PC Zone: Deus Ex 3 confirmed as prequel, blessed by original creators
As anticipated, PC Zone has headlined its 200th issue with a Deus Ex 3 preview, reports its online counterpart, CVG. The second sequel to the "Best PC Game of All Time" (according to a 2007 poll conducted by -- who else? -- PC Zone) will be a prequel set in 2027 and apparently has received the blessings of the original designers, Warren Spector and Harvey Smith, along with consultative help from the original writer, Sheldon Pacotti. Still, we should remind you that Deus Ex 3 is being developed by a largely untested team, in Eidos Montreal, and the studio has made some, um, changes:
- Combat won't be influenced by stats, just your FPS skills (or is that "skillz"?)
- Instead, stats will affect "a vast array of fully upgradeable and customizable weapons" (there will be more than one type of ammo); experience points can be attributed to weapons or augmentations
- 20 augmentations are promised; examples: "bungee jump tentacles" that fire from your back and anchor into walls (useful when jumping off buildings / faking your death); the ability to punch through walls ... and grab enemies on the other side!
- Stealth will be implemented into a new cover system
- Damage will be recovered by auto-healing (think: most FPSs these days -- even ones without so-called "augmentations")











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Meliv @ Oct 6th 2008 6:22PM
Ugh. . . god damnit
Doug @ Oct 6th 2008 6:24PM
Sounds like they're trying to "improve" the game like Invisible War tried to do.
Why can't they just make a game like the first one, with better graphics and a new storyline?
If it ain't broke. Ask the Bungie boys.
wiredknight @ Oct 6th 2008 9:42PM
If it ain't broke....do absolutely nothing to make the game better?
Oh wait, they did add more backtracking.
nofriendo @ Oct 6th 2008 6:27PM
Yes, this is gonna be the best Deus Boot game ever!
LaughingTarget @ Oct 6th 2008 6:37PM
BioShock was too popular for its own good, it up and ruined a classic, not that Deus Ex: Invisible War did a good enough job of that already.
ZippyDSMlee @ Oct 6th 2008 6:57PM
YES! someone who thinks BS is BS!
I do not hate the game but its a watered down mess sold down to the masses who gleefully rape it thussly because they don't care the next game to rape their wallet will be there by the time they tier of the one they have.
I am starting to hate modern game design make it pretty but shallow as so you can start on the next crap fest is not a good business practice...
DX was good as good as Half Life is now better than Bioshock and most other short sighted POS's... Dark Messiah was the last FPS game I felt had some meat to it, sure the story was rank but the gamepaly was great its a shame Ubi bought it and had it toned down...I wonder if it was deved as arx fatalis 2 would it have done as well....
Nugent @ Oct 6th 2008 9:23PM
Are you saying that BioShock is a follow-up to Deus Ex? Because, if anything, it was a follow-up to System Shock 1 and 2. Both of which, IMO, were far better than Deus Ex anyway... although they both have the unfair advantage of having the best video game villain ever.
That said, the first Deus Ex was still a good game. Other than the title, I don't see how this new game is related to it at all... they've taken out the RPG mechanics completely from the sound of it.
Haggard (Mr.ESC resurrected on a... thursday?!) @ Oct 7th 2008 5:41PM
No, I think he was making a point about new games ruining once-great franchises/titles.
Schnoogs @ Oct 6th 2008 6:46PM
Deus Ex was hardly the best PC game of all time. It hasn't aged well unlike Half Life and other vastly superior games. I recently purchased it again on Steam expecting to re-live some positive memories and was quite bored by the game and level design.
mezzanine @ Oct 6th 2008 7:20PM
YOU PLAYED IT THE WRONG WAY it's still the best around nothing's eva gonna bring it down
Eh @ Oct 6th 2008 9:09PM
Opposite for me. Deus Ex still does things no other game has done, the closest you have to a Deus Ex style game is Elder Scrolls which still isnt quite the same. Games like Deus Ex can still stand the test of time because they are so unique, theres nothing unique about HL anymore.
Schnoogs @ Oct 6th 2008 9:14PM
Sure dude...that's like saying Star Wars isn't unique anymore.
