Kinda sad to me that a lot of the greats from those eras of gaming end up fizzling out on things they shouldn't really be working on and are not to their strengths because of industry ideas of the sorts of games that should be made today.<p>Like Molyneux's last games all being centered around trash exploitative mobile game mechanics.<p>Spector being the progenitor of 2 entire very rich single player genres with Thief and DeusEx it just feels completely the wrong person to be working on some coop online game that got support ended after 2 months. It's just not what a talent like him should be working on and the business mechanics don't align with his strengths.<p>Would have made a lot more sense to be doing a budget IMSIM, there is an audience there on PC for for these sort of games at a visual fidelity level a small team can accomplish rather than trying to make something more mainstream with a reliance on online.
>"Kinda sad to me that a lot of the greats from those eras of gaming end up fizzling out on things they shouldn't really be working on and are not to their strengths because of industry ideas of the sorts of games that should be made today."<p>I'm sure his bank account disagrees. All games are, ultimately, commercial ventures with the express purpose of making money. It's why they are so hard to classify as "art". There are a select few auteur driven passion projects that can transcend this now and again, but they are generally extreme outliers among even their creator's careers, let alone the industry as a whole.
I’m hoping some small team will do a spiritual successor to deux ex. Somebody told me someone is working on one for thief.
His latest game didn't get good reviews:<p><a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/3341000/Thick_As_Thieves/#app_reviews_hash" rel="nofollow">https://store.steampowered.com/app/3341000/Thick_As_Thieves/...</a>
Deus Ex 1 was amazing. My best gaming experience ever. I loved every moment of it, exploring the entire city. Thank you Warren!!
Deux ex 1 was an exceptional experience for me. It lacked depth and complexity in some ways that modern games have, but overall feel and venues for character/equipment development fit my gaming style perfectly. Its the only game that I've come to repeatedly, long after its graphic was deemed ancient even with some modding.<p>What a legacy.
Also the speedruns for that game contain absolutely hilarious mechanics, like throwing the gas grenade to get the door opened faster at UNATCO HQ.
I loved the aesthetic of Deus Ex, but the Deus Ex in my head was always far better than the one in reality, and so I've deliberately never re-visited it, to keep that memory of a treasure.<p>Some games just impact me in a way that others don't, and I rarely go back to games for that reason. Another example is that I've probably spent longer thinking about <i>Thomas Was Alone</i> than I actually spent playing it, it's a very short game that had a tremendous impact on me.<p>Deus Ex was the right game at just the right time, and somehow the sequels never recaptured that magic. For me, a large part of that was precisely the promise the game had, even if upon technical breakdown it didn't really deliver on those promises. The idea that you were affecting and interacting with the world. The idea that you had a full gamut of options of how to achieve a mission. These were promises that weren't well kept, but they kept the imagination alive.
> but the Deus Ex in my head was always far better than the one in reality<p>I feel like it's actually a sign of a good game. A masterpiece that relies on my imagination just hits different.
Indeed, I played the sequels, and although they were great, they never quite captured the magic of Deus Ex 1.
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> “Will I come back? Never say never. But I think it’s time to ride off into the sunset. Now stop reading and make great games.”<p>I bet that thanks to AI, he is more likely to come back and make more great games.