PREVIEW – After the release of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, many fans, and critics wanted more of the Cyberpunk adventures of Adam Jensen. We did get a little bit of extra with The Director’s Cut which included the DLC, plus reworked the boss battles minimally. After nearly five years Eidos and Square Enix are finally bringing back the franchise. The story of Mankind Divided will unfold two years after the original game, with new abilities, options, and location what can the sequel do to an already near perfect game? Besides the usual upping of the graphical fidelity of course for a sequel.

Can it even do anything to entice old players, and bring in new fans? Let us find out!

Adam in the Shell

The story of Mankind Divided as mentioned previously picks up after two years after Human Revolution. Humanity has become divided after the augmented people went crazy due to a terrorist attack on their chips implanted in their body. Millions died, hundreds and thousands injured, what was once considered to be an advantage in society is has now become shunned. Augmented people are now segregated, and hated for the incident, within not much support from anyone.

Society has become divided, and this is what the player aka. Adam Jensen is dropped into. Much has changed for Jensen since Human Revolution. He now works for Interpol trying to stop a terrorist organization made out of disgruntled Augs, who committed a bombing in Prague (further straining relations between Man and Aug). However, he is also secretly working for the Juggernaut Collective, a hacker group trying to confront the Illuminati, the inciters of the „Aug Incident” from two years ago.

Whether Jensen will resolve the issue quietly, and peacefully or with a full on assault will depend on the player as the game once again features critical choices that shape the overall storyline.

Silent or Deadly

No this, not Hitman we are talking about, but this time, it does seem that the developers at Eidos have tried to balance out combat and the stealth mechanics. The developers have felt that Human Revolution was geared towards silently handling the situation, and leaving little options (or at least being comfortable in shooting the enemy) to be aggressive. This time, however, there are new, augmentations, weapons, a more finely tuned combat systems to allow players to feel more at home in shooting the enemy to pieces.

The previews do hint at some overpowered augmentations, though, so I am worried as to how Mankind Divided will be balanced. There was an augmentation that allowed the use of knockout gas in a huge room, or the ability to tag and taser multiple enemies. The developers did note that these were just for demoing purposes.

They also stated that the storyline would justify why Jensen will have to start over regarding upgrading his augmentations. However, I do hope the balance between aggressive and sneaky game mode is well done. Human Revolution sadly did favor the stealth approach to much during the overall experience.

Shiny new body, and graphics

Besides Jensen getting a new upgrade, the graphics have also evolved. A new engine is powering Mankind Divided and based on the previews it is an absolute beast on the PlayStation 4. From textures to the lighting everything looks A+. The aesthetics are cyberpunkish and do not feel as a half-measure. Instead, Eidos has decided to make Mankind Divided-s atmosphere to an oppressive dystopia. While Human Revolution showed the marvels of technology, and high class, the graphics, and atmosphere here are focused on the grittiness and ugliness of technology. Prague-s cyberpunk ghetto streets are filled with junk, homeless, and all around atmospheric due to the new engine’s capability.

The effects are also top notch, from lightning to the smoke, it all seems to push the limit of the current generation consoles. So hopefully when the PS NEO and Xbox Scorpio arrives we get an even more detailed game regarding visuals.

One problem I did notice is that the facial animation of the characters is still a bit choppy. The character models themselves look very highly detailed, but some of the scenes when the characters talk are abysmal. While the original game also had this problem, it is 2016, and I am surprised how this has still not been fully fixed.

A promise of a new age

Mankind Divided looks fascinating from a technical and narrative standpoint. It includes the franchise’s high-quality storytelling, with topnotch graphics, and morality issues. Though some of the marketing from Square Enix have been cringe worthy (AUG Lives Matter … ugh), plus it is a little worrying we have only seen Prague, and Golem City (also in the Czech Republic) regarding levels. We have no confirmed number of locations, let us hope we get some exotic ones based on those sweet concept arts.

Only three more weeks to go and the good outweigh the potential bad ones. Let us hope Mankind Divided can deliver on its epicness.

A new dive into the Cyberpunk world of Deus Ex. Expanded combat, conversation, and inventory management options. Instead of streamlining the developers are adding new things. Let us just hope the game has enough content, and polish to be just as good as Human Revolution.

-Dante-

Publisher: Square Enix

Developer: Nixxes Software, Eidos Montreal

Genre: FPS, Action Roleplaying, Stealth

Relase date: Aug 23, 2016