Postmortems from Game Developer

Ion Storm'sDEUS EX

by warren spector

Fictionally, DEUS EX is set in a near-future version of the real world (as it exists if conspiracy buffs are right). For some real shorthand, call it “James Bond meets The X-Files.” Conceptually, DEUS EX is a genre-busting game (which really endeared us to the marketing guys)—part immersive simulation, part role-playing game, part first-person shooter, part adventure game.

It's an immersive simulation game in that you are made to feel you're actually in the game world with as little as possible getting in the way of the experience of “being there.” Ideally, nothing reminds you that you're just playing a game—not interface, not your character's back-story or capabilities, not game systems, nothing. It's all ...