Mod Spotlight: 2027
By Kyle Mann | September 25, 2011 | Features | No comments | Share
I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is more Deus Ex: while Human Revolution is a stupendous melding of old game design ideas and new gameplay mechanics, it’ll out last me so long. Despite a few trip-ups, it’s huge and awesome and brilliant. If you’ve been through Human Revolution‘s golden gaming environments multiple times and seen most of what the game has to offer, but your appetite for Deus Ex isn’t yet satiated, why not check out 2027, a mod/prequel for the original Deus Ex?
The first thing you’ll note when playing the mod is the distinct Deus Ex feel: you don’t even need to fight anybody for the first few levels (assuming you don’t run around stunning people with the stun prod). The first mission is a simple find-the-key affair, and the second area sets you loose around Paris gathering intel, questioning suspects and bystanders, and exploring secret areas. You can take on side missions or not, go the straightforward route or take the backdoor, and explore the wide-open levels to your heart’s content. Even moreso than in the original Deus Ex, 2027 is all about freedom of choice.
The second thing you’ll notice is the extremely high production values: while the graphics are limited by the archaic Unreal 1 engine, the mod team pushed the technology to its limits, and the results are pretty spectacular. Weather effects, reflections, specular-enabled surfaces, and bloom all contribute to a gorgeous game. The bloom can be a bit heavy at times though; I felt as if I were back in the middle of the bloom craze five or six years ago. If that were turned down a bit, it would be hard to see how else the old Deus Ex visuals could be improved.
The 2027 mod team also added new bots, weapons, and the ability to buy and sell with traders. The attention to detail is pretty outstanding for a free mod; rooms are chock full of items, ammo, weapons, and secrets to be had. Cities are packed to the gills with secret passageways, ventilation shafts, doors with pickable locks leading to both important and insignificant rooms and buildings, and interesting NPCs. Some of the dialogue with these NPCs can be a bit wooden, and there’s no voice acting whatsoever, but for a free mod it’s excusable, especially with all the other great content they’ve packed in here.
If Human Revolution, Invisible War, and the original Deus Ex still haven’t been able to fill your incessant hunger for more Deus Ex, you can’t do much better than giving 2027 a shot. You can grab the mod over at ModDB, or else download it from Project 2027′s official site. Until next week, happy modding!
