Everything We Know About Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

The times when the video games were just a simple time killers are long gone. Today, we are constantly treated to highly informative as well as educational pieces even when these games still maintain their entertaining feature. The new Deus Ex series game, Mankind Divided is the best proof of that. Its plot is much more than your classical “save the world from a villain”, it is something that makes the player think if what is now a game, once won't be the reality. If you add to it a great graphic engine, you get a game that stuns you both with its plot and the appeal. Since the release of the first game trailer we had plenty of time to look at it from every possible angle and present you everything we know about Deus Ex: Mankind Divided so far.

The plot that makes you think

If you look for a game with a pleasant and easy story to relax after long hours of work - Deus Ex: Mankind Divided isn't the title cut for this job. Although it surely looks entertaining, fascinating and absolutely worth every minute of your gaming time, it's a game that can upset and make you wonder. The gaming market evolved since the times of cheerful games like Mario and Pac-Man. Just like not every movie is a comedy, not every game will leave you light hearted.

And that is why Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is a title we can't wait to see.

In the second game placed in Deus Ex universe, we once more meet Adam Jensen, the mechanically augmented human, former cop and an ex-SWAT. The ending of the previous game left our hero bitter and disappointed. Now, the year is 2029 and the reasons to be bitter are incomparably more numerous.

To understand what Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is about, let us go back to 2027. The field of biotechnology is on the rise and millions of humans all around the world benefit from the wide range of augmentations. They are now widely accessible to the masses, replacing missing limbs or organs and fixing whatever drawbacks a person can suffer from. The concerns are out there and many people ask: what if this kind of technology gets in the wrong hands?

And this is exactly what happens. At some point, for an unknown reason, all the Augs, as the augmented humans are called in the game, attack their beloved ones, friends, neighbors and strangers. Presumably hacked, they slaughter and maim whoever gets in their way without the control of their actions. The number of victims all over the world reaches millions. Although the Augs return to their senses, it is just the beginning of their problems.

In Deus Ex: Mankind Divided we again lead Adam Jensen through the world where the Augs are outcast, locked away and successively exterminated. This is the world of fear and hatred that drives the “normals” on the crusade against the devil they consider the Augs - once their relatives, friends and fellow citizens. The oppressed augmented try to fight back against the violence. The center of their efforts is now located in Prague. The Augmented Rights Coalition seems to be framed into terrorist attacks which only strengthen the normals' hate. Adam Jensen, now as a member of Troop Force 29, is sent to use his own augmentations against the ARC's leader and put him to justice. However, just as expected with any game of its stature, nothing is as simple as it appears to be.

Graphics that are more than easy on the eye

Eidos Montreal, the studio that has spent last years on creating the game, has put a lot of work into satisfying even the most picky gamers. The early shots from the gameplay show us what any player could possibly fall in love with - a detailed world of stunning, albeit a little saddening landscape of a post-catastrophic reality where there is little beauty. But the graphics are beautiful and the game is promising some of the best aesthetic experiences for us to enjoy with the release of the game.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is powered by Dawn Engine, the newest version of Interactive Glacier engine. The official website of Eidos Montreal presents some samples of how the engine works and how it looks in the game. It can't be worded differently than simply: stunning.

The universe of the game that we can observe in the released so far videos of the game play are truly amazing. The sunshafts, reflects and shading match well with the deep colors of the world. All sort of effects, such as explosions, come as a result of some really well done job. Perhaps only the less pleasant effects such as - plentiful - blood and gore look like just a crimson patch of pixels alike with the games from early 2000s. With the final adjustments and release, we will see if these unpleasant details can be boosted in the settings to achieve more realism.

Aside of making the game look good, the Deus Ex: Mankind Divided graphics serve one more purpose: they show how complex the background in this world is. The dirty streets, “Augs will prevail” graffiti's, suggestive bloodstains on the walls and unkempt buildings reflect what it is like to live in this world of paranoia, tension and extreme aggression towards Augs.

How does Deus Ex: Mankind Divided sounds?

The dialogues are a great part of the game and we all know that if they are made poorly, the plot experience can collapse and never get back up again. So far, we could observe in the available materials that the voicing in the game is done pretty well. The voice actors seem to have done a great job. We are definitely not left with stiff, artificial dubbing that hurts to listen while watching the cutscenes.

