So, a while ago some pony asked me how that new Deus Ex game was. They wanted to hear about it after I beat it. So, here is every fault I can find in the game.

(This is all for the X-Box version, there may be some minor differences in the PC version.)

• Depending on how you play, you can potentially have almost every single augment in the game. Fun for explorers, but it takes away a certain level of difficulty later on. When you can advance by any means at all, rather than the means you should have at your disposal, it levels the playing field too much. As a result, if you do everything to maximize your xp gain, the game never really gets any harder than it was in the first place. It can potentially stay pretty much the same.
• Without spoiling the end, the ultimate result of your travels have, just like in Fable and Fallout 3, no barring on how you made it there. Now, the story as you progress changes a little depending on what you did, but the final resolution is based on whichever ending you feel like picking. If you only intend to play through the game once, this is good news because you can see all the endings!
• Some minor grievances with the UI. The player menu is divided into five parts. The ones you’ll look at the most are your inventory, and the message screen. But they’re separated, and it takes about a second to load each section before you can switch to the next. This can add up.
• Also, if your inventory is full but there’s an item laying around that you just want to use, you have to drop an item to make room, pick the item you want to use up, use it, then pick up the item you dropped. This could have easily been streamlined if there was a way to just use the item without holding it first.
• Boss fights are pretty… iffy. They’re either too easy, because you have a means to stun them, or they’re really, really hard.
• One last incredibly minor spoiler. In the last area of the game, enemies have a modified AI, but it doesn’t quite work right. It’s too easy to outsmart them.

And that’s it. That’s all I can find wrong with it. The stealth aspect is implemented well, but not necessary to use. Open combat is difficult, but avoidable if you can’t handle it. Enemies in a squad will operate like a squad, and do so in spades on hard mode. They will pin you down with suppressive fire and advance, or even flank you. There are ‘oodles of side quests. Characters are believable. And if you’re having trouble following along, the story will be explained to you through dialog between other characters (informative without being pandering).

It’s brilliantly executed and proves that a video game can be just as deep and engaging as a movie or a book.