Please point out to me games that are better than HL1 and HL2. Deus Ex isn't one of them....that's for sure.
Slaziman @ Oct 7th 2008 2:16AM
I was playing HL1 and turned it off after a while. I'm a few hours in and so far there's been almost no story, and the shooting is boring.
I'll finish it sometime just for the sake of having played what many people call a classic, but so far it's been really bad.
Cabal17 @ Oct 7th 2008 12:10PM
Have you played HL1 recently? I've played both it and Deus Ex, and Deus Ex holds up far better than Half-Life thanks to a more developed plot, better graphics and sound, and gameplay with more depth.
Schnoogs @ Oct 7th 2008 10:09AM
There's always that one kid who has to hate what everyone else consideres a classic. If you truly don't like it why finish it? Chances are you love it and just can't admit it...don't worry I won't tell anyone.
Schnoogs @ Oct 7th 2008 12:17PM
HL has vastly superior art direction, atmosphere, pacing and gameplay. It's just the better game.
Haggard (Mr.ESC resurrected on a... thursday?!) @ Oct 7th 2008 5:43PM
Old games are shit unless you've played them when they were new.
Eh @ Oct 7th 2008 6:45PM
What exactly is unique about HL? Its been copied so many times there isnt a single thing about it that hasnt been overdone since it came out. How many sci-fi FPS RPG's with a non-linear storyline have you played since Deus Ex came out? Whether HL1 was better or worse than Deus Ex isnt the point, the point is that Deus Ex can still be enojoyed because its STILL the only game that offers a good blend of sci-fi FPS/RPG/Story. Deus Ex still offers something new to people havent played it before, HL1 offers nothing but comparisons to newer games with better technology.
Schnoogs @ Oct 7th 2008 7:03PM
Idiotic posts like that deserve but one response....I'M THE SECRET SQUARE!
Eh @ Oct 7th 2008 8:23PM
At least you have a unique way of admitting defeat.
colinbell @ Oct 6th 2008 6:52PM
"there will be more than one type of ammo"
Thank god - at least it seems it will be close to Deus Ex 1 rathr than the sequel
The same team that made System Shock and Thief apparently had a major hand in Deus Ex 1, if I am not wrong. What talent - probably the most criminally under-appreciated set of games outside of Psychonauts and Beyond Good and Evil
AwesomeTown @ Oct 6th 2008 6:56PM
I never got into the Deus Ex games, and to me, this prequel does sound like it could be good, but I don't think this is going to make the originals fans very happy.
Haon @ Oct 6th 2008 7:01PM
Ive pretty much given up on getting another good Deus Ex. My only hope is System Shock. (And no Bioshock was good but doesn't count)
AnthonyGalindoX @ Oct 6th 2008 7:10PM
Never played the other games, but I really like that combat won't be affected by stats. I really would have preferred that Mass Effect went the same route. I don't like having to spend experience points just so my character could learn to aim properly.
John @ Oct 7th 2008 4:42AM
Then you are playing the wrong type of game.
These games are First person RPGs, you want a straight FPS.
t_m @ Oct 7th 2008 7:20AM
I loved the way the original Deus Ex did it. I dunno about mass effect.
If you stood still and crouched you could hit pretty much anything in Deus Ex right from th start. It was when moving quickly (or especially running) that your aim got shakey and your target reticle got big.
But as you upgraded your starts you could make more accurate shots while moving or running.
I thought it added some very nice realism and tactics to the game. Having it removed is really ANNOYING.
Don't mind the other changes much though... though they do imply more of a BioShock shooter than a Deus Ex RPG.
Marty @ Oct 6th 2008 7:15PM
Holy crap, is that a screenshot?
But yeah, I'm with you guys - DX2 sucked compared to DX1, and I'm afraid with today's console-centric market, we'll never see that series return to those roots.
Ihavepants @ Oct 6th 2008 7:34PM
Er no, it's an obvious piece of concept art.
wiredknight @ Oct 6th 2008 9:44PM
Deus Ex was on PS2...
If they did it then, they can do it now.
