Deus Ex: Mankind Divided makes me think. It makes me think deep thoughts. Like the kind of existential ponderings I had when I first saw Blade Runner. Yes, Blade Runner is what the sequel to Deus Ex: Human Revolution reminds me of. The announcement trailer gives us a glimpse into the dystopian world. Not androids like in the Ridley Scott film, but augmented humans – that is, people with mechanical body parts like the Bionic Man – are the outcasts and the undesirables, hunted down and slaughtered. Very similar, and even the poster has a nostalgic early ‘80s feel to it. Homage, homage, homage.
The Augs turn to acts of terror in order to survive because after all, they have humanity and have a right to exist, too. Standing in their way is everyone, including our hero returning from the first game.
Adam Jensen is the hero and he’s got skills like Solid Snake. And like Metal Gear Solid, a third-person cover system is the key to taming the augs. The cyperpunk action RPG’s also got first-person-shooter action. Cloaking and tazing follks are some of his special skills. He’s also got a big gun and a smart little gadget that blows back bad guys like Jedi force-push.
Cool gadgets aside, the world is the key selling point for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. There’s good, evil and a whole lot in between, and (hopefully) nothing is what it appears to be and all things that exist are meant to disappear…like tears in rain.
The game will be on windows, PS4 and Xbox One. Release date TBD.
I remember playing the original version many years back…