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P · Aug 23, 2011, 02:02 PM

The reviews I've seen have been full of praise. Anyone getting it?

BLAZE_MkIV · Aug 23, 2011, 02:39 PM

<raises hand> I would but I'm a Mac user.

sek929 · Aug 23, 2011, 03:54 PM

Looks very interesting to say the least. As long as it doesn't require a huge install on 360 I'm probably going to pick it up.

P · Aug 23, 2011, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by BLAZE_MkIV

<raises hand> I would but I'm a Mac user.

How powerful a Mac do you have? I've been gaming in Parallels Desktop 6 recently, and it's working great. No, the performance is not quite up to snuff, but it's pretty close and I rather drop the resolution one notch than reboot.

Deus Ex was one of my favorite games ever, and Invisible War was the biggest disappointment, so I'm very wary.

exca1ibur · Aug 23, 2011, 04:04 PM

Picking it up on the way home from work, on Windows.

BLAZE_MkIV · Aug 23, 2011, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by P

How powerful a Mac do you have? I've been gaming in Parallels Desktop 6 recently, and it's working great. No, the performance is not quite up to snuff, but it's pretty close and I rather drop the resolution one notch than reboot.

Deus Ex was one of my favorite games ever, and Invisible War was the biggest disappointment, so I'm very wary.

I's a MacPro 2,1 8x2.66 & 5870. I have an XP image in Virtual Box but the only game I've played under it is Age Of Wonders.

Edit: http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/v...3-directx.html

lpkmckenna · Aug 23, 2011, 05:12 PM

There are only two games that make me want to install Windows on my Mac: Arkham City and Deus Ex. I might cave. Maybe.

P · Aug 23, 2011, 05:27 PM

Originally Posted by BLAZE_MkIV

I's a MacPro 2,1 8x2.66 & 5870. I have an XP image in Virtual Box but the only game I've played under it is Age Of Wonders.

Edit: DirectX in VirtualBox 3.0.0 - Pure joy is here

I should have mentioned: The CPU in newer Macs from the Nehalem generation and on support something called Extended Page Tables, which - long story short - speeds up virtualization of OSes with virtual memory. Your Mac, unfortunately, is just before that cutoff point. You do have a massively more powerful GPU than I do, however, so I would still give it a spin.

Leonard · Aug 24, 2011, 11:38 AM

I may buy it, to fill in my time before November.

There's 3 titles I want to pick up that are coming out in November, so I want to be free to play at least 2 of them.

P · Aug 27, 2011, 03:59 PM

I gave up and bought it. It's impressive, and certainly better than IW, but I'm reserving judgement on if it's as good as the first Deus Ex until I get further. I'm doing the Fallout thing, looking in all the nooks and crannies, finding odd items, so it's taking a long time.

Also: The cover system makes me feel like I'm trying to play the piano, and I can't play the piano. A little bit too complicated, IMO.

sek929 · Aug 30, 2011, 03:23 PM

Just picked this up for 360 yesterday, pretty cool so far, haven't gotten that far yet though

Two things bug me:

First, and I've said this before, having one controller scheme is retarded. I don't want to click R thumbstick to zoom in, that's not the way I zoom in since Halo 2. Why on Earth can't they allow you to map your own actions to the controller? Orange Box did.

Secondly, the voice acting from some of the secondary characters is a little below average. The more main characters are voiced excellently, but sometimes during a conversation I feel the immersion collapse because of back acting.

Graphics are pretty nice, yet the backgrounds seem a little simple. The soundtrack is amazing and the cutscenes are pretty damn well done, the only gripe being slightly jerky animations from time to time and the odd texture loading a half second after the scene starts.

P · Aug 31, 2011, 07:14 AM

The texture loading is flaky at best. I used to have big problems with lazy texture loading causing jerky performance. Hacking in the latest ATi drivers MOSTLY fixed this, but it's still not perfect. A shame, since performance is great otherwise. (This is when booted natively in XP).

