Come August, it will be nine years since we had a Deus Ex game, Mankind Divided, released in 2016. Some of you unfamiliar with the series may be shrugging your shoulders right now. "So what?" you may say, "we're still waiting on Half-Life 3." However, much like the elusive Half-Life installment, fans of the exploits of Adam Jensen also neve?r got closure.

You see, Mankind Divided ended on a rather disappointing note, with the closing moments of the game strongly suggesting more was to come. However, it never emerged. As such, it's become a major sore point in Deus Ex's history, and the g?ame's writer appears to agree.

In a recent interview on the YouTube channel "From Script to Life" (thanks, Kotaku), Mark Cecere �?whose writing credits include the two Deus Ex reboots, Watch Dogs: Legions and Shadow of the Tomb Raider �?also feels Mankind Divided's ending was severely lacking.

It was rather "unsatisfying"

In the video �?the bit in question begins around the 6:30 mark �?Cecere agrees, for the most part, that the most recent Deus Ex game doesn't feel finished. He goes on to say that the final fight between Jensen and the heavily augmented behemoth? Viktor Marchenko was only supposed to be a kind of "halfway boss" ba??ttle.

Cecere adds that Marchenko was not considered the "brains" of the whole operat?ion, which explains why the game feels "unsatisfying," as he calls it.

Despite Mankind Divided being almost a decade old, I won't spoil it by revealing how the story concludes. Suffice it to say, it actual??ly doesn't. That the game's writer agrees there should have been more to come shows it wasn't over. Those of us who have played it know that only too well.

Will we ever get a new game in the series, particularly one that finishes what Adam Jensen started? Sadly, about a year ago, Embracer Group allegedly shuttered a new Deus Ex project, leaving hopes of a continuation of the Mankind Divided story wavering.

Maybe it wasn't the best Deus Ex game out there, but it definitely had its moments. Personally, I'm a fan of it. Even if it doesn't quite hi??t the high marks of the OG release, it still deserves to have its story finished.

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I love stealth games. Everything from Hitman to Splinter Cell to the old Thief games is my bag. Even horror games that encourage hiding in the shadows do it for me. I just love being sneaky (read: cowardly). So I was pleased to see that the upcoming Thick as Thieves will almost certainly be ticking that box for?? me.

The trailer shows a new stealthy game that has you leaping about like the acrobatic burglar you are, stealing from the wealthy. What has me even more intrigued is the game is being brought to us by some of the developers behind the aforementioned Thief series, as well as Deus Ex; classics in the genre, I'm sure you'll agree.

Specifically, we've got Paul Neurath, executive producer of Thief: The Dark Project and Thief 2: The Metal Age, as well as director Warren Spector, who worked on the original Deus Ex. We've also got game designer Greg Lopiccolo, who, along with Spector, was involved with Thief: The Deadly Shadows.

Good stock, overall

As for what Thick as Thieves will be like, the teaser above suggests it's got lashings of some of the teams' past work, along with hints of Dishonored...and do I detect a hint of We Happy Few? Maybe only in the visuals, but I'm quite excited a??bout it all ??the same.

It's also gunning for multiplayer, so you can "match your cunning against rival thieves." As for what the story will involve, well, here's what the Steam page has to say:

Chart your rise to master thief in a glittering, gloomy 1910s metropolis blending industry, magic and intrigue. Your choices unlock unique playstyles and strategies that shape your thief character. Tell your story through a fusion of emergent multiplayer gameplay and dynamic storytelling. Immerse yourself in a living world where no two nights are ever the same, ensuring endless challenges and discoveries.�?/p>

The game promises plenty of replay value, a rich world set in an alternative timeline, and an "ever-shifting, treacherous city." So when is Thick as Thieves out? There's no release date available, but you can wishlist the game right now. It'??s also coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, as well as PC. No idea if it'll be coming to Game Pass ye?t, though.

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After layoffs were issued at Eidos Montreal at the start of 2024, hopes of ever seeing a new Deus Ex game went out?? the window (thanks, Embracer Group).

It's a shame, really. The last entry �?2016's Deus Ex: Mankind Divided �?ended in a way that a follow-up made sense. To drop the series so abruptly while it was enjoying a resurgence feels like a ?massive middle finger to the?? fans.

But we're not here to talk about that. Instead, I'm going to show you what the gaming media at large thought of each Deus Ex entry. To do so is to show that �?with the possible exception of one �?the games were pretty lauded. Some of the later ones weren't exactly considered perfect, but then what is (possible exception: Red Dead Redemption 2)?

As always, this list will contain the mainline entries in the series. I'm also chucking in the one spin-off and a mobile title. So....all of them except for Breach, basically. I'll also be basing them off their PC scores where possible. With that in mind, let's get into all the Deus Ex games as judged by Metacritic.

Deus Ex: The Fall (2013) - 45%

We'll start with something that's a bit of an outlier. Not only is The Fall a spin-off to the Deus Ex story, but it's also the only entry that wasn't developed by either Ion Storm or Eidos Montreal. That and it was originally a mobil??e release. That doesn't necessarily mean it was destined to be a not-so-favorably-received game, but...well...you've seen the score.

Now, in fairness, the above Metacritic number is based on reviews for the PC version. Who knew taking a mobile game and porting it to another system would not go down so well? I would imagine a lot of people. PC Gamer described it as "one of the worst PC ports" back?? in 2014.

So, okay, what if we were to use the score from the original iOS release? Well, that would put it at 69%, which is not terrible, but it's not great either. It would also still mean that The Fall goes dead last on this list.

Deus Ex: Invisible War (2003) - 80%

There are inevitably going to be a few concerns on the developer side when it comes to doing a sequel to a critically acclaimed release (more on that later). Invisible War came just three years after the original Deus Ex, which had received pretty universal praise from reviewers and gamers alike. That's a tough a??ct to follow by anyone's measure.

Despite notable criticisms, the Metacritic score speaks for itself, really. With a glowing 80% on PC (and 84% on Xbox), Invisible War was a solid follow-up to its 2000 predecessor, even if it was flawed. I would imagine at least a couple of points got knocked off for calling the protagonist Alex D. ?Despite conspiracy theories and cyberpunk themes rampant throughout, I can't help but picture the world being saved by someone who possibly moonlights as a techno DJ sporting frosted tips, and who has a penchant for John Woo films.

I haven't actually played this one, so I can't make any judgments. What I can tell you is that it was an early adopter of Unreal Engine 2, which meant it could make use of some hilarious "ragdoll" physics that was starting to become all the rage at that point. Maybe that's not too impressive these days, but I do quite like the fact that this Deus Ex game was made using the same dev toolkit as Postal 2. I dunno. There's just some??thing slightly amusing about ?that.

Deus Ex GO (2016) - 81%

Let it never be said that mobile gaming isn't worth a hill of beans in this cutthroat industry. While not every studio can produce a Candy Crush, Angry Birds, or...I don't know...Guns of Boom, we can still get some high-quality gaming for our morning commutes. Deus Ex GO is such an example.

This was basically a follow-on from Eidos Montreal's other installments in its mobile GO series, with games such as Hitman GO and Lara Croft GO following a s??imilar format to this one. It's pretty far removed from the other entries in the series as far as gameplay is concerned, but its puzzle-based, hexagonal grid, touchscreen mechanics evidently worked.

