The release of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is now just weeks away. This latest installment looks set to continue exploring the themes and ideas which have come to define previous Deus Ex games. In particular, the game will continue to follow the story of Adam Jensen – who was introduced to players as the protagonist of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Taking place in the near-future, these games present a time of scientific innovation and discovery. However, it’s also a period shaped by anxieties and fears concerning the implications of life in a world which is increasingly reliant on, and mediated by, man-made technologies. Adam Jensen is positioned at the centre of complex political and social conflicts over ‘augmentation’: the process of enhancing the human body by incorporating robotic elements and other high-tech modifications. Deus Ex: Human Revolution allows players to take control of Jensen (and his augmentations) as the characters navigates a minefield of issues relating to what it means to be an augmented human. In this post, I want to look at some of the larger ideas at play in Deus Ex: Human Revolution – particularly its exploration of transhumanism. I’m going to be analysing the game’s historical influences using Posthuman theory as a lens under which we can study elements of the game’s story, visual design and gameplay.

Posthumanism is the study, or imagining, of a world where humans are no longer at the centre of civilisation. A Posthuman world might be one in which technology and data rules the roost, a society in which humans (in the sense of the organic human body) are no longer assumed to be the supreme driving force behind innovation and achievement. It’s an idea that was very much developed within Science Fiction, but it is increasingly being used a way of thinking about and understanding our own era. Rosi Braidotti, a contemporary philosopher, published a fantastic introduction to these ideas – simply titled The Posthuman. In this book Braidotti asserts that “The posthuman provokes elation but also anxiety about the possibility of a serious de-centring of ‘Man’, the former measure of all things”. This is a reference to the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Protagoras who once famously declared that “man is the measure of all things”. Deus Ex: Human Revolution takes place in an era where these words are becoming harder and harder to cling to as they quickly become outmoded.

On the subject of the Greeks – Deus Ex: Human Revolution borrows one key concept from Greek mythology which permeates the game, its marketing campaigns and its core imagery: the story of Icarus and his father Daedalus. The myth of Icarus is a classic tale familiar to many. It’s also of particular interest when thinking about transhumanism and is often cited as an early example of Posthuman thought. Icarus is trapped on the island of Crete and his human body does not possess the right set of abilities to escape from it. His father Daedalus invents a set of wings which can be attached to his body and used to fly to safety. However, Icarus is not able to cope with the power and responsibility that comes with his newly augmented body – he flies too close to the sun, his wings melt and he crashes into the ocean. This story is everywhere in Deus Ex. After undergoing augmentation to not only repair but also improve his body – Adam Jensen dreams he is Icarus. His dream, in which he inhabits a body which is altered by a mechanical invention (wings) to achieve great things – ascending higher and higher but also into danger – very much mirrors the events of the game. The wing motif features throughout the game and Adam Jensen is often pictured in marketing material with a set of golden wings.

In the Icarus story, the human body is de-centred: it is not Icarus who is the conduit for great achievement but rather his mechanical wings. In the context of Deus Ex: Human Revolution Icarus’ story plays on anxieties that the inventions of man will succeed us, reaching greater heights than mankind themselves are capable of. Icarus’ tragic end reiterates that the human body can also be destroyed completely if it fails to cope with, mediate and control the new abilities which present themselves through technological innovation and the modification of the human body.

