Deus Ex: Mankind Divided review
Serious (and sweary) sci-fi storytelling, played the way you want. Power up those augs - Adam Jenson is back
Do you like to do things by the book, or prefer to go rogue? Kick down the door, shoot first and ask questions later, or sneak in and get out without anyone knowing you were even there?
Deus Ex has always let you pick how to play, and Mankind Divided is no different. Unless you’re not a fan of trenchcoats. It’s the only style Adam Jenson knows how to pull off.
The moody man-machine is back cracking skulls, or skulking in the shadows if you prefer, on the hunt for the mysterious, global string-pulling Illuminati.
Picking up two years after Human Revolution, when everything went seriously south for anyone with robotic or biomechanical augmentations, it’s now a really bad time to be a part of humanity 2.0.
AUGMENTED REALITY
Effectively, the world has been split into “normals” and “Augs” – with the latter treated as second class citizens. It’s bleak stuff, with once peaceful countries turned into brutal police states and whole cities turned into ghettos to keep the augmented separate from the rest of the population.
Augmented rights activists launching a bombing campaign right on your front door doesn’t exactly help the cause either.
It’s easy to spot the parallels between this “mechanical apartheid” and the beginnings of Nazi germany – or even the anti-immigrant agenda dominating this year’s US Presidential election.
Jenson’s on the job, though, tracking down the people responsible for throwing everything into chaos. He’s not a hired gun any more, either – now he’s part of Interpol, so you’ve got plenty of backup behind the scenes.
It’s a good job your teammates mostly stick to the sidelines, though: they swear like dockers. Grumpy Englishman MacReady and skittish CSI Smiley notch up F-bombs in the double digits in the opening few hours.
The voice acting in general feels a little clunky in places, especially Interpol Director Miller’s questionable South African accent. A good job Jenson, just as gruff and grumpy as ever, has the lion’s share of the script then.
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Deus Ex Mankind Divided VERDICT
Mankind Divided isn’t scared to change up the familiar Deus Ex formula, but keeps the things that really matter.
That means you get incredible narrative depth, detailed worlds full of passageways and alternate paths to find, and gameplay that lets you pick your own play style.
The online Breach mode only adds to the replay value, too. I’ll be trying it out once the public servers go live. You can go for high scores on the multiplayer leaderboard, or just stick to the story.
I’m hooked on the story, even if it regularly turns the air blue. I’ve already planned out the augs and abilities I’ll be rocking on my second playthrough too. Those improved controls will definitely come in handy when I go in guns blazing. Goodbye Ghost rating…
Buy Deus EX Mankind Divided here from Amazon
READ MORE › The 10 best console games in the world right now
Deus Ex Mankind Divided VERDICT
Mankind Divided isn’t scared to change up the familiar Deus Ex formula, but keeps the things that really matter.
That means you get incredible narrative depth, detailed worlds full of passageways and alternate paths to find, and gameplay that lets you pick your own play style.
The online Breach mode only adds to the replay value, too. I’ll be trying it out once the public servers go live. You can go for high scores on the multiplayer leaderboard, or just stick to the story.
I’m hooked on the story, even if it regularly turns the air blue. I’ve already planned out the augs and abilities I’ll be rocking on my second playthrough too. Those improved controls will definitely come in handy when I go in guns blazing. Goodbye Ghost rating…
Buy Deus EX Mankind Divided here from Amazon
READ MORE › The 10 best console games in the world right now
Deus Ex Mankind Divided VERDICT
Mankind Divided isn’t scared to change up the familiar Deus Ex formula, but keeps the things that really matter.
That means you get incredible narrative depth, detailed worlds full of passageways and alternate paths to find, and gameplay that lets you pick your own play style.
The online Breach mode only adds to the replay value, too. I’ll be trying it out once the public servers go live. You can go for high scores on the multiplayer leaderboard, or just stick to the story.
I’m hooked on the story, even if it regularly turns the air blue. I’ve already planned out the augs and abilities I’ll be rocking on my second playthrough too. Those improved controls will definitely come in handy when I go in guns blazing. Goodbye Ghost rating…
Buy Deus EX Mankind Divided here from Amazon
READ MORE › The 10 best console games in the world right now
Deus Ex Mankind Divided VERDICT
Mankind Divided isn’t scared to change up the familiar Deus Ex formula, but keeps the things that really matter.
That means you get incredible narrative depth, detailed worlds full of passageways and alternate paths to find, and gameplay that lets you pick your own play style.
The online Breach mode only adds to the replay value, too. I’ll be trying it out once the public servers go live. You can go for high scores on the multiplayer leaderboard, or just stick to the story.
I’m hooked on the story, even if it regularly turns the air blue. I’ve already planned out the augs and abilities I’ll be rocking on my second playthrough too. Those improved controls will definitely come in handy when I go in guns blazing. Goodbye Ghost rating…
Buy Deus EX Mankind Divided here from Amazon
READ MORE › The 10 best console games in the world right now
Stuff Says…
Deus Ex fans will lap up the tense story – and the streamlined controls make it a great entry for series newcomers too
Good Stuff
Politically charged plot full of branching choices
Open-ended gameplay lets you pick your approach
Looks gorgeous – especially now the yellow tint is gone
Bad Stuff
Hope you’ve brought change for the swear jar
Gunplay is so much better, you won’t want to stay stealthy
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
