BioShock is one of the most overrated games ever. Don't get me wrong, it's still an amazing game and one of the top games of last decade, but still it shouldn't be near top games and in many lists it is there. Even worse, it has been praised as one of the best RPG ever, although it isn't an RPG at all. Again saying that is an overrated game, IMO it is overrated like Chrono Trigger, an amazing game really but not one of the best games ever. Or maybe just my opinion.
Now answering to your question, Deus Ex is really amazing. I have said many times that it is almost impossible finding a gamer who has played it and doesn't have it on top 5 - top 10 games. Saying that, you have to know that the game is an RPG-FPS hybrid and it is more a FPS than an RPG. By that, I mean that there is no party, no companions, you are solo. Obviously that means also that the dialogues are a bit more limited than in RPG games. But still the story is very good, but very good for an FPS not an RPG. I would say that from shooters I have played, only BioShock Infinite (a great game on it's own but not as good as original BioShock) has a better story. So personally I don't think that the story can be compared with RPG greats but it's still a great story and different from anything I have played. It's more a James Bong/Bourne (with many elements like global conspiracies and underground organizations) story than the stories of RPG. But, the main reason why Deus Ex is so highly rated is not because of it's story but because of gameplay. I would say that it has the best gameplay ever. It is very open and you have always many alternatives to finish the job, be it going crazy and killing everyone (likely be killed in process many times), going by stealth, using mines or hacking turrets. Everywhere you have a lot of options and a lot of things that can help you. Usually the best options are not run and gun and as I said it isn't a Half Life game when you can go and shoot everybody. Especially in the beginning you have to be extra careful cause your personal character is pretty shit at everything and enemies can be stronger than you (for example at times I used a very cnutish tactic, shooting at a terrorist and making him to follow me and then running near some caps who killed the terrorist when they saw him shooting). Riot Prod (charger) is your best friend, especially at the beginning. I remember how much time I spend crawling in shadows and then going behind the enemy and taking him down with the charger, it is almost always a better method than shooting him. Another good part of it is that bosses (who are extremely powerful) are entirely avoidable, be it by doing certain things before or by planning the battle before you start it which mean that they'll get dead before they can shoot. The game is challenging, and if you play it as a standard shooter you will have a lot of trouble.
While the game has a great story I wouldn't say that the story is as good as FF games (or BioWare games which personally I think that their story is even better than those of Square games) but the gameplay is exceptional and worthy for it alone to be played. I am not a big fan of shooters, but that game is much more than a shooter. It is a perfect hybrid of a shooter-RPG with stealth elements. Now I am going to start playing System Shock 2. According to old school gamers it is the only game who can be compared with Deus Ex and pissed on BioShock.
Quality.
Nice, thanks a lot for that. Have seen some of the gameplay and know it's my cup of tea; glad to hear that the plot ranks highly too! Agree with that comment on Chrono Trigger - I'm very fond of that game but it is undoubtedly overrated in modern day terms. It's like the 'cool' gamer thing to say it still shits on everything else or something, when really many other games have surpassed it in almost every way.
Must admit that of the Bioware games I've played I've not actually found the story amazingly strong or drawn out, but that's probably more a thing of preference in terms of what you want from a story and how convoluted you want it to be. Mass Effect and Dragon Age have fantastic worlds and great characters, but the plot is done in half a dozen phases or so and is sometimes secondary to the setting in my opinion. I think that's the strength of the Western RPG more often than not in comparison to the Japanese counterparts, though - they enrich the history and setting you're in so much and give you a good story amidst these fantastic worlds. The presentation of the story too in something like the first Mass Effect is absolutely marvellous; it's pretty much perfect how it evolves. Damn...the voice acting in the second one as well...I was blown away by that game when I played it! I was in awe of Mordin Solus' character.
Will definitely get on Deus Ex at some point, but I think I'm going to go through Bioshock et al and come back in a year or so given what you've said there. Have learnt my lesson from Torment and won't play something that good again before exhausting other similar types of games I wish to enjoy! I really want to go through things like Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, KOTOR, Dragon Age 2, the last Mass Effect, finish the Witcher/play The Witcher 2, etc...but I can't quite gear myself up for any of them after that. Very annoying.
