Deus Ex: Icarus Rising

Icarus Rising logo image

Deus Ex: Icarus Rising was an early prototype of Deus Ex: The Fall. "Icarus Rising" was the original title for the game during its development, appearing in multiple pre-release builds of the prototype as well as in unused graphics in the game files of the released game.

This page documents content developed for the prototype, much of which is considered to be cut content that does not appear in the released game or was heavily revised prior to the game's release.

Development history

Two versions of the Icarus Rising were made publicly accessible in late 2023 due to a leak associated with Apple's TestFlight service: Version 0.0.7 (whose file archive is dated September 5, 2012); and Version 0.6.1 (whose file archive is dated November 19, 2012). Additional information known about the prototype includes a demonstration video released in 2015 by N-Fusion Interactive, the developers of the game, depicting an unspecified version of the prototype.

The title Icarus Rising was likely changed to The Fall by around March 2013, as indicated by the filing of a trademark application for The Fall on March 5, 2013, a few months before The Fall was publicly announced in early June 2013. Prior to the announcement of The Fall in July 2013, the name "Icarus Rising" was also reported by a Reddit user in June as the title of a playtest prototype for the NVidia Shield handheld console.

Icarus Rising build v0.6.1 included three major story segments: Panama City, Australia (specifically, the Zaaphire Biotech HQ), and New York City. The Panama City segment included early plot elements that were later cut or modified in the releases game, while the Australia and New York City segments were not included in the released game. At the time of The Fall's release, the Australia and New York City segments were planned to be part of the continuation for the game, but this continuation was never finished. When The Fall was released, many text descriptions and graphical assets associated with the originally planned Australia and New York City segments were still part of the game files.

Story content

The early version of the story, as known from the early Icarus Rising builds and cut content found in the game files, is summarized below. Due to changes to the story during the course of the game's development, the final part of the original Panama City segment and the plot of the original Australia and New York City segments have major inconsistencies with the released story. The general premise of traveling to Australia and then New York City was later adopted as canon in the novel Deus Ex: Hard Line, but specific plot elements of the original Australia and New York City segments are not mentioned in Hard Line or other Deus Ex series media.

Prologue and Costa Rica

Mission data for build v0.6.1 mentions the story segments "Prologue" and "Costa Rica," along with with the mission ID "Moscow_Tutorial" for the prologue segment, However, no specific story content is known from the early builds.

Panama City

Based on the v0.6.1 missions data, the first half of the early version of the Panama City segment is substantially the same as the released game. At the advice of Janus, Ben Saxon visits a clinic in the slums of Panama City to find an underground doctor named Alvaro Machado (renamed Alvarez Araujo in the released game) in order to obtain Neuropozyne. Alvaro is out of Neruopozyne, but offers Saxon a new drug called Riezol (renamed Riezene in the released game) manufactured by Zaphire Biotech (renamed to "Zaaphire Biotech" (with two a's) in the released game).

Alvaro directs Saxon to find Camila Rocha (renamed Camila Cardoso in the released game) at the local LIMB clinic. Camila explains that gangs peddling black market Riezol are destroying LIMB's Neuropozyne business, and killing off customers. Similar to the story in the released game, Saxon helps Camila by pushing out one of the local Riezol-dealing gangs. In return, Camila agrees to supply him and Anna Kelso with Neuropozyne.

From this point, the early version of the Panama City story has some key differences from the released story.

