Deus Ex GO Review: A Worthy Challenger

Guide Adam Jensen through perilous pitfalls and convoluted conspiracies in Deus Ex GO.

Developer: Square Enix Montreal

Publisher: Square Enix

Platforms: iOS (Version Reviewed), Android

Release Date: August 18

Deus Ex is the latest franchise to receive the ‘GO’ treatment, after Hitman, Tomb Raider and, in case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, and somehow haven’t heard about it, Pokemon.

But Deus Ex GO shares far more in common with the first two titles than it does Pokemon GO (you’re not exactly running around trying to capture miniature Adam Jensen in a ball). The formula that was started back in Hitman GO has remained consistent throughout the three Square Enix developed games, always challenging the player to work around tricky locations, hazardous traps, and enemy soldiers to reach the end of the level.

This time, it’s Adam Jensen’s turn to tackle numerous puzzles. Whereas both Hitman GO and Lara Croft GO were a little light on the story, Deus Ex GO attempts to incorporate a story within the ‘Deus Ex Universe.’ The plot expands from the initial rescue mission to a full-blown conspiracy theory, involving terrorists, bank accounts, and varied locations including North America and Switzerland.

The game is fairly separated from the story taking place throughout the minute-to-minute gameplay, and it’s only really at the end of a set of different levels in one location, that Adam will receive an update on the goings-on from one of his cohorts. This update is mainly comprised of a mission brief/debrief from Miller before he informs Adam of the next location that he’ll be transported to.

…The actual gameplay itself is rather impressive…

Considering the emphasis that mainline Deus Ex games usually feature on the plot, one would be forgiven for assuming that a spinoff game would also carry a similar emphasis. However convoluted the plot actually ends up becoming, it always feels pushed aside for the gameplay, becoming merely a bookend for the player to experience at the beginning and end of each chapter throughout Deus Ex GO.

However, the actual gameplay itself is rather impressive, constantly challenging the player in a variety of different ways over the course of Deus Ex GO. At first, you’ll no doubt breeze through the initial few levels, as the developer allows the player to get to grips with the various rules and controls of the game.

Challenges like this keep Deus Ex GO feeling fresh…

But from then on, the difficulty somewhat spikes, throwing new traps and different enemy designs at the player, in correspondence with each new location. For example, at first you’ll have the standard soldiers, who can be taken out with ease from either flank or from behind, but then later you’ll be challenged to take down what looks like an AT-ST from Star Wars, which moves in a certain pattern, but only moves when you do.

Challenges like this keep Deus Ex GO feeling fresh throughout its considerable run time, constantly forcing the player to adapt to new enemy designs and mechanics. It also helps that every map has a unique layout, designed specifically around the enemies that Adam has to encounter, meaning you’ll very rarely (if ever) see a similar map design to a previous one, or get the hang of a map layout the first time round.

Deus Ex GO also appears to have a rewards system specifically linked to the upcoming console entry in the franchise, Mankind Divided. You’ll be rewarded with Praxis Kits for use in Mankind Divided by completing certain challenges in Deus Ex GO. For example, completing the main campaign will reward the player with two Praxis Kits, and completing a series of challenge missions (which are updated weekly by the developers) will reward the player with a single Praxis Kit.

Related Story: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Director on Controversial Themes, Morals, and Adam Jensen

Since I imagine the majority of players of Deus Ex GO will have at least some interest in purchasing Mankind Divided, this is a pretty good rewards system, linking the two games together, while also drawing the player back in every week with brand new missions and the promise of rewards for the console counterpart.

Although Deus Ex GO largely pushes the plot of the game aside, the gameplay that it chooses to favor is solid, boasting varied enemies with consistently challenging map layouts, and the rewards system plus updating challenge missions are a good effort from Square Enix to keep the audience returning to the game.

A copy of this game was provided to App Trigger for the purpose of this review. All scores are ranked out of 10, with .5 increments. Click here to learn more about our Review Policy.