dbailey on 21/12/2013 at 22:57

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What games are there out there like Deus Ex 1, System Shock 2, and Arx Fatalis? By this, I mean story-driven, loot-collecting RPG/shooter games with an emphasis on atmosphere, stealth and inventory management.

The modern generation of games seems to have been console-ized and dumbed down to appeal to a wider slew of players, which is becoming frustrating as time goes on. (odd exception: Dishonored, mostly.) While this might help a game studio succeed (instead of fold like LGS), it doesn't make you love a game.

So- what games are carrying the LGS standard today? Any indie games worth considering?

Edit: Games played so far:
The Good:
Dishonored: The closest thing to a Deus Ex/Thief successor. Deep gameplay, sprawling levels with multiple paths to one's destination. Beautiful art design. Suffered some forgivable consolitis.
Vampire: Bloodlines was wonderful, buggy, and thoroughly enjoyable. Close second.
STALKER series: Intensely atmospheric, punishingly hard. Good games, but lacking that LGS feel.
Frictional Games' Penumbra and Amnesia series: Intensely scary, very good, but in a genre of their own.
Fallout 3/Fallout:NV/Oblivion/Skyrim: Very good games, but in implementing such huge worlds, they sometimes come up lacking in depth. Again, they somehow don't fall inside the same genre.

The Bad:
Deus Ex: HR had forced gun battles, "Press X to trigger enemy takedown cutscene" and "Press X to play game ending video of your choice".
Deus Ex: IW is best forgotten.
Bioshock stripped out most of what made SS2 interesting, like inventory management.
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic seemed like a grossly simplified Arx Fatalis.

Ostriig on 22/12/2013 at 00:46

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Don't much share your frustration, but you may want to give STALKER a look. Falls short on the "story-driven" part of your requirements, plot is meh and talkies are mostly just functional, and the RPG part of it boils down to choosing equipment setups albeit with significant effects. The atmosphere is phenomenal, among the most memorable I've found in games, stealth is more about getting the upper hand going into a fight rather than avoiding combat altogether, if that floats your boat, and effective inventory management is vital to the point you're faced with situations like "bread, ammo, sprinting distance - choose two." It's heavier on the action component than what you had in mind, probably, but its less forgiving gameplay fits in with a compelling setting and it would be worth looking up if you haven't so far.

Reminds me that I should get back to playing Call of Pripyat. I've only ever completed the first one, Shadow of Chernobyl. Nota bene, I played through with the Complete mod which overhauls the visuals and brings about a bunch of minor to moderate mechanical changes, though nothing meant to make the game more "hardcore." I do recommend it for a first playthrough, unless something newer and better has come along.

ZylonBane on 22/12/2013 at 02:59

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I'd take SS2's grid inventory over Bioshock's neurotically cloistered inventory in a heartbeat.

In response to the original post, try doing a Google search for "games like deus ex". It's surprising how often that question comes up.

ZylonBane on 22/12/2013 at 03:37

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Renzatic already mentioned VtM: Bloodlines. That's the most Deus Ex-like non-Deus Ex game you're going to find.

faetal on 22/12/2013 at 05:02

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I really enjoyed Project Snowblind, but it is far more linear than Deus Ex, so may not scratch the right itch.
Apart from VTM:B, I can't think of anything else which is like Deus Ex. That's sort of the beauty of it.