I actually did play this one many years ago, and it had its moments. Sadly, like a lot of mobile games, Deus Ex seemed short-lived. With a respectable Metacritic score?? of 81%, it seems a Windows port was released not long after the iOS version. However, it looks like it's ha?rd to come by these days.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (2016) - 83%

I finished replaying Mankind Divided just the other day, which is what prompted me to write this article. You probably didn't need to know that information. I just thought it was worth mentioning. Anyway, this was the last Deus Ex game we got, and it's fast approaching its eighth birthda??y. Where does the time go?

I feel it's a lot easier to look back at this one with a sense of joy and wonder. Game Informer (RIP) gave it a meaty 8/10 but criticized Eidos Montreal for disguising "hot-button issues as speculative fiction" while ?sacrificing "an interesting story to hammer home its messaging." However, The Guardian called it a "half-baked cyberpunk sequel," giving it a middling 3/5 stars.

Look, what I'm trying to do here is shoehorn in a "fan-kind divided" joke, which I'm positive no one else has ever said when talking about this specific Deus Ex game. No sirree. So to summarize: I actually really like Mankind Divided (83% on PC is not to be snubbed), but I'm evidently not very good at???? trying to set up punchlines.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011) - 90%

Human Revolution is steeped in cultural significance, and I don't say that lightly. It had been eight years since a Deus Ex game was released, and this one was made by a different studio than the original developer, Ion Storm. That meant the series was experiencing something of a rebirth which, according to art director Jonathan Jacques-BelletÍte, drove the team to find i?nspiration in Rena??issance art for the visuals.

Despite the hiatus (or, perhaps, even because of it), Human Revolution was a triumph. I got a copy of?? it not long after its release, and I was entranced. Its emphasis on stealth and a story rich in political and societal turmoil, all of which was wrapped up in corporate shenanigans, appealed to 2011 me.

Human Revolution was something of a triumphant return for the series, and while we'll never know what the John Romero-founded Ion Storm could have done with a third Deus Ex game, Eidos did a mighty fine job.

It wasn't perfect, mind you. Before the Director's Cut was released, the game forced you into boss fights where murder was a requirement, even if you were gunning for a stealthy, no-kill playthrough. This was a kick in the teeth for people like me, marring what should have been a stealth-lover's near-flawless game. This was eventually fixed, though, leaving Human Revolution a formidable part of the Deus Ex arc.

Deus Ex (2000) - 90%

If you haven't played the original, you might be wondering why Deus Ex sits just ahead of Human Revolution when both games have a score of 90%. After all, Deus Ex is nearly two and a half decades old, looks pretty ugly by today's standards, and its old-school gameplay mechanics makes it less acc?essible to modern gamers.

But when Deus Ex hit game stores, there wasn't much like it. Its sophisticated role-play elements are what made it so immersive. It's generally considered to be one of the first games in the immersive sim genre, which would eventually lead to popular titles such as Dishonored and Prey.

Deus Ex also had an incredibly complex narrative centered around global politics and international terrorism. Those themes are popular now, but they weren't the norm in 2000. Deus Ex earned IGN's Best of 2000 Award for Best ??Storyline thanks to that daring political na?rrative.

It still has its criticisms and detractors, but Deus Ex went down as one-of-a-kind for its generation. To this day, it regularly appears on lists of the best PC role-playing games of all time, despite the fact that it's pretty dated now. But even if you can't get into the original Deus Ex a quarter ?of a century later, it's impossible to deny ??the impact it had at the start of the new millennium.

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With reports that Embracer Group allegedly cancelled an upcoming Deus Ex game, hopes of a return to the series have been fading. The industry is in a sad state now, so if you want to cheer yourself up with a dose of Adam Jensen, you can pick up Mankind Divided for free next week.

That's one of the titles being given away over on Epic Games Store. The other is an indie puzzle from 2013 called The Bridge. Both will be available between March 14 and March 21. They will be replacing the sci-fi combat game Astro Duel 2.

While it may not be the most lauded Deus Ex entry out there, i?t's still a nice little freebie for those who have yet to play it.

You can't resist all that sincere moping

Things are so up in the air for Eidos-Montreal's celebrated series. With voice actor Elias Toufexis being told to stop talking so much about Adam Jensen, there's definitely a sense that we won't ever get to see a follow-up to Mankind Divided.

It's a story we're all getting sick of hearing, no doubt. The video game industry is in dire straits at the moment, as huge publishers issue redundancies and studio closures. Eidos was one of those recently, which effectively put a nail in the Deus Ex coffin. Honestly, it's hard to keep up with the amount of job losses that have occurred these past 12 months ?or so.

While we won't likely get to see a new Deus Ex entry, maybe take some comfort in being able to get a copy of the latest installment for f?ree. Sorry, didn't mean to brin?g the mood down there.

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Recently, Eilas Toufexis, the voice behind Adam Jensen from the later Deus Ex games, posted a heartfelt goodbye to the character he's best known for. With hopes of a new entry fading fast, the actor has since said he's been asked to ease up when talking about the Mankind Divided and Human Revolution protagonist.

In an interview with PCGamesN, Toufexis likened the current state of the video game industry to a "disaster zone." Referring t??o the continuing onslaught of studios shutting down, projects being shelved, and conglomerates laying staff ?off, the actor opines about how things are at the moment.

With regard to Deus Ex, Toufexis said he never heard anything official after 2016. Every piece of information that came to him about the franchise was "unofficial, from friends or acquaintances." He also men??tions how developer Eidos contacted him in 2020 to ask him to "stop ta??lking about Adam Jensen in interviews and podcasts."

Imagine giving Jensen a gag order

The response goes on to say that the reason the developer doesn't want him talking about the?? charac??ter is because "they wanted people to focus on other things from the studio."

Last month, it was announced that parent company Embracer Group allegedly shuttered an in-progress Deus Ex game. This was on t?op of 97 people being laid off, which is a headline many of us have sadly become used to seeing these past 12 months or so.

Fortunately, Toufexis is still busy with work. In a post on Twitter recently, he said he's currently working on a couple of games, but "I'd expect them all to be canceled before the end of the week or something." He adds that he's doing fine, though: "I'm very lucky to have many iron?s in the fire. Games are just in a weird place right now." True that.

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Recently, we brought news that Embracer Group was laying off staff at Eidos ??Montreal. This brought to the fore the uncertainty of the Deus Ex franchise, and now some words of thanks have come fr?om the voice of Adam Jensen himself.

In a recent post on the Mankind Divided subreddit, Elias Toufexis wanted to express his appr?eciation for the support over the years. With thi??s, the actor has essentially said goodbye to Jensen, adding that "his story seems done."

With the future of Deus Ex uncertain, Toufexis has said that the recent layoffs and the alleged cancellation of a potential new game have "angered" him. However, he does �?jokingly, it seems �?suggest that someone like Elon Musk ("I think he has some money"??) could possibly take over the franchise and keep it going.

Who better to take the reins on dystopian sci-fi..?

We ??will likely never know what would have become of Adam Jensen. Toufexis seems certain that, had the studio been working on a new story based around th?e character, he would have been contacted.

His message is also the culmination of ongoing dismay within the gaming industry, as huge companies make cutbacks, with some studios shutting down entirely. Eidos Montreal ??is sadly one of the more recent examples of this swathe of job losses.

But it seems Toufexis wants to try and put a more positive spin on things, hoping fans will continue to like his non-Jensen work. Whether we will ever see a new Deus Ex game again remains to be seen, but with Mankind Divided coming up on the? eight-year anniversary of its rele??ase, a lot of us are more than hungry for a return to this universe.