The control scheme on PC is good, with one glaring flaw: You push C to toggle crouch, push middle to toggle zoom, push shift to toggle sprint, but HOLD right mousebutton to go to cover. Why oh why? If you go with toggles, be consistent. I'd like to change cover to some nice key (Q?) and put the right mouse button as the action key (like the original Deus Ex), but I can't do that now.

I also feel that you are pushed towards a stealthy approach. There isn't enough ammo to really go blasting through the levels (unless you fill your inventory with different weapons, but then you don't have space left for ammo! Argh...) And why is ammo so scarce in the first place? Every weapons trader has a few bullets for the most common weapons, but that's it. You can't pick any up back at HQ. I'd love to load up on the bullets for just a few weapons and go wild, but now you have to scavenge and use what you get. I'd love to try a non-lethal approach, but there is nowhere enough tranq darts and stun gun bullets to do it without sneaking every single yard of the game.

The main story is also slow to get going, but maybe it's starting to pick up now. The OMG Plot Twist! was very obvious, I felt. The strength is the conversation puzzles, trying to get people to do what you want, and the various side quests that relate to your characters' background.

I know it's getting great reviews, but I'm not so sure that it's that awesome. I was expecting more from the story, really.

sek929 · Aug 31, 2011, 10:52 AM

I Have the option to toggle cover on and off in the 360 version of the game, it's under gameplay.

Played more last night, but ill wait until I get farther to attempt a proper review. The cover system is near identical to Rainbow Six: Vegas, which certainly isn't a bad thing, and I actually prefer holding the cover button to stay in cover.

exca1ibur · Aug 31, 2011, 11:50 AM

The cover system is also spot on Splinter Cell Conviction which I love personally. I wouldn't change anything. I haven't had any performance issues. What setup do you have P? I always go for the stealth approach so I never noticed about the ammo count to much. I try to melee as much as possible and hack or find ways around as much as possible. Some times I don't even engage unless I have to. I haven't been on in a few days, but I do need to remap the crouch key, I always prefer Shift instead of C. Honestly, I need to just program the Nostromo for the game and ditch the keyboard altogether.

P · Sep 1, 2011, 09:23 AM

I'm gaming on a 2009 iMac with a Mobility Radeon 4850. The issue is that you can't upgrade your graphics drivers as you like on the Mobility chips. For XP and below, OEMs have to opt in to driver updates directly from AMD, and Apple (unsurprisingly) hasn't. For Vista an 7, OEMs have to opt out, but I'm still on XP. There are highly unsupported ways to hack the desktop drivers to work, and I finally gave in and did it. It made a big difference. I wouldn't say that the performance is bad in general - it just hickups like crazy when it loads certain textures.

sek929 · Sep 1, 2011, 10:54 AM

The first boss was retardedly difficult for me. I've been upgrading my character in the hacking and stealth areas and all of a sudden I have to fight a walking tank with little more than an upgraded pistol. After dying 7 or 8 times I resorted to the internet to make sure I wasn't missing some obvious boss-type strategy, but I wasn't, just run away and unload nearly all my pistol ammo.

Also, in the heat of the moment I've noticed the cover system being a bit laggy, such as, if explosions are all around me and I am frantically sprinting for cover it takes a press or two to get me safe. Other than that I'm still greatly enjoying the game, especially the hacking mini-game which is probably the best use of a hacking system I've seen so far in any game.

P · 07:56 AM

The boss fights come as a bit of a surprise. The developers explain them as "sometimes you're backed in to a corner and have to fight", which makes some sense. In classic Mega Man style, they all have some weakness that you may or may not have a weapon for. For this reason, it's usually good to have one Praxis around unspent so you can upgrade in the heat of a boss battle. The Typhoon is also a very nice thing to have in any boss battle. I didn't know that when I got to the first boss, though - I just exploited the fact that he's so incredibly slow to empty my ammo into him. Mostly the combat rifle, I think.