• The next (and final) main mission in Panama is called "Shadow Augs" and features an augmentation called the "Argus Implant" that is discovered to be hidden in Saxon's brain. The mission description states: "Camila and Alvaro have me convinced there is some sort of 'shadow aug' in my brain." The Argus Implant, which would later serve as a motivation for Saxon to travel to Australia, was entirely cut from the released game, and the mission was renamed to Dark Ties.
• In the missions data for v0.6.1, Saxon meets Alex Vega at the Nightshade bar, and agrees to help her check on a VIP that she's been assigned to transport. This portion is consistent with the released game. However, in the actual Nightshade map for v0.6.1, Saxon instead meets Kaspar Havekes, who tasks Saxon to check on the VIP. Kaspar's portrait still exists in the v0.6.1 data, whereas Alex does not have a character portrait, indicating that by the time of v0.6.1, the developers were still in the process of replacing Kaspar with Alex. In both builds, Jock's infolink portrait from Deus Ex is used a placeholder for Kaspar's infolink portrait, while the generic scientist model is used for his character model.
• Similar to the released game, the VIP (named Stuart St. John in the released game) is assassinated. However, in v0.6.1, Saxon only believes that the Tyrants were involved, whereas in the released game, the VIP is overtly assassinated by the Tyrants in front of Saxon. In the released game, Sam Duarte conducts the assassination and reveals himself to Saxon as a member of the Tyrants. However, in the early version of the story, he does not appear in Panama, as he is still recuperating from his injuries until Saxon meets him in Australia.
• In the early version of the story, Saxon hacks into Belltower (presumably at the Belltower helipad facility), which enables Janus to uncover proof of Tyrant involvement with Belltower in Panama and Zaphire Biotech in Australia. In released game, Janus is not involved in this part of the story.

While the "Shadow Augs" main mission was revised compared to the released game, the Panama City side quests in v0.6.1 are substantially the same as those of the release game, except that the Missing Junkie mission does not appear in the missions list for v0.6.1.

Australia - Zaaphire Biotech facility

Early gameplay footage depicting the roof of Zaaphire's facility in Australia

Main article: Zaaphire Biotech facility (DXTF cut content)

The original story of the Australia segment is known from a combination of cut content in the released game, as well as from the early builds. The v0.0.7 and v0.6.1 builds both contained playable maps for the entire Australia segment. This set of the maps is designated as a "vertical slice" (a game development term for a fully playable portion of a game containing all of its gameplay systems), suggesting that they were among the first levels completed for the game.

In the original story, Saxon heads to Australia to confront Isaac Tiven after learning that that Tiven was the creator of the Argus Implant (unused story data in the released game states: "After learning that Isaac Tiven created the Argus Implant in his head, Ben heads to Zaphire Biotech in Australia to confront him."). There, he meets Tiven, who explains to Saxon that the Argus Implant was a tracking and data gathering device used by Belltower. Tiven also explains that Zaphire has unethically accelerated the testing of Riezene in order to move it to the market more quickly, but Tiven himself is very enthusiastic in how Zaphire is "challenging" VersaLife's market share by supplanting Neuropozyne with Riezol.

After meeting with Tiven, Saxon encounters Sam Duarte, who is still recovering from the injuries (presumably the injuries he sustained during the events of the novel Deus Ex: Icarus Effect). Sam, who now a member of the Tyrants, thinks that Saxon betrayed him. Before they can talk any further, Namir, Barret, and Federova appear, knocking Saxon unconscious. However, Saxon survives the encounter and heads to New York City together with Alex Vega.

Since the Argus Implant was cut from the released story, and Saxon's encounter with Sam was changed to take place in Panama City, an actual continuation of the game would have required revisions to the plot in order to maintain consistency with the released game. How the story was planned to be revised is not known.

New York subway station in Icarus Rising v0.6.1

New York City

Main article: New York City (DXTF cut content)

In New York City, Saxon meets with Anna Kelso, who sends him to a LIMB clinic. At the clinic, Saxon meets Dr. Tiven again, who has had a change of heart and removes the Argus Implant from Saxon's head. Anna also informs Saxon that she knows of a hacker called "Widow," operating on the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, who can access Zaaphire's records at the local Metridyne Bank. Saxon plants an uplink at the bank, and Widow begins the hack. The hack recovers evidence of VersaLife's involvement in setting up Zaaphire Biotech. However, Kelso is captured by Sam, and a Belltower strike team attacks the carrier. Saxon then confronts Sam at the rooftop of the United Global Stock Exchange, where Kelso is being held.

