GSY Review
PC
PS4
Xbox One
Just five years ago, Eidos Montreal managed to overcome expectations with its reboot of the Deus Ex franchise – a feat even the series creator, Warren Spector, struggled with in 2003's Deus Ex: Invisible War (PC and Xbox). After reuniting fans with series in Human Revolution, the Montreal studio and lead character Adam Jensen are back with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and it's time to share our verdict with you.
Note: No videos were allowed before the game's release, but direct feed footage will be up on Tuesday. Unless something catches fire again, we should be live in the evening that very same day.
Verdict
Even if it isn't quite perfect yet, Mankind Divided surpasses its predecessor in all key areas while maintaining the same lofty goals. It won't convince those who didn't enjoy the last game, but if you were a fan of Adam Jenson's previous adventure, you won't want to miss the sequel. With its new graphics engine capable of fleshing out the original visual design, Eidos Montreal has crafted a more beautiful game. It's a more playable, visually rich game overall that only falls short with its somewhat truncated ending - something which simply left us wanting more, as most questions are still left unanswered at the end. The wait for a sequel will certainly be difficult. Hopefully Square-Enix doesn't get any ideas of using the season pass to expand on the narrative, however.
- On the plus side
- The full freedom of the Deus Ex experience
- Multiple paths galore
- Perfect artistic design
- Golem
- Both the frontal and stealth approach work well
- The choices
- The desire to discover the ins and outs of the story
- The involved side quests
- Very lengthy game with new game + and Breach modes
- An immersive soundtrack
- AI can sometimes surprise in a good way
- Desperate Measures takes place in a new environment
- The controller is used to capacity with shortcut keys even
- On the downside
- Not always as pretty as we'd like
- Faces are often rigid and missing detail
- Uneven voice acting
- Performance issues in DirectX 12 mode
- AI's lack of responsiveness and initiative
- Only one city hub (Prague)
- A sometimes old school feel that won't please everyone
- Not a satisfying ending by any means
All comments (17)
I took one away though, it wasn't necessary and I probably was too tired to realize I had written it twice.
By the way, as usual, the full review is on the French side only. Sorry about that, but I really didn't have the time to translate it.
Now if someone is willing to pay a million dollar a month, maybe we can start talking about it. :)
Joking aside, thanks for the review and from someone who loved Human Revolution, Mankind Divided is mostly everything I wanted to hear from a sequel - minus the ending with unanswered questions and only one hub area.
Though, it's good to mention that Human Revolution had 2-4 endings which did leave the biggest questions unanswered as well, and they were great imho. Hopefully Mankind Divided does answer most of those questions throughout the story and asks new questions, rather than leaving the same questions from Human Revolution still unanswered.
I have Human Revolution's soundtrack and listen to it a lot ever since the game's release and it's one of the best soundtracks of any entertainment product (games, movies, animes, etc.).
Every time I listen to it, all the feelings and emotions I felt at the time I played it come back to me, both from the game and from real life, a torrent of sensations that makes me remember that Human Revolution's world was a place I lived in, not a place in a game.
Aside from Huber from Easy Allies/GameTrailers, who also felt the same. I have no idea if other people felt it, but when I think of Human Revolution's world, it feels like a place I lived in for a few months. Which in a sense is the "perfect form" of immersion anyone can ever hope for and that VR/AR are trying so hard to achieve. Human Revolution did so - for Huber and me - with no VR/AR and that's an accomplishment that is rarely ever achieved.
Do you feel Mankind Divided's soundtrack is as memorable as Human Revolution's soundtrack?
And what about Mankind Divided's world, does it feel "real/alive" as Human Revolution's world?
The world feels alive alright, there are people in the streets of Prague. That being said, Prague is a bit like City 17 or Dishonored's Dunwall in that it feels a bit like a movie set if you see what I mean.
But either way, it's only 3 days away and then I will experience it for myself.
DirectX 12 shouldn't be in the game until early September, anyway, according to official statement. They delayed it to fix something.
- Only one city hub (Prague)
Oh f###, are you serious? That's one big letdown.
- I can understand your disappointment, but you'll still get to travel in different countries (though for the last one, you'll be in a building).
Also, looking at the (apparently) unsatisfying ending, maybe the rumors about Square-Enix cutting resources to many of his games (hitman with episodic delivery, now Deus Ex with cut ending and -maybe- content) for the fear of the console market failing, weren't completely untrue.
I think I'll wait for an eventual GOTY before getting this, maybe they'll finish the story in the game by then.
I will wait for the goty edition + steam sale combo.