Production on Deus Ex 3 officially announced

[Vraptor7]

Gamasutra reports that Eidos has its Montreal studio working on the sequel.

Developer-publisher Eidos has revealed that its new studio in Montreal, Québec, first announced earlier this year, has opened its doors to the public, and the company is inaugurating the facility with the announcement of its first project: a third installment of the futuristic first person-shooter/RPG Deus Ex.

Here's the teaser trailer.

[ShadowXOR]

My hopes aren't very high. Invisible War was AWFUL.

Bioshock was good but didn't even remotely live up to System Shock 2...Bioshock had more in common with the Half-Life series really.

I really doubt this game will be worth it for Deus Ex fans but I'm going to keep my eye on the game to see how it turns out.

[Stardog]

Bioshock is far worse than IW. It can't even be mentioned in the same breath as System Shock. Give me IW over Bioshock any day.

If they're building it for the 360 then expect crap inventories and everything else simplified for dumb gamers like in Bioshock/Oblivion.

[Redearth]

Has anyone found any info about who is working on it and what previous games they've worked on?

[Papy]

So... what do you people think of the teaser?

Edit : Oh I have a bad feeling about this! I was looking at the the forum and their was a thread about asking Deus Ex 3 to be a sequel to Deus Ex and not an "Invisible War 2". Two minutes later, the thread disappeared. I hope this was a technical glitch...

[IndieInIndy]

Please don't suck. Please don't suck. Please don't suck.

[catbarf]

Please don't suck. Please don't suck. Please don't suck.

Correction:

Please don't suck more than IW did. Please don't suck more than IW did. Please don't suck more than IW did.

[D'Juhn Keep]

Please don't suck. Please don't suck. Please don't suck.

Adding more pleases

Oh and as this is now the official thread for DX3 let me make it clear that any discussion about DX vs DX2 will result in slappings. Obviously you can mention "DX3 should do this unlike IW" but keep it about DX3. We know some people prefer how the original did things over the sequel, let's leave it at that.

I for one hope it is exactly the same as Deus Ex only with better AI

[IndieInIndy]

According to their web site, http://www.eidosmontreal.com/en/games.html, they are working on

AAA games, with high quality licenses that offer exciting challenges – e.g., the first two games we develop will revive successful franchises

Any terrified thoughts about what other TTLG-beloved franchise has ended up in their hands?

[catbarf]

According to their web site, http://www.eidosmontreal.com/en/games.html, they are working on


Any terrified thoughts about what other TTLG-beloved franchise has ended up in their hands?

What I am thinking can be summarized with two words and a picture:

Ohhhhh FUCK!

[spamsk8r]

Not sure what I think about this. Deus Ex 1 is my favorite game of all time. Invisible War, while very entertaining and overall a very good game, did not live up to the first game (but I did enjoy it and play it multiple times). Can 3 bring back the awesomeness that is Deus Ex? I hope so, I really do. We've had a dearth of truly deep games lately (save for Mass Effect, which is awesome) and it would be great to have an engaging story (with gameplay to match) set in the DX universe again.

[ZylonBane]

Woah.

Hopefully more details will be forthcoming.

[Chuck]

I wonder if DaveW will like it.

[Random]

I took some images from the trailer. It looks like a prequel to me, set when mechanical augmentation is being introduced:

[ZymeAddict]

Well, if that first screenshot is any indication, it looks like we have a prequel to look forward to. (Deus Ex takes place in 2054, the date on the voting box is 2027)

[Papy]

Also, another screenshot of the teaser shows a woman with some kind of prosthetic arm.

One thing somewhat reassuring about the deleted thread is (what seems to be) an "admin" said : "Sorry about that... we erased it by error; this discussion will be restored very soon. Sorry again". So it seems it's ok to bash Invisible War after all.

One fact I found interesting is after a simple announce : "Yesterday 2017 users visited" Eidos Montréal forum. I guess there is a suit somewhere who just can't believe his idea of using the name "Deus Ex" would be that successful. Those 6 letters are really worth gold.

[Briareos H]

Invisible War, while very entertaining and overall a very good game, did not live up to the first game (but I did enjoy it and play it multiple times). Can 3 bring back the awesomeness that is Deus Ex? I hope so, I really do.

This.
Also, no 'design inspiration' from Bioshock please.

[Slamelov]

Is there any member of the original team in the project?

[Rogue Keeper]

it looks like we have a prequel to look forward to

YES! Giant battle robots piloted by Japanese schoolgirls! \/

[Briareos H]

Is there any member of the original team in the project?

For the moment it doesn't appear to be the case. The lead writer would seem to be Mary DeMarle, who worked on Myst III to V and Homeworld 2.

When I played the first game, I realized that so much of it is centered on the story that it automatically calls for a deep and interesting story line, and that was a big reason for me to want to be here and to work on it. Also the fact that [Eidos] games were very well recognized when they came out and built a lot of loyal fans. The development team saw opportunities to expand those games beyond their initial focus, and that's always a very interesting challenge: to create another version of something that is much loved, [a version] that will grow beyond it without upsetting the people who love it, and yet will be interesting to people who may not have liked it or may never have heard of it.