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According to reporting by Bloomberg, Embracer Group is laying off 97 of the staff at Eidos Montreal and has canceled an unannounced title in the Deus Ex series. This is part of an ongoing series of job losses as Embracer con??tracts af??ter a period of rapid expansion.

The Embracer Group acquired Eidos Montreal as part of a deal with Square Enix in 2022, which saw the latter company divest from its North American studios. This deal also included Square Enix Montreal and Crystal Dynamics, as well as a selection of properties related to those studios, including games like Thief, Tomb Raider, and Deus Ex.

Many have been anticipating a new game in the celebrated Deus Ex series since the release of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided back in 2016. Following the lukewarm reception to that game, Square Enix put the series on ice. The Embracer purchase brou??ght some hope to having the series revived once again, but with this cancellation, it seems ?unlikely.

According to Bloomberg’s sources, Eidos Montreal had been working on the new entry of Deus Ex for two years, and it was “slated to enter production later this year.�?The company will now “instead focus on an original franchise.�?/p>

A release by Eidos Montreal confirms the layoffs and clarifies that 97 positions were eliminated, it’s a continuation of job losses related to Embracer Group. The losses have included the closure of Timesplitters developer Free Radical and Saints Row’s Volition.

It can be difficult to keep up with the volume of cuts made by Embracer, as it seems that a new round happens on a near-weekly basis. Embracer group is hardly the only company cutting staff, however, as massive job losses have been happening across the industry, with Microsoft laying off 1,900 staff members just a few days ago.

We’re not even out of January yet, and the industry has seen nearly 6000 people lose their jobs. It’s shaping up to be another ro?ugh year.

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Those who were around when the original Deus Ex released will no doubt have an appreciation for this pretty innovative RPG. While we're still not 100% sure whether a new game is in development or? not,? there's something interesting happening with the OG.

As spotted by PCGamer, a modder is taking the 2000 Deus Ex title and putting it through an Unreal Engine 5 filter. That is to say, the quarter ??of a century old game is being given a bit of a boo??st, and it's all possible thanks to a toolkit called DXU24.

The software is a fan-made project that aims to convert older releases (in this case, games that run on Unreal Engine 1) into ones that run through UE5. The above video shows how far things have come, with the modder expecting to implement VR into Deus Ex as well.

A sort of new lease on life

It should be pointed out that this is not an unofficial remake or remaster of the game. The DXU24 Patreon page describes the toolkit thus:

The general idea is the original game is booted as it normally would be, and through my software, communicates with another running instance of?? Unreal Engine 5. Through this communication link the games state, assets, everything, is communicated to Unreal Engine 5 and reinterpreted as a modern game asset, all at runtime.

So it'll still be the original Deus Ex, but with some modern? features, such as advanced lighting and upscal?ed AI. The fact that it's being filtered (I know it's more complicated than that) through Unreal Engine 5 is what makes this special.

The developer says they expect the software to work on any game that was built on UE1. Here's a recent video of it rendering a fly-through of Unreal Gold. It may even run other classics, such as Unreal Tournament or possibly Thief.

As for when DXU24 will be out, the creator is anticipating a mid-2?024 release. The project has been in development for some time now, so they're hoping to launch it as soon as? they can.

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It's pretty well known that Bethesda nearly had a voiced protagonist in Starfield. The developer decided against it in the end. However, did you know that one of those actors could well have been the voice behind? Adam Jensen?

In a recent post on Twitter/X, Elias Toufexis, who takes on the role of the main character in the two most recent Deus Ex games, said he was originally going to voice the Starfield hero.

He also said that Cissy Jones �?an??other prolific video game voice artist �?was originally planned to play the protagonist, presumably the female version. However, whi??le Bethesda did scrap the idea in the end, we did still get to hear both actors, with Toufexis playing Sam Coe and Jones playing Andreja.

Would it have been better?

With the exception of Fallout 4, Bethesda games typically have a silent main character. Many argue this helps with immersion. It could also be a time, money, and labor-sav??ing decision at the hands of the studio.

In any case, Starfield having a mute protagonist is par for the course for Todd Howard and his team. We could be looking at a different experience if we had Toufe??xis' gravelly dialogue guiding us through the cosmos.

Despite major hype for the game, Starfield doesn't feel like it has the staying power of something like Skyrim. It's still a good sci-fi game �?and the continuous updates will only improve things �?but it might be?? a stretch to think of it as a potential Bethesda classic in years to come.

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The future of Deus Ex is...uncertain

Things are still in the air with regard to a new Deus Ex being on the horizon. However, even if there is one in the pipeline, it's possible that the voice actor behind Human Revolution and Mankind Divided's Adam Jensen may not be in it.

In a recent post on Twitter, Elias?? Toufexis, who provides the gravelly voice for the previous two entries' augmented protagonist, said that he's busy at the moment and is excited to "show you the amazing games I’m working on." He then adds that one of the projects he's involved with is under an NDA, otherwise known as a non-disclosure agreement.

//twitter.com/EliasToufexis/status/16777765307585?94561

However, when questioned by user 0ldSnak3 about whether the NDA refers to an as-yet-unannounced Deus Ex game, Toufexis denies it, saying that no one has been in touch with him about a new entry in the dormant series.

//twitter.com/EliasToufe?xi??s/status/1677784138999549952

What's known about a potential new Deus Ex game?

As it stands, all we can say is that a Deux Ex game may be in development. However, there's been no official word on that front. Toufexis' tweet could mean that Eidos Montreal is simply not doing another game, or it could be that the voice actor and/or Adam Jensen won't r??eturn in any new entries.

It goes without saying that any hard info on a new Deus Ex is just speculation. If a new installment is being made, Toufexis doesn't appear to know anything abo?ut it. As for what else the voice actor is currently working on, well he's not sayi??ng much about those, either. The tweet posted on National Video Game Day jokingly refers to the other projects as being "confidential" or "redacted," so these will remain a mystery as well.

Given that the last game in the series was 2017's Mankind Divided, a lot of fans have been hoping for a new entry. Six years may not be a long time, but Deux Ex seemed to be in a pretty good place, so it wo?uldn't make sense for Eido??s to simply leave the franchise on the table.

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Back to the Future

It might be time to polish those sunglasses and dig out that trenchcoat, as rumors abound this fine morning that cyberpunk RPG series Deus Ex is gearing up for a return. That's according to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, who stated that the l?ongtim?e developer is deep into its production cycle following its recent release from the Square Enix umbrella.

As reported yesterday, Schreier notes that Eidos Montreal is currently working on the franchise's new entry alongside several other titles, including a brand-new IP and several co-development projects with Xbox, such as a new release in the high-fantasy series, Fable. The Deus Ex release is said to be in its "very, very early" stages, so I wouldn't go expectin?g any announcements until at least later 2023, or perhaps ev??en further down the line. Still, fans will be pleased to hear that the cult series has not been set adrift.

The first Deus Ex title launched on PC way back in 2000, spinning a typically cyberpunkian tale of capitalism gone wild and the nanotech-infused rebels who aim to bring the structure crashing down. While the acclaimed release was followed by several sequels of varying quality, it was the launch of the 2007 epic Deus Ex: Human Revolution that truly brought the series its mainstream success. The most recent game in the series is 2016's Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, which continued the franchise's penchant for complex action, deep na?rrative, and depressingly familiar political overtones.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is available now on PS4, PC, and Xbox One.

