Deus Ex just got a huge, unofficial remaster thanks to transformative new mod

I love Deus Ex. I love the way it looks, how it plays, the music, the writing. Even its 'imperfections' make it better - JC Denton's stiff facial expressions, the bizarrely-behaving NPCs, and the reading-from-the-page voice acting are all part of the essential Deus Ex aesthetic. Now, 25 years later, the single most brilliant PC game of all time (sorry Doom, sorry Fallout, sorry Command and Conquer) has just gotten better. A transformational new mod expands and overhauls Ion Storm's sci-fi RPG masterwork with fresh mechanics, revised systems, more difficulty options, high-definition visuals, and more-detailed environments. Although it's completely unofficial, this feels like a Deus Ex remaster.

You may have heard of 'Give Me Deus Ex,' the extensive overhaul mod first released for the immersive sim RPG back in 2013. With more-advanced enemy AI, visual tweaks, and quality-of-life additions like the ability to grab and mantle onto ledges, GMDX, as it's often called, has become almost standard issue for anyone playing Deus Ex today. But now it's just been dramatically expanded.

Give Me Deus Ex: Augmented Edition introduces enough extra features that it makes the stealth game and FPS feel practically brand new. First, there are high-definition textures for every single model and asset in the entire game. You can turn them all on, wholesale, or choose to activate them individually - if you like the look of the classic pistol, for example, but want to enhance the environmental details, you can customize the look of Deus Ex down to the individual in-game objects.

There are also 75 new configurations to alter the difficulty and other settings, and further modifiers that let you randomize the contents of item boxes, put restrictions on the number of available saves, and enable additional interactions with key NPCs. The hacking system has been reworked so that even if you successfully bypass a system, it will eventually reboot, encouraging you to be more tactical and make smarter use of multitools.

You can now rotate items in the inventory screen to make them fit into your pack more easily, and even when a weapon or usable is fully depleted, it won't vanish out of your hotkey toolbelt; if you shortcut grenades and then run out, when you pick up more, they'll still be assigned to that same shortcut.

There are also new perks. Socket Jockey lets you draw bioelectricity from in-world power sources like wall sockets, while Security Loophole makes it a lot easier to jump over laser tripwires, and Firefighter turns extinguishers into high-impact explosives when they're shot.

You can customize JC's outfit (the mod includes the female, 'Lay-D' version of JC, who also has an extensive wardrobe), and there's a new radial wheel for selecting augmentations on the go. Using certain items can now lead to addiction, which, like Fallout, comes with its own buffs and debuffs. You can also change the visual settings so that debris, blood, and other effects are persistent, and won't fade out after you turn your back.

Basically, Give Me Deus Ex Augmented Edition is huge; no matter how many times you've finished the base game, this is enough to make your next playthrough feel totally fresh. Created by 'Sarge945,' if you want to download Deus Ex Augmented Edition, you can get it from Nexus Mods.

Otherwise, enjoy some of the best old games, or the best story games on PC today.

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