Deus Ex: The Fall Interview, Android Version Confirmed

In a new interview on PocketGamer.biz with Square Enix Europe producer James Wright and N-Fusion CEO Jeff Birns, we learn about the challenges the team faced during the development of Deus Ex: The Fall, how they expanded upon the assets and exploration ideas from Human Revolution, their plans for an Android version, and more.
"Most of our problems stemmed from the relatively immense size of the game," says Birns. "For such a small team, handling the gameplay, writing, and environments was a big challenge.

"Luckily, we had great support from Eidos and were able to work together to achieve what we think is a great game. We solved it by putting in tons of love and extra hours to make it happen. The team sacrificed themselves for the greater good of the game.

"Relating to the size of the game, supporting a game this large on the many available devices has proved to be a challenge - and is currently a challenge developing for Android."

Alongside the task of trying to duplicate the scale of a Deus Ex game, the team also had to translate one of its predecessor's graphical signatures: Human Revolution's fondness for golden hues blasting through venetian blinds, breaking up the darkness.

The solution? Borrow content from Human Revolution itself.

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It's obvious pushing the game graphically was a key driver for the Deus Ex team, no doubt looking to tap into the same themes as the rest of the games in the series. The end result? A game that, on a visual basis alone, really does stand out on mobile.

It's easy to see that high quality art was integral during development, but Birns insists that gameplay came first.

"Because of Human Revolution's distinctive art style, art was a high priority," continues Birns. "but not our highest.

"We said from the very beginning our challenge on this project was going to be gameplay, not the art. Packing not just combat, but the stealth, hacking, and social aspects of Deus Ex into a mobile game was our highest priority."

Because of limited processing power, the team were a bit restricted in this department, however. Especially in regards to programming the A.I. Instead of delving into the specifics of the creation of the A.I, Wright assures that the team is still working hard to improve it.

"Since launch we've been working on taking our A.I. systems even further," Wright explains. "And have already released an update to make the A.I. smarter, more aware of the player, which means the A.I. doesn't lose the player during combat, thus making much more enjoyable combat situations."