And so we have ION Storm’s Deus Ex. It’s the near future, and all those conspiracy theories are coming to pass. The United Nations pretty much acts as a New World Order, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency grabbing for power in the United States. Majestic-12 and Area 51 are more than fodder for Internet urban legends. This is a world where the Knights Templar and Illuminati aren’t just mysterious maybes, but real (albeit former) powers.

The player is J.C. Denton, an operative for the UN Anti-Terrorist Coalition. UNATCO has been using "augmented" agents — think the Six Million Dollar Man — but J.C. is a new breed, enhanced with nanotechnology. That means the player will be able to give J.C. special abilities, everything from invisibility to super-healing.

This is a good thing, because not all is well with the world. Something called the Gray Death is sweeping the world, giving rise to terrorist organizations who keep stealing the UN’s Gray Death antidote. J.C.’s brother Paul (also a nanotech UNATCO agent) has proven rather ineffective against said terrorists, and some folks are even questioning his loyalty…

Deus Ex will invariably draw comparisons to Half-Life and System Shock 2, which is a shame. That’s a shame, because while this is an excellent entry in the first-person shooter genre, it can’t compare to the scripted events in Half-Life or the creepy atmosphere of SS2. And it doesn’t need to — Deus Ex has its own charms, including a few decision points that affect the majority of the game, and multiple endings.

Control and gameplay is very similar to System Shock 2; there’s an inventory system so J.C. can cart around weapons, armor and ammo. As well, J.C. can install augmentations and then upgrade said augs, giving the game somewhat of an RPG feel. I like the fact that once an aug is installed, it’s there for the majority of the game. That often forces the player to decide between a head-on combat strategy, a sneaky approach or the middle ground.

In that respect, Deus Ex veers into Thief territory. The player is encouraged at the game’s outset to choose between killing all who oppose J.C., merely knocking them out or avoiding combat altogether. It’s hinted that this affects the rest of the game (mostly in attitudes of other characters), but it doesn’t really, beyond one sequence. That’s a shame, because once that realization hits, there’s no incentive to not go back to a kill-‘em-all mindset.

Macintosh gamers did not have the chance to experience Thief and the System Shock series, so for the small but growing Mac gaming market, Deus Ex is the first of its kind. Think of Unreal Tournament (which did come out for the Mac), only with brains and steroids.

Personally, I started the game as a "dove," knocking out bad guys instead of taking them down. Eventually, though, enemies became faceless drones instead of fellow citizens, and it got far easier to enforce the law with a sniper rifle. ION Storm’s Austin branch did a good job pushing the moral choice at the beginning of the game; if there’s a sequel, here’s to hoping they reinforce that quandary throughout the game.

Oh, and despite the inventory system, there are no "courier" missions per se. In fact, there are only one or two missions where the player has to search cities like Hong Kong or Paris for answers to the plot — the fighting is too easy a fallback, which makes for some situations where you have to stop and say, "Just why are Majestic-12 troops crawling around these sewers?" There’s one neat monsters-gone-amok sequence that recalls the more frightening moments of System Shock 2, but it’s not near intense enough.

Voice acting is competent. I’ve read some complaints about J.C.’s deadpan delivery, but it suits the character. Otherwise, the acting never descends to the level of, say, ION Storm’s other shooter, Daikatana.

Despite those minor flaws, Deus Ex is definitely among the top shooters of all time. It’s a descent into a dark, paranoid world where the player has to at least consider some moral choices, if not actually follow them.

Oh, and the title? It’s a rather odd shortening of "deus ex machina" (god from machine), an old drama term wherein a play would be resolved by an actor playing a deity swooping down from the rafters. Trust me, it makes sense.