Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

As a massive fan of "Deus Ex: Human Revolution," I waited five long years for "Deus Ex: Mankind Divided" to drop. The trailers pumped up my excitement, making me believe this sequel would surpass its predecessor. However, I approached it with a bit of skepticism after learning that the choices I made in the first game wouldn't impact the story this time around. I figured it was a necessity of moving to a new console. Unfortunately, "Mankind Divided" suffers from what many sequels do: the burden of expectation and the weight of comparison to the original.

Set primarily in Prague, the game brings back the semi-open world format, allowing players to wander the streets, tackle side quests, and dive into the main storyline. The premise picks up after the events of "Human Revolution," with enhanced individuals being treated as outcasts due to a violent incident. While that setup promises an intriguing narrative, the execution falls a bit flat, which I'll get into shortly.

When comparing side quests, "Mankind Divided" had potential, but many felt underdeveloped. In "Human Revolution," side quests felt meaningful and added depth; in "Mankind Divided," some quests left me wanting more, often lacking the atmosphere that made them compelling. It felt like a missed opportunity.

On the technical side, there's no denying that the game looks fantastic. The graphics are on point, the sound quality is excellent, and the gameplay is smooth. However, when it comes to locations, my feelings were mixed. While you can travel to various places, Prague itself feels narrow and less exciting to explore compared to the vibrant settings of the previous game. Some locations seemed linear and rushed, lacking the sense of discovery that kept me engaged before.

New skills and upgrades are one aspect that stands out. The ability to shoot projectiles from your hand is a cool addition, but I tended to rely on stealth, so I didn't use them much. That's more a reflection of my playstyle than the game's design, which is fair.

The story, unfortunately, is where "Mankind Divided" really disappointed me. It felt like it was building towards something epic, only to fizzle out at the end, leaving me confused as to why it ended so abruptly. It lacked a proper beginning, middle, and end, giving me the impression I was only halfway through. The final level was a highlight, bringing back that classic "Deus Ex" vibe, but the overall narrative left me unsatisfied.

Character development was another area that fell short. The main antagonist felt more like a sidekick than a formidable foe, and while there are new characters alongside Adam Jensen, they didn't leave a lasting impression on me.

Despite its flaws, it's a shame "Mankind Divided" didn't achieve the success I hoped for. I would have adored a continuation of the series, as the potential is still there. While the game isn't bad, it didn't live up to the high bar set by "Human Revolution." If you loved the original, it might be worth checking out for the visuals and gameplay, but be prepared for a narrative that doesn't quite hit the mark.

*******WARNING*******

Why warning you must wondering, reasons 1. Lack of Sleep 2. I forgot my family 3. at times i forgot to breathe too

That's right ... BEST GAME EVER .. PERIOD!!

Jenson is back, and with more fire power.

Perfect story, great graphics, it was as good as a movie. Highly recommend.

The only down side i felt, the 1st mission was bit boring but later it was heaven.

Well i have more to write, sorry need to go back and play. Guys buy this game.

I was really enjoying this game. Honestly I was. A sci-fi RPG set in a dark future, with cyborgs, adventure and guns. What's not to love right? I was having an 8/10 or higher level of fun while playing it. But then I hit about 20% og the way into the game, and realized I had been robbed. I got this game years after release, and was able to pick it up in a supermarket for the low price of £10, and I still feel totally, UTTERLY ripped off. I got to about 20% of the way into the game, to discover the credits rolling. "no" I thought to myself "there's... there's no way that's the end right? already? I mean... I only just started it? right?" I was utterly appealed at how short this game was. It's not a full release, its like an extended demo, its like A short spin-off game. I loved the world of Deus Ex, but if this is the length the games are, I'll not bother to play another again. It couldn't have been more that 8-10 hours of play, surely? For the amount of actual content, I would say this should be priced at like £4.99 brand new or something, as a short game to download on PSN. I feel stolen from that I paid so much for such a short game. I expected this to the be the end of the first act of five, not the end of the whole game. Outrageously short.

