User:Arcadium Trancefer/Sandbox4

Deus Ex logos. The former one (left) used by Ion Storm and the new one (right) used by Eidos Montreal)

“”Aquinas spoke of the mythical City on the Hill. Soon that city will be a reality, and we will be crowned its kings. Or better than kings. Gods...

—Bob Page, plotting & scheming with the head of FEMA, Walton Simons.

“”At the time, it was science fiction and people took it as such. I’ve said this before, but I’m not sure I’d make a game like Deus Ex today. Too many people would see it as a documentary. Did I say “pathetic” before. Yep. I did.

—Warren Spector in 2023

Actually, it's about ethics in Video games

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Some dare call it Conspiracy

What THEY don't want you to know!

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Deus Ex is a series of video games originally created by developer Ion Storm and published by Eidos Interactive, and later by Square Enix, who then sold the rights to the Embracer Group. The series is known for its open-ended gameplay and near-future, cyberpunk setting filled with nearly any conspiracy theory you can think of. Seriously, it would be simpler to list the theories that DON'T show up at some point in the series.

The first game in the series came out in 2000, following the peak of conspiracy theory media in the 1990s (Such as the X-Files and Oliver Stone's JFK). The game's creator director Warren Spector had also previously worked for tabletop game publisher Steve Jackson Games, a company with a long history of mining conspiracy lore for subject matter such as in the Illuminati card game among others. The original 2000 game is held in very high regard and is often listed near the top or at the top of numerous "best of" lists. The 2003 sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War... isn't held as in high regard as its predecessor. The biggest complaint being the simplification of gameplay elements compared to the previous game, seen as a way to make the game easier for filthy console peasants playing on game consoles due to the more limited control options. Am initial attempt at a third game in 2005 developed into its own separate game, Project: Snowblind, with no connection to the Deus Ex series.

The series was revived in 2011 with the release of the prequel Deus Ex: Human Revolution, developed by Eidos Montreal and published by Square Enix. While the game kept the conspiracy-themed background of the series, the narrative focused more on the subject of mechanical human augmentation and the divisions in society that results. The game received strong reviews and was a success. This was followed by the 2016 release of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, a game that was marked by controversies by the use of the word "Apartheid" in its marketing, a tier-based pre-order scheme that was abandoned after negative backlash and criticisms about the short length of the final release.

Gameplay

The Deus Ex games are first-person shooters with heavy RPG elements that gives the player a great deal of freedom in how they wish to play and in turn reacts to the players decisions. Various objectives and obstacles are presented to the player and will have numerous solutions, for example a locked door would have a number of ways of bypassing it. A player might attempt to pick the lock, or hack the nearby security system and unlock the door that way. They could also search for the key in another location, incapacitate someone who has a key and take it from them, or go around the door by sneaking through the ventilation ducts. Options are also available in dealing with hostile enemies, ranging from deciding to use lethal or non-lethal force and approaching them head-on or avoiding them with stealth. This also can affect how other characters interact with the player and their approval or disapproval of the player's choice of tactics.

Setting

The games are set in a near-future world where the player takes on the role of a technologically augmented protagonist who faces a world where every conspiracy theory that isn't based around outright bigotry is actually true. As the games progress, the protagonists learn more about the various shadowy powers that are attempting to manipulate world events for their own gain and by the end of the story, the protagonist must chose who to side with and carry out what actions are needed to fulfill the goals of whoever they have sided with.

