Review: Deus Ex – Invisible War
This is a game review that I have been looking forward to for quite a while. Today, I’m going to discuss Deus Ex: Invisible War. This game is the sequel to the 2000 smash hit, Deus Ex. I tinkered with the original game during its initial release, but I never really sat down to give it any serious attention until I reviewed it back in 2018. Once I finally got my fangs into it, I found myself absolutely blown away. The original Deus Ex routinely appears on lists of the “greatest video games of all time”, and it’s easy to see why. Everything about the game was groundbreaking. With this in mind, I was eager to see if the sequel would be able to capture the lightning in the bottle once again or if it would simply fall flat. Now, after playing the game to completion, I have my answer.
Before I share my thoughts on the game itself, I want to talk about how best to experience this game today. Invisible War was originally released for the PC and Xbox in 2003. The Xbox version has never been released digitally, so unless you have the original Xbox console and a physical copy of the game, the PC is going to be your best bet. Even so, the PC version doesn’t exactly play well with modern systems. Thankfully, getting the game running is fairly painless. But, it does require the use of a third-party mod. The Deus Ex 2 Visible Upgrade includes a number of fixes that makes the game compatible with modern processors and even includes widescreen resolution support. The mod comes in several flavors, so if you’re only trying to make the game playable, you have the option to do so without modifying any of the game’s textures. I personally used this patch/mod for my playthrough and experienced no issues with it.
The story of Invisible War takes place twenty years after the events of the first game. It’s a self-contained story, but knowing what happened in the original Deus Ex is recommended as this game often references back to the original. The plot revolves around the character of Alex. When starting the game, players will determine Alex’s gender and general appearance. Once the character customization is complete, we learn that Alex is a member of the Tarsus Academy – an elite school that produces nano-augmented soldiers. Originally from the city of Chicago, Alex is evacuated to Seattle in the aftermath of a terrorist attack that destroyed the entire city. However, shortly after arriving in Seattle, that Tarsus campus is attacked as well. Alex escapes and finds themselves in the unfamiliar city of Seattle where their loyalties are tested. From here, Alex must choose their own path while attempting to unravel an intricate web of conspiracy.
Invisible War takes a number of cues from the first Deus Ex game. It looks and plays like a typical first person shooter. But it enables the players to determine how they want to play the game. Yes, you can certainly run around and blast your way through any opposition. But it’s often easier to sneak or even bluff your way through encounters. A big focus of the game revolves around the concept of bio-hacking your character using augments. These “biomods” allow you to give your character particular skills. This let’s you customize your character so that you can play the game in a way that feels right for you. In this way, Invisible War stays true to the design of the original Deus Ex. However, the world in the first game felt extremely open and the possibilities often felt limitless. That’s not exactly the case with this game. Yes, you can explore the levels in Invisible War however you wish. The only difference is they are considerably smaller in scope. This gives the game a slightly more “on rails” feel. For some, especially fans of the first game, this could be viewed as a negative.
Invisible War features a pretty deep story that revolves around a number of religious and political factions. As you play the game, you will often find NPCs trying to get you to align with these groups. A big part of the gameplay involves choosing which group to align yourself with. There’s no right or wrong answer, per se. But the game’s story and ending will change drastically depending on the choices you make. This is probably my favorite part about the game. The NPCs and the organizations they align themselves with are all very interesting. The lore behind these groups is deep and well written. Personally, I had a difficult time deciding which group to side with. To me, that level of engagement is rare.
The UI is something that I didn’t care for. The circular HUD is supposed to represent what Alex sees through his augmented eye. This is a pretty cool concept, but its one that doesn’t really work. It’s not horrible. But it’s not particularly intuitive and just seems to fall a little flat.
As I played through this game, I had a tough time deciding just how I felt about it. I really liked the neo-noir graphics and the overall vibe of the game world. There was a certain attention to detail that I found appealing. But at the same time, other aspects of the game just felt unfinished or out of place. For all of the polish some parts of the game have. The AI feels completely mindless. Stealth portions of the game are done well, with many areas being a bit like hide-and-seek game. Yet, no one really seems to care if you snatch their money off a table right in front of them. Well, sometimes they do. But most of the time they don’t. That’s the big problem; consistency. More than once I found myself turning an NPC hostile by doing something that I had done ten times before. There’s no rhyme of reason to the AI logic.
I enjoyed my time with this game. But it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. I really had my hopes set on “Deus Ex 2”. Instead, I got a slightly similar game set in the same universe. Once I finished Invisible War, I looked back on it and felt a little frustrated. There’s so much potential here that just seems unrealized. I’m not sure if this is because the developers made this game with home consoles in mind first or if there was something that limited what they put into the game. To me, this game felt like something that had the potential to be amazing. But it was taken out of the oven before it was ready to be served.
Version Reviewed: PC
Difficulty: Variable– This game features multiple difficulty settings: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Realistic. From my experimentation, all these settings really do is modify the amount of damage taken/dealt. Supposedly higher levers also make the enemy AI “smarter”, but if so, it wasn’t obvious at all. Regardless, I feel the difficulty levels were pretty accurate. I would recommend Normal for first time players.
Multiplayer: No.
Story: The story is very engaging and well done. From the very beginning of the game, it had me hooked. The way it all unfolds is masterfully done. This is probably one of the best things about the game.
Originality: Invisible War takes a number of ideas from the first Deus Ex and simplifies them a bit. Outside of the unique UI, there’s not not much here that most PC gamers haven’t seen before.
Soundtrack: Both the score and the voice acting for this game are very well done. The background music for the game is fitting and appropriate. There’s also environmental music that comes in the form of what you hear when you’re in a dance club and via interactive jukeboxes. These tunes are catchy and fit in with the game perfectly.
Fun: Despite my complaints, I had a pretty good time exploring this game. It captures the cyberpunk noir feel very well. My biggest gripe is that the gameplay lacks depth and the game seemed a little too short.
Graphics: The texture and models were pretty standard for 2003. 3D gaming was just beginning to mature at this point and this game is a sign of that. The lighting system is extremely impressive.
Playcontrol: Fairly standard first person PC controls. This game uses the common WSAD keyboard layout for first-person PC games. The UI is a little odd and something difficult to work with when there’s a lot of action on the screen, however. I didn’t play this game with a controller, so I can’t really speak to what the playcontrol might be like on the Xbox.
Downloadable Content: N/A
Mature Content: Violence, Blood
Value: This game is available on Steam for around $7. Even with my complaints, this is an excellent value for a game like this.
Overall score (1-100): 70– Invisible War is nowhere near as revolutionary as the original Deus Ex. But that doesn’t mean its a terrible game. There’s certainly some really good qualities about this title. But, when compared to other similar games of the era, it doesn’t really come out on top. I had fun with it and it certainly has its moments. But it’s not a shining star.
Original System: PC, Xbox
Available today on: PC – (Updated as of Spring 2025)
Best Experience: PC – (Updated as of Spring 2025)
Other Games in this Series:
Deus Ex – Invisible War – Human Revolution – The Fall – Mankind Divided
