After playing Deus Ex: Mankind Divided at E3 2016,I knew that the game was promising, but without playing anything beyond the tutorial stage I didn’t really get the clearest idea of how the game would work beyond combat. So, when I was given the opportunity to go hands on with hours’ worth of preview code earlier this week, I jumped on the opportunity.
The preview covered the opening tutorial mission in Dubai, as well as Prague and a new area called Golem. I didn’t personally get to Golem during my playtime, as I got caught up in the myriad of side missions I found while in Prague.
As my time in Dubai at E3 has already been covered before, I decided to change things up a bit to see how the game adapted to different playstyles. I still decided on a non-lethal load out, but I went with a long range sniper rifle instead of the close range stun gun. Instead of attempting to get close to enemies to take them out, now I was hanging back to observe who I could take out from long range without alerting other enemies. It led to a completely different style of play through the mission, and also meant that I ended up missing an optional objective because I gave everyone a wide berth.
The shooting mechanics really have been tightened compared to Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and are no longer the weak point they were previously. Iron-sights and scopes quickly snap up and down when needed, abilities can be quickly utilised and cover mechanics are better than ever. It’s obvious that Eidos Montreal made improving the shooting mechanics a priority during the development of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and it helps make the game a better experience overall.
Following Dubai, the game jumped forward to Prague as Adam Jensen’s train slowly rolls in to the city. Adam meets a fellow operative, and we get our first glimpse of the possible conspiracies in the game, before being witness to the Prague bombing that has been shown in previous trailers. After waking up in Adam’s apartment post-explosion, I then had the opportunity to really explore Deus Ex: Mankind Divided’s full potential and experience. First by clicking on absolutely everything in the apartment, including triggering a side-mission with David Sarif, then by wandering out of the apartment to see what Prague was like.
I can’t really give an example of where Prague resembles, but the city looked and felt like it was full of desperation and despair. Augmented citizens, forced into segregation in this part of Prague, shuffled along lifelessly. Police officers stopped people on the street to search them, seemingly with little or no reason other than the citizen being augmented. It’s a stark and confronting image and perfectly sets the mood for the game.
Making my way to my next mission, I was confronted by some gangsters that prevented me from getting to my next objective. I was then left to decide how I wanted to make my way through, did I want to go in guns blazing or find a stealthier way in? I personally opted for a stealthier way, finding a vent after climbing some roofs, but I also could have bought some fake IDs to get into the area. The number of different ways to make my way through the mission was impressive and really left me feeling like I could make the game my own. After stealthing my way through the next combat encounter, which of course was not the only way to go about it, I was presented with my next mission and 3 side missions that I could also attempt. Going any further will start to spoil some of the story, but needless to say I again found multiple avenues to completion and some great writing as well.
Overall, my experience with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was a great one. The shooting mechanics are much improved, the missions all allowed for multiple avenues to completion and the abilities and load outs can all be customised to suit your playstyle. I can definitely say that I’m excited for its release on August 23rd for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