Deus Ex

Set in 2052, the player takes on the role of JC Denton, a rookie agent for the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition (UNATCO), which was founded after an apparent terrorist attack destroyed the Statue of Liberty. JC and his older brother Paul are the first in a new line of field agents with abilities augmented by nanotechnology, seen as having more potential than the intrusive and bulky mechanical augmentations of older field agents. The world is in a state of upheaval from severe economic inequality, increasingly authoritarian governments and a deadly plague called the "Gray Death", which is only held back by a vaccine treatment that is in such short supply that doses are reserved for the elite. On his first day, JC arrives at UNATCO's headquarters on Liberty Island just as members of the National Secessionist Forces (NSF) have occupied the bombed-out remains of the Statue. JC is ordered to single-handedly resolve the standoff, the method of which is decided by the player. Paul urges JC to use more subtle methods and to avoid the use of lethal force while other UNATCO agents feel that a more direct (and violent) approach is warranted. Once the situation is resolved, JC is then ordered to take on a number of missions in New York City. During these missions, JC begins to learn more about sinister forces at work, is introduced to the pilot, Jock, of a black helicopter, finds strange creatures called "Greasels" in the sewers, rescues Smuggler's friend who was being held by guards wearing uniforms labeled "MJ-12" & forced to work in a secret lab in the sewers, saves a hotel owner and his daughter from a drug dealer and meets the sinister director of FEMA, Walton Simons, and his pale-skinned, black suited entourage.

JC eventually learns from Paul that the Gray Death is a manmade virus and is being used both as a means of depopulation and to coerce politicians and others with access to the vaccine. Both JC & Paul end up getting arrested after UNATCO finds out that Paul has been working for the NSF and JC for helping his brother sending a distress signal to "Chad Dumier", leader of Silhouette in France. Simons, in the meantime, has activated Paul & JC's "Killswitch", giving them 24 hours before they die.

When JC wakes up, he finds himself inside an MJ-12 prison cell. He gets contacted by a mysterious entity called "Daedalus" who tells him where his brother is, that the facility he's in is underneat UNATCO's HQ and helps him escape to Hong Kong. After he finds him, Paul mentions that he should go ahead while he'll "slip out on his own" and that he should help "Alex Jacobson" (the Technician), "Jaime Reyes" (the Doctor) & "Sam Carter" (the Quartermaster) escape from UNATCO since they've always been on their side & still think UNATCO are the good guys. He also informs JC that the Mechs also have killswitches, but that they're activated via a "killphrase" then gives JC a password & login to find said killphrases for Gunther & Anna Navarre (if the player hasn't already killed her at the airport on Juan Lebedev's plane or in the subway station before getting arrested). Once he breaks out of the MJ-12 prison, the player has the option to let Jaime find the second killswitch for Gunther (since only 1 of his can be found on the computers), where he will meet up with JC in Paris who'll tell him what he found or convince him to join the resistance, where the player will meet up with him in Hong Kong and gives him an Augmentation Upgrade canister. Carter doesn't want to hear it, believing that the only way to save UNATCO is for the good people to stay. But tells him to "load up" and unlocks the armory for him. JC then enters Manderley's Office where the player can kill him immediately before triggering a cutscene or let the cutscene play out and leave, only for Manderley to turn hostile and chase him with a gun. Anna will be blocking the exit (If the player didn't kill her earlier on) giving the player the option to engage her in combat or use the killphrase "Flatlander Woman". Before JC leaves UNATCO, he gets contacted on his intercom by Gunther saying that he cannot forgive JC for killing Anna and that he will get him for this.

After arriving in Hong Kong, Jock is forced to land his helicopter on top of a secret MJ-12 base high atop of a Pharmaceutical company called "VersaLife". He informs JC about this and asks him to help get his weapons back online, by going to Flight Control Deck One and turning the switch off so that he can use them to blow up the blast doors that are currently shut. After solving that issue, Jock flies away while JC run towards the elevator and finally ends up in Hong Kong.

Entering Hong Kong's Market, JC gets contacted by Jock who tells him to go find Tong and that the best place to start searching for him would be near a small compound east of the market where he used to drop his brother off. He eventually find the building being guarded by the Leader of the Luminous Path, Gordon Quick. Quick wants JC to help with the current triad war that was started by former actress & Director of VersaLife Maggie Chow (who's also the new Red Arrow leader's girlfriend). She blamed the Luminous Path for killing former Red Arrow leader, Yuen Kong, whose dead body was found floating in the water near the house of a boat person and stealing one of the most powerful weapons in the game. If JC finds proof of her lies, he will be allowed to enter the Luminous Path compound . After JC arrives at Chow apartment, her maid will tell him that she has been expecting JC and to follow her to the living room where she is waiting. At this point, he has several choices:

