E3 2016 Impressions — Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

While at E3 I was able to see Deus Ex: Mankind Divided in a more intimate setting than just a trailer. Here’s my take on Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Another huge title I know I was personally looking forward to during my voyage to E3 was Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Ever since the first time Eidos-Montreal fist announced it a while back I was stoked and ready to see how far they progressed the rebooted franchise given the greatness of Human Revolution. Thankfully Square Enix had Deus Ex: Mankind Divided in the mix of titles they were showing off and I was able to spy a nice long video demo of the game. Given that it releases on August 23^rd for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC it felt a bit on the final stages so I am certain these formed thoughts will be up to snuff.

I won’t bore you with a play by play of the gameplay that was shown off during E3 as it is just below for you. It may have been narrated a bit different but you can see all of it, including all of the branches that Deus Ex is known for, in the nice video. I’ll go into my own thoughts after giving you plenty of a chance to see just what was being shown off on the show floor. No reason to just paint a word picture when you can just see it all live-ish.

First off everything here looks to have had a nice huge update in the visuals department. Given the time between this game and the last Deus Ex title it makes perfect sense. It also looks as if the game world is even more open than it was before as most of the extra options to infiltrate and bypass were usually just air vents to crawl through but here we get to see almost a half a district to be able to bypass the enemies that are sitting in wait. It’s not new gameplay for the franchise but it does definitely feel like everything is even more open and available.

It also looks like the dialog options for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided are a little more robust than we had before. If memory serves we only had a few minor options before we had to make a final choice. In the demo here is look like we have a fully and more fleshed out tree to go down before having the shit hit the fan or having to make the hard calls. That is what the franchise has always been about and it looks like Eidos-Montreal has been able to deliver even more than we could have hoped for in the game. I’m stoked to see how messed up I can make things by just saying certain things.

I am not overly happy with all of the Aug updates and changes that are coming to Deus Ex: Mankind Divided though. Having the old and a few news ones make sense to drive things forward but some of them look like they will drive the game’s difficulty down rather quickly. The big one being the ability to see through the walls to tag enemies. Granted this is in a demo where things have been unlocked to show off all of the game’s fun but still if this unlocks too early it could easily make things unbalanced in my eyes. Stealth will be just too easy when you can see where everyone is at all times.

We are only a few months out from the game hitting our consoles and PCs though and it is looking like it shaped up nicely. Of course there are always little things that will be nitpicked until the cows come home but Deus Ex: Mankind Divided looks like a sequel that we can all truly enjoy. Especially given all of the advancements and continuations from the prior title. I’m glad to see that all of that has truly affected the game’s world and not just been brushed under the rug. That could have been an easy way out but it doesn’t look like Square Enix let them take that path.