Game Reviews

Deus Ex GO review - Another hit, man?

Star onStar onStar onStar onStar half
|
| Deus Ex GO
Get
Deus Ex GO review - Another hit, man?
|
| Deus Ex GO

yt
Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on

If you've played one of the GO games - either in Hitman or Lara Croft flavour - you'll know what to expect from Deus Ex GO.

It's another taut, finely-crafted puzzle game about shifting a character around a grid of nodes, as you try to untangle a web of different obstacles and enemies before safely traversing to an end point.

Only, this time, there are robots.

Like in the console games, you'll be playing as unwitting robo-man Adam Jenson as he skulks about shiny gold office buildings, carefully sneaking behind some guards and plunging his razor-sharp elbow blades into others.

01

Each enemy in the game has a unique behaviour: human guards turn red and charge at you if you cross their path, giant robots patrol back and forth automatically, spider bots only attack if you get too close, and turrets shoot on sight.

The thrill of the game comes from understanding how all those systems work - and how they'll work when thrown into a level with each other - before figuring out the right way to outsmart them: perhaps by using a robot as defence against a turret, or trapping one guard behind another.

Things get more complicated when you add in new elements like invisibility (Jenson can move two spaces without being attacked) and hacking (floor tiles and turrets can be tweaked to work in your favour).

02

At times, it's hard to remember what everything does and that can make predicting the outcome of your next swipe a little tricky.

Thankfully, the game encourages experimentation. It's quick to start again if you mess up, and though the game is packed with lavish animations - from enemies disintegrating into polygons upon death, or Jenson kicking the shit out of a robot - they're instantly skipped with a swipe.

The game does have a lot going on. The hex-shaped tiles can increase the complexity, and some levels are jam packed with many moving parts. Overall, however, I'd say the difficulty is on par with the other games. Closer to Hitman than Lara if I had to pick.

Like those two games, Deus Ex GO is very faithful to the source material. From the art to the music to the use of augmentations and robots and manipulating the environment to take out enemies, the game gives off the same vibes as Human Revolution and, presumably, the upcoming Mankind Divided.

03

But, then again, the Deus Ex franchise is well known for giving the player choices in every circumstance.

Console Jenson can sneak, shoot, hack, or get his butt wedged in an air vent, letting you tackle situations in whatever manner you like. In GO, there's only ever one solution.

Still, it's hard to fault the game we've ended up with. It might be a bit familiar to anyone who has finished the other GO games, but fans are going to end up with another set of deviously crafted and fabulously well designed puzzles, plus a bunch of new toys to play with. Can't get fairer than that.

Deus Ex GO review - Another hit, man?

Deus Ex GO is another triumph that finds crafty puzzles in the DNA of a much-loved franchise
Score
Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer