Deus Ex: Mankind Divided review -- A futuristic stealth action game

The original Deus Ex came out in the year 2000, when the world was still riding the wave that The Matrix left us with. A new era of science fiction emerged and Deus Ex was one of those games that took us far into the shadowy world of nano-technology and human augmentation.

A few years later Human Revolution came out, as a prequel. Followed by Mankind Divided, dealing with those same issues but in a more primitive time. Which is still far ahead from where we are now in technology.

Story and setting

Human Revolution was a massive landmark in human augmentation. Where people born or lost their arms or legs in accidents found replacements in advanced robotics. So much so that people gave up their appendages to become part machine, from small chips embedded in the skin to large and extensive replacements of limbs.

Until they were hijacked one day, forced to kill their loved ones and anyone around them by a bitter man. After that day which came to be known as the Aug Incident. Mankind became divided into the Augmented humans "Augs" and the human "Naturals."

That's where Mankind Divided takes over. You step into the shoes of Adam Jensen, who was the protagonist in Human Revolution, to investigate a terrorist group. Against the backdrop of social unrest that has reached a boiling point between the two factions of society.



It doesn't help that Jensen himself is 'augmented'. After an accident that left him without arms, he is bought to life by state-of-the-art implants and Augs (which give him an array of super moves).

Story-wise, Mankind Divided does not wash anything in triviality. It paints a very real picture of the problems that the Augs are living with and the extent the naturals express their hatred and fear for them. All of this is reflected in the city of Prague, where the gamers spend most of their time in-between the missions.

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While the story is realist, it does falter, especially with the amount of one has to memorize -- names, places, people, events etc. While the game does help you with an intro video as well as loading screens, it's still overwhelming.

The game starts with an explosive first mission, then settles down to a normal pace. It may seem a bit boring, but it's classic Deus Ex as it delves deeper into the story. As you read emails dropped by people or do sidequests, the world makes more sense to you. While the game retains a realistic dystopian society world view, it does fall apart at times.

The new Deus Ex: Mankind Divided pushes the story further, taking you into that rabbit hole. The question being when will you emerge into the events of the original Deus Ex, which that came out a while ago and takes place canonically much further into the future than Mankind Divided.

Gameplay

Mankind Divided is a first person stealth action game. While you can go in with guns blazing, the control system for action is so janky, that you're better off with stealth. As with all augmentations on, it is a lot of fun. It helps that Jensen feels like a superpowered human with a kind of invincibility. A God among humans, that can go invisible and more.

The level design is the star of the show here. With several ways of getting into your objective. You can enter the front door or find a sewer or maintenance duct to sneak into. If there's opposition, you can shoot and run, then hide and wait for the cops to come dispatch off the bad guys. Sneaking around is fun, as you can choose to take down enemies using all your special abilities or completely bypass them.

As mentioned before, all out combat is not great. Mostly due to the way Jensen controls in a very floaty, hovering sort of way. When stopped and standing still, the graphics look detailed and environments look amazing. Running and walking almost appear to be the same and somehow the world feels a bit one dimensional when moving.



There's something quite off about the movement. The few main characters' facial movements are done well (most of the time), but for auxiliary characters, the facial movements appear creepy and weird.

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Apart from these few downsides, the world of Mankind Divided is superbly rendered. A futuristic world with a look heavily borrowed from the French Renaissance. A style that's very Shakespearean in look and feel.

Conclusion
If you are looking for a game with stealth like the Metal Gear Solid series, with a story that's deep, mature and political in nature, then Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is for you.