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Deus Ex: The Missing Link DLC preview

We get hands on with the first DLC for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, "The Missing Link."
Xav de Matos
19
Late in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, protagonist Adam Jensen goes dark, leaving the player to wonder what happened to the gritty-voiced hero. Eidos Montreal's upcoming DLC for the game, The Missing Link, looks to fill in the blanks, as it takes place during that missing fragment of Jensen's life. According to Eidos Montreal game designer Antoine Thisdale, The Missing Link will last for up to five hours. (Of course, the content's length is based on your play style and skill level.) My preview of the content showed off about half of what the full expansion is supposed to offer. Eidos Montreal is touting a graphical update for this content and, for the most part, it shows. Lighting is darker and moodier. Enemies and Jensen himself look sharper. The DLC features brand new environments; however, players will recognize a lot of the world's objects, gun models, and more. The entire expansion takes place on a cargo ship, transporting the umbrella group of a private military contractor (name withheld for possible spoilers) to a secret facility. The episode opens with Jensen being interrogated by a pair of merc leaders asking who he is and who he works for.

Jensen is stripped of his augs... and shirt

 Jensen is stripped of his augmentations, armor, and weapons. He's beaten and bloody but still manages to sneak in some sarcasm, asking the leader where he can file a complaint about the luxury cruise. When he's left alone, his restraints suspiciously pop open and Jensen makes his way through the ship. The entire opening forces players to play with stealth in mind. Jensen is powerless, save for the ability to knock out opponents using what little energy he has left. Your first task is to find your gear and discover where you are, while attempting to reestablish contact with your friends at Sarif Industries. Eventually I made my way outside of the ship where harsh rain was crashing onto the vessel. Gorgeous waves rock the boat from side-to-side. Metal grate walkways line the outside of the ship, forcing players to consider the amount of sound and visibility they can play with while exploring. The progress and augmentation decisions you've made during the retail title do not apply here. Instead, you come across a case of Piraxis points, giving you an opportunity to outfit Jensen specifically for this situation. Because areas are so tight and patrols are so abundant, I decided to use my points to reduce my movement noise and activate enemy vision cones--two things I didn't bother considering in the main game. The content is paced very well. There's a moment where a loud crashing noise is heard and felt below deck and players have the option to investigate, this is the content's way of offering sidequests. There's also plenty of hidden goodies all around the ship in areas that you really have no reason for exploring, which I love. It rewards you in the same way the main game does. The DLC preview ended just after Jensen's mysterious new friend helped him out of a bind with a body scanner, which detected the protagonist as an intruder. Thisdale tells me that playing the content will not spoil the events of the main game, if you decide to skip ahead to it without finishing Human Revolution. It will add more depth to the greater conspiracy surrounding Jensen's quest, he told me. There's no firm release for Deus Ex: Human Revolution 'The Missing Link,' however, we know it will come to the PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and via OnLive in October. Though the Mac version is coming soon, the DLC will not be available when it launches. So far, it looks to be a good addition to the game, and we hope Eidos Montreal has plans for more content in the future.

Xav de Matos was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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