September’s State of Play was where Aspyr announced Deus Ex Remastered, and it should have felt like a win.
After all, the original 2000 release is one of the most respected immersive sims ever made, and the chance to revisit it on modern hardware sounded like an easy win.
But the reaction since the reveal has been anything but celebratory. The game not only looks worse in key ways but also asks for hardware far beyond what its visuals seem to justify.
Did the Deus Ex Upgrade Makes the Game Look Worse?
Aspyr has made a career out of remastering classics, such as Tomb Raider I–VI and the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection, but its Deus Ex work isn’t impressing players.
The reveal trailer immediately drew backlash once it cut from the original to the “improved” graphics.
Characters appear too slick and plastic, their faces stretched and puffed up instead of remaining sharp and rugged.
Environments that once had low-tech industrial charm now look lustrous and sterile, as if higher-resolution textures were applied without regard for the original geometry and art direction.
Technically superior lighting upgrades have changed how the game feels. The visuals turned from dark and shadowed to glossy and bright, and many say it feels wrong for the tone.
The shift has been compared to the GTA Trilogy remasters, where modern rendering clashed with retro design and made beloved worlds look cheap and artificial.
Many who’ve followed the game for years believe HDTP and Revision improved it steadily while keeping its spirit intact, so this release comes off as rushed and weakly planned.
Why Are the PC Requirements So Ridiculously High?
Aspyr’s own specs list 16 GB of RAM, a recent multi-core CPU, and an NVIDIA RTX 2080 (or AMD equivalent) just to hit the recommended level.
It’s the kind of setup meant for modern 1440p or 4K gaming, but the graphics don’t look anywhere near top-tier.
It’s made worse by the fact that Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, from 2016, had bigger worlds and heavier detail yet ran on a GTX 970.
The contrast is striking when you remember the original game could run on 64 MB of RAM and a Pentium processor.
Of course, remasters raise the bar by adding new lighting and higher-resolution textures, but these requirements feel wildly out of step with what’s on screen.
Many read the message as a push to upgrade their PC or miss out, which feels needless for a game that doesn’t really wow visually.
Is There Anything Good About This Remaster?
If there’s a real positive, it’s that this remaster should make the game painless to run on modern PCs.
Running the original without fan patches leads to frequent bugs, crashes, and control problems. Aspyr’s edition will launch fully playable with controller support and autosaves.
For newcomers who’ve never tinkered with mods, that’s welcome. Still, convenience isn’t enough to offset the steep system demands and altered art style.
Many will likely keep playing their modded copies instead of paying for a version they feel looks worse and runs heavier.
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