“I will show them”: Warren Spector created Deus Ex out of resentment on Thief developers

Deus Ex has become a very important franchise in the game world, giving the basis for many games that have been released in the future. However, this series has a somewhat curious connection with Thief.

Warren Spector, the creator of Deus Ex, worked for some time in the Loking Glass studio responsible for Thief’s franchise. Passing one of the levels of the game, the spector recalls that he had problems with the passage and he asked his comrades how to go through him, fighting with enemies. In response to the advice of the spector, the team said that if they could fight enemies, then this would have nothing to do with the opportunity to sneak past them.

According to the spector, this is what distinguished him from others, and when he was fired from the studio, he decided to create a game in which the player could choose how it is more convenient for him to play. The goal was to allow players to solve problems as they want. At the same time, he sought to avoid comparison with such franchises as Thief and Role Games Bioware.

At that time I thought: "I’ll show them. I will make a game in which you yourself can solve, fight or slip past any problem".

[We wanted to give] players choose how to solve problems. The game had to be made smart and creative for players, and not for us developers.

If people. We compared us with Thief Stlace, we would be dead; If they compared our RPG elements with the latest BioWare developments, we would be dead. But if we could force the [player] to decide how to play, do everything he wants, we could rule the world".

Fortunately, the spector managed to achieve its goal, creating a game that many gamers still remember. Deus Ex was released in 2000. and received recognition of critics and was called one of the best games of all time. This was the only game in the series with his full participation (he was a consultant in the work on Deus Ex: Invisible War 2003), because, according to his admission, he "does not really like sequels".

Despite the fact that the spector was proud of his success and considered it "definitely a high point" In his career, he believes that the first Deus Ex is a game that could not be done today.

At that time it was science fiction, and people perceived it just like that. Many perceived it as a documentary. [. ] And now the idea that games should expand the capabilities of players and give them the opportunity to tell their own stories? I will always do it. But peace and narrative? No.