Deus Ex 5: The Cyberpunk Classic Needing A Modern Revival

Before we get into the reasons why Deus Ex should be remade, it's important to look at the bigger trend that led us here. In the last ten years, a lot of remakes and remasters have brought back interest in old games that helped shape new genres. Games like Final Fantasy VII Remake, Resident Evil 2, and System Shock have shown that a faithful remake can add to the legacy of a beloved original if it is done right.

These projects update the graphics, bring old ideas to new audiences, and improve gameplay that might not have held up well over time. In this light, Deus Ex stands out as one of the games that deserves to be updated, but it would be the hardest to update in modern times.

Many people think Deus Ex, which came out in 2000, is one of the best video games ever. The game, which was made by Ion Storm and directed by Warren Spector, was a mix of first-person shooters, role-playing games, and open-ended design.

Deus Ex was years ahead of its time in terms of worldbuilding and story ambition. It occurs in a dystopian cyberpunk future full of global conspiracies, surveillance states, and biotech enhancements. Aside from being great, the game was also pretty rough when it first came out.

Deus Ex didn't have the best graphics when it first came out. It was made with an improved version of the Unreal Engine, but the environments were blocky, the character models were plain, and the animation was jerky. Back when Half-Life was setting new standards for how cinematic FPS stories should be, Deus Ex seemed very old-fashioned.

It had dialogue trees with a lot of text, cutscenes with little to no visuals, and gameplay systems that often felt broken. Even though it had some technical problems, it did something that not many games can: it made players feel like they really had control over what happened.

That core promise of freedom is what makes Deus Ex so crucial for a remake. You can sneak past guards, hack computers, pick locks, or go in with all guns blazing. Instead of giving players "choice" in limited or scripted ways like most modern games do, Deus Ex gave players more freedom by using a systemic design approach.

Its levels were open-ended, which made it fun to try new things. Decisions had weight, and every mission had more than one way to complete it. Even though technology has come a long way, not many games today offer the same level of interactivity.

One of the biggest problems with making Deus Ex again is that it has a very specific tone and feel for each culture. The game is a time capsule of paranoia in the late 1990s. It's a crazy mix of political commentary, cyberpunk style, and conspiracy theories. Illuminati plots, FEMA camps, nanotechnology, and worries about Y2K—it all sounds like something that would be talked about on an internet forum, but Deus Ex made it all seem very real.

Some parts have not held up well over time. Accents and portrayals of characters, especially Chinese non-playable characters (NPCs), were almost too unrealistic. There was a lot of melodrama in the dialogue. Putting the original game right into a modern setting would not work without some careful changes.

This is where a good remake could really shine. Like System Shock, which was recently remade by Nightdive Studios and received good reviews, Deus Ex could use a more modern look and easier-to-use controls while still staying true to its original design principles. Imagine walking through the dirty streets of New York, Hong Kong, and Paris in the future, which will look exactly like they do now.

Dynamic lighting, ray tracing, and ambient sound could make the atmosphere more immersive, which is what the game is trying to do. Meanwhile, better AI, better gunplay, and more up-to-date UX design could smooth out the annoying parts that used to hold it back.

But a remake shouldn't just change the way things look. What Deus Ex really needs is a story and mechanics reimagining that stays true to the original while bringing the systems up to date for 2025. That means making levels smarter so they encourage exploration without being too hard. Voice acting, dialogue, and character development with more depth.

Better mechanics for stealth. And a way to hack that doesn't feel like work. A remake could even change the story's setting and add new themes like AI ethics, digital surveillance, social manipulation, and climate collapse. These are all things that would fit right in with the Deus Ex universe and make it more meaningful for players today.

One problem would be finding the right balance between this much information and modern players being too overwhelmed by it. The people who play games today are more varied and have different expectations about how fast they should go and how hard the games should be.

A remake would have to find a way to keep the depth that made the original great while also adding better onboarding, easier-to-use interfaces, and smart tutorials that don't talk down to people. A company like Nightdive Studios or even Arkane could really shine here. Both have shown that they can be both immersive and easy to play, and the recent remake of System Shock shows that old-school design can be brought up to date without losing its soul.

