Thread: Why we need a Deus Ex MMO

Deus Ex is a series that has many similarities to the Elder Scrolls series. It is primarily or exclusively singleplayer, it is centered around immersion and storytelling, it has RPG mechanics while maintaining real-time combat and it features non-linear gameplay. In that regard, The Elder Scrolls is a game that many clamor to be turned into an MMO though the hardcore fans repeatedly reject the idea of a multiplayer ever being added and I wholeheartedly agree. The MMORPG genre is one that has failed to entertain me much despite the decent amount of time I’ve invested in playing them. It’s a genre with a lot of psychologically rewarding goals to work towards which typically involves a lot of grinding. The grind itself, aka the actual gameplay, is what deters me from finding the genre appealing at it’s core. However, that doesn’t mean there hasn’t isn’t some form of MMORPG I would enjoy; It’s just that nobody seems to have made it yet. A new multiplayer Deus Ex game would not only be an opportunity to launch the franchise into territory that lets it tread more ground but also revolutionize the genre if done correctly. Here’s some reasons why:

Setting

The franchise has a varying setting since the different games take place in different time periods but they overall have the same feel. While the original Deus Ex brought us mostly cooler tones of black and blue, Human Revolution gave us more brown, tan and orange. Invisible War gave us a bunch of crap and I don’t exactly take it into consideration when analyzing the franchise. The style of futuristic urban dominated landscapes featured in these games has always had a unique feel to it while having an odd steampunk style appeal to it with the heavy augmentation centered storylines and characters. I love these types of urbanscapes because of how much potential for variation they have. We don’t need more caves, fortresses, buttes, mountains, volcanos and fields in a genre already overpopulated by such things. Why not change things up for something more man-made? More importantly, why does everything have to be open and expansive? I would prefer a big city with connected small rooms and foyers. Many other gamers would likely prefer a change in scenery in general.

Combat and missions

Every raid, instance, duel etc in current MMORPGs can be boiled down to a large group of people running through a hallway into a large room to kill a big guy with a lot of health.

This is a tried and true method but it is far from perfect and there are many different ways of approaching how to create a teamwork based challenge like this. First off, why does the boss necessarily have to be difficult to beat, much less gigantic? I propose a mission in which you and your gang of mercenaries are out to assassinate some important political figure and while he himself is not some giant overbearing boss with buckets of health who is difficult to beat, his hired bodyguards or private army are. There should be objectives you need to complete in order to accomplish your goal, rather than the current standard of ‘kill everything you see and keep your teammates alive’. This concept has been done to death and every MMO coming out claiming to reinvent the wheel has not even come close to altering this aspect of the genre. As per Deux Ex standards, you should also have the ability to carry out a mission in more than one way, which is a luxury current MMORPGs simply do not offer. Swords and shields can easily be swapped out for guns and augmentations and many would likely welcome that change to be honest. Perhaps we could even see the first MMORPG with real-time shooter combat that actually executed this properly; such a thing doesn’t exist currently unless you count MMOFPS games. Overall, tactical spec-ops type games don’t have to be limited to closed match shooters with 16 players max. Taking Deus Ex and applying the different mission mechanics of APB, WoW and Neotokyo would be a damn near perfect mixture if tweaked to work properly. There is more appeal in obtaining a new augmentation (aka your new robo-arm) then there is in getting a new wand that has a new color of flashy effects that come out of it. Come to think of it, most MMORPGs attacks simply involve flashy particle effects chocked up to magic and frankly nobody seems to be in awe of how awesome their characters are past a certain level when all they focus on is their HUD flooded with stats rather than the actual game graphics. You should maintain that noob level of appreciation for your characters accomplishments throughout the entirety of an MMO if at all possible and there is far more player involvement with the character if augmentations are expensive and affect the look and nature of your character. You don’t get this kind of thing from buying a new flashy stick that shoots slightly more powerful pew pews.

The characters

There are already quite a few open-ended backstories here that could be utilized in an MMO format. The purists vs Sarif Inustries storyline for example has plenty of potential character backstory behind it as Human Revolution only touched on the most important aspects of it. The style of Deus Ex characters tends to vary from game to game but between it and The Matrix we’ve learned that trenchcoats will never stop being awesome anytime soon. I can only imagine what kind of cool characters a well made character editor would be able to cook up in a multiplayer Deus Ex game. Other games with similar art styles have suffered from what is known as ‘we can’t all be Neo’ syndrome in which the rules applies that if everybody looks badass then nobody looks badass. The setting of Deus Ex could most likely pull this off without that effect though. I can’t think of a character I like more than Adam Jensen when it comes to aesthetic design and level of badassery. It would be nice to be able to mold my own character in that world. The MMO genre is one with a lot of potential but it’s also the most exploited and the one with the most rotten eggs out of the gaming genre basket. Perhaps developers need to be broadening their horizons with games such as the one I just suggested? After all, if you’re going to be putting all that hard work and effort into making an MMO, you might as well make it unique and one that will appeal to people who are tired of WoW raiding and Tolkien RPGs because those are definitely not in short supply these days. Deus Ex is not the only franchise that could provide these progressive changes necessary to the genre but it’s a well established franchise and could pull in the amount of players necessary for an MMO to get off the ground.

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Every raid, instance, duel etc in current MMORPGs can be boiled down to a large group of people running through a hallway into a large room to kill a big guy with a lot of health.

Pretty much everything you said, true! LOL!

But still i really do like any MMO, any kind, any genre, especially if i don't have to pay a lot for monthly membership. Not that i don't pay currently but i have to be picky with my money now. And, not many games are worth the upgrade.

Yes, I agree with Dardaigh. The text is pretty true, tho.