creative players were."
How To Combine Video Game Genres
Its parts pale beside Half-Life, Baldur's Gate and Thief. Warren Spector said that if it was judged on any single genre, it was doomed.
Letting players choose skills from several genres buys agency and replay value. Deus Ex is the standard example of combining genres through play style, one of three approaches alongside handing off between genres and blending them.
Persona hands off between dungeon crawling and life sim for pacing, and Portal blends first-person aiming with puzzles, while Deus Ex lets the player pick which genre's tools to use.
A multi-style game must sell the value of choice, not each part. Taken one by one, Deus Ex's shooting, RPG and stealth parts pale next to Half-Life, Baldur's Gate and Thief. Warren Spector said it would be doomed "if we get judged on the basis of any individual genre."
Marketing and in-game messaging need to explain the advantage of player choice so the parts are not compared to games that do one thing brilliantly.
The Power of Invisible Choices
It scolds JC Denton for entering the women's bathroom, showing that small actions are tracked.
Track small actions so the game can react to them. Deus Ex scolds JC Denton for walking into the women's bathroom, showing players that even minor behavior is noticed.
It is cited with Hades, Shadow of War and Mass Effect 2 as games that build a detailed record of what the player does beyond a few big decision points.
The Five Types of Stealth Game Gadget - School of Stealth Part 2
It caps how many enemies you can tag at once, so the player gains an edge that is not omnipotent.
Cap information tools so they give an edge without omnipotence. Deus Ex limits how many enemies the player can tag and track at once.
Similar limits include The Last of Us showing enemies through walls only when they make noise, and Ghost Recon Wildlands' UAV with limited battery and range.
The Genius of Prey's Gloo Cannon
Players could climb walls by sticking LAM mines to them, which Gloo climbing echoes in a more intentional form.
Players turn tools into movement tricks the designers never planned. Deus Ex players climbed walls by sticking LAM mines to them and hopping up.
Prey's Gloo Cannon climbing is described as a more intentional version of the same idea.
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