Eidos Montreal is one of the biggest game developers out there, with a sizeable workforce of over 400 people working there, 300 around the time it was found. A studio that had among one of the greatest industry talents working on it, with plans to work on multiple IPs from revive franchises like Thief, and the one we're going to talk about, Deus Ex. So it baffles me how Square Enix at the end just pushed this studio out for such a chum change, even if they left it to better hands.
While yes, a good number of talents have left, including Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided lead art director. After seeing their last game, Marvel's Guardian of the Galaxy, I am actually quite hopeful on the studio's ramifications after their purchase.
Square Enix was a bad company, that only cared about bottom lines and didn't bother in the least to help their studio understand what they really wanted nor communicated with them properly in order to meet demands. Montreal with Embracer can now spread their wings even further than they've had since its inception. Maybe even get a Legacy of Kain game out of the way too.
I did a lengthy review on how great their Marvel game was, despite the shortcomings. But when you have a studio larger than Crystal Dynamics, and a great list of games even in just over a decade run, suffice it to say, their next game will meet even greater expectations. That is, if their next game is the very game I am discussing about.
Because just a little while ago, rumors started circling around that they wanted to one up Cyberpunk 2077, one that is now notorious for being too ambitious and under delivering. I was glad to hear that, since the series was really kept in the dark for a long time, a revival is all we need now. Even if it takes them 2-3 years to get there, I'll play the hell out of it, so for now, all I can do is speculate how they can deliver their next to be even bigger and much grander than their previous iterations.
Asking For Big Things And Bigger Changes
Ah yes, a trip to memory lane would easily take me to the time when Square Enix didn't understand how to market games nor provide an untarnished experience without getting their greedy grubby on things. Mankind Divided was a great game, but it had multiple problems; the story ended on a terrible cliffhanger because Square Enix wanted to divide the game episodically, interacting with the world felt short compared to the prior Deux Ex games, shoddy inserted multiplayer game, microtransactions in campaign mode, and man, PC port had bugs. Ridiculous bugs.
But it was fondly remembered for pushing the envelope of its gameplay and level design, further than ever done before. This was the de facto standard of what open world simulators should be, and so following games like Prey took inspiration from this and paved the way for future titles. But the interesting tidbit is; Deus Ex MD allowed you to do so much, that if they've provided the same game that was twice longer, and just added a couple of new things, maybe leftovers from Montreal's concept board, it could easily beat Cyberpunk 2077, but also take its crown back.
Hyper-ambitious RPGs as such, takes a lot of grander concepts and try their best to implement them despite the limitations of today's generation of hardware and technology. Suffice it to say, what we thought was a video game, was this giant tech demo that didn't even come close to delivering on most of its promises as a game. This is where Deus Ex never fails to do so, because it never tried to be too big.
All it needed was an amazing gameplay, based around an already well-established world lore, and brilliant story-telling that allows you to have the freedom of how it'll play out. Akin to the older Mass Effect games, but more in luster.
I don't think what I am asking for is a lot, because they already know too well what already makes this a great game. The team just needs to have faith in themselves, the time, and budget without producers and executives interfering in the creative direction. I just hope this team hasn't lost that spirit and gets all they need to make this real.
Lots Of Possibilities
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It's astounding that a game (GOTG) like this can be made, that shows so much of it multi-faceted in terms of design, art direction, and aesthetics. As well as great character design, that matches well with style and detailing. I mean, if the gameplay wasn't the weaker aspect, this would have been easily compared to Marvel's Spider-Man. Heck, it should be selling nearly as that game by now.
Eidos Montreal should be well on their way to be an AAAA game's studio, around the likes Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Crystal Dynamics, and others. They could easily make a sequel to GOTG, or make a new IP that would change their dynamic. Either way, I hope the success they find there increases their budget, and allows them to do so much more.
Because the new Deus Ex shouldn't just settle on being better than a broken game, it should be the ultimate zeitgeist of every cyberpunk game out there. Deus Ex invented the cyberpunk open-world genre, and it should keep that wheel spinning while changing the paradigm of modern games.
The main story that rests on grand conspiracies, large power and wealth discrepancies, social unrest, moral dilemmas, and human transcendence should finally get the closure it needs. Finally tying up the trilogy in an epic, climactic, fitting end. It's also high time to play a game like this, especially considering the current economical climate we're dealing with. All the work the studio have done in the prior games, all the research they did, would finally come to this.
There's nothing I want more than a game such as this to be more successful. Something that would have happened if Squeenix never shoved bottom lines and bad directions to them in the first place.
I know am acting way too ecstatic about a rumor mill, but I know people, including me have been waiting for this for so long. There's a lot of hope to bear. One day, Adam Jensen will finally be able to finish his story, a lot sooner now than before. I also hope it's not an entire reboot, that would really suck.
