Devs admit Invisible War's shared ammo was a 'terrible idea'

For nearly four years the writer's bio insisted Deus Ex: Invisible War was "pretty good". The sequel to a celebrated original had plenty of flaws, but it still captured the author's thirteen-year-old imagination. The most criticised feature was universal ammo: every weapon in the inventory drew from the same pool, so pistols and rocket launchers all pulled from one supply.

"Players would have their two favourite guns, but they'd never even fire these other three guns," recalled Smith. "At the time, I was like, 'Let's lean into nanotechnology: what if all the ammunition is based in the same matter?'" That shared-ammo choice, along with other design decisions, left many fans disappointed, and the reaction clearly affected Smith.

"It's painful to fall on your face and feel like you've disappointed people," he said. "And you don't trust yourself at first.

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