Wow, this is an interesting piece of history. The original Deus Ex Machina, released in the 80s, was one of the first games synchronised to music. (Edit: just to be clear, this is nothing to do with the Eidos/Square Enix series "Deus Ex". Deus Ex Machina 1 was way before that.) Back then, the only way to actually achieve this was to have you load the game, then tell you to put a cassette in your cassette player and hit the PLAY button at the right moment. After that, a sequence of mini-games would play, roughly timed to line up with the events on the cassette. It was quite an intriuging experience at the time, so what could the creator do given modern technology?

So, in this game you listen to a continuous piece of music in sections representing the stages of life, while playing a series of timed minigames. The music is synchronised with the changes in the games, but for some reason they've kept several of the old limitations. First of all, you have a health bar/score called "degree of ideal entity" which goes down when you take damage. Unlike the old game, some actions heal it; but like the old game, going down to zero doesn't end the game or have any effect at all. You just carry on with a zero score. Originally this was because the cassette player wasn't controlled by the computer so it couldn't change anything or shut off the tape; why on earth this limitation was retained I have no idea because it seriously harms the replay value - you will complete the entire game on your first run, guaranteed. Even throwing in Steam Achievements for finishing with certain % scores would have helped, but that's not implemented, although it could be added later on.

The other odd thing is that the sync with the music isn't that strong - several of the minigames have actions that synchronise with the words or shifts in the music, but most of them just look like they are planning to play forever and at the end of the music they just fade out with the continuation of the level still visible in the background. Again, there seems to be no reason for this on a modern system where the computer can track every part of the music as it plays.

Regarding the music, it varies from kind of dull up to fantastic, depending on the style of music you like. It's almost a shame they didn't provide a soundtrack, but since the main point of the game is the music, it's understandable they wouldn't. The minigames are all third-person 3D endless runners (again, not clear why since in the original they varied). Unfortunately, they vary from "not that great" to "what were they thinking?". Part of the problem is the controls - in the early levels it's clear that the controls move the camera, but you won't clearly see how your character is moving, and it varies between levels. The graphics also aren't great - in some sections, like Danger Warning and Old Age, their simplicity works well, but often they just look like unnaturally cornered indoor environments of the type you expected from 3D games in the 90s.

And there are blatant design flaws, and they get worse as the game goes on. School has you touching matched pairs of objects, but there's no feedback when you've gotten it right or wrong other than your % meter changing. Adolescence has you collecting pubic hair. Um. In Love and Betrayal, you're supposed to move a cursor to collect or avoid certain objects but at least sometimes you'll inevitably fail because you couldn't see the object behind the spinning body of your character. The Soldier has you running towards the screen hopelessly trying to dodge mines and bombs that appear too quickly to be reacted to (and it seems they haven't adjusted the game engine properly to be running in the other direction because the bottom of the screen flickers and tears). War Crimes Are Easy involves.. slowly and tediously walking through a bunch of images in a courtroom which don't do anything. Another has you slowly walking through doors pressing the up and down arrors to do.. well, nothing apparently. Pain has you flying through a hospital building trying to collect medicines and avoid harmful drugs, but your character is so large you'll have pretty much no choice about what you pick up sometimes. And the final "old age" section contains a playback of some of the previous games.. but rather than using the game engine they run them in low-resolution FMV. Huh?

The plot is a simple walk through of stages of life, with no real clear connection between them. The text suggests a cyberpunk setting, and there's some suggestion that your character was born of "a machine", but nothing really comes of it. Oddly, some of the plot-related material has been removed from the game compared to the original. The ending is quite satisfying, although it lacks some of the charm of the original ending, in part because of the new actors.

So, I can't really recommend this at this stage but there is a base of an intriuging game there if the design flaws should be sorted out and a bit more replay motivation added in. At the low price it's sold at, it might be worth a flutter if you understand that what you're getting is roughly an hour-long music album with some interactive backing, but judged as a game it doesn't stand up in its current state.

Edit: turns out that the soundtrack is on Spotify.

Double Edit: there are a lot of comments about how this game is meant to be a piece of art, and don't get me wrong - I really love the "games as art" idea, and there is some excellent artistry here, but it's all in the music. The lyric at the end of Old Age, "I really miss my Mamma / but I don't know who she was" and the following Lee speech can still make me tear up. But. But. That's artistic music, and as I said, if you're happy to be paying for an hour-long soundtrack then go ahead and buy. The _game_ just doesn't reflect this art at all, and it ignores the fact that games-as-art have evolved since back then to involve the game much more. If you want to say that war is scary in an art-game, look at Spec Ops The Line or This War Of Mine. Doing it by having a naked guy running through a landscape while a voice shouts "TERROR TERROR TERROR" is the artistic equivalent of a mallet to the head. And I'm not sure what the overall artistic statement is supposed to be - it just sort of describes life in a rather cynical way and that's it. Even listening through all the lyrics, it's more or less just a description of a life, not anything special about it.

I can't believe I sat through the whole thing. I guess I was just waiting to see if there was actually a game hidden somewhere in this thing. You can actually sit back, do nothing and just listen to the music. It's really more like an awful music video than a game.

More art piece than game, Deus Ex Machina 2 guides through the stages of life set to a soundtrack that dominates the game. Conception and birth through adolescence into adulthood, old age and death are all represented in the form of "games" that are essentially music videos in which you play a minor role in collecting or avoiding things. Perhaps you are seeking out positive messages as a child or dodging craters and bombs as a soldier or collecting kisses -- but essentially each level is the same thing. Throughout, you have a rating for "Degree of Real Identity" which is affected by how well you play level (or sometimes just seems to tick down regardless) but it's misleading to keep using the terms "game" and "play". These are games in name only. The controls are sparse and sluggish and the effects seem frustratingly random at times. Of course all roads lead to the grave regardless -- I had enough Identity to carry me through to the ending scenes but I don't know if it's possible to actually lose the game.

