Play This Now: Deus Ex

This is a game that needs no introduction, or at least if it does it means you haven't played it and you should just skip to the link below. One of only two good things to come out of the ill-fated developer Ion Storm (The other being Tom Hall's Anachronox), Deus Ex is an FPS/RPG hybrid that unashamedly leans more toward the former, but still allows you a sort of range of expression in creating your own character. Just as long as you're comfortable with that range being whether or not you pick people off from a distance or get up close and personal with a shotgun. The game presents you in a slightly dystopic not-too-distant future as a cybernetically enhanced operative working for a government peace-keeping agency trying to thwart the plans of a terrorist organization trying to seize large quantities of a cure to a new disease called the Grey Death, or so it may seem. (That may be the nerdiest sentence I ever wrote.) But even that is selling it short and expanding would spoil things for those who haven't played it. All I'll say is that the game also involves the Knights Templar, the Illuminati and Area 51. The way you choose to hone your skills as you progress also works in tandem with the level design, which almost always allows you to find alternate paths and solutions that best suit your abilities, and while it tends to reward those who are silent and stealthy, it does not directly oppose you from running around with a rocket launcher and a flamethrower. As most who have played it will tell you, it's one of the most immersive and engaging games you will ever play, and now it's completely free. All you have to do is hop on to GameTap (Which you should still have from playing Mr. Robot, right? Right.), you don't have to sign up for an account or anything, just track it down on the free games list and install.

Link, GameTap.

-K.