So I'm well aware this game shit has been discussed to death, but I've never played it before...

Neither, use GMDX instead.

Bloodlines was a buggy mess until the unofficial patches fixed it. So, no.

However, I would definitely recommend Deus Ex with no or VERY MINIMAL mods. I would definitely argue against something like Revision, which actually goes so far as to change the level design of major areas, like Hong Kong and Hell's Kitchen.

The only modding I would recommend for a first-time Deus Ex playthrough would be something that added proper widescreen support.