Deus Ex Machina 2 starts out strong in that the music helps pull you in and the overall complete weirdness of the experience makes you go along for the ride. By the end though, it has largely worn out its welcome. Perhaps that's a metaphor for life or perhaps it's just poor game design but either way it's hard to recommend it. If you ever found yourself with a free copy, it's worth it to play the first half which has more manic weirdness than the increasingly plodding second half. But I couldn't, in good faith, tell anyone to spend money on the experience.

Trying to give a constructive input on this release on steam:
Well, first of all - it's not a real game per se as you can complete it WITHOUT any action at all. So there is no challenge whatsoever which makes the label "game" obsolete.
What is it then? Well, it is a cinematic experience which follows the course of life from the very beginning until your death - without exploration as "life" (the game) just goes on without your doing. It is like a play, a musical at some times with a psychedelic theme and setting and a philosophical background to it. Christopher Lee gives the introduction and explains the stage and its actors. Well, much pathos but little content that gets delivered here.
The music is a key point here, as the graphics aren't outstanding at all, they do their purpose at best but nothing more. Well, the music (+ lyrics) are linked the stage of life you're currently witnessing but there is no coherence. It varies from musical scores to pop songs etc.
All in all, I have mixed feelings about this. As a game it only delivers some minigames that don't matter at all, as a visual experience it doesn't quite hit the spot in my opinion. It seems like wrong choices have been made. Deus Ex Machina 2 would have had the chance to work better as a short movie than an interactive video game. Sorry.

Pure nonsense, ugly visuals, no gameplay. This is without a doubt the most dull piece of software I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing. The percentage for health serves no purpose. I stopped providing input halfway through and it just kept going. Waste of an hour.

Do not buy this application.

To be honest, it is not a good game.
But, after knew the story and idea of the creator.
I will present my highest respection to him and his supports.

You had failed on the market, but your dream has come true even it is so late.
Thank you for had faith during the most dark time.

This is a music video, not a game. It requires litterally zero input from you.

This is not so much a game as it is an arty concept album with optional buttons to press.

Do not buy it if you want a game where you can do things that have meaning, achieve progress, feel a sense of challenge and reward for your actions, that sort of thing.

There is less meaningful interaction in this game than there is in a walking simulator. As much control over the game as in a kinetic novel.

Having said that, it's quite an interesting album, certainly it'll be quite memorable. The music is really quite good, and there are lots of different styles of music used. Well, it's all good except for the terror song, which was terrible. And the fake jpop song about dancing, that was cringeworthy.

It would have been nice if there was some way to revisit chosen scenes at your will, after you have finished the whole thing for the first time. The only option you have is to play the entire thing from scratch.

Note: I got this game, and the 30th anniversary version of its predecessor in a bundle for $2. I would recommend it at that price simply for the experience of having had gone through something like this. I do not know if I would recommend this at its full price.

Both games are essentially the same theme of life, the decline of age, and finally rebirth, but the songs and the voices are different. I feel like this one was able to express itself with more clarity than the first.

I also played through the first "DEUS EX MACHINA" earlier today - the 30th anniversary edition - its overall tone seemed a bit more sci-fi and yet contained more cues to point to the period contemporary to when it was made (1984), I thought the artwork in that game using animated sketchwork was actually more evocative than the 3D models in this game, and I also feel the first game was more optimistic as you could raise your "degree of ideal entity" meter right back up to nearly 100% when you were at your oldest, just before you die. In this one, it just decreases to nothing, and there is nothing you can do about it.

I guess the attitudes of the maker - Mel Croucher - must have changed over time.

Mind you, in this one it's optimistic in that it thinks we'll live to be 100.

I really, really wish I could recommend this because I generally support attempts at making experimental games that 'break the rules', but I just can't find much in this worth recommending.

The only "good" here is the music. It's actually *quite* good, the themes are thought-provoking, and there's excellent production quality throughout.

Unfortunately, everything else is simply dreadful. The graphics aren't evocative, they're just UGLY. Worse, it suffers from significant framerate drops at points despite looking and feeling like an upscaled PS1 game. Controls are nearly nonexistent, and as others have noted, there's basically no reason to even try to interact with it. No matter what you do, your percentage will inevitably drop to 0% by the end. The percentage is so inconsistent, seeming to go up and down at random, that I'm honestly not sure they even properly playtested it.

And the biggest sin is that, overall, it's a WORSE experience than its predecessor, which got an update for mobile platforms (and PC) a couple years ago. The simple 2D animations and swipe-based interaction managed to be more involving than the endless succession of slowly-moving repetitive tunnels that constitutes everything there is to see in DXM2. And while I think the music in this remake is a bit better, there's still quite a lot to recommend in the original's heavily New Wave-flavored soundtrack.

If the idea of a dystopian prog rock concept music video with slight interactions sounds interesting, look for the update of the original. DXM2 is an ugly, unplayable mess that just does disservice to what was legitimately a pioneer in artistic games.

Absolutely hated this game. Totally pointless, you can play the whole "game" by not clicking anything. You're just watching a music video. That in itself wouldn't be so bad if the character design, graphics, soundtrack weren't so unbelievably horrible. Looks like someone slapped this together in an evening. Don't let the trailer fool you. I picked this game up in a bundle, so it costed me only pennies, and still I'd want my money back.