However, the web whispers in dissatisfaction about the poor matching of the voice and lip movement of the heroes. In such cases we instantly think about how complex the graphic engine's work is and how well it reflected the mimics of each and every character. With such advanced graphics it is not hard to spot the differences between the lip movement and the words spoken. But that's just a thing that will only bother the perfectionists.

Gameplay in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

In the plethora of cutscenes that we watch in the game, we see all the characters and Adam Jensen himself. But that only in those short moments - aside of that, it's a classic first person shooter with a camera typical for this kind of a game.

The game's interface is neat and clear. Even a beginner player will quickly learn how to control the hero regardless of the platform they play on. This makes it easy to, not only learn the controls but also perfect in mastering the essence of the game.

The world of the game is highly immersive and there are countless things to explore. Here, every action taken has its consequences and some of them have a strong impact on the final outcome of the game and determine its ending. Take your steps and wage your words carefully because you might pay for them dearly!

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The amount of details in the world is incredible. While walking around, the player can interact with practically every single item they come across and talk to every person they meet. These bits make up a whole world in which everybody has a story to tell and every item can be potentially important. A lot of these solutions are a copy-paste from the previous Deus Ex game and there is a good reason for that. It worked back then, creating a living world where you can peek into every hole and chat with every person you run into. Plenty of bonus plot lines come exactly from such snooping around so don't forget to open every box and stop by every homeless Aug.

It is also rather important that Adam Jensen isn't just the main hero in the game. As the game story proceed, we will learn that he actually got more augmentations than he expected to have. This is the very base of the idea of “building” the character. He's got a lot of tools to use that a player can choose from. Augmentations, weapons and skills are ways way to create a character to match your play style. Depending on how do you like to complete the tasks while playing, you can make Adam be more of a stealth lover or a fan of violent frontal attacks.

Let the makers speak

A few members of Deus Ex:Mankind Divided team have already spoke about their experiences with creating the game. They've done some mainly in the interviews for a few big gaming portals. Mary DeMarle, the executive narrative director in Eidos Montreal, has shared a lot of her thoughts. It seems that creating the sequel was not only a challenge and a chance to learn from the past, but also a tough occasion to think about the important matters.

They designed a plot that is supposed to make a gamer think about those things just as the team thinks about them. They may share of the worries whether the plot they created will not turn into a reality. But when asked about the game creation itself, the makers agree about one thing repeated in many of the interviews they gave. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided wouldn't exists in its current form without the previous part, Human Revolution. The good ideas from the previous part were copied into the sequel. The bad ones were improved, re-worked or removed.

It is also more than obvious that the Eidos Montreal team wants the players to understand the complex plot in the game. It is not often that a gaming company releases trailers lasting for approximately six minutes where every bit of the plot and game play is presented. Perhaps they understand that at first, the plot is confusing. After all, we don't really know who are the real bad guys.

Perhaps we will never know. The team worked on making the ending of the game as dependent on the player's choices as possible. And as they say, they are not fully satisfied with the results. The time was nagging and in the end, it's not going to be as complex as the makers wanted it to be.

Either way, it still looks more than just promising.

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Expectations - won't we get disappointed?

Every gamer will agree that the more hype around the game there is, the bigger are the fears about it being an absolutely dull and worthless piece. Such is exactly the case of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. The players absolutely loved the previous game with its detailed world, amazing plot and almost infinite possibilities. After such a masterpiece, we all have big expectations towards the sequel. We don't want to get disappointed. We don't want a great game drop to the rank of an absolute fail.

It is always hard to make a sequel and it is even harder to make all the team's ideas about the game coherent. It is a real challenge to balance great graphics, gameplay and plot. Those who play a lot are not completely wrong when saying that you can't have all of the aspects. Rare are the cases where it is hard to name any disadvantages of a game. Such titles become a part of the gaming history.

Luckily, there is a big chance that the game will live up to the expectations. The team is experienced and benefits from all the feedback they got on the previous Deus Ex game. By applying all the better solutions they give us hope that Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will be what it is promised to be. We all believe in the power of teamwork at Eidos Montreal studio. Impatiently, we wait for the game's release and just like all the players, we can't wait to immerse ourselves in this detailed world where everything is dependent on how we lead Adam through all the events.

All we can do now is wait until the 23rd of August when the game is released. Then, all our dreams will come true... Or not.