Deux Ex: Human Revolution is one of the best action RPG’s available for current-gen consoles and PC’s, so gamers were understandably excited when Square Enix teased a new game in the series, entitled Deus Ex: The Fall, yesterday. Well, we’ve got our first look at The Fall, and while it certainly looks like a Deus Ex game, you might want to temper your expectations somewhat, as the game isn’t coming to consoles or PC’s — it’s an iOS exclusive.
The game is focused on Ben Saxon, a character for the Deus Ex tie-in novel Icarus Effect. Saxon, like all Deus Ex protagonists, becomes involved in a giant conspiracy involving pharmaceutical corporations, physical augmentations, and the mysterious Tyrants.
What we’ve seen of the game so far seems to suggest that, despite the switch over to a completely touch driven interface, Square seems to be trying to maintain Human Revolution’s gameplay with The Fall. The game still features customizable augmentations that let you build your character into a one-man army or a stealthy assassin, and the screens suggest that Human Revolution’s mix of first person shooting and third-person cover mechanics remain intact.
Square Enix recently announced that they’ll be putting more effort into social games and mobile development rather than on traditional console and PC titles, and it seems like Deus Ex is the first series to be affected by this transition.
I’m trying hard to keep an open mind when it comes to The Fall (since it’s never smart to judge a game by the hardware it’s on rather than on its own content and merit,) but it’s hard to not be disappointed that The Fall isn’t coming to a more traditional platform — I’ve tried to play console-style “real” action games on an iPhone before, and simulated touch-screen buttons and tilt controls have never managed to be a proper replacement for a controller. Still, there’s always the chance that The Fall might still be good, so I won’t judge the game until I spend some time playing the game myself (perhaps at E3.)
