Of course it shouldn't work. The Deus Ex games, in the eyes of many, are held in holy regard for being as much about intelligence and strategy as shooting people in the mouth with grenades.
And along comes Project Snowblind, a cynical attempt to shoehorn the thinking man's FPS into the shoot first, ASK NO QUESTIONS LATER MOTHER F****R mentality of the modern-day console action game. But it does work. So finely, in fact, as to be one of the best FPS titles on the PS2.
First up, it controls beautifully, managing to even tame the PS2's slack analogue sticks. So aiming feels precise, instead of leaving you waving your gun around like it's dangling from the end of a fishing rod.
A good chunk of Deus Ex's ideas make it through, too. Bio-mods, remote bot hacking, multiple routes for conquering a situation are still there, making for a package that's not as throwaway as it first seems.
Interesting weapons, tight gunplay, reliable squad AI, plenty of dishy graphics - this is excellent stuff, although a little too short.
The stealth aspect does feel a little wonky, meaning that while you can choose your angle of approach, you won't be able to do it as quietly as you'd like. And Snowblind would have done well to pilfer Halo's energy system.
But what could have ended up as the watered-down slop of Deus Ex's leftovers has turned out to be a souped-up brew of fast-moving, impressive action with pleasurable power-ups. Lovely. Even if Deus Ex isn't proud of Snowblind, we certainly are.
Project Snowblind is out for PS2, Xbox and PC in March