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Lara's coming home

Some legendary gaming franchises are now back under the control of their respective studios, following the completion of Square Enix' western studio sell-off to holding company Embracer Group �?With the completion of the deal, several IP??s now defer ownership and/or creative control to their developers of origin.

The two biggest titles to make the transition of legendary adventure series Tomb Raider, which is now back in the hands of Crystal Dynamics, and dystopian cyberpunk series Deus Ex, which has come home to roost with Eidos Montreal (formerly Square Enix Montreal). In addition, Crystal Dynamics regains ownership of Legacy of Kain, while Eidos Montreal retakes the helm of cult stealth series, Thief.

The sale comes at a perfect moment in time for Crystal Dynamics, as the studio is about to embark on the development of a brand new Tomb Raider title, one that will harness the power of modern platforms and the stunning Unreal 5 engine to create a world of exploration and adventure like none Ms. Croft has ever encountered before. With Crystal Dynamics now fully in the driving seat, this bodes incredibly well for the return of both Lara and Tomb Raider �?As for Deus Ex, we'll just have to wait and see.

While it is understandable then many are feeling trepidation at the current craze for mergers and acquisitions that are swamping the games industry, it is possible for some good to come from said sales. And putting iconic franchises back in the hands of the people who know them the best can certainly be considered a major positive from the latest in a long, long, long line of Embracer Group purchases.

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Space Odyssey

Veteran video game writer Mary DeMarle has confirmed that they will be joining BioWare in order to pen the narrative for the next entry in the epic and much-beloved sci-fi franchise, Mass Effect. Game Director Michael Gamble confirmed the signing on social med??ia yesterd?ay.

"Oh, hey! I’m really excited to let you know that Mary DeMarle will be joining the Mass Effect team as Senior Narrative Director," wrote Gamble on Twitter. "You’ve seen her work in Guardians of the Galaxy & Deus Ex (to name a few!). She’s amazing."

//twitter.com?/GambleMike/status/1544057781619044353?s=20&t=XtimLuMwQbWu1roJ?UmzFyQ

As noted by Gamble, DeMarle is no stranger to epic, dramatic, and operatic storytelling, having penned the excellent Deus Ex games for Crystal Dynamics, and the recent comic-book adventure Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. These are both titles that deal with group dynamics, friendship, politics, technology, moral turbulence, and character-based comedy �?all traits that make up the emotive space opera universe of Mass Effect.

DeMarle's new role at BioWare follows their leaving Eidos Montreal in the wake of the Embracer Group purchase. With a resume of stone-cold narrative classics, and multiple awards to their name, DeMarle is a valuable, prestigious, and highly sought-after writer. No doubt their talent for engrossing, compelling, and, most importantly, immersive storytelling will be a major ace in "Mass Effect 4's" sleeve. Mass Effect is its story �?it always has ??been �?and it's comforting to know that the next?? chapter is in safe hands.

The next chapter of Mass Effect is currently in development at BioWare.

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It goes well beyond swapping a model, too

Mods can keep a game alive and evolving long after it's launched, and a new mod for Deus Ex proves just that. The "Lay D Denton Project" is a new overhaul mod for Deus Ex that, simply put, lets you pi?c??k your protagonist's gender.

Mods that change one character into another are not uncommon, as evidenced by the many, many terrifying Lady Dimitrescu mods that cropped up around Resident Evil: Village. The Lay D Denton Project goes further, though. It restores a feature that Ion Storm had originally considered for Deus Ex, and goes to great lengths.

"While a model swap and a vocal plugin could create a cheap facsimile, we felt this would be woefully insufficient," reads the mod's description on ModDB. "Immersion is a core feature of the Deus Ex experience, and a? half-implemented fem?ale JC Denton would sabotage that. Either we do it right or we shouldn’t bother."

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=naDOv1W6-Cc

To start, all of JC Denton's dialogue was re-voiced by actress Karen Rohan. References to? Denton also had to be adjusted and altered, with certain sounds and syllabic combinations being combined to, for example, turn "Mister" into "Miss."

Some other changes have involved changing or entirely replacing NPCs, for contexts the team thought didn't make sense in the context of a female JC Denton. In one case, the team added Russ, a new NPC replacing Mercedes and Tessa, who usually flirt with Denton outside a club. The switch wasn't warmly received by everyone though, and team member Chris Rohan told PC Gamer that the team is adding a flag in a future update to toggle ??th??at aspect.

The Lay D Denton Project as a whole looks supremely impressive, in both what it sets out to do and the scale of what it's already accomplished. The mod is currently available to check out on ModDB.

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Forget ask, I'm begging for this

Almost 20 years ago, Ion Storm set the world on fire with the release of the original Deus Ex. Head??ed by Warren Spector, the game was an incredible combination of first-person mechanics, science fiction world-building and player freedom that set the groundwork for other games to follow. It made a legend out of Spector and gave PC players a game that just wasn't possible anywhere else (until it was dumbed down for a PS2 port?? years later).

Since then, the only other Deus Ex game to be touched by Spector was the far less successful follow-up, Invisible War. While it wasn't far removed in terms of setting and atmosphere, the game was severely pulled back in scale from the original due to being made for the original Xbox. Some fans dig it, but most consider it a failure and it?? basically signaled the end of Ion Storm.

Would Spector ever consider returning to the franchise? You better believe it! In an interview with VG?? 24/7, Spector said, "I'd make another game in a heartbeat. I love that world. I love gameplay, [but] don’t hold your breath." With the series under the control of Eidos Montreal, though, who knows if we'll see the return of Spector to the series.

At least in his opinion, Human Revolution was a worthy follow-up. He wasn't big on everything, to which he told VG 24/7, "If you ask my wife, she’d tell you that I screamed in frustration throughout much of Human Revolution. There were three or four things that I would have done? differently and? those three or four things kind of bug me." Those things include the third-person cover system, AI timeout system, the abysmal boss fights and the lack of a constant melee attack.

"Here’s the deal, the real bottom line. When I got to the end, I felt like I had had a Deus Ex experience," Spector admitted. "The team up there ?was really respectful of what we wanted to do in the original game and I think they did ??a really good job, with the exception of just a handful of things that frustrated me." You can't get better praise than that.

Since Deus Ex is on a hiatus after Mankind Divided, I'm now genuinely wondering if Square Enix will consider having ??Spector step in for the third Jensen game. We still don't know what is going on with the series, so having it return to the original entry would be magnificent. A man can dream, at least.

Warren Spector would make another Deus Ex in a heartbeat – "I screamed in frustration throughout much of Human Revolution" [VG 24/7]

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Finally my Adam Jensen X Ariana Grande fanfic can come true

It's been almost a year since Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda said that while they were putting the Deus Ex series on the back-burner for a while, the series wasn't dead and simply had to "wait its turn." Well, wait we have and now our patience has been rewarded with a crossover event between Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Final Fantasy Brave Exvius!

I'm not going to say it, I refuse. That phrase inevitably comes up anytime Square does something slightly askew with the Deus Ex license and I simply will not say it. I am ?not your puppet!

From now until September 5, you will be able to raid a Mechanical Ogre in the Dimensional Vortex as well as obtain four Deus Ex: Mankind Divided characters, and craft items from the Deus Ex universe to use in the free-to-play mobile game.

Still not saying it.

The character ??summons that will be available are Frank Pritchard, Viktor Marchenko, Václav Koller, and of course Adam Jensen. Some of the ?items that will be available to craft are an EMP grenade, a virus hack that grants you higher damage output, and a lightning assault rifle. The full rundown can be seen in the images posted in the gallery below.

