By Dan Moren
August 18, 2016 7:12 AM PT
Deus Ex Go hacks into a winning mobile formula
Note: This story has not been updated for several years.
Square Enix seems to have hit upon a winning formula when it comes to mobile adaptations of its popular console games. Following upon the heels of successes like Hitman Go and my much-loved Lara Croft Go, the company has rolled out its latest iOS game based on a popular franchise: Deus Ex Go.
Like its predecessors, the $5 app manages to conjure the style and feeling of its namesake, while simultaneously providing a game that fits in well with the capabilities of iOS. Rather than simply trying to port the full version of Deus Ex over, whole cloth1, the game’s been reinterpreted as a turn-based stealth-action puzzler. You control hero Adam Jensen as you infiltrate your way through a variety of levels, avoiding shielded guards, turrets, and pesky robots.
So far, it’s basically like Lara Croft Go, but what sets it apart is the embrace of Deus Ex mechanics like hacking and augmentations. Terminals let you reprogram turrets and trapped tiles to do your bidding, and you can take advantage of powers like active camouflage to sneak past guards. There’s also somewhat more of a storyline than in the Tomb Raider outing, as conversations between Jensen and his contacts give you an idea that there’s more going on than what meets the eye.
As a big fan of the most recent entry in the series, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, I’m enjoying Deus Ex Go not only on its own merits, but also as a way to whet my appetite and get back into the world of these games before the upcoming installment, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, drops next week.
If you’re looking for a fun puzzle game with a bit of a cyberpunk twist, then Deus Ex Go may just hack its way into your heart.
- Though the company did produce a fairly well regarded mobile version, Deus Ex: The Fall. ↩
[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His latest novel, the supernatural detective story All Souls Lost, is out now.]
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