DEUS EX: MANKIND DIVIDED

The cyberpunk RPG sequel, from Eidos Montreal.

It’s two years on from ‘the incident’ and the fallout is still being felt…

It’s not like the whole human augmentation thing was without its controversies at the best of times, either — for every person who embraced it as the future, there was someone else who questioned the moral and ethical ramifications. It’s safe to say that the tide has turned and sentiments have changed, it only takes a stroll through the streets of Prague to see this.

We get the very real impression that it’s not a good time to be an ‘aug’ in this city and we experience the predicament first hand through the perspective of Adam Jensen, the returning protagonist from Deus Ex: Human Revolution, who now calls the place home.

The incidental storytelling paints a vivid picture of what day-to-day life is like here.

It’s all the little pieces of detail, like the checkpoints throughout the city segregating the ‘augs’ from the ‘naturals’, the store owners refusing service, the not-too-subtle ‘aug’ profiling by the police, and the slurs whispered under breaths. Fear and suspicion is strong here in Mankind Divided and it’s an interesting thing for a game to put us in the crosshairs of prejudice.

The city is representative of what’s happening in the wider world. It goes without saying that the stakes feel high when a train station is bombed with possible links to ‘aug’ perpetrators. What happens next will have very real consequences and it’s up to Jensen to investigate.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided once again immerses us in a beautifully realised science fiction world of shady government conspiracies and cyberpunk goodness. It’s the sequel to 2011′s Human Revolution, that just so happens to be one of my all-time favourite games. Saying I was looking forward to this? Well, that would be an understatement, right there!

Would the follow-up live up to its near flawless predecessor? Were my hype levels too high?

Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about, friend. Mankind Divided is every bit as good as Human Revolution. It’s a game full of interesting stories, great characters, beautiful visuals, and exceptionally polished gameplay. This is the sequel I had been hoping for, one of the best damn things I’ve played in a long while, and a very real contender for game of the year.

I suppose I should tone down the fanboy arm flailing and elaborate on why I loved it!

From the moment the game starts, it feels familiar in the best possible way…

Everything great in Mankind Divided is built on the solid foundations of its predecessor.

I had spent so much time invested in that game’s story that I wanted to know what happened next and the follow up was all too happy to oblige. This really is a direct sequel that takes the time to meaningfully explore the implications of everything that came before. That doesn’t mean that the sequel doesn’t have any thing new to say, though — it’s just the starting point.

The story is a thing of beauty. I appreciated the pay off Mankind Divided provides to all the various plot points of Human Revolution, while telling an intriguing new story in its own right. It’s something the game balances incredibly well, making it accessible to new players and rewarding to the returning ones. The sequel tells its story a little differently, though.

There’s still conspiracy theories a-plenty and all kinds of nefarious agendas to unravel, but it takes a smaller scale this time around. Jensen is working for a newly formed anti-terrorism division of Interpol, known as Task Force 29. His case is more localised around the train station bombing in Prague, but there is a whole lot more going on than meets the eye.

I loved doing the leg work, pursuing suspects and following leads. I personally found the case to be very engaging and it was exciting to see all the pieces fall into place the deeper I went.

While there’s not as much globe trotting this time around, Mankind Divided makes up for this with a single, well-realised hub that is more sprawling than any locale in Human Revolution.

The first time I stepped outside Sarif Industries in Human Revolution, I was blown away by the Detroit hub. I had already fallen for the game pretty hard, but this sealed the deal. The highly detailed design made you want to explore every single corner of the world. I found myself admiring the architecture, taking in the sights and sounds, and meeting the locals.

All the best RPGs are elevated by an interesting setting and that’s not lost on Eidos Montreal. The newest instalment’s Prague locale is up there with the best, the definition of immersive…

After the game’s opening mission, we find ourselves in our protagonist’s apartment. We’re quickly given orders to report to the TS-29 headquarters for a debriefing. Geographically, it’s not too far away at all. In reality? It took a good, long while for me to get there! I got side tracked, I tells ya. Side tracked by an interesting world that felt alive with activity.

The attention to detail here is just staggering, friend. It’s not just for show, either. The city is littered with optional side quests that are every bit as good as the main campaign. There’s so many short cuts and secrets to be found, too. The visual storytelling I mentioned in the opening paragraphs is awe inspiring and on a level I haven’t seen in many games before.

We often associate cyberpunk with a perpetual night time setting, but that’s not the case here. We get to explore Prague at different times of the day and under different weather conditions. It’s still dripping with genre atmosphere, but allows the city to feel more dynamic, too.

Human Revolution never really stayed too long in one location, so we were constantly treated to something new and interesting. This is something Mankind Divided also manages to accomplish, while mostly staying in just the one place — it’s a testament to the art direction.

Mankind Divided shares the same beautiful aesthetic as the previous instalment in the series. It’s a combination of futuristic science fiction and a stylised motif straight out of the renaissance. It’s a distinctive look that immediately differentiates the game from its peers.

The first game’s engine was relatively modest, but the art direction elevated it visually. While the engine is more sophisticated this time, it’s still the art and detail that makes the game.

The gameplay is like muscle memory kicking in. It doesn’t control all that differently to the previous instalment, which is okay, because that already felt very intuitive. Instead of making dramatic changes, it builds on the solid foundations of what came before. (A recurring theme here!) Every aspect feels like the next logical step of where all the various mechanics should go.

One of Jensen’s early predicaments is discovering dormant augments in his body that he never knew existed. This is a guy who didn’t choose the ‘aug’ life, it was forced upon him. Our protagonist had just come to terms with what was done to him and now he’s doing it all over again. While interesting story-wise, it’s also a clever way of giving us new toys to play with.

These new abilities are all kinds of fun and complement the existing ones incredibly well.

Choice is still the greatest strength of the series. You can play the game as covertly as you like or as trigger happy as you like. The decision is yours and it never feels wrong either way, the mechanics are designed to accommodate both styles. I went with a stealthy, non-lethal run which was insanely fun to me, but I have a friend who loves to run in with guns blazing.

There are extensive options to customise your character depending on your preferences.

You’re also given choice in how you navigate your surrounds as well as in the decisions you make, giving a sense of ownership to the character you’re playing that the game reflects.

Soon enough, I was moseying through the world like no time had passed at all. I was completing quests, talking to characters, and fully invested in a compelling story.

Mankind Divided is more than the sum of its parts. All the aspects of its design contributes to creating something special. I can’t recommend this enough if you’re a fan of the genre!

Written by Dan Clarke. August 31, 2016.

Originally published at dcpresents.tumblr.com.