Deus Ex GO is a fantastic follow up to Hitman and Lara Croft GO. It doesn’t change the basics: it’s a puzzle game in which everything else moves a space every time you move a space. In terms of sheer delight after beating a level, Adam Jensen’s mobile adventure is just as rewarding to play as Square Enix Montreal’s previous efforts.
Taking place prior to Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Deus Ex GO‘s story mode is comprised of 55 stages, split into a handful of different locations. The main gist of the game is the same as the previous GO‘s, that is, getting from point A to B. Unlike them, though, there are far less objectives to complete in order to achieve gold rank at a level — you’re only required to complete a stage under a certain number of turns.
In that regard, high score junkies might be a little turned off by the game’s lack of replayability, since it only takes a few runs through a stage after completing it over par in order to find an optimal path. Or, as it happens in most cases, you might just run into that on your first time finishing a level. On the other hand, the feeling of reward upon conquering a level is ever present thanks to Deus Ex GO‘s progression in introducing you to new gameplay mechanics.
Deus Ex GO does a good job emulating a few of the series’ features within the confines of the GO style, like Jensen’s augmentations that allow him to turn invisible for a limited time and the power to stun enemies. It wouldn’t be a Deus Ex game if there wasn’t any hacking involved — it plays a huge part in this, from turning turrets to your side to unlocking paths that would be otherwise inaccessible. While the goal is always to get from end of a board to the other, the level design makes smart enough use of these to keep things fresh all throughout the entirety of the game.
The thing that will keep Deus Ex GO a little while longer in your memory card after beating its campaign is the inclusion of weekly challenges, which add a new daily level for you to complete in order to unlock Praxis kits in Mankind Divided. So far, these have been the toughest challenges I’ve faced in the game, and have really pushed me to boot Deus Ex GO every day.
Presentation wise, it’s on par with the other two GO titles. While not as charming as Hitman GO‘s board game approach, Deus Ex GO‘s visuals certainly evoke the tech feel of the main line titles, with a generous amount of yellow tinted highlights and squared angles. Since there’s no voice acting in the game, all of the exposition text is delivered via unskippable screens which sometimes drags the pacing during repeated runs.
All in all, Deus Ex GO is yet another quality download that shouldn’t go unplayed. While it doesn’t feature as much in terms of content as Hitman or Lara Croft, the content that is available plus the weekly updates are gripping enough to keep you entertained for quite a while.