Other interesting bits from the testimonials page :

We’re working on an existing franchise, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to come out with a certified copy: gamers would see right through that! We’re going to take what’s good about it – after all, the first game came out several years ago, and games and gamers have changed a lot since – and develop it so that people find it even more interesting.

It’s an ambitious type of game, and that’s what I like about it. Here, we’re passionate about creating video games. Before coming to Canada, I worked in England and in France, and I seldom worked on games of this calibre. It’s right up my alley, so I feel very lucky! I can pour a lot much more energy into this project because it’s a goal I can totally relate to. At the same time, you never forget you’re developing a product for a broad spectrum of the population. It’s like making a movie or any form of art: you’re doing something you like, and you hope that it will appeal to other people as well. [Deus Ex] is an outstanding game because of its quality, its style, its contents. It actually was a hit with a very small audience of highly passionate players. We want to reach those people again, while also giving the game a broader appeal.

Despite the "broader appeal" aspect, I really like his designs, with loads of cyberpunk inspiration and more specifically Masamune Shirow's works. Definitely the right person to work on DX3.

Deus Ex is a game I played when it came out. As soon as I heard this was happening in Montreal, I had to be part of it! This is the type of game I like to play, it’s a really good challenge. What’s nice is that we’re not starting from scratch. We have a foundation to build on. We already know what worked and what didn’t, and that’s worth gold. The design stage was really great. In the first months of the project, we decided what we wanted to do, and what direction we wanted to take. Things go really smoothly with Jean-François Dugas [the lead designer]. Often, in a video game, people get lost right from the start because they haven’t clearly defined what they want to do, and that can drag on for years: you see projects where people still don’t know where they’re going after a year and half, two years.

When I did the interview, David [Anfossi] showed me the [development] schedule. In the upper left-hand corner, it was written "Deus Ex". I always take a job based on the project. It's not so much about the money and all that, it's, “What game are we going to be working on?”. That's what got me excited: the idea of working on a sequel to one of my favorite games. Also, it was in keeping with what I did in my previous job, so it's like the next step: I can take everything I learned and use it to make this game even better. I'm really excited about the project, I'm excited about where it's going and I'm excited about my part in it. People here listen to you and it's quite easy to get them on board. If they don't like it, you know they'll say so as well.

I'll wrap up with a quote from the QA part of the website, which is a fairly comforting sign if it's not bullshit :

We also test games from a highly creative – i.e. "entropic" – point of view, letting our brightest professionals throw around all sorts of bizarre, off-the wall ideas, sometimes simply fooling around with the games we develop.

EDIT : The lead designer Jean-François Dugas worked on all Far Cry : Instincts games.
All in all, I'd say they have a fresh and fairly competent team of seemingly passionate gamers and fans of the original game with reasonable freedom (at least the most freedom one can have when working for a big publisher).

Now shine.

[Scots Taffer]

Wow, hadn't caught those stills on the sign of being a prequel etc. That's an awesome idea and is really tapping a very cool part of the DX Universe, let's just hope they can pull it off.

It also means I won't be penalised for not playing DX2: Bug-Eyed Warriors.

[D'Juhn Keep]

This could be really really really great. A prequel was the only way to go IMO. Did anyone else come just a little when the intro music played in the trailer?

[Matthew]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Cooper, lead animator, worked on NARC (?)

I presume they meant this, rather than my immediate thought.

[Papy]

to create another version of something that is much loved, [a version] that will grow beyond it without upsetting the people who love it, and yet will be interesting to people who may not have liked it or may never have heard of it.

First red light here. You can't please everyone at the same time. A choice must be made : either please the old fans, or try to make a different game that will please another group of people. He is lying to someone here. Who? Old fans or the rest of the mass market?

after all, the first game came out several years ago, and games and gamers have changed a lot since

Second big red light here. No, we have not changed. The market has changed, but not us, old gamers.

We want to reach those people again, while also giving the game a broader appeal.

Again, that's not possible unless two very different kind of gameplay are created both at the same time. As I still have to see a single game with that kind of option, the question is now to whom they are lying.

[Scots Taffer]

Did anyone else come just a little when the intro music played in the trailer?

Hahaha, I did get a warm fuzzy feeling, I was still laughing from the cinema trailer voice-over though.

And Papy, I think you're nitpicking a little and to be fair, this is in the early-scope, throw-all-the-ideas-and-see-which-ones-stick phase and in that mode it's very appropriate to be thinking bigger than just the Deus Ex fanbase. And games/gamers have changed to a certain extent, I reckon. Limitations that were once understood and applicable to games like Deus Ex have changed considerably, people expect more when it comes to environmental interaction and the overall slickness of the production, so I think you're a bit offbase there.