Square-Enix has so far stayed on the bench in the grand Nintendo Wii U game. The publisher has released two major games from its Eidos subsidiary in the months since Nintendo’s latest console hit shelves, namely Hitman: Absolution and Tomb Raider, but neither have made the jump to the Wii U. It seemed like a minor slight towards Nintendo, especially with Tomb Raider. Crystal Dynamics had months to port the game over and find a way to include the GamePad, even if it was just to use the controller to display the area map, but Square Enix decided not to. There were rumors, however, that the team behind the Wii U port of Mass Effect 3 was working on a Square-Enix port for Wii U. Finally, after months of speculation, earlier today the publisher finally confirmed that Square-Enix would release a game on the Wii U. Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director’s Cut will be out this spring.
Straight Right games isn’t making Director’s Cut all on its own though. The game’s original creators at Eidos Montreal are collaborating with the Australian studio to make what they consider the definitive edition of their cyberpunk role-playing game.
The biggest change is the complete overhaul for the game’s boss battles. Deus Ex received many warm reviews when it came out in August 2011, but its big boss fights were almost universally panned for forcing the player to engage in basic brawls when the rest of the game lets them sneak through levels finding non-lethal alternatives to combat. There was a reason the boss fights didn’t feel of a piece with the rest of the game, they were actually made by another studio named Grip Entertainment. This time, Eidos Montreal took the wheel.
“We went through all the boss battles and said, ‘Let’s just start from the beginning,” Eidos Montreal designer Emile Pedneault told Eurogamer, “So that’s exactly what we did.”
To that end, the teams have remodeled the boss maps completely. If a player specializes in computer hacking, for example, they can leverage those skills to win without ever needing to pull out a weapon.
That’s just the beginning of the Director’s Cut’s fixes. Improved enemy AI, boosted visuals, and completely rebalanced powers to facilitate more regular use—many of Deus Ex’s power ups weren’t wholly useful—have been put into the Wii U version. “It’s not balancing it to make it super easy,” promises director Jean-Francois Dugas, “It’s still Deus Ex. You still have to make your choices. But we wanted to give you more opportunities to have fun with all the augmentations you acquire.”
The new version will also integrate the Missing Link DLC, and receive a noticeable visual upgrade. “It’s more powerful on the Wii U,” said Dugas.
Though Square hasn’t confirmed it, an Amazon listing for the game says it will be out on May 7. With Director’s Cut unveiled, the question now is: What is Deus Ex: Human Defiance, the title Square-Enix recently trademarked? Is Deus Ex 4 closer than expected, or could a possible TV/movie adaptation finally be announced?
