The next(last?) Deus Ex game is out for all the major platforms as of this month. It’s been 5 years since the Human Revolution, and we probably thought we saw the last of Adam Jenson, but he is back with a new story and some new augmentations. Two years have passed game-wise and, although a lot has changed in-world, not much has changed for the franchise. Five hours into the game, that could be a good thing or a bad one, but here’s a real-time review of my impressions so far.
Soundtrack
I would say the ambient noises of the game are the real strength of Mankind Divided so far. There’s always a radio on somewhere, or music from a nearby rave, or the noises from a police drone or citizens around Prague having conversations about the state of the world or just regular gossip. Outside of that there isn’t that much sound at all, besides a generic cyber-punk background static. In the few cases so far where there was a need for dramatic music, however, the soundtrack has come through. I like that there isn’t much music to be found actually. It makes the world seem a little bit more real, as most of us don’t have a CD playing in our heads at all times.
Controls
I cannot speak for the consoles, but I have never encountered a game with so much mouse sensitivity. Just a little nudge and I was blasting away with enough escape velocity to reach orbit. Once I was able to get it down (almost all the way down), Mankind Divided got a little bit more fun to play. There’s a lot to remember, and a few new features, but there are plenty of tutorials to help that will continuously pop up unless you turn them off. Finding some of them again, however, is a little stressful. I was hanging above a gas filled hallway trying to equip my rebreather aug and couldn’t figure it out or find the tutorial for them. Turns out the rebreather is a passive aug, but it would have been nice to know. You can go into ‘training modes’ to test out different features in the next sections, which I found to be nice practice since you could run through it out without repercussions first. I think the stealth interface is a great improvement from the last game. Most features are intuitive, and seasoned gamers will have no trouble settling in, or back into, the Deus Ex world.
Graphics
There is an optional 12 minute recap video you can watch before you begin the new game. I recommend watching it if you haven’t played the other titles, or if it’s been 5 years like it was for me, if not for the memory boost/story line then for the shock of what the graphics have changed into. The overall graphics for Human Revolution stand up against the test of time much better than the cut scenes and character graphics, so thankfully Mankind Divided has improved on those two fronts. Everything has a new, fresh coat of paint on it and, although it’s not immensely beautiful or detailed compared to some other new releases, you can see a lot went into making Mankind Divided look good.
Story & Gameplay
You jump into Adam Jenson’s skull 2 years after the last game. It doesn’t matter if you played Human Revolution or what ending you picked, because the main focus is on the Aug Incident, when thousands and thousands of augs went rogue and killed a large amount of people. You can see the after effects in the very first mission as Dubai, which had a heavy population of augs to keep the city on the top of tech, is not much more than a wasteland of wrecked and half finished buildings. There is a great tension between augs and ‘normal’ people that Jenson is stepping right into the middle of, and the beginning of that is another horrific incident that reveals some questionable tech inside his body that requires some answers. The gameplay has been somewhat slow, as I’m five hours in and I’m starting to put the pieces together of the starting plot, but on the other hand it’s a good thing since the last game came out so long ago. I think I’m at the point when things are going to start getting more interesting, so hopefully it picks up instead of dragging along.
I haven’t been able to test out any of the new, flashy augs so far as it’s still early, but I’m not really all that excited for them. The majority seem to be geared towards more hostile playthroughs, and stealth no-kill is my preferred method of playing Deus Ex games; the love seems a little one sided. There are some updated augs, like remote hacking, but they’re not any of the ‘cool’ ones, and, if you play, you’ll understand what I mean. All this aside, the game so far seems to be an upgraded version of Human Revolution story and gameplay wise which, so far, is just fine with me.
X-Factor
I think that the versatility of the Deus Ex games sets them apart from many other franchises. There are always multiple ways to complete a mission. You want to go in guns blazing? Go for it. You want to sneak and kill everyone like a death dealing shadow? Also an option. You want to ghost through a level and never be seen? You haunt to your little heart’s content. There are several ways to do each type of playthrough, too, and I appreciate the time and thought that must have gone into creating so many alternatives. Deus Ex feels like the cyber-punk version of Hitman in this regard, but I doubt Jenson will be putting on any chicken suits any time soon. The continuing story line of the series is also a high-interest factor, this philosophical question of what makes us human, and how far is too far to take our own evolution.
Overall, so far Mankind Divided feels like a solid Deus Ex entry and a pretty good offering for the fall line up. It’s too early to tell if it will have the same impact as Human Revolution, as I’m not blown away by anything yet, but it’s still early so I’ll hold out hope. I would suggest anyone interested in it, or interested in a stealth fps, check out Human Revolution first as it is a great game and also useful to better submerge yourself into Mankind Divided.