Dyranios @ Oct 6th 2008 7:40PM
whoops sounds like it will suck, long live Deus Ex 1
gLitterbug @ Oct 6th 2008 8:09PM
How is it "blessed by original creators"?
First off anything Smith says is of no interest until he has helmed a game that doesn't turn out like Deus Ex 2 or Blacksite. Moving on to...
Spector: "I've corresponded very casually with some of the guys up there in Montreal and it does seem like their hearts are in the right place, which is awesome. And the cool thign is I get to play a Deus Ex game now without knowing everything!"
Hearts in the right place? If intent birthed great games, why, we'd DROWN in awesome by now.
I'm sure if you'd ask Spector off the record, he'd tell you that he hardly has any hopes or expectations for another franchise entry he didn't do himself. (something that shines through when he talks about how Smith didn't want to go in his direction on 2).
DBuck_Eye @ Oct 6th 2008 8:31PM
Best PC game ever? Half-Life might have something to say about that. And unlike Deus-Ex, Half-Life's sequels didn't suck ass (Episode 1 disappointed, but was still good).
Eh @ Oct 6th 2008 9:02PM
Hopefully they polish it this time. Deus Ex 2 felt like a low budget game because it was so unpolished and had such a bad game engine.
Chris Are @ Oct 6th 2008 9:10PM
Did anyone else read: "bungee jump testicles" that fire from your back and anchor into walls"- that was a freudian slip if I've ever known one. If only my testicles fired from my back and anchored onto walls...
Phillip @ Oct 6th 2008 11:16PM
Is that an in-game screenshot? Looks beautiful! I am very hopeful for this game.
Phillip @ Oct 6th 2008 11:16PM
Just concept art. Boo.
JoeTheBlow @ Oct 7th 2008 5:05AM
From the sounds of it they can shove that "prequel" right up their ass!
I demand System Shock 3 as penance.
Admittance @ Oct 7th 2008 6:27AM
Screw it, i take back the insults i threw at invisible war compared to this that thing is gold
thenino85 @ Oct 7th 2008 8:38AM
Look at that list! This is a generic FPS!
What the hell?!
Note: I don't hate generic shooters. I'm a big fan of Halo. But Deus Ex was an RPG with light FPS elements. This is affront to the memory of that game.
John @ Oct 7th 2008 9:41AM
It's like making a pacman prequel where you play in first person as Mack Pacmanski, a mob enforcer done wrong, and you are haunted by the ghosts of your victims, who chase you around in a gritty neon lit city. You can upgrade your weapon from shooting small pellets to "Power pellets" that make the ghosts retreat to the graveyard where they - you know what? That actually does sound pretty awesome.
JoseMiguel @ Oct 7th 2008 10:39AM
I just finished playing Deus Ex yesterday for the 5th time, more or less, and I'm still surprised as how everytime it has been a different experience, almost as if it was other game. For example, just last week I found out, that if you enter the ladies bathroom at the beginning of the game, manderley scolds you because the girl there reported you. That Just made me realize how awesome that game is.
That said I hope Eidos doesn't screw up this one. There's already too much garbage FPS floating around as it is.
Zorink @ Oct 7th 2008 11:09AM
I just got the original on Steam a few weeks ago by recommendation of a friend and it is amazingly great for such an old game. By the time I finish I expect it to be in my top 10
ihateemo @ Oct 7th 2008 1:51PM
I wasn't a fan of Invisible War at all (especially the voice acting by the lead character - both the male AND female were atrocious). And not just the "dumbing down" of the interface for consoles, the story had nothing on the first game either.
My favourite Deus Ex moment was (SPOILER!) when I broadcasted the signal like Paul asks and the UNASCO troops come after you. The first time I played it was a mad shootout. The second time I used my leg augmentation to drop about 30 feet off the roof, avoiding them entirely. It was like something out of a movie. Add in all the cool extras like reading other peoples' e-mails (I thought it was cool that Daedalus sent Jock the pilot an e-mail - 'Paul needs you') that were nixed from the sequel and the first game comes ahead leaps and bounds.
Deus Ex fans want MOAR RPG MECHANICS, LESS RUN AND GUN.