Square Enix is still being quiet about when we can expect the next entry in the Deus Ex series, but now that Jensen and crew have shown they can be used for a quick cash grab, maybe we'll finally see the Deus Ex Battle Royale that fans have been clamoring for. As for this type of content in the Deus Ex brand, well I never asked for this.

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It just has to 'wait its turn'

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the most recent entry in the series, didn't set the world on fire. 2011's Human Revolution revitalized Deus Ex and designated it as a still-valuable property for Square Enix. Mankind Divided felt like a step backward of sorts, as it was?? largely met with indiffer??ence and then quickly forgotten about.

Despite this reception, Square Enix again emphasizes that it's not giving up on Deus Ex. In an interview with GamesIndustry International, Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda explains that putting Deus Ex on hold was more a reality of finite reso??urces than anything else.

"We have never said anything about discontinuing that title but for some reason that's the rumor out on the market.," Matsuda said. He continued "What I can say is Eidos Montreal has always developed Deus Ex, and the issue is we do not have limitless resources. We have several big titles that we work with and that's partly a factor in what our line-up looks like. Of course, it would be ideal if we could work on all of them all of the time, but the fact of the matter is some titles have to wait their turn. The reason there isn't a Deus Ex right now is just a product of our development?? line-up because there are other titles we are working on."

Those "other titles" Matsuda speaks of include the multi-game partnership that Square Enix and Marvel announced early this year. Also, a new Tomb Raider is expected to be announced sooner rather than later. There isn't a new Deus Ex on deck because all of Square Enix's studios are bus?y with oth?er stuff.

While Adam Jensen isn't a priority right now, that's not to say that Square Enix hasn't thought about Deus Ex at all. Matsuda commented "We are already internally discussing and exploring what we want do with the next installment of it." Just don't expect i?t anytime soon.

East meets West: Yos?uke Matsuda on g??rowing Square Enix's global empire [GamesIndustry International]

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Tomb Raider is still safe

So, Square Enix just landed a coveted multi-game Marvel deal, something that would make a lot of big publishers foam at the mouth. The thing is Square Enix might be big, but it's not that big, especially in terms of its wes?tern development reach.

As a clear result of the deal, Square Enix has announced that they are pressing pause on the Deus Ex series for the near future. It's not dead, mind, just not a priority right now., according to Eurogamer. Evidently all of Eidos Montreal is focused on the next Tomb Raider game (followed by a rumored Guardians of the Galaxy game), while Crystal Dynamics works on another core Avengers project, whic??h has its first game slated for 2018.

Don't expect another big Deus Ex game any?time soon [Eurogamer]

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Virtual reality without the helmet

While the main attraction in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was Adam Jensen's fight against the Illuminati for the rights of augmented people (or something like that), it's not the only part of the game. There's also a sideshow called "Breach" that adds an arcade twist. Now, you won't need the full Mankind Divided experience to play Breach.

Today, Square Enix broke Breach mode off into its own thing, listing it on Steam as a free and standalone product. It has all the same content as the version in Mankind Divided has; there's nothing held ba?ck to appeal to free-to-play sensibilities. It's even getting an update next month to add some new maps.

There are a couple explanations as to why Square Enix did this. First and most obvious, Breach mode already had an egregious wealth of microtransactions. In a way, they kind of overshadowed the rest of Breach. It probably makes more financial sense to get those in front of an audience of non-paying customers in hopes that they'll make small investments. Second, it serves as a trial of sorts for those who want to know how Mankind Divided plays.

This is a fitting move and one that probably should've been made from the get-go. Breach always felt a bit tacked-on to the larger Mankind Divided product. Now it doesn't have to contend with Adam Jensen's travels for attent??ion, a battle it was never going to win.

Deus Ex: Breach [Steam]

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But which one's worse?

Adam Jensen's about to have a very bad day. He h?as to go to undercover at a high-sec??urity prison for augmented people, and prison seems like a terrible place to go. But, that prison is in Arizona, and a prison in Arizona seems like an especially terrible place to go on account of all the heat and old people and scorpions.

Arizona aug jail is the setting for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's second major add-on, A Criminal Past. In it, Jensen is tasked with "tracking down and retrieving sensitive information from a fellow undercover agent who has gone dark." It also seems as if this acts as a Mankind Divided prequel of sorts, as it takes? place before the events of the main game.

A Criminal Past is set for February 23, one month from today. Square Enix hasn't yet mentioned a price; the first add-on, System Rift, was priced at $12. We can probably expect something similar for this expansion, even if you're not inclined to pa??y for a double whammy of discomfort.

Go Undercover as Adam Jensen in Deus Ex: Manki?nd Divided ?-- A Criminal Past [Deus Ex]

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I ordered the pea soup, not this!

Pre-order culture may be out of hand, but at least some developers are starting to learn. Square Enix is now offering all of the pre-order DLC for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided for free on each platform. This includes character skins, a bonus "mission," some weapon skins, and a few digital novels. Along with thi?s extra content comes a patch on PC that looks to address a few issues.

The details are fairly minor and are? mostly cos??metic in nature.

• Fixes an issue where the weapon inventory bar would not be saved online.
• Fixes some crash issues occurring with specific save files from users.
• Quit Game option is now aligned with the other menu options.

Users with the PC version just have to update their game on Steam to get the extra stuff. Console users will have to navigate to Sony and Microsoft's digital storefronts and redeem the DLC. I'm not sure if the digital novels have a console equivalent, but you can grab them here.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided’s Desperate Measures mission, other pre-order items now f??ree on all platforms [VG24/7]

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Only the rebellious among us have heard it

Carrie Fisher, who sadly passed away this week, was mostly known for her iconic role in the Star Wars series as Princess Leia. Thing is, she rarely provided voice-over work to any games, including those based on Star Wars. It was a big deal when her lines were provided for Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but that actually wasn't the first time she recorded something for a game. Fisher had a few lines of dialog in Dishonored and finding them r??equires taking a pretty specific set of steps.

According to a post over on Glixel, in order to hear Fish?er's voice in the game, you need to kill the male propaganda officer in Dunwall Tower during the "Return to the Tower" mission. At some point later in the game, you'd then be treated to her voice over the loudspeakers t?alking about the proper disposal of deceased individuals. Seeing as how I never killed anyone, that more than likely explains why I never encountered this.

The creative director of the game, Harvey Smith (who also worked on System Shock and Deus Ex), reminisced about her in a tweet he posted yesterday???.

Carrie Fisher's Hidden Role in 'Dishonored' [Glixel]

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Spend $400, lose performance

While I'm no fan of the recently released PS4 Pro, the idea of having 1080p games run at a consistent 60 frames per second is very enticing. I'd love to experience Bloodborne with better performance (if it ever gets a patch) or have any poorly optimized games (inFamous: Second Son) run nicer. I guess that wasn't to be, at least as far as Eurogamer and Digital Foundry have discovered.

While not every title with Pro enhancements is running worse, a lot of key titles offer downgraded performance for people on 1080p sets. I can definitely understand some dips in framerate in 4K mode, but why should a lower resolution suffer for features most use?rs won't notice? For that matter, why is every game wi??th a Pro patch required to run in Pro mode?

The most damning that they talk about is Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and how the very first level runs at an almost constant 10 frame deficit. This comes down to the PS4 Pro being forced to super sample the textures, regardless of whether you want that or not. There are also issues with Skyrim: Special Edition, but I don?'t think any Sony fans would be surprised by Bethesda's poor coding skills.

