'Deus Ex Go' Is the Perfect Mind Fix
Adam Jensen at his most challenging.
Players can now finally get their hands on Square Enix Montreal’s Deus Ex Go, a turn-based puzzler based on the Deus Ex series. As with Hitman Go and Lara Croft Go, Deus Ex Go translates core components of the gameplay into an addictive turn-based puzzle experience.
While you might not be able to talk your way through every mission like you can in the big budget adventure, for a mere five bucks, Deus Ex Go is a worthwhile puzzle game that will keep you trying to outwit its AI for hours on end.
The Gist
If you’re not familiar with Square Enix’s Go series, it’s a turn-based puzzle game that somewhat mimics moves on a Go board. Each entry utilizes its parent game’s visual aesthetic to create a series of levels that challenges players to get from point A to point B without getting murdered.
In Deus Ex Go, Square Enix has harnessed the sci-fi series’ ubiquitous hacking options and sleek, high tech aesthetic to create dozens of puzzles designed to put Adam Jensen to the ultimate mental strain. The result is a challenging stealth adventure that will keep you moving forward though each punishing level.
Picking up where Human Revolution left off, Deus Ex Go puts Jensen in the middle of another tale of corporate espionage. Unsure of who he can trust, Jensen must put clues together as he descends into a nefarious web of aggressive robots, hacked terminals, and corrupt CEOs. The companion story is dished out in tantalizing nuggets that only add to the intrigue surrounding Jensen’s mobile story.
The Tranquil ‘Deus Ex’ Experience
Perhaps the biggest reason to plop down your hard-earned money on Deus Ex Go is the weird serenity the title provides. Is it challenging? Extremely. As you progress through the game, easily solved puzzles are exceedingly rare.
Deus Ex Go moves deliberately, making the most of each new challenge before sprinkling new enemies and new gameplay mechanics in your path to liven things up. These new challenges are stacked on top of old ones with savage glee, so that by the end of the game there’s a mind-boggling number of hurdles to overcome on each level.
Deus Ex Go never feels rushed; players never feel panicked. The turn-based gameplay asks you to think ahead and forecast movements into the future. The quick load times allow for lots of easy repetition, meaning failure isn’t much of a punishment. It’s the rare mobile game that will find you losing hours without even realizing it.
