Natural Universes and Deus Ex: Invisible War
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The first is that there's no immediate point of identification with the various regions of Invisible War. One of the most captivating things about the original game was its close-to-real-world setting, shoved just far enough into the future to include the high-tech wizardry that made the game tick.
The sequel fumbles with shiny sci-fi cliches like there's no next millennium, and feels like a less identifiable place as a result. No one ever seems to stop and question why the future will be rendered predominantly in grayscale. Even in the more interesting areas -- Cairo being a reasonably competent example -- it's oddly dull and monotonous.
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More importantly, Invisible War is rendered as a series of disconnected, disorganised game arenas. The layout and functionality of these places simply doesn't work, or make any logical sense. They're boxy, artificial locales that in no way could you imagine people actually working in, relaxing in, living in -- even existing in.
I'm almost certain that's the barrier to my immersion this time around. It's worth pointing out that I still think Invisible War is a masterful game, mechanistically near-perfect, and certainly one of my favourites of the past decade. But its world design is a major stumbling block, one that's plagued too many titles over the years.
