Not-Deus Ex: First Look At New Game's Engine

Eidos Montreal aren't saying this is a screenshot from the next Deus Ex game, right. Today they announced the shiny new(ish) engine that'll power their next cyberfest, and simply wanted to illustrate that with an image. This here Dawn Engine is based on "a heavily modified version" of Glacier 2, the engine IO Interactive created for Hitman: Absolution. This Dawn demo screenshot is perhaps not Newus Ex, but it is quite Human Revolution-y in its gold-washed technohole with metal walls, metal floors, and so many cables and tube lights, yet incongruously swanky furniture.

Click this thing here for a big old 2.6MB 1080p version of the screenshot. And here's Eidos Montreal explaining what you're looking at:

We wanted to share a first glimpse of what we aim to achieve, with a screenshot taken directly from the Dawn Engine. Keep in mind – despite any hints you may pick up from this image, this screenshot was only taken in order to display the level of detail and artistic fidelity that is possible with the Dawn Engine.

Which is a bit of funny thing to say, given that so much detail is covered up with that golden glow. It is a nicely-rendered golden glow, mind. And I do like all those cables. Great cables. I'm excited for games with all those cables. It might not be a screenshot of the next Deus Ex, but the art syle is familiar and I wouldn't be surprised if the scene is built using some of the game's assets. So I have high hopes for those cables. Cables are the new triangles.

Dawn will be used to power various parts of Square Enix's wider 'Deus Ex Universe' project which, for the thousandth time, is not the name of an MMO. It's a somewhat puzzling branding exercise that they say "will of course include core games, as well as any other projects that will help bring the world of Deus Ex to life." Spin-offs, mobile games, comics, toys, cartoons, breakfast cereals, tofu snacks, trenchcoats, mirrorshades - who knows where it might lead! Or when, for that matter.