Deus Ex: The Fall
Building the Deus Ex universe has been a steady, sure-footed endeavour so far, with only four games under its umbrella since 2000's initial, self-titled entry. However, the drip-feed creation of its dystopian, cyber-punk world has been a textbook example of quality over quantity and Deus Ex: The Fall, a re-hack of last years' contentious smartphone entry, does little to buck that trend.
After 2011's Human Revolution put the franchise back on the radar, The Fall could be seen as Deus Ex Lite and its initial announcement as a handheld game drew plenty of groans from fans. However, such slurs do developers Eidos Montreal's latest tale of futuristic espionage little favour as The Fall is a surprisingly fleshed-out title. By dint of its origins, it can never quite scale the heights of its bigger brothers, but it has a pretty good crack at it.
As a prequel to the series, The Fall has a similar ambiance to Human Revolution, even borrowing some of its mission structures. Whilst graphically things may be left a little wanting, particularly some character designs, there are still moments when sheer set design can still bring the 'wow'. It's perhaps more of a testament to the series as a whole, but its still an impressive enough feat for this more humble, singular title. Sound design fares better still with some great attention to detail, allowing the various rumblings of Pananma City to bring the game to life.
The breadth and sophistication of levelling up, or 'augmentation' as the game prefers, is also impressive and, like Human Revolution before it, will vex players with exactly how they want to specialise new protagonist Ben Saxon. Similarly there's a choice of gameplay options on offer, allowing Saxon to venture down a path of stealth, combat or an amalgamation of both. The Fall is robust enough to cater to most styles, although in order to wring the most out of the game, our money is on being a sneaky bastard wherever possible.
However, there are some discrepancies that need to be overlooked for full immersion. Enemy assailants can be infuriatingly on-the-ball, spotting our man in a darkened vent from forty yards and from the back of their heads at one point. And whilst the game, and indeed the series, floats serious questions about the distinction between man and machine, many of the human combatants tend to display a Terminator-like resilience to head and chest shots whilst our own Robocop seems able to take only an 'nth' of what's dealt back to him.
Still, it's not game-breaking and stealth players will largely circumvent such issues. Beyond that, The Fall largely sets the naysayers straight with a tight, engaging plot and some dynamic central missions. Coming on the coattails of Human Revolution, this perhaps isn't the follow-up many were looking for, but if they persevere long enough, they may find there's more to Deus Ex: The Fall than initially meets the eye.