For the moment, if you have a 1080p television and aren't planning on upgrading to 4K, it looks like sticking with the regular PS4 (or the Slim model) is the way to go. I would have figured that even with super sampling, games would run smoother due to the boost in GPU and CPU speeds, but I guess Sony messed up somewhere. Either that or developers are getting really laz?y with their updates.

Why are some PS4 Pro titles running s?lower than base hardware? [Eurogamer]

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The update is also for Xbox One

The delay did Deus Ex: Mankind Divided good in more ways than one. Its release went off mostly without a hitch, and no??w Square Enix intends on adding on top of all of that with some fixes, new?? content, and graphical updates.

With its first major patch (that's now live), Mankind Divided now has HDR support for the PS4 and ??Xbox One S, as well as new Breach gameplay and some visual improvements. Incidentally, it will be the first PS4 game to host HDR. Lots more will follow suit, especially when? the Pro rolls out in November.

Deus Ex [Twitter]

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Vintage Jensen!

Adam Jensen and Randy Orton have a lot in common. They're both apex predators who lie in wait, ready to seize the opportune moment to strike. Well, Orton bangs his fist on the mat which is actually particularly un-stealthy, but that's beside the point. When their unsuspecting prey walks into their trap, BAM, #RKOOuttaNowhere!

Ardent Deus Ex fans might not have that exact impression of Jensen's lethal abilities, but it's true. Look at this Deus Ex Go GIF. That's Jensen RKOing a robot (as best the Go systems will allow him to) and now the ?Viper's move is one more weapon in his deadly arsenal.

You can tell when your animator has been watching too much Wrestlemania reruns with @TheRock over the weekend. pic.twitter.com/LfZZCvXfU8

— Square Enix Montréal (@SquareEnixMtl) September 28, 2016

This is the brightest timeline for both Deus Ex and wrestling.

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Frank's bank prank

Adam Jensen loyalists will now find a familiar face in Prague. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's first story DLC, System Rift, is focused on a character from 2011's Human Revolution.

System Rift released today and it reintroduces Francis Pritchard, Jensen's friend and colleague f??rom Sarif Industries. Pritchard wants information on the Santeau group, a desire that leads Jensen to break into the ultra-secure Palisade Bank Corporation's Blade facility. The add-on is said to be self-contained and will explore a new part of the city.

It has been exactly one month since Mankind Divided released, meaning that Square Enix is marching along to the post-release content cadence. System Rift is the first major add-on, but it surely won't be the last. Mankind Divided has a $30 season pass to make good on, and System Rift runs $11.99 on its own.

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Who is on first?

Square Enix has shared some information about the first Deus Ex: Mankind Divided story ad?d-on. Titled "System Rift," the DLC pack will see the return of Frank Pritchard and will have him team up with Adam Jensen to hack into the Santeau Group.

"In System Rift you will re-unite wi??th Frank Pritchard, Adam's friend and former colleague at Sarif Industries, and assist him in hunting down information on the mysterious Santeau Group," the publisher explains in a press r??elease.

"Desperate to get more information, Pritchard targets one of the most secure data banks ever ??created--the Palisade Blade. In agreeing to help, Adam may also be able to uncover hints as to who the illuminati really are."

This first story pack will be available on September 23 for all formats (PC, PS4 and Xbox One). No prices for the US have been listed, but the original article mentions it is 10 cents more on Xbox One. I can't fathom why, but we all know a pretty good response to that; somet?hing about never asking for or not wanting this.

The second story pack will be titled "A Criminal Past." Further information wasn't given, other than it will release in early 2017. The other bits of DLC from the season pass should already be available to buyers.

I attended a panel at PAX East this past year that had a few of the voice actors from Mankind Divided talking about their time working on the game. Elias Toufexis??, the voice actor for Adam Jensen, had mentioned that he wasn't sure if Pritchard would be returning in the main game. I didn't even think that DLC would be the answer.

I suppose that is fine and all, but I'm not sure I like the idea of gating major characters behind a paywell. This would be easier to accept if Mankind Divided didn't suddenly end with little closu??re. Guess we'll just have to wait for that third Jen??sen game to get all the loose ends tied up.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's First Story DLC Gets Details and Release Date [GameSpot]

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The saddest robot man

On paper, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's Adam Jensen seems like the ultimate video game protagonist. He has the voice of a dedicated smoker, all gravelly tones and foggy inflections. His chin is so pointed that it might be more deadly than the blades that protrude from his arms. Jensen can leap off of buildings without so much as a scratch and fire off explosives from inside his body. Based on his skill set alone, Adam Jensen is constructed to be the perfect post-organic ?man.

But despite being a mechanical wunderkind capable of top-tier espionage, Jensen spends just about every second in Mankind Divided looking sad. While it's easy to chalk his case of the blues up to the racist remarks and constant suspicion that augmented humans face, I couldn't help but feel like the root of his sad demeanor stems from something deeper.

After a few days of digging?? and countless hours spent scouring the details o?f Jensen's life, I found a handful of reasons why the elite Interpol agent is really just a sad robot man.

Adam Jensen is sad because he doesn't own a wallet.

In Deus Ex's vision of 2029, society has moved past the concepts of flimsy paper cash and credit cards. I'm not sure if there's a specific in-game reason for this, but let's just assume that custo??mers got tired of waiting for those chip readers to work while desperately trying to avoid making eye contact with their cashiers (who in turn, rebelled against?? cash after one too many customers produced soggy cash from their socks).

Since shirking the bonds of petty cash and traditional credit cards, society has moved on to all-encompassing ??"credit ch??ips." They're a one stop means of having your personal funds ready at any moment with a sleek, futurist look to boot.

Adam Jensen cannot seem to hold onto his money. I mean, damn, there's like five separate credit chips scattered throughout his apartment. This can only be because he doesn't have a wallet. Why else would someone haphazardly ??leave their credits in such weird places?

Like this ?one. Jensen has chosen to leave some of his hard-earned moolah wedged between two musty books.

There's another credit chip on the table right next to his front door. I can follow his basic logic here?, but it does seem a little suspect that a man who spends his time dismantling shadowy organizations and dabbling in webs of conspiracy would leave money right by his apartment's entrance.

Maybe Jensen has a squirrel augment that he never talks about. Instead of buying a nice wallet (he seems like a leather bi-fold kind of guy), he figured his? time would be better spent hiding his earnings around the house. It's kind of like when you start drinking and decide that hiding things from your future self is a smart idea.

Like Jensen, you'd be sad too if every time you wanted to go bu?y groceries, you had to scour every corner of your apartment just to fin??d some money.

Adam Jensen is sad because he can't get drunk like a normal person

If there's one thing that could take the edge off of living in a pseudo-military state like Mankind Divided's Prague, it's a stiff drink. There are plenty of bars lining the city's old-world streets and loose bottles of booz??e can be found in most alleyways and apartments.

It's safe to say that Jensen is no stranger to sipping on some alcohol. A few bottles can be found i?n his apartment's kitchen and an extra whiskey even magically appears on his table once the game's story picks up, as if to say "You earned this, you stealthy bastard."

And who could blame Jensen for wanting to throw back a dri?nk after a long day in counter-terrorism? ??Breaking necks and protecting the world from villains has to be hard as hell. 

