How is it that a pretty janky action RPG from 20 years ago has a better grasp on the world as it is in 2021 than anything made in the past few years besides like, Cruelty Squad? It's a mainstream AAA (for it's time video game) that not only has some of the best freeform nonlinear gameplay ever created but also starts dropping redpills about corporate consolidation, mass surveillance, pandemics leading to social and political unrest, and the economy being totally hijacked by rich assholes to the detriment of everyone else. I always thought it was weird how little people ever point that out when discussing the game, because it's really unique in that aspect and despite Deus Ex being insanely popular and beloved nobody wants to make the spiritual successor for some reason
Oh, also while we're at it does anybody got a handle on how long the game takes place over? I saw some dude on TV Tropes say it takes place in one night but like, I live in NYC there's no way you're going to Liberty Island, taking a break at UNATCO, Going to Battery Park before swinging up to Hell's Kitchen, then walking to LaGuardia via underground tunnels in one night- to say nothing of all the international travel. I always assumed the game took place over like, a week for that reason
The game being about conspiracy theories kneecapped any attempt to examine it politically, look at any video that's a compilation of the game talking about corporate consolidation, surveillance, etc and the comments are all just chuds dropping triple parentheses. I think Paul Denton even namedrops the Rothschilds at one point in the game.