1. He could do as she says and follow her to the living room, where Maggie Chow will show him why she was an actress, even giving him a code to enter the police station, which will result in the cops getting hostile and JC finding proof that Maggie was lying her ass off within the police station's lower floor. When he goes back to confront her, her maid tells him that she isn't there. Any further persuation will lead in the maid alerting the MJ-12 troops at the back of her apartment and the maid going hostile, pulling out an Assault Shotgun.
3. He could do the previous, but killing Maggie & her maid afterwards then looking through her apartment for evidence and turn of the cameras, before entering the secret back area.
5. He could completely ignore the maid, search the floor he's at until he finds a paper lantern, pulls it to reveal the MJ-12 hideout and sneak in (this will result in Chow not being at her apartment anymore for some reason).
7. He could avoid meeting with Chow, by sneaking into her apartment via the roof which leads directly to the MJ-12 hideout.

Whatever path JC chooses to take, will eventually lead to the room with the Dragon Tooth Sword in it. Once he entered the room, Tong will contact JC and congratulate him on finding the proof that Chow has been lying all this time. He will also mention that he's been keeping track of your movement via your intercom and in order to become Tong's ally, you'll need to retrieve the sword. There's also a datacube in there that proofs Chow killed Kong. Once the Sword is retrieved, Tong will contact you against saying that you should take it to Chen in the Lucky Money to bring peace between the triads. Then he'll help you get rid of the killswitch after peace has been achieved. When JC arrives at the Lucky Money, he can go straight to Chen or have a chat with one of the most amusing bartenders in the game. Once JC finds Chen, he tells him the truth about how Chow stole the Sword (which he doesn't believe, until you show it to him), how she works for Majestic-12 and how she's using the Red Arrow to meet her own ends. After JC tells him everything, he ends up in a state of denial until JC tells him to meet with the leaders of the Luminous Path. Chen says that for now he will end all hostilities until he has completed an investigation. Meanwhile, MJ-12 found out what JC did and send a bunch of Mech MJ-12 to the Lucky Money, killing most people inside. One of the bouncers warns Chen about what's happening in the club. After JC deals with the troops, Chen tells him that he'll not doubt him again. JC then reports back to Gordon Quick, who allows him to enter the compound and gives him the code to Tong's Laboratory. Speaking to Tong's Guard, before entering his lab, will reveal that Jacobson has already made it to Hong Kong and is inside Tong's Lab checking out his equipment. Tong knows that his killswitch has been activated. JC asks if he can help him, but in order for Tong to help him, he must do something for him in return. After they're done talking, JC must hurry downstairs so he can examine his systems and get rid of his killswitch. Back in the Control Room, JC asks if he has heard of Paul (if Paul is still alive). Tong tells him that he is on his way with Jock to Hong Kong, while also mentioning that the truce won't hold because both triads see the sword as a Doomsday weapon. Tong, wants JC to break into VersaLife and steal the ROM-encoding so that both triads will have the sword. He gives him an employee number in order to get inside of VersaLife. Once in, he should talk to the shift supervisor, Mr. Hundley, who can be easily persuaded. Tong also set up an account for JC to use . JC goes to see Jacobson to find out if he ever found out who this "Daedalus" is. Alex reveals that he, more or less, found something about him as it turns out that Daedalus was an AI project from the government, also known as "Echelon IV".

At VersaLife, JC looks around for Hundley to get him into the labs. On the first floor, the player can bump against this iconic scene. Once JC finds Hundley on the second floor, it turns out that he will only give you access to the labs if you give him 2000 credits. JC can choose to pay him this money or find a man named "John Smith" on the 3rd floor who will help you if you kill Hundley. On his way to Smith, JC can bump against a VersaLife Employee who'll mention that they just shipped a superfreighter filled with medicine to the US. Once Hundley's dealt with, Smith gives him clearance to go to the labs. Inside the labs, Tong contacts him once he gets near a machine that has the ROM-encoding software for the sword. . Once the software has been uploaded to Tong's network, every MJ-12 soldier & Versalife security agent will become hostile and JC needs to bolt out of there.