Few assets pertaining the New York City Segment are found in the Deus Ex: Icarus Rising early builds. Version 0.6.1 contains only two maps with partially-completed textured environments, namely "NYC Bank" and "NYC Subway." However, details on the missions are known from game files of the released game.

References in subsequent Deus Ex series media

The general premise of the cut story content is adopted in the novella Deus Ex: Hard Line, which mentions that "Vega became caught up in Saxon’s crusade against the conspirators, a path that took them to Australia and then back to the USA, to New York." In Hard Line, it is also mentioned that Saxon introduces Vega to Janus shortly after the events in New York.

Ben Saxon's discovery of VersaLife's involvement in Zaaphire Biotech is confirmed in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. In Mankind Divided, Alex Vega recounts to Adam Jensen that VersaLife was involved with the events that she stumbled upon while she was in Panama. A loading screen text in Mankind Divided also confirms VersaLife's involvement; the loading screen text states: "In 2027, Vega stumbled upon a plot involving her employers and a deadly drug made by VersaLife. She had to leave Panama in a hurry." 

Panama City missions in v0.6.1

Mission Name	Objective	Description of Objective
Primary Missions
LOCATE ALVARO MACHADO	LOCATE ALVARO MACHADO	Janus gave me a lead on an underground doctor who runs a clinic in the slums of Panama City. Supposedly he has a line on black market Neuropozyne, which is just what I need.
SECURE NEUROPOZYNE	VISIT PANAMA CITY LIMB	Alvaro offered me a new drug called Riezol but he was out of Neuropozyne. He said the only way I could get Nu-Poz was by talking to his friend at LIMB. Her name is Camila Rocha.
	MEET WITH COBRA	Camila wants me to meet with the arms dealer Cobra in the train station. Hopefully he can get me the equipment I need.
	ELIMINATE THE RIEZOL SHIPMENT	Camila says that gangs peddling black market Riezol are destroying LIMB's Neuropozyne business, and killing off customers. She offered a secure supply of untraceable Nu-Poz if I eliminate the gang's recent Riezol shipment.
	PURSUADE THE GANG LEADER	Camila wants me to destroy the gang's Riezol shipment. But if I can convince the pushers to stay out of downtown it will have the same effect, with less bloodshed.
	MEET WITH CAMILA ROCHA	The gangs won't be pushing Riezol in the downtown area anymore. Hopefully Camila will make good on her word and supply me with Neuropozyne.
SHADOW AUGS	FIND A BELLTOWER CONTACT	Camila and Alvaro have me convinced there is some sort of 'shadow aug' in my brain. Anna and I won't have to worry about Neuropozyne for a while, but I can't go back into hiding without finding out what's in my head, who put it there, and why. They suggested I check out Nightshade, a bar that's popular with local Belltower agents.
	CHECK ON THE INSPECTOR	I met a hotshot Belltower pilot named Alex Vega. She's concerned about her employer's involvement in illegal Riezol shipments. She thinks the VIP she's been assigned to may be the target of an assassination plot, and she could end up as collateral damage. I agreed to check on the mark, and warn him.
	WARN ALEX	When I met the inspector in his hotel room I witnessed his assassination. The Tyrants are definitely involved. I've got to warn Alex at Nightshade.
	LIBERATE ALEX'S VTOL	I made a deal with Alex. If I can hack the surveilance system watching over her VTOL, she will fly me out of Panama City.
	REACH THE HELIPAD ATOP HOTEL ETANA	When I hacked into Belltower security Janus took the opportunity to raid their system. Janus uncovered proof of Tyrant involvement with Belltower in Panama and Zaphire Biotech in Australia. Alex is going to fetch her VTOL and meet me on top of Hotel Etana in downtown Panama City.
Secondary Missions
DRUG RUNNER	FIND THE GANGBANGER JOEY	Alvaro's usual drug runner Joey is missing and he owes Alvaro a shipment of Rievido, a component of Riezol. Alvaro will pay me if I can find Joey and return the shipment.
	LOCATE JOEY'S LOST PACKAGE	Joey said he lost Alvaro's package while partying outside Nightshade on the boardwalk. The cops were about to shake him down so he stashed the drugs nearby. But he was to trashed he can't remember where he put them.
	RETURN THE PACKAGE TO ALVARO	I found Joey's lost package. If I return it to Alvaro he'll owe me some hard earned cash.
DIRTY DEEDS	GET THE GANG LEADER'S POCKET SECRETARY	The arms dealer 'Cobra' got on the bad side of a local gang. He wants me to find the gang leader's pocket secretary so he can out manueversic them. He says the boss keeps the device close, so I'll need to knock him out or kill him to get it.
	MEET WITH COBRA	I secured the gang leaders pocket secretary. If I can find Cobra and deliver the device, we'll owe me a big favor.
STALKERS	DEAL WITH THE THUGS STALKING CAMILA'S APARTMENT	Camila is afraid to go home because her apartment is being watched by some local thugs. She wants me to check things out, and 'take care' of the thugs, anyway I see fit.
	TALK TO CAMILA	I dealt with the punks outside Camila's place. She owes me big now and I just need to collect my reward.
RATTING OUT	STEAL ALVARO'S POCKET SECRETARY	One of the downtown cops is leading an investigation into illicit Riezol on the streets. He suspects Alvaro is dealing the stuff and wants me to find proof.
	WARN ALVARO ABOUT INVESTIGATION	I don't want to rat on Alvaro. If I warn him about the investigation he'll have enough time to get out of town and avoid arrest.
	RETURN TO POLICE INVESTIGATOR	I have the evidence against Alvaro. If I return it to the police investigator I can claim a reward.

