Deus Ex using Legend engine

By Robert Purchese Published 3 December, 2007

Being taken "very seriously".

Eidos Montreal boss Stephane D'Astous has said Deus Ex 3 will be built on the Tomb Raider: Legend engine.

Working with other Eidos studios like Crystal Dynamics (and IO Interactive) is a big plus for him, as it provides a solid foundation to quickly build upon. However, D'Astous is also adamant this game will not be rushed, but spend a regular two years in development.

"We chose the Crystal engine because we plan to help develop this engine more and then share it back with the rest of the company, the other Eidos studios." Stephane D'Astous told Develop.

"Having that technology from the start gives us a great advantage and foundation for our coders - there are no doubts about the approach, and we have few uncertainties."

Deus Ex 3 will be the first title Eidos Montreal has developed, before it moves on to another existing Eidos IP and then embarks on an original project.

It's taking the resurrection of the action role-playing FPS whatever series very seriously too, and looking to the cherished first instalment for inspiration.

"Deus Ex 3 is an incredible title to be working on, and will also help us attract talent. Real gamers, serious gamers. It's a big mandate we have received - and we take it very seriously," continued D'Astous.

"We have done our homework and we have done a lot of research into it. Our proof of concept was approved last month on our first try - I think we've impressed our colleagues back in the UK."

Deus Ex was released in 2000 and is considered by many to be among the finest games on PC ever. Clearly you are all forgetting about first-person shooter The Mark and its - we kid you not - exploding terrorist enemies.

Deus Ex 3 will be available on PC, 360 and PS3. And you can get a glimpse of the very first trailer over on Eurogamer TV.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (43) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • mull #1 4 years ago

    Deus ex tumbus, then?

  • Cyclone #2 4 years ago

    Looks like they're really intent on copying everything about the original Deus Ex: this one will look quite dated when it is eventually released as well ;)
    Edited by 1 at 03/12/07 @ 10:14

  • JediMasterMalik #3 4 years ago

    I could think of a few engins off the top of my head I'd rather they use. Source, Gamebryo, hell, even UE3.

  • Guv #4 4 years ago

    They planning to release it on the Wii or something?

  • Xiaokiraa #5 4 years ago

    I dont care if it looks dated. What made the original so great wasn't how great it looked, but how it was played, the choices you can make. I am still setting myself up to be disappointed, but may be presently surprised.

  • Caimbeul #6 4 years ago

    /Resigned sigh

    Oh well, I held out hope for a few minutes there. I know graphics are far from the be all and end all but come on! 2 years of development down the line this is going to look terrible.

    Gameplay IS the most important factor but graphics can/do help create a deeper sense of immersion. It doesnt have to be crysis but something on par graphically (especially 2yrs from now) with Unreal 3 would have to be minimum. lets also hope that whatever it turns out like visually that it will be well optimised for each platform.
    Edited by 1 at 03/12/07 @ 10:26

  • mkreku #7 4 years ago

    They should have just bitten the sour grapes and just spent a fortune to get the CryENGINE 2 already. It blows everything out of the water.

    Tomb Raider Ex :(

  • Turambar #8 4 years ago

    I dunno, i kinda like this decision. The Crystal engine looks fantastic for the amount of resources it uses and in my experience it's rock solid. It'll obviously be modified, i just hope those modifications don't come with unreasonable performance penalties. Besides i'm sick of having to upgrade my PC to play the latest FPS.

  • NthSimulachum #9 4 years ago

    Meh, as long as its well written, they could use the Quake engine for all I care.

  • GamesConnoisseur #10 4 years ago

    Deus Ex the first one wasnt exactly using ground breaking graphics even in its own time as I recall. Which we would prefer if they spend chuck of money on getting licence for the engine or using their own resource and thus spending far more money into the development of the game?

    I just hope that the design work would get the most of the budget!

  • Triggerhappytel #11 4 years ago

    Won't the TR: Legend engine be beyond dated by the time this game is due for release?! Not that I'm a graphics whore or anything, but next to Crysis, Bioshock, Far Cry 2, whatever else is out by then, this is going to look incredibly archaic.

