Spoiler Warning: Original Deus Ex (2000) GameMan-made viruses. FEMA vying to control the world. Mass surveillance. The Illuminati. Meme wars. These topics that occupy most of your weirdest uncle’s Facebook page are also some of the plot elements of a 22-year-old video game called Deus Ex. Widely hailed as one of the greatest achievements in the medium to this day, Deus Ex is a game with equally complex game mechanics and story. Inspired by cyberpunk greats like Blade Runner and contemporaries like The Matrix (the late nineties/early aughts really loved their sunglasses and black trench coats), Deus Ex blends smart and silly science-fiction to ask the question: what if every conspiracy was actually true? Despite this outlandish premise, the game turned out to be oddly prescient, both in terms of its concrete predictions and overall themes.
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To put it plainly, Deus Ex probably won’t ever cross over to television or film. It is very unlikely that a game from the year 2000 in a series that’s been dormant for more than five years will lead to any adaptations. That being said, there was a movie version of its 2011 sequel, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, in development for many years. Recently, parts of the script for that movie were actually published in USA Today. All of this indicates that there is a possibility, however slight, that Deus Ex could make the leap to the big screen or onto your TV.
Whether it’s a feature or episodic, live-action or animated, now is the perfect time to adapt one of the greatest video games of all time into a new medium.
Laser Swords and Philosophy
Square Enix
So what is Deus Ex actually about? The game’s lore is absurdly expansive, but at its core, its story is about a man named JC Denton. JC is a cybernetically-enhanced member of UNATCO, a United Nations police force charged with stopping terrorism. However, JC begins to question his loyalty to the organization when his brother, Paul, joins up with the terrorist organization called the National Secessionist Forces (or NCP for short). It turns out UNATCO is being controlled by a splinter group of the Illuminati called Majestic 12, who are trying to use it to take over the world. Upon learning this, JC decides to join up with the terrorists and stop Majestic 12’s evil plan. JC travels to Hong Kong, Paris, and even Area 51 to fight against the nefarious secret organization.
This really only begins to scratch the surface of the game’s entire plot. There are tons of factions, all with their own characters and motivations. The game also often digresses from the story to wax poetic about philosophy and politics. Lore this expansive might mean that the adaptation is best suited for television. Combine that with the often disappointing nature of video game movies, and it seems like an obvious choice, but a movie could work if it focused on JC’s story. At the end of the day, all that matters is that it’s faithful and entertaining.
Predicting the Future
Despite being 22-years-old, Deus Ex’s content and story are shockingly modern. Right at the beginning of the game, you are shown a Statue of Liberty that has been destroyed by terrorists, which is eerily reminiscent of 9/11. There’s actually a myth that the game predicted the specific attack on the Twin Towers because of their absence from its skyline, but this was just due to technological limitations. In an interview with Kotaku, the game’s lead writer, Sheldon Pacotti, touched on the game’s approach to terrorism, saying:
Terrorism is only one of the many topics that Deus Ex addresses. Transhumanism, globalization, and class are all a part of the sprawling experience. To once again quote Pacotti, we still deal with “a]ccusations of a conspiracy between big business and government, anger at the US allowing itself to be led by other countries, severe wealth disparity…[a] slight shift of focus, and the future could still turn out like Deus Ex after all.”
“I think the game’s most accurate prediction comes in how terrorism operates in the story…[b]efore September 11th, though terrorism was prominent in the news, the notion that terrorists would destroy a major landmark like the Statue of Liberty seemed far-fetched, but now it’s clear that modern wars are TV shows where both sides compete to write the script.”
Unimmersive Sim
By only talking about Deus Ex’s story, much of what makes the game so legendary is neglected. More than its plot, Deus Ex’s gameplay is what truly sets it apart. The level of freedom the player is given to solve a problem is still greater than most games that come out today. Using stealth, violence, hacking, conversations, and exploration are equally valid options for completing the game’s levels. You can even upgrade certain abilities to the point that you can lift giant objects out of your way or jump tens of feet into the air. All of this is to say that none of this emergent gameplay would occur in a movie or TV show. While this is an issue with all video game adaptations, it would be even more noticeable in a Deus Ex film because of its uniquely responsive world full of possibilities. Unless it was the next Bandersnatch, this is the biggest problem any Deus Ex project would need to deal with.
It does feel slightly silly to point out potential issues that a Deus Ex adaptation would have to face as it’s unlikely to come to fruition. Despite this, Deus Ex’s story and themes remain as relevant as ever, so it can’t hurt to hope that something bearing its name will be released into the world. Until then, let’s all remember to stay out of the ladies’ restroom.
