The GO series is back, and great as ever, but are a few more changes due?
Price: $4.99 / £3.99
Version: 1.0.0
Size: 157MB
Platform: iPhone/iPad
Developer: Square Enix Montreal
Major game developer Square Enix Montreal is something of an App Store success story. Rather than porting old classics or releasing freemium-branded titles geared at the smartphone market, the Canadian wing of the Japanese games company has created a style of gameplay that’s still able to use familiar characters, while producing a premium game very much focused on small devices. Deus Ex, based on the popular first-person shooter franchise, follows swiftly behind last year’s Lara Croft GO, and before that, Hitman GO.
The player controls Adam Jenson, a character from the cyber-dystopian series, in turn-based puzzle-style gameplay. The object is to reach the end of the level by avoiding obstacles, like guards and guns. Though the on-rails approach is very familiar, the espionage-like approach is refreshing; place yourself in the line of sight of one of these guards, and they’ll activate their armor and come after you. But there’s one thing this game absolutely can’t get away from, and that is at its base level, Deus Ex almost the same game as its predecessors. Having a franchise, or multiple games built on the same engine is one thing, but Deux Ex often feel decidedly like a reskin.
Walk into a guard’s line of sight and he’ll come after you
So for those that have played the previous titles, does it differ at all? Yes and no. Lara Croft involved jumping and climbing, and Deus Ex is more concerned with intricate, ground level movement and cunning to progress. It takes the game play a step further than Lara by using computer systems to dictate the path you can go, and invisibility cloaks which you have to fire at the precise moment. It’s progression, but only in the way that it’s a different way of getting to what’s essentially the same goal.
The action is often computer-led, requiring you to reach certain workstations and work out what needs to be turned off to progress
There’s a little more of a story in here than before. There are terrorists, and hackers, and though this story is familiar, the game does try and eek these out through cut-scenes fluidly integrated into the levels. These might be a call or discussion with one of your guy’s team, or more extensive when he catches up with those he’s pursuing and breaking from the rails to interact with them.
The game has progressed to include cut-scenes and more story
Deus Ex just about gets away with being a little too samey. Though it’s another familiar GO title, it’s still a great, challenging, and interesting title. However, a forth game in the GO universe that doesn’t break significantly from the formula? That will be a tough pill to swallow.
The game starts hard and gets harder – new hurdles and obstacles are added frequently
Deus Ex GO comes with 50 levels, and includes a new feature that joins the series for the first time – a puzzle design mode that lets players make single-screen puzzles to share with other players. But overall, Deus Ex offers more of the same from Square Enix and whether users are okay with that will be very much down to the individual.
Invisibility cloaks, automatic weapons – there’s plenty of additions in Deus Ex GO, but the gameplay is still very familiar