Based on the New York City upbringing of designer Warren Spector and functioning as a tutorial level, it is set on a facsimile of the real-life Liberty Island, where the player character, JC Denton, has been sent to quell an armed insurgency that has seized the headquarters of UNATCO, a fictional United Nations counterterrorist organization.

Upon proceeding into the level, Denton's handler, Alex Jacobsen, advises him to shoot on sight, demonstrating a marked difference between UNATCO's stated policy of non-lethality, as suggested by Paul, and its orders in practice.

[3] It was created due to Warren Spector having grown up in New York City, leading him to want to feature locations such as Battery Park and Liberty Island.

Ultimately, the team developed rules that there should be negative space between encounters, leading to Liberty Island being designed with empty areas for "quiet, reflective moments".

Calling it a "trial by fire", he remarked that it was "the perfect introduction to Deus Ex’s unsurpassed freedom of play", noting the numerous ways the player could infiltrate the complex.

[2] Tom Francis of the same publication claimed that he always used Liberty Island as an example of what made Deus Ex great, calling it "huge for an open-air level" despite being small by real-world standards.

Club stated that Liberty Island was the most clear example of the philosophy of choice present in Deus Ex, forcing players to ask questions more complex than simply which weapon to use.

[5] Wireframe magazine called Liberty Island an "iconic opening mission", a "fine tutorial", and an example of a setting that complemented the core gameplay.

Describing it as both an introduction to freeform gameplay and a means to build on the game's lore, the magazine stated that the "simple objective" of infiltrating the Statue of Liberty allowed the player to pivot around a "fixed point".

The end of the level reveals that the attackers were simply unable to obtain the Ambrosia vaccine due to its distribution to the rich and powerful, casting the morality of killing them into doubt.

[7] The Statue of Liberty is depicted without its head, a metaphorically significant visual reminiscent of Planet of the Apes (1968) that indicates the loss of democracy, and showing that war in the 21st century would be waged with symbolic acts.