But in a world where turning to booze seems like a sol?id escape from the harsh realities of augmented existence, Jensen can't even enjoy one of life's simplest vices. He gets drunk in no time at all, stumbling around with blurred vision and all the awkward grace of a mechanical bull at a country bar. And then, mere seconds later, he's as a sober as a bird.

I tested the average length of time that Jensen spends drunk. A bottle of absinthe gets him sauced for 22.2 seconds, give or take. Imagine trying to tie one off by crushing a full bottle of booze only to com?e crashing back to sobriety like Icarus after his date with the sun, all within a minute.

Even be??er, an efficient and cost-effective way of getting drunk for the thrifty drinker (I know th??is because I am poor) has a strange effect on Jensen's body chemistry. Ingesting a single bottle with the fury of a fraternity brother after rush week (again, I know, because I was that), immediately gives him double vision.

This only last for 18 seconds.

Three bottles of absinthe sounds like a death wish. As a final act of desperation, I forced Jensen to slug an absinthe trifecta. He took it like a champ. After finishing the last bottle, Jensen's apartment turned in??to a blurry mess for all of 44 seconds.

I assume that his complete inability to get drunk and stay that way for any meaningful stretch of time stems from having mechanical innards. Maybe Jensen has a metallic liver. Imagine how depressing it would be to try and get drunk only to realize that you would lite??rally have to never stop drinking in order to catch a buzz. 

If there is a hell, that has to be wha??t it's like.

Adam Jensen is sad because it's hard for him to practice basic hygiene. 

Every morning, Adam Jensen wakes up a?nd is forced to accept the fact that most of his body is made of metal.

His mechanical makeup means that Jensen can beat people up without breaking a sweat, hack into any electrical device, and generally operate at a level that hovers between Olympic athlete and demigod. ??It also has some downsides.

Most notably, showering must suck.

For whatever reason, Jensen can disrobe and hop into the shower for a quick rinse with the simple press of a button. In order to look fresh and sme??ll good, Jensen has to balance lathering up his organic bits while avoiding getting soap in his augmented nether regions.

If? you pay close enough attention to Jensen's showering habits, you can see a forlorn look in his eyes. Behind that thousand yard stare is a man is terrified of shor?t circuiting himself.

I'm no expert on the showering habits of half-robots, but I think it's safe to say that the squeaky clean sensation Augs seek comes from either motor oil or Neuropozyne. Not from errant? soap in their gears.

Adam Jensen is sad because the subway give him anxiety.

Prague's subway system opened in 1974. By the time Mankind Divided rol??ls around, that's 55 years of public transit. Prague's underground tunnels serve as an efficient way for Jensen to mo??ve from one district to another.

Using the subway as a means of fast travel between points affords the game some much-needed time to?? load new areas. It's a simple way to mask the limitations of a game while giving players something to look at.

But Mankind Divided's subways don't just bring Jensen to new parts of Prague, they also give him horrible n?ig?htmares.

Pay close attention to Jensen's demeanor while he rides the subway. He's rigid to comedic extent, but he's not stiff and uncomfortable because of his mechanical legs. [Maybe it's all his disgustingly shoe-less fellow riders - Ed.]

Jensen's agoraphobic. Think about it. Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder that stems directly from crowded and enclosed spaces. Subways are both of these things. A subway car is a metal tube built on awkward interactions and loose interpretations of personal space.

For Jensen, riding the subway has to be unbelievably difficult. It's counter-intuitive to his entire career. H?e's paid to infiltrate, eliminate, and facilitate all kinds of secret missions. Jensen's entire job description boils down to something along the lines of "gruff man who is good at winging it in extremely tense situations." With all of his augments and specialized skills, Jensen is a master of control in a chaotic world. H?e's at his best when things get hectic.

But he can't be that on a subway.

Jensen gets anxious whenever he has to travel across town. Constantly being stopped for cursory identification scans and being forced onto an "Augs Only" subway car is stressful enough as is, but knowing that the slow-??turning, bureaucratic wheels of public transportation effectively strip him of his powers must be terrible. When he's on the subway, Adam Jensen is demoted from Interpol agent to a helpless man with a dour look on his face.

Even th?is kid noti?ces how uncomfortable Jensen is on the subway.

Adam Jensen is sad because he doesn't have any friends.

It seems like everyone in Deus Ex has a secret agenda. Almost every character that Jensen interacts with is either hiding something, protecting someone, or both. Considering that Deus Ex's fiction is no stranger to secret organiz??ations like the Illuminati operating outside the reach of law enforcement, it makes sense that people keep their intentions guarded.

Jensen isn't like most people, though. He's a straight shooter. His conversations are a series of forward statements and blunt answers. Jensen speaks with the force of a father who's not mad, just disappointed.

Over the course of Mankind Divided, Jensen spends a lot of time pressing people for information and chasing down leads. His relentless pursuit of justice and truth dr?ives a whole lot of people away.

?Which is ironic, considering that he has so??cial enhancement augments.

Jensen's Computer Assisted Social Interaction Enhancer (or, CASIE) allows him to effectively read between the lines of every conversation he has. By using his augments to distill important conversations into ??a series of Alpha/Beta/Omega responses based off of the personality type of whomever he's speaking to, Jensen essentially gamifies his interpersonal relationships. He can win every argument and sway people's opinion with ease, but Jensen's conversational dominance doesn't earn him any friends.

Though Mankind Divided only has a few different conversations that allow Jensen to use CASIE, every time he communicates with other people, he seems cold and calculated. E?ven his emails are must be terse, judging by the response he gets from his oddly specific requests for a custom trench coat.

Uh, dude, You OK?

Adam Jensen is sad because he's still a human, despite his augments.

For his all of his secret agent training, tr??ench coat and retractable shades, Jensen's still just a guy who has to deal with life's little issues.

Jensen's questionable taste in clothing and stern visage make him seem like a gruff old man. They also allow him to hide his mechanical appendages. Living life as a half-robot se?cret agent is cool -- unless you never asked for ?it.

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From our community blogs

The Deus Ex series is often lauded for its conspiracy-laden plot and the wealth of options to approach its game play, and rightfully so, but it also deserves praise for an oft-overlooked aspect: its fantastic world-design. Some of the best moments in any of the DX games, including the unjustly-maligned Invisible War, happen while idly exploring their various hub locations, finding s??ecrets and stumbling on side-missions.

Most of the things you'll find during exploration are helpful, but not terribly important - an extra item here, a conversation fleshing out the setting there. Every now and then, though, something truly brilliant will happen. The first game is probably still the best in this regard: a thorough exploration of the New York City sewers nets some mind-blowing foreshadowing, and arriving at a well-traversed location from a new direction in a way that makes perfect sense while still being completely unexpected provides the sort of mind-blowing "aha!" moment that the Soulsborne games have become famous for.

Having put around 10 hours into Mankind Divided, I feel like it has built incredibly well on this proud tradition, with areas larger than ever before and spaces that feel even more detailed and lived-in than those of Human Revolution. Of course, it doesn't hurt? that the game is freaking beautiful, with some furnishings detailed to the point of photo-realism.

However, none of these locations and spaces are more important than the apartment of beefy protagonist Adam Jensen, not because of the amount of time players will spend in it, but because of what it reveals about our hero: nam??ely, that he is a shallow, vain man, obsessed with his image and with proving his signific??ance to everyone around him.

Our journey into the self-important mind of Adam Jensen begins inauspiciously enough. Like all of us, Adam keeps something to read in bed, as well as a box of tissues for when you g??otta have that morning wank. Or night-time wank. Or mid-day wank. Everybody wanks, is what I'm saying, even dour hunks like our man Jensen.

