Both are good games, but each has its strength when compared to the other. Deus Ex plays like... well... a Deus Ex game. You go to a city hub area where you can wander around and talk to different people and optionally take on side quests prior to doing story missions that progress the plot. The cyberpunk, sci-fi setting is very well realized and the RPG elements are deeper than in Dishonored and there's a lot more dialog to the story with branching conversation options and a fun "persuasion" system.
Dishonored plays more like a good Thief game. You are plopped into missions that take place in a fairly open area that has multiple paths to a solution. Your character is very mobile so the maps are large both horizontally and vertically with lots of bonus items and lore to be found if you explore. The game also gives you a performance breakdown after each mission in terms of how many people you killed, knocked out, items found, alarms set off, etc.
While Deus Ex had a more epic story that questioned philosophy, the path of human evolution and mankind's affect on it, and how socio-econimic boundaries could create a tremendous class rift in a cyberpunk society, it fell a bit short by the end. Dishonored also had a good story about betrayal, the fate of a kingdom and the morality of revenge.
Overall, both were great games but I might have to give the edge to Disnohored because I felt it was the more complete overall game. While Deus Ex was more complex, I had a few issues with its execution (especially compared to the first game). It was a tad short, the areas were smaller than I expected, the boss battles were poorly designed, there were fewer 'hub' cities to explore, and there was no New Game Plus option which decreased the replay value. However, the new Director's Cut version of the game fixes at least some of these issues by integrating the single player DLC into the main game, redesigning the boss battles, and adding a New Game Plus option.
Dishonored's mission structure, on the other hand, lends the game to better replay value. You can replay individual missions to try for better results in each mission, there are "challenge" maps you can play and two single player DLC packs that act as a side story to the main game.
Both games are great, it just depends on what you think you'd like more based on the descriptions of each. Most people will probably give the edge to Deus Ex, though, because it's the more complex and "open world" of the two games.
-Byshop
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