The Rise and Fall of Deus Ex

During the 80s and 90s, most video game genres tended to stay squarely in their lanes. First person shooters like Doom focused exclusively on gunning down monsters. Role-playing games like Ultima epitomized inventories and statistics. And stealth games like Thief prioritized sneaking through the shadows above all else.

Every now and then, an experience like System Shock or Strife would come along, and challenge the medium’s self-imposed rigidness by melding multiple genres together. Yet many would argue that it was only after the release of Deus Ex that the idea of a genre-bending game became truly popular. The brainchild of Warren Spector, Deus Ex allowed players to make their way through a cyberpunk rendition of the year 2052 using a wide variety of different mechanics and playstyles, allowing for an uncountable number of solutions to its life-like quagmires. The experience that it provided was as stupendous in its execution as it was difficult to quantify – so much so, that it would single-handedly usher in the term “Immersive Sim” to describe all prior and future games that would be included in its lineage.

Countless developers would incorporate Deus Ex’s most salient aspects into their craft in the wake of its release, and many would reap the benefits of doing so for years to come. Yet Deus Ex’s own developers would struggle to fully capitalize on their opus’s success, producing only a single, underwhelming sequel in the years that would follow before being scattered to the wind.
A passionate team based in Montreal would eventually take up the series’s mantle, and release a respectful reboot over a decade after the first game’s debut. But in the end – despite following up said reboot with a solid sequel – the team would be forced to focus its efforts elsewhere, and the series would go dormant once more.

This is the rise and fall of Deus Ex.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro
2:25 Deus Ex
11:53 Deus Ex: Invisible War
18:20 Deus Ex: Human Revolution
24:29 Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
28:10 Outro

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[azrogthesocial]

Every-time some one mentions deus ex my heart cracks that there isn’t a new game, but it also feels happiness that deus ex hasn’t been lost to time.

[toufexiselias]

I would love to make another one. Thanks for the support.

[tvdinner]

"Everytime you mentioned Deus Ex on the net, *someone* will reinstall it."

Thanks for covering this great series!

[indeimaus]

man, human revoluation hit at the right time of my life and was such a fantastic game, I miss this franchise

[AXKoRnRocks]

I can't believe we got a crappy avengers game instead of a Deus Ex game.

[Linus]

It´s hard to describe the first time playing the original Deus Ex way back when. You just KNEW that it was unlike anything you had seen before. When I realised you can just pick up a chair and hurl at someone my jaw dropped.

[brian]

"The Rise and Fall of Deus Ex."
That was painful to read.

[KILLERAOC]

Mankind Divided was an incredible game. You can feel the craft that went into it. I hope to one day see Adam’s story concluded.

[dhruvb]

The music and cut scene where Adam gets "resurrected" is fucking amazing. Will never forget

[epicmealtime]

I love seeing a new upload…but I love it even more when it’s at least 30 minutes long!!

[theactualTVB]

The first Deus Ex still ages like fine wine after 21 years. Such a great game.

[Xendrius]

Deus ex is too immersive, dont have time to fight iluminati ingame and irl too.

[xdGGGxd]

JC DENT0N: *What a shame!*

ADAM JENSEN: *l never asked for this!!*

[ChimpRiot]

The Deus Ex series is still the best Cyberpunk experience. Mankind Divided only failed because of corporate publisher decisions with the pre-orders and IAPs, but it was a solid game.

[sndrs]

I played the first game for the first time earlier this year and it holds up perfectly. So much fun.

Also, Michael McCann is a genius the music for HR and MD are perfection.

[N-FINITE.E]

My 1st deus ex game was Human Revolution, but I loved the game so much that I went back and played all the previous entries. Even read all novels and graphic novels .

[ShooterQ]

"If you let players have combat as an option, it's the only solution they'll choose."

Gamers on their 10th playthrough: "I'll do a brute force run next time... maybe..."

[starwolf]

The whole reboot idea with Adam Jensen blew my mind so much, the music, the locations, the gameplay mechanisms everything was just so damn great. Gosh I wish I can get to see the sequel to Mankind Divided.

[infernalskepandaen]

Remember this game was killed to give room to The Avengers... never forget!

[AnthonyCSN]

These videos remind me of watching icons on G4!!!