Have been away all week, but I put in an hour last night and managed to defeat the third boss. It was done under special circumstances, if we put it that way, to avoid spoiling that part of the game.

It's a good thing that you like the hacking mini-game, because you will be seeing a lot of it. It IS good, but honestly I wish that they had had a couple of games that they randomize between, because there are a lot of hacks to be done in the latter part of the game.

Edit: Penny Arcade. Although come to think of it, that strip may be a little spoilery.

sek929 · Sep 2, 2011, 09:52 AM

Oh PA, you always hit the nail on the head.

Finally received a silencer mod for my pistol, which is now a weapon of true devastation. I have damage mod (x2), clip size increase, laser sight, and now silencer. Between than and my sniper I am no longer having any difficulty taking on even large amounts of enemies.

P · Sep 2, 2011, 10:55 AM

That pistol has an absolutely insane accuracy at long range. I routinely do headshots at ranges where I can't see the laser dot as even a single pixel.

A nice detail is that if you do miss with the silencer on, your target stops and says "what was that?", giving you the perfect opportunity to make your second shot count. I wonder if I could play the entire game with just that pistol?

The Final Dakar · Sep 2, 2011, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by sek929

The first boss was retardedly difficult for me. I've been upgrading my character in the hacking and stealth areas and all of a sudden I have to fight a walking tank with little more than an upgraded pistol. After dying 7 or 8 times I resorted to the internet to make sure I wasn't missing some obvious boss-type strategy, but I wasn't, just run away and unload nearly all my pistol ammo.

Yeah, Ars did a story on this pretty early on.

sek929 · Sep 2, 2011, 12:14 PM

I'd say a pistol-only playthrough is very doable, but I'd be lying if I said the shotgun hasn't saved my ass a few times.

P · Sep 2, 2011, 02:41 PM

Well, everything from the third boss on was trivial. He drops a plasma rifle, but I didn't have occasion to use it once.

Anyone who played the first Deus Ex: Stay through the credits.

gradient · Sep 6, 2011, 01:45 AM

Any concensus opinion on this one yet? All the reviews are good and I'm looking for a new game to pickup - it was sold out in two stores I popped into today, too, so it looks like a popular one.

P · Sep 6, 2011, 05:35 AM

It is a very good game. My only issue is that the original Deus Ex was one of the best games I ever played, and this is maybe the notch below that - one of the top games of the year, not one of the top games of the decade. The story is not quite as engaging, and some of the puzzles don't have quite so many possible solutions, evolutionary rather than revolutionary, etc. It doesn't change the fact that it's a great game that took me some 25-30 hours to get through, and I think I'll probably dive back in and do it a different way some time.

gradient · Sep 6, 2011, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by P

It is a very good game. My only issue is that the original Deus Ex was one of the best games I ever played, and this is maybe the notch below that - one of the top games of the year, not one of the top games of the decade. The story is not quite as engaging, and some of the puzzles don't have quite so many possible solutions, evolutionary rather than revolutionary, etc. It doesn't change the fact that it's a great game that took me some 25-30 hours to get through, and I think I'll probably dive back in and do it a different way some time.

Nice, I'll probably go for it then. I never played the original Deus Ex so comparisons won't be an issue for me and 25-30 hours for a single player campaign is right in my sweet spot.

sek929 · Sep 6, 2011, 03:31 PM

There's nothing revolutionary about any aspect of Deus Ex, but I find myself very drawn to the presentation and style. The AI is good but not impossibly frustrating, the level design is simple yet refined and believable, the cutscenes are really well done, the upgrade system has depth, the stealth is very well implemented, and the sound design is pretty awesome.

