Missing Insight

Deus Ex:HR, The Missing Link is hardly worth your time unless you are a completist, and is a lukewarm enterprise compared to the main game. It does deliver more action-wise, yet this hardly makes up for a story that, while it ties in with the ending of the main adventure, feels a bit thin.

The DLC explores a three day period in the final chapters of the main game after Jensen emerges from a stasis pod. The cargo ship levels are well designed and reminded me of the great Cold Fear, but somehow no game can match the former's watery atmosphere.

There is some backtracking near the end, which is not particularly annoying yet feels a bit like a b-side. Gameplay-wise, there is also nothing new under the sun. I wondered whether I should write this review or not, given how short the add-on is (as they all are). That is, unless you count Bioshock 2 as gaming's longest add-on, as no novelty whatsoever was put into that game.

Some have suggested TML should have been part of the main adventure, and I'm inclined to agree. In the end, there is some great voice acting to be found, although the developers once again incur in the use of clichés. Note to Square Enix; a character should never be defined by nationality or regionalisms alone.