TheRetroArcade
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Posts: 1,971
Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
"I wish we could redo that project and just stitch the maps together."
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Deus Ex: Invisible War has its defenders, including PC Gamer's own Joshua Wolens, but even the most stout-hearted of them would never go as far as saying it was a worthy sequel to the original. Where Deus Ex ripped up the rulebook and set an example that the immsim genre has struggled to replicate ever since, Invisible War was a much more trammelled game that, for all the good ideas, felt less expansive and ambitious.
Is it a decent game? I'd say yes. Is it the Deus Ex 2 we should've had? Not in a million years. Sorry Josh.
In a new retrospective in Edge magazine, the game's developers discuss the various issues Invisible War faced. Fear was not one of them: the Ion Storm Austin devs were itching to get to work on it. The original game's designer Harvey Smith is asked if he ever felt intimidated about following up such a well-loved title:
"The truth is, no," says Smith. "We finished Deus Ex and everyone loved it, and we just thought, 'Well, the games we want to make are the right kinds of games'. And then you go and do something else, and you fall flat on your face.”
The issues began in 2001 when there was a top-down decision that Ion Storm Austin’s two in-development games should use the same engine. The games were Invisible War and Thief: Deadly Shadows, and the idea was that team members could more easily transition between projects that were built on the same tech. Only problem was, they didn't have the actual tech.
The plan was to modify Unreal Engine 2 with an improved shadow and lighting system. But this was a tonne of work that needed to be handled in-house, and the focus of these modifications was Thief rather than Deus Ex. "I was a leader at the studio and I should have pushed back on that more," says Smith.
Invisible War's lead designer Ricardo Bare expresses his feelings rather more bluntly: "It was a super-boneheaded call. A very bad decision. It really tanked development."
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
The new engine was being built for a Thief game, with smaller environments and reactive lighting, but struggled to cope with the much larger environments of a Deus Ex. Invisible War was packed with environmental details that brought the game's frame rate lower and lower, until the devs ha...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Deus Ex: Invisible War has its defenders, including PC Gamer's own Joshua Wolens, but even the most stout-hearted of them would never go as far as saying it was a worthy sequel to the original. Where Deus Ex ripped up the rulebook and set an example that the immsim genre has struggled to replicate ever since, Invisible War was a much more trammelled game that, for all the good ideas, felt less expansive and ambitious.
Is it a decent game? I'd say yes. Is it the Deus Ex 2 we should've had? Not in a million years. Sorry Josh.
In a new retrospective in Edge magazine, the game's developers discuss the various issues Invisible War faced. Fear was not one of them: the Ion Storm Austin devs were itching to get to work on it. The original game's designer Harvey Smith is asked if he ever felt intimidated about following up such a well-loved title:
"The truth is, no," says Smith. "We finished Deus Ex and everyone loved it, and we just thought, 'Well, the games we want to make are the right kinds of games'. And then you go and do something else, and you fall flat on your face.”
The issues began in 2001 when there was a top-down decision that Ion Storm Austin’s two in-development games should use the same engine. The games were Invisible War and Thief: Deadly Shadows, and the idea was that team members could more easily transition between projects that were built on the same tech. Only problem was, they didn't have the actual tech.
The plan was to modify Unreal Engine 2 with an improved shadow and lighting system. But this was a tonne of work that needed to be handled in-house, and the focus of these modifications was Thief rather than Deus Ex. "I was a leader at the studio and I should have pushed back on that more," says Smith.
Invisible War's lead designer Ricardo Bare expresses his feelings rather more bluntly: "It was a super-boneheaded call. A very bad decision. It really tanked development."
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
The new engine was being built for a Thief game, with smaller environments and reactive lighting, but struggled to cope with the much larger environments of a Deus Ex. Invisible War was packed with environmental details that brought the game's frame rate lower and lower, until the devs ha...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?