Deus Ex
Deus Ex has found its way onto many “Best Ever” lists since its release in 2000 and it’s not hard to see why. Playing as JC Denton, an anti-terrorism agent augmented with nanotechnology, Deus Ex gave players what was at the time a pretty unprecedented level of free choice in the way they approached each situation, whether it was combat, stealth, or conversations with the game’s many interesting characters. You can hack computers, mod weapons, and improve your nanotech implants all to suit your preferred play style. Sure, lots of games do that now. But Deus Ex set the bar and who knows where we’d be now if it hadn’t.