  • space_ace #12 4 years ago

    i thought it's the legend entertainment engine, dx as an intricate adventure game... heh

  • The_Pope #13 4 years ago

    I think all the haters need to go and learn what an "engine" really is - they can merrily bin all the graphics stuff and update them while still being "based on a modified Legend engine".

    They can keep stuff like memory management, net code, file structure etc etc etc. There is absolutely no reason why they can't just add a shitload more polys and boost texture detail and the end result doesn't have to look like (what will then be) a three-year old game.

    Why would you spend 2 years and millions of dollars producing a game that (if the haters are to be believed) would look sub-par if it was released *today* ??

    Have a little more faith, y'all

  • mkreku #14 4 years ago

    If they start work on a game using the CryENGINE 2 today, I am sure in 2 years time we'd all have computers capable of running that game flawlessly.

  • Wrestlevania #15 4 years ago

    Can you see my Invisible Whatever?

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #16 4 years ago

    I think the most interestig thing about this is that (ever since Legacy of Kain on PS1) Crystal Dynamics engines have supported continuous streaming of their game worlds. It's funny, but though Tomb Raider: Anniversary is split up into distinct levels, each of the four world-locations are fully interconnected.

    Their engine works much better for that sort of thing than the likes of Unreal does (though maybe not gamebryo, I suppose). A developer making a Deus-Ex game from scratch with the knowledge that they can have huge, seamless worlds from the beginning of development, could do some very interesting things...

  • Moz #17 4 years ago

    I thought the Crystal engine looked quite nice and with some work should make some nice visual, better then UE3 sameo lighting.

    Playing Mass effect the other day and out doors grassy section just look like your playing oblivian!! While the UE3 engine is good it seems a little ridiged, getting bored of everything looking the same!

  • dan13l #18 4 years ago

    It's worth remembering that when Half Life came out, it was based on a "modified" Quake engine, and shat all over it from a great height.

    No reason this can't do the same. To be honest, I'd rather they use an engine that they squeeze the most performance out of, rather than using something that takes a team of highly trained programmer ninjas 24 months to get 15fps out of, and then ships too early to be any good.

  • SlackMaster #19 4 years ago

    Ohh... Deus Ex on Wii... that would be excellent.

    But I'm happy enought ot get it on 360.
    Edited by 1 at 03/12/07 @ 11:01

  • Abscido #20 4 years ago

    You know lads, Half-life ran on the Quake engine.

    EDIT: Pfff, I *thought* of saying it first! ;-)
    Edited by 1 at 03/12/07 @ 11:02

  • smurphs #21 4 years ago

    I thought the graphics in Deus Ex were great, they set a really 'bleak' tone that suited the game perfectly. Sometimes less is more, more-or-less, kind of. Eh?

  • PearOfAnguish #22 4 years ago

    So what?
    They could make in ASCII for all I care, so long as it's well written.

  • groovychainsaw #23 4 years ago

    Yeah, the original was on a modded version of the unreal (1!) engine and due to protracted dev time, already looked dated when it came out. But that just let them spend so much more time on atmosphere and gameplay....

  • andromeda #24 4 years ago

    from the Tomb Raider Legend review

    "But one thing that's simply unacceptable is the sludgy frame rate that seems to follow the game like a bad smell throughout."

    if this is what they are planning as the workhorse for DX3.. bear in mind the additional load required for ai, npcs, etc..they had better give it a complete overhaul..

  • LHH #25 4 years ago

    That sludgy framerate must be a review of the 360 version running at 720p or higher.
    On PS2 and at 420p (I think it's 420..) it plays very smoothly.

    A bit of tweaking and optimizing should see to that. The 360 version of Anniversary and Legend are just bad ports.

  • asphaltcowboy #26 4 years ago

    Hopefully it won't be Di'Asterous then ;)

  • Xune #27 4 years ago

    That piece just referenced two third person titles in relation to Deus Ex. Hope that isn't a sign of things to come.

