A long-simmering project to run Deus Ex through Unreal Engine 5 looks to introduce a VR mode, modern lighting, and more previously impossible transformations to the PC classic

I've never had the space in my life or my house for a VR setup, but the promise of having an all-time favorite like Resident Evil 4 or Jedi Academy transformed by the tech always gives me pause. The DXU24 mod project for the original Deus Ex seems set to offer that and more.

DXU24's anonymous creator put out a massive development update for the project clocking in just shy of 27 minutes on YouTube. Rather than offering a straight engine port like Daggerfall Unity or one of those "Nintendo, hire this man!" UE5 recreations of a classic gaming locale, DXU24's bedrock is a custom solution to translate Unreal Engine 1 into UE5 at runtime. DXU24 explains it far better than I could on the project's Patreon page:

"You need a copy of the original game for this to run at all. The general idea is the original game is booted as it normally would be, and through my software, communicates with another running instance of Unreal Engine 5. Through this communication link the games state, assets, everything, is communicated to Unreal Engine 5 and reinterpreted as a modern game asset, all at runtime."

Running the O.G. Deus Ex this way opens up the potential for all kinds of advanced rendering techniques and features that were previously off-limits, like Lumen global illumination and VR support, the latter of which is a primary focus of DXU24.

An older video showing DXU24 running in VR at the Paris hub's La Porte de l'Enfer nightclub really captures my imagination, this potential to be immersed in one of my favorite fictional worlds like never before. DXU24 is also committed to getting the gameplay right, to the point of fully reimplementing Deus Ex's weapons for the VR mode. DXU24 shows off that kind of sick VR tactility you're used to seeing in games like Boneworks or Half-Life Alyx, with full manual reloading of a physics-based magazine and other interactive moving parts.

(Image credit: DXU24, Ion Storm)

Rad as it is, I still don't know if I'm getting a VR headset any time soon, which is where DXU24's graphics and modding options come in. A May 2023 video showing Maggie Chow's apartment in the original game and modded in DXU24 (by creator Crimzan) side-by-side really lights my fire. The UE5 version avoids that awful "HD remaster mod" look, instead offering something super slick that reminds me most of Nightdive's recent System Shock remake, this deliberate contrast between advanced lighting and texture work with more low-fi assets.

We won't have terribly long to wait for a release either, with DXU24's developer offering a tentative mid-2024 release window, and the project will be available on Steam for $12. You can follow DXU24 on YouTube and Twitter, or subscribe to the project's Patreon for more updates.

In the meantime, there are plenty of other Deus Ex overhaul projects that may tickle your fancy in our guide to having the best Deus Ex experience today, while the Deus Ex Randomizer mod offers perhaps the most chaotic way to experience Ion Storm's classic.

Associate Editor

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch.

Read more
Screenshots from Half-Life 2 RTX, showing the various new effects delivered by full ray tracing and enhanced assets.
I just played Half-Life 2 RTX, a fully ray-traced overhaul of the original, and its meaty headcrabs have me hankering for more
Shodan, the villainous AI from System Shock
Nightdive's remaster of System Shock 2, the peak of immersive sims, finally has a release date
Dark Messiah duel
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic gets co-op mode and extra content thanks to the mod community's collaboration with Ubisoft: 'To see it all come together has been very emotional for us'
Top-down view of a ship in Duskers.
The best unofficial Alien game is getting a spiritual successor where you carve up derelict ships and manage drones with 'personality quirks'
Skyblivion evil character
With the next Elder Scrolls and Fallout games still years away, here are 6 upcoming total conversion mods for Skyrim and Fallout 4 to get excited about
Skyblivion
Fan remake of Oblivion in Skyrim has a new video, looks amazing, is set for release 'this year,' and I struggle to imagine the rumoured official Oblivion remake doing much better
Latest in RPG
Metaphor: ReFantazio character art
Metaphor: ReFantazio battle director says turn-based RPGs can still be just as popular as action RPGs: 'I personally believe turn-based games have a long future ahead of them'
Geralt sitting on a wall wearing a Cyberpunk jacket modded by TheRealArdCarraigh
The Witcher 3 devs had to practically remake the game engine to make official modding possible
Serana from Skyrim, modded to look like a desiccated corpse.
Skyrim realism mod fixes your vampire girlfriend, giving her a voice and look more suited to someone who just got out of a coffin after 2,000 years
Minthara BG3 looking upset
Another round of Baldur's Gate 3 unearthing reveals Minthara can end up living in a sewer, an unused beach ending, and more
Person battling bizarre four-eyed monster with stylish UI elements surrounding them
Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio's UI designer is open to accessibility options for players who find the stylish menus overstimulating: 'That is something we understand we'll need to work on and provide in the future'
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth money farm - Super Crazy Delivery
Like a Dragon series director sums up why sidequests are essential to a great RPG with a single metaphor: 'a good main dish alone will not earn you a Michelin star'
Latest in News
A True Kin knight stands in a ruin in Caves of Qud, flanked by bloodstained furniture and a freshly mortalized corpse.
Despite making a roguelike where you can have countless arms and legs, Caves of Qud's creators say the ideal form is a limbless sphere: 'We started in perfection and only moved farther from God'
Civilization 7 Great Britain - Modern Civ art (via YouTube)
As Civilization 7 struggles to keep up with Civ 5 player counts, a new patch is coming tomorrow with still more UI changes and gameplay tweaks
Metaphor: ReFantazio character art
Metaphor: ReFantazio battle director says turn-based RPGs can still be just as popular as action RPGs: 'I personally believe turn-based games have a long future ahead of them'
assassin's creed shadows review
Assassin's Creed Shadows streamer goes viral after confronting whining commenters: 'Normal people don't get upset about this sh***'
Assassin's Creed Shadows change seasons - An upper-body shot of Yasuke looking cheerfully up into the distance.
'This is just the beginning': Assassin's Creed Shadows dev team thanks fans for their support and promises more to come in the future
Geralt sitting on a wall wearing a Cyberpunk jacket modded by TheRealArdCarraigh
The Witcher 3 devs had to practically remake the game engine to make official modding possible