Ion Storm Developers Play Deus Ex

The official Deus Ex YouTube channel has published a very interesting video today. It’s an abridged “Let’s Play” video of the original Deus Ex, with commentary from three members of the original team: Warren Spector, Sheldon Pacotti and Chris Norden, respectively producer and project director, writer, and lead programmer/assistant director. The video includes gameplay from Liberty Island, Hong Kong, Paris and the final location.

There is a treasure trove of commentary in the video embedded below. For example, the developers of the title talk about the discussions within the team concerning weapon balance (about half of the team found the pistol underpowered and advocated its removal from the game), and the game’s technical accomplishments, which include an early implementation of real-time lip syncing. A lot of care also went into making sure characters felt like people, from giving them enough lines to make sure they don’t repeat themselves too often, to giving each of them a unique perspective and theory on the events of the game, to make the player think.

The video is almost an hour long and is a very recommended watch, provided you have the time: