Deus Ex: The Fall Review

Disclaimer: Whatever I say here is going to apply to the mobile version of the game only. While I have had the PC version running before, that was on an older PC and without an internet connection. I don't understand why very few people have pointed it out, but the PC version DOES NOT boot up if you are connected to the internet. Running Steam in offline mode won't help you either. Because of this I ended up playing entirely on mobile. There may be some differences between these versions beyond just the controls and overall feel.

A few fun facts about Deus Ex: The Fall:
1 - This chronologically the first game in the series, as of writing this.
2 - There is a Deus Ex novel, "Deus Ex: Icarus Effect" that serves as a prequel to this game.
3 - The mobile versions are no longer available on the appstores, so if you want to play it you're either stuck with the PC version or you happened to download the mobile version back when it was available and still can access it there. Ok that wasn't such a fun fact, but whatever, it's still a fact.

The Fall is essentially a bite-sized Dues Ex game. This won't take you more than a few hours to complete from start to finish, unless you want to be insanely, needlessly thorough. I certainly have my limits however. The story is actually decent. You play as Ben Saxon, an ex-Tyrant (high-level paramilitary group) who finds out that the Tyrants are the bad guys and defects. Because of this you and your... girlfriend (?) are on the run. The downside of this is that both you and your girlfriend (?) are in need of a drug called Neurpozyne that calms the body's rejection of augmentations, which both you and your girlfriend (?) have. Neuropozyne is already scarce, costly and hard to obtain, and going to any standard healthcare facility will have both of your identities blown. As a result you have to resort to black markets and underground gang-controlled areas to obtain it. You instead find out about Ryzene, which is an unofficial competitor drug to Neuropozyne. Ryzene is distributed via this black market, but the problem is that it's not approved by the health authorities and is causing people to die. You find out the distributor of Ryzene is not just the black market but an established security agency named Belltower. Due to this, you get wrapped up in the conspiracy which involves some high-level parties, the World Health Organization included, and have to fight for your life intact and with a drug supply to yourself and your girlfriend (?). Granted this story has some plotholes and may leave you with more questions than answers, but I appreciate the tie-in to modern events, as Deus Ex usually does.

As for gameplay, this has all the hallmarks of a Deus Ex exploration-type game. You explore areas, talk to people, make dialog choices, loot their dead bodies, search trashcans for money and have the occasional shootout. This is all well and good, but there are some notable setbacks when it comes to the animations, weapons, augmentations and setpieces of the game. We'll go over a few main aspects.
Shooting: I did not do a stealth run, as that's just not my thing, so I went for the killing. You are able to crouch, hide behind walls, vault and... not much else here. If you tap on the screen somewhere your character will automatically walk there, however this was a big problem during the shootouts as I was just trying to hit the shoot button and suddenly I'm walking into fire. I'm sure the PC version doesn't suffer this, but I had to endure it and die multiple times because of it. I got through the entire game using just the pistol, modified to its fullest extent. The rifle, shotgun and other weapons that I never used simply weren't necessary. I was planning to modify those as well but the game ended abruptly on me.
Augmentations / In-Game Marketplace: Unlike other Deus Ex games, you can access all your augmentations and weapon loadout right from the pause menu. You don't need to visit any clinics, medbots or NPCs to make these transactions or upgrades. Augmentations are pretty standard, and you'll want to first maximize your hacking, as usual. Unfortunately the hacking from Human Revolution is here, and you'll simply have the swallow the pill and do it whenever you see the hacking option available if you want to get enough money, credits and weaponry. There is also a map available in the pause screen, but you won't need it as your waypoint objective marker is always visible and not too hard to follow.
Dialog: While I enjoyed the story and was mostly following it, the animations of the characters when talking is very rigid. Voice acting is not perfect but it's passable. Dialog options are mostly bad, as there are situations where either you have to be a submissive wimp or a pushy ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. This won't affect the story much however.

Other thoughts I have about this game: If you are turned off by this being a mobile game port, or want a complex and rich Deus Ex experience with all sorts of gameplay options, then look elsewhere, this game is not it. As mentioned this is a bite-size game that meets all the criteria for being a Deus Ex game and nothing more. It is not an awful game, it's not even bad, but it is too short and can be too simplistic. I would even recommended this as an entry-level game into the series, and as it stands this happens to be the first chronological game in the series. If you are interested then buy all means pick this game up whenever it goes on sale, but be prepared to cut your Wifi or remove your ethernet cable.