The game seems to focus heavily on the sociopolitical impact of biomodification as seen in the Deus Ex series. There's religious iconography, political divisiveness, potential terrorism, and segregation. And a representation of the Fibonacci sequence.

It is true that the canceled DX3 in development at ION Storm was a prequel. There is no reason to believe (in fact I'd say that it's unlikely) that this team and project are using any material from the canceled one, but that does not rule out the possibility that it is indeed a prequel. For what it's worth, I hope that it is. Part of Deus Ex's appeal to me was how close to home it was in the form of themes, settings, and organizations - DX2 in contrast was a distant futuristic setting which seemed detached from present day reality. DX3 moving in the opposite direction - more towards the real world, seems like it would give more of a good thing. Let's just hope that it doesn't overflow into that dangerously obscure 'too much of a good thing' area which I am not even of liberty to define at the moment. We'll see! I look forward to it.