Gallery

This section includes general images and images pertaining to the Panama City segment of the story. For Images pertaining to the Australia and New York City segments of the story, please see the cut story content articles linked above.

Menus and interfaces

v0.6.1 title screen, showing the version number at the bottom left

v0.6.1 main menu

v0.6.1 level selection interface

v0.0.7 title screen

Panama City loading screen images

BoardwalkHUB ‎

DowntownHUB ‎

UndergroundDoc

LimbClinic ‎

TrainStation ‎

NightClub ‎

DrugDenEntry

DrugDen ‎(also in the files of the release game) ‎

DrugDenGarage ‎

DrugDenLab ‎

Corporate ‎

Belltower ‎

BelltowerFacility ‎

Belltower Helipad ‎

HotelLobby

HotelRooms ‎ ‎

HotelRoof ‎

Portraits

Anna Kelso

Barrett

Eliza

Hardesty

Isaac

Janus

Kaspar

Namir

Sam

Widow

Turntable models

Ben Saxon

Anna Kelso

Sam Duarte

Adam Jensen

Belltower Grunt

Miscellaneous

Early Anna Kelso model

Early Ben Saxon design

Janus monitor image (Char_janus_monitor)

Zaphire logo flag showing the early spelling of "Zaaphire" with one "a"

Notes

• Icarus Rising v0.6.1 includes the following maps: Turn Table, Enemy Test, Panama Belltower Base, Panama Belltower Helipad, Panama Drug Den Start, Panama Drug Den Garage, Pana Drug Den Lab, Panama Corporation, Panama Hotel Lobby, Panama Hotel Rooms, Panama Slums, Panama Downtown, Panama Boardwalk, VS - Rooftop Start, VS - Rooftop Helipad, VS - Executive, VS - Security, VS - Lab, VS - Confrontation, Nightshade, Sneaker Den, Box Guard Test, Panama LIMB Clinic, Underground Doctor, NYC Whitebox, Kris_NewHacks, NYC Bank, NYC Subway.