It’s been 5 years since Square Enix brought the Deus Ex franchise back from the dead. The success of Deus Ex: Human Revolution made it possible for the publisher to release the sequel, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
In fact, both titles actually take place many years before the events of the original Deus Ex. Anyone who is new to the story of Adam Jensen can catch up with a handy video describing everything that happened in Human Revolution, included in the game’s main menu. It’s been 2 years since the world turned on augmented individuals after The Incident that turned otherwise civilised individuals that had mechanical augmentations into homicidal maniacs.
Funnily enough, the controversial Human Revolution ending that gave players the option to pick one of multiple endings doesn’t seem to have an impact on Mankind Divided. Then again it’s not like the title could pick up on the choices made by players in the first title considering the lack of a save file import feature and that Human Revolution came out on the previous hardware generation.
Fortunately the choices made in Mankind Divided have a more meaningful impact. For example, there are moments where it is necessary to pick one of two missions due to time constraints. The choice made will then influence the outcome of events late into the story. It’s never been more vital to pay careful attention to dialogue options as well since these will also have an impact on how other characters treat Adam. Although it’s clear that there are choices that will lead to a desirable ending, it is still interesting to see that the title gives players the freedom to pick choices that lead to less positive endings.
It’s not just the outcome of the story that players have some control over. As usual for a Deus Ex title, it’s also possible to play missions in different ways in order to get through the various obstacles and challenges. Being able to play through these based on a preferred play style is definitely one of the highlights. The tools are there for players that want to behave like Rambo or prefer to take out enemies silently without being spotted. What’s even better is that this also applies to the few boss battles.
It’s interesting to notice how side missions have taken on a life of their own in this sequel. Some of them even end up being part of the main story and the way that some of these side missions are completed even has an effect on some of the main missions. The complexity of some of the evolving story-lines in side quests is fascinating. One such side quest involves looking for evidence to exonerate a murder suspect and there are various outcomes depending on the evidence gathered. Some of the side missions almost feel like they belong in a different video-game due to surprising outcomes and the fact that some even have their own boss battles.
The greater degree of freedom given to players in this sequel is made clear during conversations. It’s great to be able to behave differently around certain characters based on the player’s opinion of them. Like withholding information from people that seem suspicious and only show it to those deemed trustworthy. But what really matters is seeing how this all plays out later into the story.
There is more than one control scheme as a way to cater for both newcomers and those that played the previous title. The new control scheme used for Mankind Divided works well enough. Although there were some moments when it was difficult to stick to some of the covers. Those used to the Human Revolution control scheme might also accidentally trigger the incorrect actions. Fortunately the addition of both control schemes makes it easy to make use of the one that is most suitable to the needs of the player.
Most of the story is spent in Prague when not taking on one of the few main missions. There is another smaller hub consisting of Golem City where most augmented individuals have been forced to live in. But otherwise, Adam only gets to check out new locations when going away on missions and most of these are set inside buildings. In fact, the Prague hub is used to demonstrate how augmented individuals are made to feel inferior. Tensions between both factions culminate in a city wide curfew, after a series of unfortunate events, where anyone found outside is shot on sight that makes completing hub objectives more time consuming that it should have.
Despite the fact that it takes a good fifteen/twenty hours to complete the story and all the side missions, it still feels somewhat shorter than the previous entry. Perhaps it’s due to the character spending so much time in the main location. Although it doesn’t help that the story is at its best in the last few hours building up to a tense situation that doesn’t really feel like the climax that the game deserved. It’s in these rare instances when players have to make decisions under pressure where Mankind Divided truly manages to outshine Human Revolution’s story.
Given that this is a direct sequel, Adam has all the augmentations he didn’t ask for in Human Revolution. He was also given a few additional experimental augmentations during a period of time that he was unconscious for after the events of Human Revolution. The catch is that he loses the use of most of his old augmentations and only a certain number of new augmentations can be used at a time. So he ends up having to activate most of his old augmentations, whilst ensuring his system isn’t overloaded by not activating too many experimental augmentations at the same time. There is an optional workaround to activating every augmentation without any complications that involves obtaining a certain item though. As with Human Revolution, one or more Praxis kits are required to activate each augmentation.
Visually, Mankind Divided looks similar to the previous title. It’s interesting to see that the setbacks caused by the incident have resulted in a mankind that doesn’t openly embrace technology as it did two years ago. Instead, a lot of the locations Adam visits look worn out. On contrast, most of the user interface from the menus to the hacking mini-games have been given a welcome makeover, that makes them easier to use and like they truly belong in a sci-fi vision of what the future potentially has in store for humanity.
Although mostly minor, there are some issues spotted throughout the course of the story. The drops in framerate in the hub are an obvious side-effect of splitting it into bigger areas – rather than making players have to wait for smaller areas to be loaded. There were a couple of instances where subtitles didn’t appear. The lengthy loading times when using a safe file might also test the patience of those who rely on these to rectify a mistake or merely died and want to continue from the latest save.
As usual, the soundtrack provides some superb music tracks that somehow manage to evoke the sense of helplessness that seems to follow Adam wherever he goes. Despite being a story about someone trying to track down those responsible for the mess the world is in, it often feels more like Adam is in way over his head.
New to Deus Ex is the Breach mode which is like a collection of simple Portal like puzzle maps. The idea is to complete objectives that usually revolve around collecting data and then escaping. There are the usual obstacles to consider whilst completing these, like enemies and other hazards. It’s slightly different from the main story mode in that it uses augmentations to gain virtual abilities. It also uses new ideas like cards to earn cheat/boost items. The whole point is to work as part of a hacker collective that is stealing data from the in-game Palisade data bank.
The Reaper character is given reward packs after completing certain missions and can even find private information that provides dirt on companies. These unlock Darknet case files that players can investigate. In order to complete these case files, players need to work with other hackers who tend to ask for payment in return for their help. It’s also necessary to have key fragments to progress at certain points. These are found in random card packs or earned by completing all objectives in each map. Although it’s possible to buy items with real world currency, it didn’t feel like it was necessary to enjoy what the mode had to offer. If anything, it started to feel somewhat repetitive after completing a couple of maps and only the case files provided a real incentive to keep playing. Those that enjoy beating hi-scores will at least enjoy trying to climb up the leader-boards for the maps.
Although it’s not necessarily a bad sign, this really feels like more of an expansion than a proper sequel to Human Revolution. It manages to exceed expectations and even successfully makes improvements in areas such as the way that players can interact with the story with a few surprising outcomes. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided does a superb job of continuing the tale of Adam Jensen and how he is adapting to a society that is at constant risk of falling apart.
