Achieving a moral balance while playing DX

heath_boy on 10/9/2001 at 13:36

I have found a way to play DX and still sleep at night.

The first time I played through, after "switching sides" I had serious guilt issues for killing so many NSF troops during the Liberty Island mission.

The second time through, I tried the 'only kill when I absolutely have to' approach. This is fine, but having the silenced sniper rifle just sitting idle was torture.

This is my third time through, and I have found a nice balance. Kill only MJ12 troops and commandos. Excluding the "force kills" (Anna Navarre, Maggie Chow and Gunther) of course. The other troops in the game (riot cops, UNATCO, FEMA, Chinese police, etc.) are just doing their jobs and don't deserve to die. MJ12 personnel are just doing their jobs too, but they know they work for a nefarious shadow organization so they have a bullet in the brain coming, I say.

This makes for a nice balance of sneaking and killing. Also, as far as I am concerned a fairly moral approach.

Bionicman on 10/9/2001 at 21:59

hey, leiberman, lookie lookie! i gamer that has morals...*gasp*! take that you stereotyping, jumping to conclusion bastards!

i thought i was the only one who tried to play these games like it were really me! for example, that nsf commander in the old subway tunnels who acts all nice in the "recover the ambrosia" mission...i thanked him for the key, but knocked him out anyway. can't have him sounding the alarm, now! i also don't kill anyone who doesn't know who they're working for, such as every unatco trooper in your escape. i suppose you could say it's just a game, but i cried when aeris died!

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Denise on 11/9/2001 at 00:05

That's almost exactly the approach I use, with the small difference being that I have no compunctions about killing the riot cops later on.

"Stay outta the streets, man. Cops shoot at anything!"
"I saw one of the bots gun down an old lady and her groceries."
--Quotes from one of the bystanders on the last visit to Hell's Kitchen.

Anyone who could "just do his job" under those circumstances is just as deserving as those who are fully in the know, as I see it...

Tyler on 11/9/2001 at 00:09

The way I see it is that it is just a game so I kill who I want

>>Tuler<<

JustinZyme on 11/9/2001 at 00:21

Quote:

Excluding the "force kills" (Anna Navarre, Maggie Chow and Gunther) of course.

Just for the mystical "record," you don't have to kill Maggie Chow. You can <BLOCKQUOTE><FONT size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">Spoiler:</font><DIV STYLE="background-color:#000080"><FONT color="#000080">stun her while she's still in her apartment, and you never see her again.</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>

Apparently, the only human NPC in the game you absolutely have to kill is <BLOCKQUOTE><FONT size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, sans-serif">Spoiler:</font><DIV STYLE="background-color:#000080"><FONT color="#000080">Anna. Someone told me yesterday that you can pump Gunther full of enough rounds to make him run away like the little girly-man that he is.</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>

For what it's worth.

Homoludens on 13/9/2001 at 15:41

Well, if I had to play it like I really would live it, it wouldn't be any different. Playing it the first time, you really don't have a clue who to trust, so whatever your decisions, you'll have to take responsibility in the long run, you live with the consequences. Is that realistic or is it Memorex?

X on 13/9/2001 at 18:10

That is the way that I am playing it as well. The Nsf are eventually allies, so I merely stun them. MJ12 I kill. I think this is one of the best things about Deus Ex, that it takes the idea of civilians further and includes your perception of morality.

santaClaws on 14/9/2001 at 14:30

That's a very, very sensible point you're touching.
I don't know inhowever you from America (I presume) have to and do think about the happenings in the Third Reich 1935 - 1945 in Germany, Europe. Hitlers ill and devasting ideas and concepts could ONLY survive for that long (imagine: people suffered 10 long years!) because he had his SS (security squad) and an army who JUST DID THEIR JOB, as you're calling it.
No one can blame a soldier for fighting in war and killing the enemy, if he, had he refused, had been killed by his own neighbours, friends, chiefs.
As I said before: I don't know how much you try to seek explainations - but the way you present your opinion ("UNATCO aren't bad, they're just doing their job") explains a lot to me. It shows how the innocent, nothing knowing mass of people can be manipulated and conducted by a leader with enough carisma.

Think about what I wrote - especially regarding the war calls of your very own president after the World Trade Center desaster. I do in no way approve of those feindish, cowardice acts of terrorism. But this is by no means worth a THIRD WORLD WAR. Even if your soldiers (ore the NATO ones) "are just doing their job".

santaClaws
=======================
"Now let's kill that fucking band."
Visit (http://www.worldtradecenter.com) World Trade Center Homepage and be astonished by the judicousness shown there.

Denise on 14/9/2001 at 20:16

Umm, I think you completely misunderstood what he was saying. He still kills the MJ12 troops, and offers your own misperception of his perspective as an example of the wrong way to go about it; you two would, in fact, appear to be in perfect agreement on the points regarding MJ12.

He's also saying that the UNATCO troops are being deliberately misled and as such aren't completely guilty. They have killed, yes, but they think they're killing terrorists, just as JC does in the beginning. They've been duped, just as JC was, and for that they don't deserve to die any more than JC did.

Myne_space on 16/9/2001 at 02:18

Well, you know, the first time and all successive times I have played through this game, I usually blow away any NSF troop that it is safe to do so (won't alert others) and don't feel bad about it. After all, even if I know they are good guys, JC thinks they are terrorists so they have to go.

After switching sides, yes, I feel a little bad about killing previous allies, but I kill them all the same. You know why? Because they would not hesitate to kill me!! That is really the bottom line for me. If the designers programed the AI to be remorseless killing machines with no moral conscious then I don't see why I should extend them the same courtesy. That's the same reason why I have no qualms about putting a broadhead through a guard's neck in Thief; although in those games wanton killing can have some reprecussions and therefore is usually a last resort. Other than the first few levels of Deus Ex, playing with a high body-count causes no real bad side effects, and even then the penalty is small (Oh darn, less ammo.)

Remember, real life fighting isn't about honor, right and wrong, moral integrity, or anything else. Its about killing the other guy before he kills you. :(