You know, I never had the opportunity to play the last Deus Ex game we were hit with, Deus Ex Human Revolution back on the Xbox 360. I`d heard so many things, but I`d never actually played it. I`d heard good things. Things that would grip you into the character of Adam Jensen, an EX SWAT officer, and the story that would grip you into a compelling game that critically acclaimed did very well. That was 5 years ago, and this time, I have been lucky to grab a copy of Deus Ex Mankind Divided. Having heard so many good things, I was about to find out whether Deus Ex would grab me and throw me straight into the heart, the love of the franchise, or into the hellish fiery pits of it. But, it`s the former. It`s a new lovable franchise I`ve found.
Deus Ex Mankind Divided has been developed by Eidos Montreal and Published by Square Enix, and is set two years after the previous game, and sees the return of main protagonist Adam Jensen. The year is 2029. Adam is now part of Interpol and is on a mission to capture a terrorist group of augmented humans. Augmented humans are seen as second class citizens compared to the rest of the city. In addition, Adam also works for a secret establishment known as the Juggernaut Collective, a hacker group who are deemed with the task of helping Adam confront the Illumaniti.
Now, as I mentioned, I never played the first one, but I`m a huge fan of shooters. I`ve played loads of great and classic titles in my time as a gamer, but for me, Deus Ex is something that is slightly different. I love the concept behind the game and story, and it`s truly something that`s going to grip you in massively throughout. Not only through the main story, but also through the side missions, and speaking with NPCs and exploring. There`s so much of it. It`s so, so, so easy to get sidetracked from doing the main story and going off and doing your own thing. Exploring the way, you want and hacking into people`s PCs and phones, and reading e-magazines and newspapers, and finding out the story and secret behind people. It`s so easy to do, and will add hours and hours onto your game-time. But it offers something that is actually quite gripping and something that will make you want to explore, explore and explore just a little bit more. You`re actually going to find it very, very difficult to focus on the main central story. I did, because I found myself constantly speaking with a NPC and finding and exploring new things. It`s a game that offers exploration, and room for lots and lots of it. It`s fantastic. Items to hack into, finding new things and NPC side missions are just a small number of things on offer.
Graphically, the game looks fantastic. It looks brilliant and in fine detail wherever you look. You look to the buildings and see the detail, you look around you and graphically it`s a game that really takes advantage of what the power that developers now have access too can do. It blends in really well everywhere you explore, and from swinging from building to building, breaking into houses and flat apartments to explore, to travelling on the metro system in order to get you somewhere else, it looks fantastic and fine in every detail.
How are you going to approach your objective? Are you going to go in stealthily, using your augmented abilities to hide yourself, and sneak around and take the quite approach? Or are you going to take the full hands-on approach and shoot your way through, risking everything to have those minutes of madness and chaos? Of course, I took the 2nd option. I don’t know how to play stealthily in shooters, and it`s something I`ll never be good at, I have the urge to just rush straight in there and shoot everything in sight. And that`s exactly what I did. Of course at times that probably wasn’t the best approach, but it`s something that you`ll have to consider how you`re going to play the game. Stealth? Or loud? You may find that a certain approach is going to be appropriate at a certain time. That`s for you to decide. You`re decisions will influence the mission. The controls and mechanics within the game have been re-worked from what I understand from the last Deus Ex title was a worn and poor system, you need not worry with this. It`s completely had the over-haul and a game that offers a complex but easy set of controls to master. You also have the option at the start of the game to decide to what controls you`d like to take, as there`s something customization into what suits you the best.
Deus Ex Mankind Divided is a game that offers you a gripping story and a depth narrative, the ability to explore the entire city and to easily get that little bit side-tracked into completing another side mission, or exploring the city and hacking things to find out every piece of information you know. It`s a game that offers a complete overhaul in the gameplay and mechanics from the last one, and a game that offers a great addition to the franchise. I came into Deus Ex not knowing too much about it, and not playing the previous one at all, too now being hooked into the franchise and being Adam Jensen and his story with Interpol and the Secret Collective. Is it a game that I think you should pick up? Absolutely. It`s a game that you`re going to love, and one that`s going to grip you in massively. It`s fully worth the purchase and I urge you to join with us.
A huge thank you to XCN for supplying us with a copy of Deus Ex Mankind Divided.
Game: Deus Ex Mankind Divided
Developers: Eidos Montreal
Publishers: Square Enix
Genre: Action Role-playing, First-person shooter
Price: £49.99
