My name is Adam Jensen, a bodyguard living in a world filled with augmentations. Science finally acted as god and created augmentations for disabled humans around the world. Needless to say, with such great power, there will be a lot of concurrence. I tried to stop a company that was trying to end our world. They defeated me and I was supposed to die on the spot. But that was not my destiny, instead, I got augmented with a lot of new gear and people consider me as a walking tank nowadays. It’s not easy living in a world that labels augmented humans as freaks and killers.
The world doesn’t want us
Mankind Divided is a direct sequel to Deus Ex: Human Revolution and picks up a couple of years after the events of Human Revolution. You don’t have to play Human Revolution in order to enjoy Mankind Divided. If you’re new to the Deus Ex universe, you can select a 12-minutes video recap of the events that happened in Human Revolution. Long story short, the world changed, where augmentations were praised at first, they are hated today. The reason behind this is an event that occurred at the end of Human Revolution, where a terrorist organization triggered the augmentations to drive their owners crazy.
Everybody was affected by it back then, except Adam Jensen, who managed to stop the signal but wasn’t in time to save all of the people. It was a black day in human history; it was a day where the world lost the most humans in a single day. Needless to say, the augmented humans who are still alive now are considered outcasts and are no longer accepted by the world. Having an augmented body isn’t a blessing anymore, it’s a true curse. Needless to say, Adam Jensen forms a big part of this discussion but the army needs his skills.
The bombing of Prague
The game kicks off with a set of bombs that went off in a futuristic version of Prague. The world blames the augmented humans again but Jensen thinks there are bigger powers behind the attack. It’s his task to start an investigation and scout the streets of Prague in order to find the truth. This is a big difference with Human Revolution where you had to travel the world in order to find the truth. In Mankind Divided, you’ll be in Prague for most of your time but that’s actually a good thing. Since there’s only one key location, the team made sure everything about this futuristic Prague felt right.
Set your own path to victory
You’ll walk through neon-lighted streets, facing a lot of random pedestrians minding their own business. You can enter almost every building you see and this happens without loading times, it really results in a complete immersion, Prague isn’t just a scenery, it’s an important factor in the game that you’ll need to understand in order to bring your missions to a good end. It’s not the biggest world out there but thanks to the level of details, you won’t get bored during your 16 main missions. Prague isn’t that big but it definitely offers enough variation to keep you going.
Handle it the way you want
The best part about the Deus Ex franchise is that it gives you the freedom to solve the mission like you want. Are you more of a stealth player, you’ll go with the Sniper rifle and invisibility combo for sure. More an action orientated player? You’ll go with the shotgun and extra armor. It’s great to see that both styles of playing work and both will get you to the end of the game without ever being forced to use a style that doesn’t suit you. This is possible thanks to the open approach of the missions. They are all set in an open area where you can go wherever you please. There are multiple roads that lead to your goal, one more action packed as the other, but it’s entirely up to you which road you’ll take.
This freedom can also be found in dialogues where you can decide what Jensen should answer. This affects the way the conversation continues but it never has the same impact as games like Mass Effect. The main story is set out for you and you’ll be able to manipulate the events a little based on your decisions but don’t expect major plot changes thanks to your answers.
New powers
In order to bring his missions to a good end, Jensen has a total of seven new powers in the game. All are worth testing since these seven new powers really add something new to the table. There’s a power that will make you invulnerable to bullets, a power that grants you the ability to run at the speed of light, a power that gives you the opportunity to hack everything in your sights and a lot more. It’s fun to experiment with those and it’s great to have these new powers in the game. But they come with a price however.
Since the world turned its back towards augmentations, the powers Jensen is using now are experimental powers that use electricity as a power source. This means you’ll have to switch off some of your other powers while you’re using the new, experimental, ones.
Breach mode
Besides the interesting story mode, the developers also added the new Breach mode. This mode takes the key elements of Deus Ex but transforms it into an arcade experience. In this mode, you’ll have to shoot and puzzle your way through different levels in order to reach a new score on the board. This mode also supports online features to compare your skills to other Deus Ex players. It’s a welcome mini-game that offers the needed variation during the main story. The story of Mankind Divided isn’t a light story so clearing your head in this little arcade mode feels just right. It’s a fun extra in the game and we hope we can expect to see more of it in the future.
Conclusion:
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is a great game and perhaps one of the best you can buy nowadays. Thanks to the new augmentations, Adam Jensen feels like a new character and this opens up a lot of new strategies to conquer your enemies. It’s great to have control over the events and conversations in the game and overall it’s a story you can’t miss if you’re a fan of the franchise. New to this? Don’t be afraid, you can enjoy this game without a lot of background information. Don’t hesitateand (re)start your augmented adventure now.
