paulcoz on 28/7/2001 at 01:38
This is so funny - it seems like ages ago I started a thread in the Deus Ex forum, proclaiming I like SS2 better (go on - search for it!). It must have been months ago now, and here we are in July 2001 having the same discussion all over again!
My reasons for liking System Shock 2 a lot more were more to do with personal preference than any actual game design genius:
I prefer small intimate locations, where progress comes from solving a lot of smaller puzzles, than it does from navigating very large areas that in comparison you rush through. System Shock 2 had loads of things to do in just one small hallway - disable cameras, reload, watch for monsters, whereas the Deus Ex gameplay was that you negotiate a huge big area (like the Statue map, the later coast/water maps) and it doesn't take you long to get from one area to the next because the obstacles are just a bunch of guys with guns instead of a combination of a number of different compounding factors that end up making you panic. The things that delay you in Deus Ex are usually a group of guys who you have no choice but to fight (despite claims by fans that Deus Ex has some of the stealth of the Thief series, which of course lets you be 100% unseen if that is the way you want to play it).
Another of the things I disliked about Deus Ex was the inventory screen. I like the way that SS2 keeps running while you have the inventory HUD on the screen. The fact that you can move about while looking at the inventory and under attack doesn't jerk you out of the game and ruin the immersion factor as much as it does in Deus Ex.
Some people commented about the weapon degradation and monster spawning, as well as the restrictive aspect of System Shock 2's skillsets. I liked the fact that even though I believe I could work out how to use a space gun, they prevented you from using some weapons / items without the necessary skills. The alternative is that you are partially skilled at everything which means that the problem solving in the game is more based around picking ANY skill in order to progress, opposed to picking A particular skill for a certain part of the game (which in the early stages of SS2 is defensive weapons which you need just to stay alive). I can understand why some people wouldn't like that, but I come from a adventure game / puzzle solving background which leans more towards being stumped by a particular situation and experiencing a certain feeling of achievement when the solution is found, rather than being thwarted by a truckload of guys who aren't negotiable with brainpower, but brawn or plenty of save games. A good example is the way you can crush the quite daunting robots with the lifts in SS2 - when I first did that I thought 'no way, they thought of everything'. Those are the sorts of environmental puzzles that you experience throughout SS2 (and also Half-Life), rather than just finding a bigger gun to defeat the bigger robot.
These things said, I'm sure other people thought SS2's single spaceship setting was too limiting and that they enjoyed going to lots of different places in Deus Ex. Or, the fact that it had a protagonist in Matrix coat, sunglasses, and "cool-dude" voice.
I'm also more into immersion / atmosphere than being given choices about what my imaginary character can do. I guess I'd rather play a game that puts ME into certain situations (like Half-life did) rather than SOMEONE ELSE - maybe the lack of voice-overs of your character in Half-life and SS2 had something to do with it. Deus Ex gives you a lot of information about your character, and I couldn't relate to JC Denton because he's got too much fashion-sense and ego - I actually thought his character was the sort that might appeal to younger kids interested in secret-agents or those super-hero plastic-figures - it hadn't occured to me before but it's an unusual mix of very childish themes and mature content (eg. gibs, drugs, hookers etc..).
It's just preference though in the end. :)
Paulcoz.
