The Game Awards, the gaming industry’s equivalent to the Oscars, took place in Los Angeles at the Microsoft Theater. In 2021’s celebration of the best and greatest, one of the big surprises was how much of a role the writing of games seemed to play. The game that walked away with the Game of the Year award, the most prized of the evening, was the brilliant story-drivenIt Takes Two.However, when it came to the best narrative category, the big winner wasMarvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
Guardians of the Galaxywas one of the big surprises of 2021. It was announced during Geoff Keighley’s Summer Games Fest back in June and released just a couple of months later on October 26. This title made beautiful use of the Marvel characters in an incredibly well-crafted story that surprised critics and fans alike with its snappy dialog and fantastic plot. Eidos-Montreal proved the studio is at their best when creating singleplayer action-adventure games, and this success should open the door forDeus Ex’s return.
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Legacy of the Deus Ex Franchise
Deus Exis a beloved franchise that started out all the way back in 2000 with one of the most ambitious PC games of all time, but had some sequels that were hit or miss. These games are deep RPGs about dark futures, where augmented humans are slowly becoming the norm, and there are profound layers of paranoia and conspiracies throughout which we guide its protagonists. Characters likeJC Dentonor Adam Jensen would go on to become some of the most beloved leads of their generation, as each game was held to the highest standard.
The conspiracies got insane,and this remained key to theDeus Exseries. There are actual Illuminati in the games, as well as aliens, and questions about what makes a human a “human.” It is incredibly campy, overly serious, and fun, all at the same time by feeding into one single question: “What if every conspiracy theory ever was real?” While this might be a scary question in 2021, the idea was incredibly quirky and clever 20 years ago before the age of social media, and it earned the series an incredible following.
The Midlife Crisis of Deus Ex
The original game by Ion Storm is one of the great classics of its time, but its sequel from 2003,Deus Ex: Invisible War, failed to recapture the mojo. This game failed to include a compelling protagonist in Alex D, a successor of sorts to JC Denton. On the gameplay side, it offered simplified map layouts, less options for stealth, andworse hacking minigames. Ion Storm would go on to shut its doors in 2005, while Eidos kept the rights to the series.
This ordeal killed the franchise for almost a decade, up until Square Enix acquired Eidos and its studios, along with classic IPs such asTomb Raider,Thief, andDeus Exitself.The next game in the series would not come out until 2011, this time under Eidos-Montreal’s wing.
Deus Ex: Human Revolutionmanaged to turn things around for the series byintroducing a new protagonist in Adam Jensen, but also by freeing itself of the baggage of its predecessors by turning into a prequel. This time around, players were closer to the present-day, where bionic augments are just starting to become commonplace. Augmented people in this version of the world face discrimination and are frowned upon and treated as drug addicts, as they very literally require taking drugs so their bodies would not reject the augments.
The story inHuman Revolutionis generally more grounded, but the improvements in stealth gameplay and freedom throughout the adventure are so vast that the game still got an incredible audience, outselling any of the other titles in the series. This time around the shooting, melee combat, takedowns, stealth, and hacking all felt like legitimate playstyle choices.
Deus Ex Human Revolutionrevived interest in the series, and ever since then, it got several novels and even a mobile prequel titledThe Fallwhich further expanded the universe. Furthermore, Adam Jensen became the broody, cool protagonist the series always needed and his iconic line “I never asked for this” was featured in countless memes and fan creations.
Deus Ex Mankind Divided Left Players Confused
Things were looking good forDeus Ex, so there had to be a sequel eventually.Mankind Dividedfrom 2014 aimed to please fans with a new title in the series. The problem was that it went too heavy on the themes of discrimination against the augmented and cyborgs,gathering controversy by equating it to the very real Apartheid. This take seemed forced, as the fictional augments were incredibly expensive and had nothing to do with being born a different race from those in power. It ended up with a confusing, upsetting message and lacking a defined theme.
This, combined with the simple gameplay and relatively low sales figures, put a stop to the franchise’s regained momentum, which was further aggravated by the fact that the game ends in a cliffhanger while also leaving several story threads open. Players who had grown fond of Adam Jensen were left without closure, andwithout a game that ties the originalDeus Exwith its prequel series.
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Ever sinceMankind Divided,Deus Exhas been dormant, save for very small projects while Eidos-Montreal gave support to the other studios in the parent company. BesidesdevelopingShadow of the Tomb Raider, most of its time was spent supporting Crystal Dynamics in many other projects. Interestingly, it collaborated inMarvel’s Avengers, a game that had a decent story mode but was heavily criticized for every other aspect, as it was a game as a service instead of a singleplayer experience. That being said, Eidos-Montreal’s next singleplayer game ended up being the next Marvel adaptation,Guardians of the Galaxy.
Once again,Guardians of the Galaxyfound the Canadian development team doing what it does best:Singleplayer adventures with incredibly charismatic main heroes.Guardians of the Galaxymight be a comedy at heart, but the studio seems to have regained its soul: Introducing characters with deep emotional moments and dialog that resonates with players, making them feel involved in the adventure and as if they were part of a bigger world.
With all this success, it may be time to go back toDeus Exand give Adam Jensen the closure he deserves. Eidos-Montreal and the fans have earned this opportunity to see the series at least conclude in a satisfactory way.
Guardians of the Galaxyis out now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
