Forget the remaster — 2000's Deus Ex is still a masterpiece that you should play in its original form

Towards the end of last year, Deus Ex Remastered got delayed, with no new release date offered and refunds for preorders issued. Developer and remaster specialist Aspyr noted that it had taken on board negative feedback about the remastered graphics, and noted that the game would not be released on February 5, 2026.

Now, given I still consider the original Deus Ex a masterpiece and one of my favourite games of all time, this was a bit of disappointment. I’d rather like to play the game again, but with a coating of modern graphical paint and some quality-of-life updates.

But screenshots and video from Aspyr’s remaster didn't showcase a slick rework of developer Ion Storm’s 2000 original game, but rather something that looked like it was from the mid-2000s, with visuals that would look at home on an original Xbox or the early ...