Actually, how does Jensen wank? I know it's gauche to ask about the intimate habits of oppressed people, but I really?? gotta wonder. Even us naturals have all bruised our intimate parts at some point just by rubbing it too hard, and I've seen Jensen punch through concrete walls like they were made out of cardboard. Even if you get around the problem of bruising your johnson by getting it caught between your mechanical hand's moving parts, you still have to contend with the fact that climaxing could see you popping your ding dong's head right off like it was one of those squeeze toys. Choking the bishop, indeed.

But this is where it all goes off the rails.

Oh, you're reading Let It Go: A Book About Learning, are ya, Jensen? Oh, you're so intellectual! Look at Adam Jensen, everybody! Look how smart he is, learning to learn as he does! And are those... are those fucking candles a??nd letters in 2029? Trying to look like a big romantic, are you, Adam my boy? Oh, we're all so impressed. We're all so impressed with the candles and letters that you definitely use.

And yes, of course Adam Jens??en has a mirror in his room. He couldn't go a moment without looking at his own abs, reaffirming to himself how attractive he is. Joke's on you, though, Adam - Eidos forgot to program a reflection for you to look at! Have fun flexing in your bedroom now, you dick.

This is another great example of the attention to detail in this game. N??ot only does the table look great, the CPU here is so detailed and realistic that I could mistake it for a picture of an actual card. I have no idea why Jensen is tinkering with it, but he's probab?ly just trying to make us think he's so smart and good with his hands that he just leaves stuff like this lying around.

What? Don't you write down Maxwell's equations on po??st-it notes and hang them around your room? Well, you're clearly not as smart as Adam Jensen! And yes, Adam, I know this is one of Maxwell's equations, but at least I'm not being an arrogant cock about it. Jeez.

I take some comfort in knowing that even a badass android cop needs to make meaningless, stupid graphs that'll just end up in a trash can as part of his job. This is ??the real Adam Jensen here, folks: a boring guy who makes boring graphs. What a stooge.

Hey, I'm Adam Jensen! Look at all my books! I've read "Life and Regrets" and "Orpheus Slain"! I'm so complicated! But I'm also fun - just look at this one book I've read called "General Tao: the Man Behind the Chicken"! That's not a serious book! Ha ha ha! HA HA HA! HA HA HA!

Well tell me this, Jensen. ??If you're really such an avid reader -

If you really care so much about books, tell me -

WHY THE FUCK? DO YOU HAVE TWO CO?PIES OF SO MANY BOOKS?

Here I can sympathize with Adam. I? dig ?the hell out of Absinthe, and any fellow member of the wormwood fan club will have experienced that moment where you've had a bit too much and found yourself hugging the kitchen trash can.

Thing is, Adam, you don't need to be so pretentious to?? ge?t people interested. Just show us some of DAT ASS, man!

Oh b??oy, I bet we're going to see his bits and pieces!

Ah, you fucking tease.

So as you can see, I was very cross with Adam. Unlike most people, I actually really like both the character of? Adam Jensen as well as Elias Toufexis' portrayal of him. For all the criticism of his growly, monotone voice, I find the gruff and terse delivery to fit the character perfectly, and it makes the occasional moment of wit or genuine humanity that much more effective. Serious as he is, Adam Jensen has made me laugh quite a bit - a lot more than characters in other games that were supposed to be funny or charmi?ng.

No one is as cruel as a lover scorned, and looking at his apartment, I felt personally - PERSONALLY - singled out and scorned by Jensen.?? Until I saw this:

Yes, Adam Jensen had a doggie dog, and no dog owner can be that ??bad a guy. Maybe he can be redeemed. Maybe I can still fix him. So, Adam, if your'e reading this, here's some tips on what you can do to make sure your apartment does not reflect poorly on you.

For example, how about a singing fish? They're cute. They're fun. They say, "hey, look at me, I can be a fun guy. I don't jus??t walk around punching people doing an impression of Christian Bale all th?e time". (This particular singing fish, sadly, does not actually sing.)

Also, how about folding towels into swans? It s??ends the message that you're a clean boy, but also good with your hands and possessed of a softer side.

Finally, I know I said I l??ike Absinthe, but having it out in the open does make you come off like a bit of a j??unkie. How about some Amaretto instead? It's tasty, sophisticated, and if you mix it equal parts with coke, you get an alcoholic Dr Pepper. For real!

Of course, there are some things to avoid.

First of?? all, elaborate modern art with a name trying to sound po?ignant just makes you look pompous. No thanks.

Also, avoid using these outdated internet memes. Portal came out 22 years ago, for fuck's sake. An??d no, it's not funny to? say you used to be something until you took an arrow to the knee, either.

Well, that's it for now. We took quite an emotional journe??y, from loving Mankind Divided, to thinking Adam Jensen is a dick, to thinking maybe we could change him. Only time will tell if opening our hearts and taking a chance will pay off. In the mean time, we can all enjoy playing the game, which is what I could have been doing instead of writing this stupid post.

Hold on, though, is that...

... is that on Xbox?

Yep, definitely an Xbox.

The post Opinion: Adam Jensen’s apartment proves he’s a vain dick appeared first on Destructoid.

At least I didn't have to Augment My Preorder

While it has already been fairly common knowledge that Deus Ex: Mankind Divided’s Breach mode would contain purchasable Booster Packs, the extent in which microtransactions have permeated throughout the overall game was somewhat of an unknown. Now that the game is out and on store shelves, and now that digital storefronts have been updated to reflect what purchases can be made relating to the new Deus Ex game, we can have a clearer idea as to what add?itional charges Square Enix have added to the overall experience.

As previously mentioned in the title, it is possible to buy packs ?containing currency and Praxis Kits for the single-player campaign. At this point in time, currency can be acqui??red in lots of 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 15,000 Credits for the price of $0.99, $4.49, $7.49 and $9.99 respectively.

Praxis Kits can be obtained in lots of 1, 5 and 10 for the c?ost of $0.99, $3.39 and?? $6.99.

Chipsets, which serve as a form of currency for the Breach game mode, can also be purchased using real-world money. Chipsets can be use??d to buy Booster Packs of content, custom we??apons and so on. These currently retail at $0.99, $4.49, $7.49 and $29.99 for packs of 10, 50, 100 and 500.

Alongside these microtransactions, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided currently has two weapon packs for sale. These pac??ks are included in ?the $29.99 Season Pass and are as follows:

“Tactical Pack - Using distance to your advantage, eliminate your targets silently with a custom skinned Tranquilizer Rifl?e, the Micro Assembler Augmentation, one pack of tranquilizer ammo, 3 Smoke Grenades, and 2 Gas Grenades.”

“Assault Pack - Prepare to advance and assault the enemy with a custo?m skinned Battle Rifle, the Chaff Augmentation, one pack of regular Battle Rifle ammo, one pack of armor piercing Battle Rifle ammo, 2 Frag Gr??enades, and 2 EMP Grenades.”

Considering that it’s now been proven that a significant portion of the Season Pass consists of either reskins of weapons already available in-game and content acquired through microtransactions, it seems more advisable than ever to simply wait until the two story missions the Pass is also meant to provide have been released and reviewed before dropping any money on additional Deus Ex content.

Thankfull??y, the base game is still very enjoyable.

_{[Source: Xbox Store]}

The post Deus Ex: Mankind Divided’s microtransactions include in-game currency appeared first on Destructoid.