Goodness, the introduction to Hong Kong and the music cast a new vibe on the game at a perfectly timed moment, when you've just about had enough of NYC. And it was seeded with all these little scripted moments you could happen upon. Talks in tea shops, gang fights in tunnels, overhearing convos in bars, the little newspaper boy who relayed threats to a newsstand vendor and leads you to a gang HQ if you follow him.
And the discoverability of all kinds of stuff in the canals. The cityscape building hopping, it had everything. You truly felt like you were discovering every inch of it and like it wasn't just on rails or procedurally generated.
The Synapse. Marvelous one.
Re:Deus Ex
by tomaskafka on Friday November 06, 2026 @01:39PM
(#50396437)
That’s what Unreal engine had built in from start, these transitions were amazing even in first OG Unreal (leaving the ship for the first time into the planets jungle and waterfalls, oooh!)
Re:Deus Ex
by paulryanrogers on Friday November 06, 2026 @05:40PM
(#50399469)
Yeah. I'm revisiting for WindowsGameClub.com this quarter, and I had forgotten how many scripted sequences Unreal (1998) included. Enjoying the light puzzling as well.
I loved the theme changes on them -- I remember HK Streets had explore, combat and death scene; transitions felt seamless in the game.