10. Deus Ex: Invisible War
Deus Ex was a revolutionary title that truly left a lot to live up to, given its thought-provoking, intelligent narrative, its choice system, and specifically its array of augmentations which allowed the player to move through the levels how they saw fit, either as stealthily or as noisily as they so wished. Invisible War, the much-hyped sequel, arrived with less of a bang and more of a whimper, eschewing the intelligent thrills that characterised the original game and opting for a far more generic sci-fi shooter. Particularly offensive was how stripped down the RPG elements of the previous game were; as a result, the game felt like a regressive step backwards, a dilution of the original formula rather than a streamlining of it. The game has pretty much faded into obscurity since release, with the follow-up, Human Revolution, being received with far greater warmth. It's a game difficult to recommend to even the most ardent Deus Ex fan beyond mere morbid curiosity, because in every way, it just feels like its inferior sibling. "Dumbed down" is a term too often applied to video games that try to appeal to a more casual fanbase, but here, the label is so crushingly apt.