Then there's how to play. People really liked the first Deus Ex, but even fans agree that it's not as fun to play now. The aiming is bad, the enemy AI is awful, and the combat is weak. These were fine in 2000, in part because no one else had anything similar, but they wouldn't work today. Today's gamers expect games to be precise and quick to respond, especially ones that focus a lot on first-person combat.

For a remake to work, these systems would have to be redone from scratch. It should be as fun to shoot as Modern Warfare, as smooth to sneak around as Dishonored, and as good at hacking as Watch Dogs: Legion or Cyberpunk 2077. People should be able to do anything they want in the game, but it should also be fun to play every now and then.

Still, Deus Ex is remembered for more than just how it works. Plus, people love the way it feels. Alexander Brandon wrote the music, which is still one of the most famous in PC game history. It's synthy, ambient, and moody, which perfectly fits the cyber-noir feel of the game.

This musical DNA would have to be kept in a remake, maybe with a more modern soundtrack paying homage to the original while using dynamic music systems to make things more intense and tense. Imagine the famous UNATCO HQ theme played by live instruments and layers that change based on what the player does. For longtime fans, it would be a love letter, and for new fans, it would be an audiovisual show.

It was also very big in the first Deus Ex. Its follow-ups, like Invisible War, Human Revolution, and Mankind Divided, were never able to match its sheer size and freedom. Those sequels had some good parts, but overall, they were smaller, more linear, and didn't try as hard to make the stories more complicated.

The grandiosity and scope that made the first game so great could finally be brought back in a remake. It means big levels that are linked to each other—different places around the world. There are missions that can be done in any order. And systems that respond to what players do over time in a meaningful way.

Deus Ex was ahead of its time in how it dealt with choice, which is another important reason why it would be worth making a remake. "Choices that matter" is a marketing phrase these days. But when it came out in 2000, Deus Ex let you make real choices that changed the story and the world.

You could betray allies, kill or spare important characters, and choose between two different dystopian futures. A remake could add even more complex moral dilemmas, bigger consequences, and effects that last longer and spread out over the game's long campaign.

Of course, getting the tone right is very important. The first Deus Ex was kind of stupid and kind of real at the same time. It was known for its wooden voice acting, but that made it more beautiful. A lot of the time, the writing was direct, but it never had any point. It is essential for a modern remake not to be too self-important or too ironic.

There are deep plots, secret societies, and philosophical questions in this game. It shouldn't feel like a Marvel movie but like Blade Runner meets Ghost in the Shell. A good remake would embrace the weirdness, improve the storytelling, and give us a more grounded but still ambitious story.

That being said, culture may be the biggest problem. Remaking Deus Ex now is more politically risky than it was 20 years ago. The game touched on themes such as terrorism, government overreach, media manipulation, and bio-enhancement.

These are all very touchy topics that are more important than ever right now. A remake would have to be very careful to stay true to the game's subversive roots while also adding new features. The goal shouldn't be to clean up the experience but to put it in a new light that makes sense and feels responsible.

When it comes to who could do this right, Square Enix, which owns the rights through its Embracer subsidiary, would have to think ahead. Arkane, the company behind Prey and Dishonored, would be a great fit because they have a history of making immersive sims.

Another option is for Nightdive to work with a modern studio that specializes in first-person shooters to make something truly unique. In either case, the project would need vision, patience, and an understanding of what made the first one a masterpiece.

A remake of a classic may not work out, and bringing an old title up to date is not always successful. However, Deus Ex is the kind of game that should get the chance. It wasn't perfect, but it was brave, odd, smart, and easy to remember.

Even though it was just a game, Deus Ex was more than that. It was a mirror that showed the world's hopes, fears, and contradictions as it hurried into the digital age. That mirror is more important now than it ever was.

 

Also, check our other articles on remakes below:

• Vagrant Story 2: The Underrated Masterpiece That Deserves A Full Modern Remake
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Needs A Remake For Sure
• The Evil Within Remake: Is Tango Gameworks Bringing Back The Horror Gem?
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• Far Cry 2: A Cult Classic Ready for a Modern Remake
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• Devil May Cry: Why the Original Deserves A Full Remake In the Modern Era
• Xenogears: Deserves The Remake That Could Finally Finish the Game
• Alpha Protocol: The Cult Classic Spy RPG Poised For A Modern Revival
• Bloodborne 2: The Next Gothic Masterpiece Waiting To Be Reborn