  • Darren #28 4 years ago

    I hope Deus Ex 3 runs at a higher resolution than the decidely non-HD resolution of 1024x600p for TR: Legend/Aniiversary, neither of which could even manage a smooth 30 fps framerate. /rolls eyes

  • Brakara #29 4 years ago

    Eidos attracting talent? Yeah, right.

  • Lemming81 #30 4 years ago

    *rolls eyes* Again with the armchair game developing. Listen kids, game engine does not = graphics.

    If you don't know what you are talking about, kindly fuck off.

  • kangarootoo #31 4 years ago

    Was going to write something about engines here, but The_Pope said it all really.

    And as others have said, spending money of the development of the game is probably a better idea than chucking half the budget at licensing some posh bit of tech that will only run on 10% of the PCs out there.

  • Vin #32 4 years ago

    Sounds like Thief4 could be the next project.

    Lovely.

    edit: 4, fuckit.
    Edited by 1 at 03/12/07 @ 18:05

  • Grogmonkey #33 4 years ago

    I fondly remember Anachronox on the ol' PC. A troubled development period meant that the game looked really dated when it was finally released. Didn't stop it being a really, really great adventure RPG. And based on the original Quake engine, fiendishly out of date by that point.

    Here's hoping it'll be aces. Really need to get another excellent Deus Ex game. And then kick EA up the ass to get System Shock 3 out.

  • Paukl #34 4 years ago

    I may be wandering naked into a flame pit here, but is this going to hit consoles?

  • HarryB #35 4 years ago

    an engine doesn't determine how good the graphics look...or atleast not to the extent that the graphics will end up the same level as tomb raider. Stop worrying, they are likely to do good things.

  • dudefella #36 4 years ago

    Deus Ex is the best game ever. Do not cock this up, Eidos.

  • dudefella #37 4 years ago

    also, you people whining about the engine: Shut up. I'm willing to wager none of you are software engineers and you know fuck-all about how this stuff works, all you think 'olol tomb raider legend is teh old, it will sux and be ugly'. No. Engines get updated. Look at the Source Engine for proof of this. Call of Duty 4 was built on the same old engine as CoD 2, if I'm not mistaken. etc etc.

  • FooAtari #38 4 years ago

    If using Legend engine helps keeps cost down, or lets them spend more on developing the game play im all for that.

    As others have said, look at games like Half-Life. the engine is just a tool, it's up to the dev to make it work.

    However, sadly I expect another Invisible War :(

  • Caimbeul #39 4 years ago

    @ the pope - Would just like to clarify that we (well, me at least) are not "haters" Just concerned gamers venting our fears for a beloved franchise. Fair enough regarding your comment about the engine, not all here may be aware of such facts. It cannot be ignored though that this will have to be a HEAVILY modded engine to appeal at a visual level by the time it is released (presuming it isnt delayed too much). I think most people here feel the same that graphics arent the be all and end all of a game but they sure are nice and would help promote a greater atmosphere if done right and done well (eg: good art direction - some last gen games look breathtaking still and there were much less polys in those, that way you can get away with using a, lets say more dated engine). At the end of the day none of us know what its going to turn out like and we can but pray they dont cock it up.

    ps: excuse poor grammer as im in a rush to get the hell out of work.

  • smelly #40 4 years ago

    What is it with gamers - the minute they see the word "engine" they presume that just means it'll have the same graphics.

    There's MUCH more to an engine than just the graphical side..

  • PameBoy #41 4 years ago

    Sounds like Xmas 2009 / Summer 2010 release. Good thing about that engine is it's very scaleable. Possible Wii release on the cards? If it keeps selling as well as it has been, they'd be silly not to.

  • andromeda #42 4 years ago

    deus ex Wii???

    gimme me a break, please,..let them have their Poop Training.

  • Darren #43 4 years ago

    @dudefella - Yeah, the three year old Source Engine runs great on the 360... without any anti-aliasing or texture filtering so it makes Half-Life 2 look little better than an upscaled Xbox game, and the the COD4 one can't even manage to run in hi-def. OK, so the latter still looks pretty good admittedly but Half-Life 2 certainly doesn't, it looks passable but dated compared with something like BioShock or The Darkness. IMO. ;)