Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

This is the game that I wish fans had noticed. This game underperformed commercially wise which it's a shame cuz both games are really good. Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided are one of the best stealth / dystopian games ever made. I really hope we get the third and last one so we can get a proper ending to Adam Jensens story.

An incredibly underappreciated Immersive Sim
As someone whose favorite game is the original Deus Ex and a massive critic of Human Revolution's more streamlined level design and mechanics, I went into Mankind Divided with the lowest expectations possible. I had heard terrible things about this game's pre-order and marketing, as well as the general consensus leaning more towards the idea that this is an inferior game compared to Human Revolution.
Truth is, after beating the game, my expectations were greatly surpassed. Not only is this a rare case of a good modern Immersive Sim (something I'm also not a huge fan of) but also a great entry in the Deus Ex franchise with enough connections to the original game and fun mechanics that will encourage repeated playthroughs to experience all its different playstyles.
Mankind Divided's level design, side missions, gameplay, and art style are all top-notch and should serve as an example for what a modern triple-A game should be like. The different augmentations you can obtain while playing the game really enhance the experience and combat to a whole other level. Nothing is more satisfying than using all your different augmentations in tandem to bypass or eliminate large amounts of enemies. The game really showcases true expression in which upgrades you choose to invest your Praxis Kits in and which ones you do not, especially with Adam Jensen's new experimental augs which quickly became one of my favorite aspects of the game.
Where the game falls flat, in my opinion, is probably its story. It feels like a middle entry in a much larger plot, and it sort of ends when things are getting interesting or leading up to the events of the original Deus Ex.
As a final note, many people say this is best enjoyed as a stealth game. Honestly, screw that. Embrace the true power of Adam's new augmentations, get the strongest weapons, go guns blazing, and have fun just being a god among men. This is not only a great Immersive Sim but also a great game overall, and that's coming from someone who went into this expecting to hate it.

Put a big asterisk in that thumbs up. This is another candidate for a mixed review, although there is technically nothing (much) wrong with the game, it has a list of things you should know about before you play it.

It takes Human Revolution's formula two years into the future in the post-Aug Incident world. Most of the game takes place in Prague in the Czech Republic, and they did a great job at replicating the architecture of a post-communist slavic country. The music, in the few moments where it matters, is really good - like the TF29 complex, or Apex Towers and final battle theme. Gameplay is, if not as, then at least almost as solid as HR, with a list of new toys to play around with. When this game does it right, it feels just like the Deus Ex we love.

...unfortunately this doesn't happen very often. While Prague is indeed a very nice miniature open world, the problem is there isn't really much meat otherwise. Doing sidequests that require you to run around the city can feel a little bit like padding, especially during the third visit when Prague is under martial law and you have to sneak your way through the streets often requiring you to go back and forth, should you ignore them entirely you will realize there's only about four missions that actually have you sneak through some kind of complex (and easily the best ones are also the shortest ones, where you will hit the end and proclaim in surprise "that's it??"), all of them taking up about 15 hours to go through at most. While it is some of the best Deus Ex has to offer, it's also not quite enough to satisfy someone who would be eager for a sequel after experiencing Human Revolution.
All of this is likely a side effect of the horrible marketing this game has received from Square Enix, including microtransactions and the absolutely infamous Augment Your Preorder campaign - ironically the consumables you receive are one-time only and you can't even reuse them on multiple save files, which is insane! What likely happened is SE forcing Eidos Montreal to push the game out the door before its story was anywhere near done - either due to the terrible marketing campaign, or because they wanted to milk more money out of the third Jensen game that would tie it back to the original Deus Ex, a game which never happened due to how terribly this one has performed.

The other downside is the poor technical state of the game - my entire playthrough of Human Revolution only suffered from a couple of crashes, while the list of issues I encountered in Mankind Divided are as follows: dozens of load loops requiring Alt+F4 and reboot, a few crashes and a dozen cases where a particular model decided to start freaking out turning into massive stretched out flickering textures in the world (most likely related to misloading NPC models - as one of those I managed to find a source of, a man with his chest model missing entirely). This game is, to put it bluntly, a mess and requires some level of patience to deal with its shortcomings.

Overall, if you're here for strictly just more of HR, you would be disappointed - this game is about one-third more Deus Ex, two-thirds messing around in the mini-open world of Prague. While the good parts of it are some of the best ones, there is simply too much extra padding for me to not put the massive disclaimer next to my recommendation. While the open world itself is still good - it is not the same kind of experience, and any potential players need to be aware of what they're getting into before diving in.

This game was cancelled halfway in order to work on Guardians of the Galaxy game. If you care about the story just know that the game ends halfway, abruptly. Also those DLC packs you get are SINGLE USE and locks your save. Also has Denuvo eating %10 of your fps. At this point you should understand that this is a business/company type game, which killed the anti-business type franchise. And they don't give up the license either, I'm trying my best to contain my sadness and anger.
Putting those aside, Prague is nice. I like the side quests and jumping around the city. The gameplay has also improved compared to DX:HR and feels much more fluid. I would recommend this if you're just looking for an action game or a fan of the franchise (or it's rotten corpse at this point). If you're looking for a proper stealth or imsim I'll advise you to spend your time better.
Recommended by: Experiences Worth Experiencing

I like Mankind Divided, but It's kinda ironic when they sell you overpriced micro-transactions in a bug-ridden game that criticizes corporate greed.

In short : An masterpiece of an action/stealth FPS, still worth it in 2025. Surpassing all modern games in many aspects (environments, scenario, versatility of gameplay and multiple choices to complete the missions)
In detail : This is the first time I played a Deus Ex game, and I was astonished. There are many ways to play the game (I chose stealth for both playthroughs and I liked it). The environments are gorgeous and complex (my god Golem city surpasses even Night City in term of environment design. It has an amazing Akira vibe that gave me the chills). The NPCs in the cities are alive like in no other game, with many little scenes that makes the world very alive, I was baffled. The scenario is pretty dark and the side missions are impactful and cleverly written. There are dozens of way to complete each mission, so the replay value is definitely there.
As it was my first time playing a Deus EX game, it took some time for me to adapt and understand the philosophy of the game, as it is quite unique. As such, I would advise for a newcomer to the serie to start their first playthrough in Normal difficulty.
Conclusion : A true work of art and passion, kudos to the developpers, writters, artists, and everyone involved.
PS : Very sad of all the hate the game got in the Steam reviews, even if I understand the reasons. But only the publisher is to blame, so it is trully saddening for the developpers who clearly put their soul into this life changing experience.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

I have no doubt that Mankind Divided is a true masterpiece of the tenth art. At first, I thought it was just another poorly made generic FPS. I tried playing it four times, and only on the fourth attempt did I finally understand that it was, in fact, an RPG. That changed everything. This is how the game should be approached: not as a shooter, but as a deep role-playing experience.

What fascinated me the most was the developers’ decision to create a small and dense world instead of a vast, generic, and empty open world, which is unfortunately typical in modern games. The environment in Mankind Divided is incredibly detailed, full of notes and rich lore.

I love literature, and being able to read all those in-game notes made me genuinely happy. It brought the world to life. You start to feel like that universe truly exists, with its own history and depth.

I just finished the main campaign and I’m honestly disappointed because the game ends abruptly, and to this day there is no continuation. That’s a shame, because this is a work of art. A game with this level of immersion should never be thrown away or forgotten.