Once outside, JC heads to the temple to meet with the dragon heads who are finally agreeing on peace between the triads. Both dragon heads thank JC and Quick invites him for a drink in the Lucky Money and tells him that Tong wants to see him. Back at Tong's Laboratory, JC suspect that they are doing more than just manufactoring nanotechnology, given how tight security is. Tong asks him about the lab, since he and Paul concluded that VersaLife only manufactures Ambrosia, whilist the real research happens in North America. JC informs Tong on what he has seen in the labs. Tong tells him that if he were to gain access to the Level 2 labs, he might be able to learn something about the Gray Death since his brothers failure in NYC left him with nothing. He tells JC about a back way, at the north end of Canal Road Tunnel since he's worried that they might be ready for him if he goes back the way he came in. Tong also gives JC the code for the nanotech research wing . If JC visits the Lucky Money, some people from the Red Arrow will tell him that Gunther has been seen in Hong Kong and has been asking around for JC, even smashing up a bar.

Inside the Level 2 labs, Daedalus contacts JC who tells him about a "Universal Constructor" and how it is one of the two devices that can manufacture the Gray Death virus. Daedalus gives him the code to blow up the UC. Tong also contacts him, asking to look for a computer terminal in the 2nd level so he can upload the data he needs via the infolink. Once the data has been uploaded and the UC chamber has been opened, Tong contacts him telling that he found more than just the schematics and urging him to get out of the labs asap. inside the UC chamber, a conversation between JC and Chow will happen before eventually killing her (or you can skip it, by killing her with any kind of gun). After blowing up the UC, you escape via a watertube that leads back to the sewers and eventually ending inside the house of the Boat person who found Kong's body. While escaping the labs underwater and fighting the second transgenetic in the game, Tong contacts on some inventory data you seemed to have fished up. For starters, VersaLife has manufactured the Gray Death in great quantities which is on the superfreighter that was mentioned earlier by that VersaLife Employee and that it's going to New York. What's more is that this freighter was once owned by Stanton Dowd, then Tong asks JC what knows about "them" and that he has more to tell him, once he gets back to the compound. After JC surfaces in the sewers, Tong start talking about there being "Illuminati fingerprints" on the sterics (17 segments & 23 coupling points) and that Illuminati engineers are the only ones that use "sleeve bearings with 34-fold & 46-fold symmetry", which are all multiplies of 17 & 23. He then mentions that 1723 is the birthdate of Adam Weishaupt and that this is not a coincidence.

At the compound, JC is pleased to see his brother sitting near a desk (If the player didn't escape through the window). He asks him how he's doing with Paul revealing that he needs to stay in Hong Kong for a couple of months since he's in a really bad shape. JC informs his brother about what he's been doing in Hong Kong, then tells he needs to talk to Tong about the schematics he's recovered for him and that Paul needs do him a favour; getting better. Paul informs JC that they send Gunther in the field and that he wants his head. He also tells JC that several other people at UNATCO have been kicked out. JC is not amused when he talks to Tong about his "Illuminati" theory, mentioning that he was risking his life in those labs. Tong tells him that he wasn't joking, but that they aren't as powerful as they used to be and that he knows a few of their former leaders, with Dowd being one of them and the others being Beth DuClare & Morgan Everett, both who currently reside in Paris. JC asks Tong what they have to do with MJ-12, to which Tong respond that this is a question for Dowd and that he'll contact him in New York hoping he will agree on meeting with JC. When asked if Tong knows something about Daedalus, he says that he's a "valuable informant" who sent him a code that he needed to find the superfreighter. Tong then mentions that Jock has landed in the courtyard and that he needs to find Dowd and see if he knows where the ship is going or if there's a way to stop it. Tong also tells him that he should be going, since Gunther is looking for him. JC advises him that his should stay away from him and that he'll take care of him. Outside, JC asks if Jock knows about Dowd and says that Harley Filben(the bum you meet during the tutorial mission) might know how to contact him.