DEUS EX REMASTERED

JC's original jaunt receives augmentations

- Ian Evenden

First things first: it’s not Nightdive. The remaster specialists behind the System Shock 2 and Heretic + Hexen re-releases wanted to do Deus Ex, and said so back in 2024, but Aspyr (of the Tomb Raider remakes) has been given the gig instead. This isn’t the only thing that’s annoyed a portion of the fanbase.

Early screenshots look... not great. The original Deus Ex, from 2000, was built on the first Unreal engine, and required just 16MB of VRAM to run. As such, it always looked a little boxy, it being the year of the PlayStation 2's release, along with the first Hitman and Thief II.

There is, therefore, a lot of graphical ground to make up with a remaster. Whether it takes the Oblivion route, and runs the original game in an Unreal Engine 5 wrapper, or uses the Nightdive method of a source port to a proprietary engine, what we've come to expect are upgraded models and textures, even if the level geometry stays the same, as well as modern conveniences such as ultrawide support, gamepads, and the ability to Alt+Tab out without the whole thing throwing a fit.