Deus Ex: Go is the latest big budget franchise to get a mobile game

The Deus Ex universe is expanding into mobile, as Square Enix is taking the wraps off of Deus Ex: Go.

The announcement from the big Japanese game publisher and its Montreal studio, Square Enix Montreal, shows that the audience of a billion mobile gamers continues to be an important target for Square Enix’s ongoing series of Go mobile games, such as Lara Croft: Go and Hitman: Go. Those prior games appealed to hardcore gamers who like the games on the consoles and enjoyed engaging with the same franchises on mobile devices. Those titles had high-end, realistic 3D-animated landscapes with fancy homes and lush jungles.

Square Enix revealed a bunch of news today, including a prosthetic arm based on the Deus Ex hero Adam Jensen’s arm and hands-on play with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. We also posted our own interview with the game director of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

Above: Art from the alpha version of Deus Ex: Go.

Image Credit: Square Enix

But Deus Ex: Go is very different. It has an abstract art style, where the main object is sneaking into places and hacking into computers. As Adam Jensen, the hero of the Deus Ex series, the player has to choose the right path and the right measures to sneak around guards, hack into computers, and fight when necessary. The maps are very hexagonal, like a board game, but the animations of the characters look very realistic.

“We’ve turned big Triple-A franchises into mobile games, and so Deus Ex: Go is kind of a no brainer,” said Etienne Giroux lead game designer of Deus Ex: Go at Square Enix Montreal, in an interview with GamesBeat. “We asked ourselves what Deus Ex would look like in a Go style game. In this case, this is a high-tech environment and augmented reality.”

Above: Adam Jensen in Deus Ex: Go

Image Credit: Square Enix

The game will still have hacking, take downs, augmentations, and puzzles to solve. Players will be able to create their own levels as well. The art style is very high-tech, as if you’re moving around inside a computer.

“In this game, there’s a lot of stealth, line of sight for the guards, and you can take them down by hitting them from behind,” Giroux said.

You have to manipulate enemies and pit them against each other. You can hack a camera or sentry gun and turn it against the guards. You can decide whether to use violence or to just knock out guards. There may be some crossover with the story of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

The game is coming this summer to smartphones and tablets.

Above: Deus Ex: Go

Image Credit: Square Enix