“Divided Gamers?”
Now considering the Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Prequel DLC is being released this month, we thought it would be a great idea to go back and play/review Mankind Divided again!
Let me start off by saying, when Square-Enix announced Mankind Divided back in April 2015, I became overjoyed with happiness, “there really is a gaming god” kind of happiness! Deus Ex: Human Revolution was a good 4-5years old, and I had assumed the brand was long forgotten. Human Revolution was a superb experience, and one I’d recommend highly to any gamer new to the Jensen universe. It’s easily accessible via the Microsoft store.
Deus Ex Mankind Divided is a 1st person stealth/shooter experience that takes place 2 years after the events of the first game. Where augmented humans (People with weird robotic things) were seen as normal in society. It’s gone full circle, you guessed it, after the “Aug incident” in Human Revolution, (Where the augmented are driven to insanity, by a signal broadcast, resulting with all augs that where fitted with the Illuminati’s biochip attacking wildly and losing all self-control) are paying the price for those actions
Robocop, damnit, where are you!?
Square Enix have done a great job in making the game world reflect this. Walking along the dark surreal streets of Prague, it really does feel like you and your augmented chums are the scum of the earth. The state police have little to any respect for you, and the drones that lurk around every other corner, can be ruthless in gunning you down for the slightest suspicious activity.
Starting off, Adam Jensen (The main protagonist) touches down in Dubai with Task Force 29, (An anti-terrorist task unit) to catch a dodgy weapon smuggler, in what seems like a completely vacant resort. However, all is not what it seems and the mission goes awry when mercenaries crash the party and attempt to steal the shipment. Which leads to Jensen becoming suspicious of the agency TF29, causing him to seek outside help from a charming female aug known as Alex Vega. With terrorist attacks occurring regularly, and all out riots between the augmented humans and the state on the fringes of reality, Jensen seeks to get to the bottom of the terrorist attacks, and what involvement if any, of his Agency TF29 and the group known as the Illuminati, while trying to maintain the peace.
With the game mainly based in Prague, you are free to use the train service to travel around the numerous districts, or go it alone on foot, in and out of the sewer networks. Location’s ranging from Prague to Switzerland, look gorgeous visually, and the game world really does come to life. NPC’s respond to your actions, and good’s like bio cells (which are crucial in providing you with enough energy resources), to use your abilities are available to purchase in shops.
The game itself show’s a lot of potential, maps offer numerous routes to complete mission’s, even letting you go for a stealthy/assassin approach, or just all out warfare!!
There is a lot of exploration to have, earning credits as you finish extra quests or loot which you can then use to purchase in game items. Side quests are rather interesting and do bring a lot to the table, they don’t impact on the main story, but with many being original and different I’d encourage completion. (One side quest involves a magician dictating a disillusioned community in the sewer’s, where you can determine the outcome of all involved). Alakazaaam!!!
Onto the gameplay mechanics and Mankind Divided has a lot of customization, the game truly excels here. For example, using the praxis kits (that are required to upgrade/learn ability’s) you can punch through walls, hack machines, (hacking is an important aspect of the game, and one I’d recommend you learn well) to jumping from ridiculous heights (Icardis landing supports your fall), but don’t go all superman, Jensen isn’t invincible ;). Players can also upgrade weapon’s, to unleash hell on all those naughty merc’s, and there’s some element of choice and consequence in there. Where conversation choices have an influence towards the outcome of certain quests. The game took me around 35-40hours to complete, and there is replay value to be had. Square Enix have openly stated the game will be well supported with expansions. One of which called System Rift is available as of now.
A new game mode called Breach is available to play, it’s an innovative mode allowing players to complete puzzles in a virtual reality setting, to gain bonus rewards which can be used in the main game, such as praxis kits. It’s centered around cyber hackers, running around looking to discover data points, to download data and escape the site when the data target has been met. It has some potential and can be challenging, maps are generally small in size and offer a number of ways to find the data points. Security bots will hunt you down, and you must escape via the virtual portal within the timer that counts down when you’ve hit the target and need to escape. On completion of each puzzle, a score mode will moderate your progress and tally your points up, which can be used to compare/challenge on leader boards. Square Enix have also pushed micro-transactions in this free to play extra, beginning at £0.99 to give a timely boost if required.
