I've never restarted a game so many times. It's not that I keep dying - though this has happened on occasion, sometimes as a consequence of my own foolhardy actions, but more often as a result of being bested by the game's sheer cunning. And unlike some recent titles, it's not that I'm unable to save either - though such is the power this game has to hold the player in its thrall, there have been times when I've been too engrossed to remember the mundane necessity of saving. And I've paid the price for it, let me tell you.

To be honest, I've restarted Deus Ex so many times because I really don't know who I am any more. Sure, I know I've been cast in the role of JC Denton, a government agent who works for UNATCO, the United Nations AntiŽ-Terrorist Coalition, and has been fitted with experimental cybernetic implants (thanks to the wonders of nanotechnology). But how do I play this role? Which JC Denton do I want to be? Am I the super-strong hand-to-hand combat specialist or the sniper expert, deadly with firearms from a distance? The technician who can disable security systems in his sleep or the thief who relies on the convenience of a lockpick? The armour-clad fitness fanatic whose chest can survive a hail of bullets or the medic who can mend a broken leg with a handful of cigarette filters? The covert operative who likes the reassurance of a silencer or the demolitions guy who'll simply blow the place to smithereens? Or what about a combination of two or three of these? Aargh! I can't decide...

None of this is a problem - quite the opposite, in fact. Putting it mildly, Deus Ex gives you options. Actually, it practically encourages the emergence of some kind of multiple personality disorder in those who play it. And Žsurprise, surprise - this is the chief reason why it's such a brilliant game. Without spoiling anything for you, let me try to give an example:

There's a bit where Denton and his ("significant other" - Ed) are holed up in a hotel room when - right in the middle of an interactive dialogue sequence - ("the Mormons" - Ed) bash down the door and set the room alight with gunfire. You have a mere matter of seconds to decide whether to stand your ground and fight or scramble out the window and flee down the fire escape. Essentially, then, this is a situation with one clear objective, but two radically different ways to accomplish it.