Deus Ex Mankind Divided review

Deus Ex Mankind Divided is the latest game in the Deus Ex franchise, a game series that nobody manages to pronounce properly. Anyway, I can so let’s move on with the review. Once again you step into the shoes of Adam Jensen, an augmented fella who, not by his own choice, ended up full of tech that makes him uber powerful in order to save his life after he was caught in an incident a few years ago.

Set in a future where now natural people and augmented people have been segregated, the often convoluted plot sees you siding with a number of individuals and factions as you investigate some terrorist activity involving augmented people in golden masks which first appear during the prologue mission set in Dubai. Here, you get to use loads of your augment powers before they’re stripped away when you’re caught up in a bomb blast in a subway station in Prague. You then discover you’ve got some new secret augments you never knew you had when you go to get repaired and this not only adds to the mystery but also adds a new mechanic where you must choose which augments to activate and which ones to permanently disable in your skill tree as you plan for the action ahead.

This being an FPS role-playing game, you’re pretty much free to choose how you go about your business. You can play all stealthy which is assisted by a 3rd-person cover system which works very nicely as you duck and roll between cover, you can go in blasting thanks to some tight FPS controls, and you can even talk people into submission if you decide to activate this perk. Can’t find the passcode for a door? Well, you can just hack it or even just blow the door up if you don’t care about attracting attention. The choice is entirely yours!

There’s also a high level of customisation with weapons. You can use a variety of ammo types such as EMP and armour-piercing which you’ll want to switch up as you face different enemies.

When it comes to graphics, there are a number of inconsistencies. The world itself looks great as you enter slums and high-tech areas. Character models can look amazing but some of the main characters look like they haven’t even been performance captured with jerky movements and lip-sync that’s way off. There really is quite a disconnect at times.

Voice acting is of a good standard. Adam Jensen is just as monotone as usual with his gruff whispery voice and you’ll recognise a few of the voices from other games and TV series.

Do be prepared for a lot of exposition as well. Not only will you find plenty to read as you collect info around the world, characters you meet will talk a lot, delivering a tonne of info and names that, if you don’t fully concentrate on, will lose you. Thankfully there is an intro movie that goes over the events of the last game in case you didn’t play it or can’t remember.

Alongside the main game is also a brand new Breach Mode where, as a hacker called a Ripper, you run through computer mainframes in order to hack data nodes and retrieve information. You run through in a first-person simulation and try to get the best time, being rewarded with packs you can open that will further help you get better times. You’ll be playing against others online to get the best times and there’s no doubt that Square Enix are hoping this is a money spinner because not only do you earn these packs in game, you can of course also buy new ones in the store.

Mankind Divided is certainly a game you can get your teeth into. It’s full of future espionage and intrigue and has a deep story and characters you can immerse yourself into. Just make sure you don’t have your phone near you during the long dialogue scenes. Jumping online to look at Facebook or Tinder or whatever is tempting during these long sequences and you could just lose your way.

Deus Ex Mankind Divided gets 8 out of 10.

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Dues Ex Mankind Divided Dues Ex Mankind Divided screenshot

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