References to Icarus and Daedalus can be found throughout the game, mostly in visual clues such as the large sculpture outside of Serif Industries’ offices. Sarif Industries are an fictional in-game company who pioneer research, engineering and innovation in the field of human augmentation. Their work is framed as deeply controversial and they are often the target of protests and even terrorist attacks by groups such as “Purity First” who believe in the natural supremacy of the unmodified human body and find Sarif’s work to be unethical and profane. They are also Adam Jensen’s employer and are the reason he received augmentations without his consent. Much of the Icarus imagery and references in Deus Ex: Human Revolution are centred on Sarif, and the company’s CEO: David Sarif. Players can discover an e-book, written by David Sarif, titled ‘Building Wings: A Better Tomorrow’ which frames augmentation as “a mechanism whereby humans can transcend their limitations”. Depending on how the player approaches the game and which choices they make, they may also encounter dialogue in which David Sarif directly likens himself to Daedalus, regarding Adam Jensen as his child – Icarus.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is an incredibly inter-textual game; it draws on a variety of sources from art, literature, history and philosophy and layers them against each other to create a complex game-world. Another of the game’s major influences is the Italian Renaissance. In an interview with Mike Schramm, the game’s Art Director – Jonathan Jacques-Belletête – described the game’s visual aesthetic as “Cyber Renaissance”. In the same interview, Belletête made what I think is an astounding claim, stating that: “[Deus Ex’s setting and the Italian Renaissance are] almost one and the same era […] It’s like the Renaissance was the stepping stone towards a full-fledged transhumanist era.” We often see the game responding to this idea visually; many of the more pro-augmentation characters wear costumes designed to reflect renaissance styles.

Baroque imagery is also a core part of the game’s aesthetic, with baroque patterns often appearing in character’s clothing as well. Much of the game’s interior design is also influenced by the baroque style – including many of the LIMB (Liberation in Mind and Body) clinics where players can go to purchase and upgrade augmentations. Adam Jensen’s apartment also features many baroque elements including the furniture and distinctive door and window frames. For me, the references to baroque make more sense than the game’s perceived connection with Renaissance ideals. The baroque style is often perceived as the antithesis to the art of the renaissance – it’s about embellishment, ornamentation and improvement for the sake of it. The baroque movement was all about sticking a giant, gaudy gold frame around an already opulent painting because … more is more. Equally, the pro-augmentation characters in Deus Ex: Human Revolution often view the addition of cybernetic limb to an already functional body in a similar way. Their philosophy is one of innovation and improvement as a form of excess. This is perhaps much more in line with the hedonistic aesthetics of baroque than with the more reserved rationality of the Renaissance.

In fact, the Italian Renaissance really laid the foundations for what we think of as the human subject. Posthuman scholars like Rosi Braidotti are fascinated by Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man as a definitive work on the natural harmony and balance of the un-altered human body. Whereas Deus Ex: Human Revolution takes place in a world which is tearing these principals apart at the seams. The defining point of entering into a Posthuman era is that questions once supposedly settled by the renaissance – such as “what are the qualities of humanity?” and “what makes a human?” – have to be revisited once more, and I’m not convinced da Vinci would be best pleased with the answers Deus Ex puts forward. Regardless of da Vinci’s approval, it seems science fiction, games and film may have replaced traditional renaissance art forms as the spaces in which this exact conversation is taking place. I like looking at games in this regard because the medium itself seems emblematic of our culture’s shift towards Posthumanism. In Da Vinci’s art, for example, the trace of humanity (the human body) is always discernible – in the form of pen and brush strokes denoting the physical movement of the artist’s hand across the page. We flock to galleries to position our bodies close to the “original” artwork that still bears the traces of the artist’s bodily movement. We use our bodies (eyes) to search for any remaining trace of theirs. However, when you play a videogame it’s almost impossible to ascertain any trace of the many, many artist’s hands that have molded and shaped it into the product you’re experiencing.

Playing a videogame can be an extremely Posthuman way of experiencing art – one which is mediated by technology, one which can often only be accessed when the human body is assisted by the use of peripherals, such as keyboards and controllers. However, Deus Ex: Human Revolution always remains highly reverential towards older and more established art forms. It’s still deeply entangled with the literature, philosophy and art which came into being at a time when human supremacy – and even divinity – was all but presumed. David Sarif keeps a painting in his office which appears to pay homage to Rembrant’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, a painting which perhaps champions medical science as the gateway to truly understanding what it means to be human. The telescope in Adam Jensen’s apartment is perhaps a nod to the Italian astronomer Galileo who once asserted that the earth, and thus mankind, did not reside at the centre of the universe.