The main story of Mankind Divided begins in 2029, two years after the events of the previous game Human Revolution. After the catastrophe with the bio-chips that cause enhanced humans to attack everyone, societies have split into pro- and anti-enhanced humans. The former groups began to congregate in ghettos where crime increased and the police became accustomed to abusing their powers. In an atmosphere of widespread social unrest, terrorist organizations claiming to fight for equal rights for empowered people began to emerge.

In the game we again take on the role of Adam Jensen. The heavily augmented hero works for Interpol as part of the anti-terrorist group Task Force 29, and also collaborates with a group of hackers called the Juggernaut Collective. Jensen's ultimate goal is to solve the mystery of the sinister Illuminati. In subsequent missions, the two allies often have conflicting goals, forcing the player to play a game in which dangerous decisions will be made that will affect the fate of all humanity. Similar to previous games in the series, Mankind Divided gameplay is non-linear and offers a variety of approaches.

The developers allow players to play in two main core ways: One is focused on action and open combat, while the other is sneaking, infiltration and silent elimination of our enemies. Enemies are now much more dangerous thanks to improved AI and the ability to work in groups. Rarely do we see a situation where the Guardians are on their own. They act in pairs against Jensen, even when patrolling nooks and crannies. On top of that, the developers have made sure that our opponents are significantly more diverse, and so we'll face opponents who use power-ups and exoskeletons as well as mechs. Much attention has been paid to improving the fighting segments against powerful enemies. During battles can now take place in a variety of ways, including sneak surprise attacks, full frontal attacks or a combination of both.

Adam Jensen has also gained a number of completely new skills. The upgrades in Mankind Divided are about twice as many as in Human Revolution. The hero can now remotely hack turrets, robots and cameras, and can also almost instantly leap meters upwards over short distances. The knife on his forearm can be used for direct melee attacks or for throwing smaller projectiles. There's also a power-up that incapacitates our enemies with electricity. As we progress, we unlock access to new skills that can be used during combat, sneaking, or both. But using them drains our energy reserves. Although they partially regenerate themselves when Jensen doesn't use his enhancements, their full regeneration requires special bio-cells.

Depending on our choices, the game's story can take unexpected turns in the long run. For example: In the beginning we encounter some criminals and if we choose to kill them you can be subjected to their revenge later on. Not everything is limited to this, though. The events of Mankind Divided are also influenced by the conversations we have with other characters, which allows us to resolve some conflicts only through diplomacy. This part of your gameplay becomes more detailed when you get the implant CASIE, a perk that analyzes the psychological state of the NPC during a conversation.

Even though Mankind Divided has great improvements compared to Human Revolution, it was much less liked and criticized by players than Mankind Divided. While the gameplay is very enjoyable, it has to be admitted that the ending is extremely weak. The game offers an average of 25 hours of gameplay with all the side content and if you don't do the side interactions, it will be very short. Mankind Dived has the technical infrastructure to be a standalone game.

But it also has a rather abrupt and uninspiring finale, more like the first episode of a game as the main story. This was one of the biggest reasons why it received negative reviews. Because according to many people, Adam Jensen's story was already completed in the previous game. The second game just left more unanswered questions and ended without tying it up. Regardless, it was one of the best series I've ever played and I'm looking forward to Eidos Montreal wrapping up Adam Jensen's unfinished story with a satisfying finale in the years to come.

Took a while to get to this and gotta say I'm pleasantly suprised. The game has issues mostly being related to the convoluted and mediocre story, the weak gunplay and uslessness of credits, but outside of that this is a really solid stealth sandbox game.

There are so many routes and options to approach missions and a great sense of accomplishment and progression when you find a hidden vent or manage to slip away just in time.

The upgrades are all really fun and feel useful and honestly beat Cyberpunk 2077's augments in almost every aspect, all though levelling can feel a little slow at times.

Honestly prefer this too the mess Cyberpunk is, and if you're looking for a more polished and focused Cyberpunk experience you honestly can't go wrong with this even with it's flaws.