Story is pretty standard fare, and as I said before some of the voice acting leaves a bit to be desired, but on the whole I am enjoying Deus Ex quite a bit. I like how the focus is on stealth, but if shit hits the fan the combat is fluid and you can eliminate who has seen you and go back to sneaking. One of my biggest complaints about the Splinter Cell series was the brutal way certain levels treated stealth, meaning if you get seen by one guy or one camera you had to start over. Realistic, yes, fun, no.

I have a question for you, P.

I'm at the invisible lady after discovering the true nature of Eliza, how far through the game would you say I am?

P · Sep 7, 2011, 07:09 AM

Originally Posted by sek929

I have a question for you, P.

I'm at the invisible lady after discovering the true nature of Eliza, how far through the game would you say I am?

Not sure I need to spoiler this, but just in case:

That is the second bossfight, and it finishes what I think of as the second chapter with the big Shanghai sandbox. There is one more chapter left until you meet the third boss, and finally a short coda at the end. I'd say you're about two thirds done, maybe a little more because there is less sandboxing ahead.

And one hint for that boss fight, if you're having anywhere near as much problems as I had.

The computer keeps telling you that electricity kills her cloaking field, and suggests that you shoot the power cables to electrify the coolant. This works, but is annoying because you hurt yourself as well. You can however achieve the same thing with the PEBS. When you're in the police station in Detroit, the cops talk about how it works by sending and electric shock. It works as expected - bringing down the cloak and paralyzing her for a while.

sek929 · Sep 7, 2011, 09:50 AM

Geez, yeah that would have helped immensely. Took me about the same amount of tries as Barrett to beat that chick.

Luckily she spends a minute or so right at the beginning of the battle hiding from you as she recharges her attack. This gave me enough time to loot the nearby lockers for hypostims and emp mines, which proved to be the decisive piece of equipment along with a healthy dose of my cloaking device.

frenchyd16 · Sep 14, 2011, 06:58 PM

Has anyone else tried playing Deus Ex 3 on Parallels desktop 7 for mac and found it impossible to play due to lag/choppy gameplay? I've lowered everything in the set up us much as possible and I still can't play the game smoothly which is really annoying! What can I do to fix this, any ideas?

sek929 · Sep 14, 2011, 07:43 PM

Run it booted natively into windows. I know it isn't an elegant solution but I'd wager dollars to donuts it'll help.

P · Sep 15, 2011, 04:53 AM

Yes, when I tried it in Parallels, performance was terrible. Worked very well booted natively, though.

frenchyd16 · Sep 15, 2011, 07:26 AM

Great! How do I boot it natively to windows? Not brilliant at tech stuff sadly...

P · Sep 15, 2011, 08:09 AM

You make a separate Windows partition using Apple's Boot Camp software (instructions here, or you can just google it. You can then use this partition for your Parallels installation as well, to avoid having two installations.

sek929 · Sep 15, 2011, 10:14 AM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't having a partition for parallels mean he can use that to boot natively into? I did the reverse with fusion, made a bootcamp partition and Then linked it to fusion....not sure if it works the other way.

frenchyd16 · Sep 15, 2011, 11:17 AM

Do I have to uninstall parallels first then before setting up bootcamp? been through the bootcamp/windows 7 installation etc. and can't see any option to link to parallels

sek929 · Sep 15, 2011, 11:51 AM

You link the bootcamp partition from within parallels.

gradient · Sep 23, 2011, 09:19 PM

Well I finished this last night and I did enjoy it quite a bit. I did up wishing it was longer, though - I ended up finishing the game with 9 unspent Praxis points because I was saving them until I got to a spot that was tough enough to warrant needing them...I guess I should have played through on Give Me Deux Ex instead of the normal setting.

As others have said, the boss fights were kind of a joke, though - especially the last one...

Jeez that was stupidly easy once I figured out that all you have to do is run into a corner and hide! Eesh.

Hopefully I'll be able to use those extra Praxis points on the DLC pack that's due soon and I'll ramp it up to bad-ass mode to get my money's worth.