I have downloaded and played the demo version. I did not experience any of the problems reported by users from Bluesnews' earlier post regarding the delay of the demo (true, key bindings didn't remain customized--I assume this would be fixed in the final release).
I have read previous users' posts on the game, and partially agree to most of them. Yes, the game seems to be dumbed down like you would see on a console (I own an X-Box, and while an excellent platform, will not replace the PC. Period.) However, I think the HUD will take some getting used to, but I believe the HUD from the original Deus Ex to be more efficient, but the DX2 version isn't completely horrible.
The graphics were a dissapointment based on screenshots taken from the earlier stages of development provided by different web sites. However, I was able to get some more beauty out of them by of course setting the screen resolution to 1024 x 768 (and even 1280 x 1024), with both resolutions set using the 6X Multisampling option found in the game. In both resolutions, I experienced no slow-downs or choppiness. In fact, the game ran perfectly smooth for me. And my PC specifications are very similar to those who reported FPS problems on previous postings. So I'm not quite sure what is going on for those users. My PC specs are:
Pentium 4 3.0GHz
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB
1GB of RAM
-As I said earlier, the FPS is very smooth on my system with those specifications.
I'm still contemplating whether or not to cancel my pre-order. But since it doesn't ship until the beginning of December, I'm going to hold off going that route just a little longer, and continue on with hope.
Perhaps wishful thinking will allow us to believe the retail version of the game will be improved. Again, the screenshots of the game look amazing, so I'm not sure what happened between those and the executable version of the game. I do know one thing though. If the final version isn't any better than the demo, many fans are going to be angry with the DX2 production team and their publisher for shelling out hard earned money on a poor product.
Maybe the final version will be better...... .... . ..it's nice to have a dream.