Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

In the middle of 2000, Deus Ex, the first installment of the series that skillfully marries action RPG elements and dark cyberpunk reality, debuted on PCs. Three years later its sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War, was developed by Ion Storm, studio led by the industry legend, Warren Spector. After the closure of the studio in 2005 and a few years' break, the franchise reemerged thanks to Eidos Montreal, which created the third major installment in the series – Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The game offered the best features of its predecessors enriched with a number of modern solutions and a significant element of stealth.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the fourth major entry in the series, was developed by Eidos Montreal with PCs and the 8th-generation consoles in mind. As far as content is concerned, every platform offers exactly the same. However, the PC edition is superior to the console ones in terms of visuals thanks to the support of DirectX 12 libraries. It also comes with a benchmark that lets the players adjust the visual settings to their machines’ capabilities.

Story

The action of Mankind Divided starts in 2029, two years after the events presented in Human Revolution. After the infamous incident with biochips that made augmented people attack everyone on sight, societies divided into supporters and adversaries of augmentations. The former group started to be rounded up in ghettos, where crime flourishes and the police are used to abusing their authority. In the wide-spread atmosphere of social unrest, terrorist organizations, claiming to fight for the equal rights for augmented people, begin to emerge, as well.

In the game, we once again assume the role of Adam Jensen. The heavily-augmented protagonist works for the Interpol as a part of group called Task Force 29, which was established to combat terrorism, and — at the same time — collaborates with a group of hackers by the name of Juggernaut Collective. Jensen's ultimate goal is to work out the sinister Illuminati. In subsequent missions, the two allies often have conflicting objectives, which forces the player to play a dangerous game where the fate of the entire mankind is at stake.

Gameplay

Similarly to the previous installments in the series, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided for PC, PS4 and XONE offers non-linear and varied approach to the gameplay. The developers let the players play in two basic ways: one is focused on action and open combat, while the other rewards sneaking, infiltration and silent elimination of our enemies. Foes are now much more dangerous thanks to the enhanced artificial intelligence and the ability to work in groups. Seldom do we encounter a situation when guards are on their own – this time around, they move at least in pairs, even when patrolling nooks and crannies. Moreover, the developers made sure our opponents are significantly more diverse, and thus we will face adversaries that use augmentations and exoskeletons as well as mechs. Much attention was given to improving the boss fights. These can now be played in various ways, including stealthy surprise attacks, full frontal assaults or a combination of both.

Adam Jensen gained a number of completely new skills. Augmentations in Mankind Divided are about twice as numerous as in Human Revolution. The protagonist can now hack turrets, robots and cameras remotely; he may also execute nearly instant jumps on short distances. The blade on his forearm might be used for direct melee attacks or to shot lesser projectiles. There is also an augmentation that incapacitates our enemies with electricity. As we progress, we unlock access to new skills that will be of use during combat, sneaking or both. However, using them uses up our energy reserves. Although they partially replenish themselves when Jensen is not using his enhancements, their complete regeneration requires special biocells.

Depending on our choices, the game can take unexpected turns in the long run. For instance: at the beginning, we bump into some criminals, and if we choose to cross them, we can later fall victim to their revenge. It is not everything, though – the events of Mankind Divided are also influenced by conversations we have with other characters, which allows us to resolve some conflicts with diplomacy alone (this is where C.A.S.I.E, the implant that analyzes the psychological state of our interlocutor, comes in handy).

Technology

As the first installment of the series created solely for the 8th-generation platforms, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided for PC, PS4 and XONE is powered by an entirely new graphic engine called Dawn Engine. It was developed by Eidos Montreal in collaboration with AMD in order to fully utilize the potential of high-end PCs as well as PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The game also uses the TressFX 3.0 technology, which is responsible for realistic recreation of hair behavior and looks, among other things.

Last updated on 19 August 2016