However, it’s not all stealth and discretionary killing. There is a story going on, one that gives you a lot of interesting information on the Belltower Private Military Corporation. Not everyone you meet is out to kill Adam, and careful exploration of the environment along with conversing with these more peaceful sorts will offer a very compelling look at Belltower and their activities. If you’re among those who believe Deus Ex serves as social commentary on humanity�s potential near-future, The Missing Link may be asking players what might happen due to the rise and growth of real-world PMCs, such as Xe (formerly Blackwater), and it’s certainly a topic worth thinking about. Granted, a lot of the potential for philosophy is tinged with "Oh, and the vast majority of these guys will shoot you on sight since you’re their enemy", so there is only so far this DLC adventure can explore the matter.
Even beyond the possible social commentary, you’ll find plenty of classic Deus Ex style choices to make. Adam may come across someone whose identity he doesn’t know (and cannot determine in any way, they are simply ’unknown person, no details’ to him), and find that they absolutely will die without his immediate help. Do you have Adam presume they’re an innocent person and provide aid? Could that have unintended consequences? Or do you need to spend your time and resources elsewhere? Likewise, how do you react when multiple groups have valid but exclusive needs such that there is no perfect answer to every problem? If you play Jensen as an aggressive warrior who leaves a trail of enemy corpses in his wake and steals anything he needs in his quest, is that really right? You’ll have to find your own answers, but these are the sort of questions you’ll face. You can rest easy knowing that all methods are valid ways to play, and while some characters may not like you being extremely violent the adventure can still be completed no matter how disgusted potential allies might be.
While this DLC pack does a lot of things right, there are some real issues to bring up. The first is an unnecessary and overly frequent use of security door segments; having the player stand still for Adam’s half-minute biometric scan once would be fine... but having it happen close to a dozen times in a roughly five hour adventure becomes annoying; it’s a lot of unnecessary ’dead time’ where you’re doing nothing and not seeing anything interesting. There are also a few augmentations that seem useless; Adam’s social enhancement suite appears to rarely (possibly never?) be relevant and thus not worth spending upgrade points on. A few others also stand out as similarly bad choices, which is strange when one of the advertising points for this DLC was to rebuild a whole new Adam with different augmentation choices. Finally, it’s a little short for the price; a typical run through this should last you about three to six hours (my own run took about five, and that includes being repeatedly distracted by phone calls plus other lengthy interruptions). Any given ’hub’ in the main game was about that long as well, but you got enough of them to add up to a full-length game for the price so The Missing Link’s $15 USD price seems a bit steep for what you get.
Yet as a game experience, The Missing Link is actually pretty fun. While there are a few snags and some augmentations seem nearly useless (it is possible I did not find existing but hidden opportunities, however), it is an interesting exercise in stealth and being extremely careful in picking your fights. You will never have enough firepower to go wild on the enemies you face, so you have to be smart, plan ahead, and have good aim when you decide to attack. This emphasis on stealth, close-combat takedowns, finding clever routes to your destination, and striking only when you have the advantage is very enjoyable and true to the feel of Deus Ex, so fans should find plenty to like. My biggest reservation is the price since $15 USD has it directly competing with some of the best games on Steam, Xbox Live, and Playstation Network (many of which will last far longer than roughly five hours). I am thus left in the odd position of saying that you will enjoy The Missing Link, but it is best purchased only if you don’t mind spending a little more cash than you probably needed to.
