Deus Ex: Invisible War is a decent sequel, but it sits in the shadow of its predecessor. Built from the ground up for the original Xbox, the shift to a more streamlined and narrow design does end up damaging the core formula. Player choice in both gameplay and story is still present, but this has taken a big step backwards. On top of that, this sequel is far shorter in length, dampening the replayability.
Taking place twenty years after Deus Ex, the city of Chicago is destroyed by a bioterrorist attack. As Alex Denton, a male or female clone of JC and Paul from the first game, it's up to you to unravel another dystopian conspiracy, this time with even more factions with their own personal interests. Right from the start, the story, characters and themes are less memorable. The graphics and in-game models are an improvement on Deus Ex, but the depth of the characters and wider themes is lacking. Invisible War takes steps into full-blooded sci-fi which lessens the impact of the narrative.
Deus Ex: Invisible War does offer the same RPG components, but it is much more of a shooter this time around. The HUD has more visual elements, the inventory size has been cut down and the levels are heavily condensed, often relying on corridors and less wide-open space. Vents, breakable doors and hackable machines are still present, but overall your options do feel more limited, especially when you run low on ammo, multitools or power cells. Some annoying glitches and frequent loading screens between areas also affect the immersion; I recommend downloading the Visible Upgrade mod to help with this.
The most egregious change for me was to the augmentations and the removal of the skill system. Alex can only install five biomods at a time and changing to a different one for each body part overwrites your previous choice. It's incredibly frustrating that computer hacking, a major piece of the first game's design, has been restricted to a black market biomod. If you swap to different tools mid-playthrough, you won't be able to fully upgrade any of them.
Where Invisible War does succeed is its tuned-up combat and more dynamic objectives. The former, likely a concession for console gamers, makes the frontal assault a fully viable option from the get-go, even if the enemy AI is rather weak. On top of this, the game succeeds at blending the various factions and their respective objectives into each mission. Until the last couple of levels, Alex is open to change their allegiance at any time with interconnected options that will have ramifications further down the line. Siding with one faction at the expense of others can make late combat encounters much more difficult, but if you play tactically and keep multiple groups on-side, this will pay off in the final mission and multiple endings.
Ultimately, Invisible War doesn't come close to the original and as a result, I can only recommend this entry to hardcore fans of the series. On occasion, it does take a step forward, mainly where gunplay and gameplay consequences are concerned, but the many regressions in level design, complexity and technical performance can't be overlooked.
