Filip Brož Hitman GO, Lara Croft GO and now Deus Ex GO. Last week, the Japanese development studio Square Enix presented the third installment of the GO series – action games converted into logic-board games. However, the interesting fact remains that not a single named title originated on the soil of the imperial island state. The Montreal branch is responsible for the GO series. It started five years ago with a few employees and today it boldly competes with the biggest development studios.
Square Enix's journey began on April 1, 2003 in Japan. Initially, it focused on console and computer games. Thanks to them, the legendary game series Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest were created. A few years later, the Japanese also strategically bought the Eidos studio. This was followed by changes in the management of the company, when the Japanese publisher Square Enix merged Eidos with its European branch Square Enix European and thus the company Square Enix Europe was created. Thanks to this, the developers came up with phenomenal titles, led by Tomb Raider, Hitman and Deus Ex. This is where the GO series originates.
Square Enix Montreal was founded in 2011 with a clear intention – to build and present big-budget blockbusters. At the same time, a clear course was set from the beginning in the form of a focus on the mobile platform. At the very beginning, people were divided into small teams with the task of inventing a mobile game where Hitman plays the main role. Designer Daniel Lutz came up with a wild idea. Convert an action game about an assassin into a board game. He spent a few weeks with paper, scissors and plastic figures. A year later, in 2012, it arrives Hitman GO.
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Kill everything that moves
Last year, the elite killer was replaced by the fairer sex, who, however, certainly does not lack a sense of killing and action. The beautiful Lara Croft also followed in the footsteps of the board games, with clear changes visible from the previous installment. With Lara, the studio focused more on graphics, details and an overall better gaming experience. However, the main essence of the game remains, to get from point A to point B while completing various tasks, collecting certain items and, above all, eliminating your enemies.
After all, this idea persisted into the latest third installment, which logically used the dystopian Deus Ex series. The main role is played by the cybernetically enhanced agent Adam Jensen, who intends to break a giant conspiracy. However, the story is on the other track. Personally, I always skipped all dialogues as quickly as possible. Somehow the developers still can't convince me that the story is somehow important to me as a player, which is quite a shame. I quite like comics, series or movies with Lara or killer number 47 and have been watching them regularly since I was very young.
In any case, I can state that with each new installment of GO, not only the gameplay improves, but also the graphical environment. In the event that you kill an opponent in Deus Ex, you can always look forward to a short effect reminiscent of the legendary fatalities from Mortal Kombat. You can also look forward to new controls, weapons and abilities. Agent Jensen is not only a skilled programmer, but he can also be invisible. New features in the game are gradually added based on how successful you are.
Fifty levels
Although the developers said at the launch of the game that new levels will be added every day, but nothing new is happening in the game so far, so we will have to wait a little longer for new tasks and adventures. On the other hand, Deus Ex GO already offers more than fifty futuristic levels where Jensen has to deal with living and robotic enemies using the abilities of his own body combined with artificial enhancements and programming.
As in the previous titles, the rule of individual moves applies. You take a step forward/backward and your enemy moves at the same time. Once you're within range, you die and have to start the round over. Of course, you also have various hints and virtual simulations at your disposal, but they are not endless. However, as part of in-app purchases, you can purchase everything, including new upgrades.
It's also a plus that the game can back up all gameplay to iCloud. If you install Deus Ex GO on your iPad, you can safely continue where you left off on your iPhone. Control is also very simple and you can do it with one finger. On the contrary, prepare and properly heat up your brain cells, which you will test in each level. The first ones are quite simple, but I believe that over time it won't be so easy. However, the moves and strategies are very similar to both Hitman and Lara, so if you have played the previous games as well, you might get quite bored after a while.
Independent studio
However, the entertainment is provided by the developers in the Montreal branch, where a dozen employees are currently working. They are, as at the beginning, divided into several camps. A substantial portion of people support and improve the value of this franchise and do routine tasks. In Montreal, however, there is also an independent and free group of people who have a completely free field of activity and work on new or secret projects. Among them was also an action one game Hitman: Sniper, which runs in its own sandbox.
Logically, it is suggested that in the future we will see new GO games following, for example, the titles Legacy of Kain, Thief, TimeSplitters or Fear Effect. They originally belonged to the Eidos studio. However, when playing Deus Ex GO, I feel like it would like something more. It seems to me that the turn-based strategy in the style of board games has faded a little. In defense of the developers, however, I have to point out that they listen quite well to calls and feedback from players. They complained about the relatively small number of levels and improvements in the previous two titles.
You can download Deus Ex Go in the App Store for five euros, which translates to about 130 crowns. Although the result is a completely identical game concept that we already know, Deus Ex GO is almost a must for mobile game enthusiasts.
[appbox app store 1020481008]
