Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

My favorite Deus Ex game. It's a crime what they did with the franchise... I really hope that someday, we can get a worthy sequel to this unfinished masterpiece...
Adam is such an amazing main character... I find that these days it's hard for me to say that about almost any character in gaming, but Adam was truly masterfully written. Every conversation and cutscene with him is badass and his personality gives off an air of security. I will truly miss this character and the world of Deus Ex.

This game is leagues ahead of almost all games released today. And it's from 2016!!!! It's almost ten years old and its insanely better than all the crap coming out. We have gone backwards significantly from here

While not a triumph, Mankind Divided is an extremely enjoyable cyberpunk adventure with enough content and gameplay options to keep fans of the franchise happy. The main story lacks impact and drops off completely at the end, but the missions are almost universally fantastic, allowing you to flex your cybernetically-enhanced muscles in a multitude of ways.

I regularly reinstall this game just so I can break into the bank and rob it again. I just really like robbing expensive looking office work places.

Exhausting, but incredibly well made. It leaves you with this strange sense of sadness and loneliness that lingers even after you’re done playing. Games like this really are a niche of their own.

I remember coming across this game back in 2016 and wondering what it would actually feel like to play. I watched all the trailers, the gameplay videos, and the little bits of footage the devs put out, imagining what the experience would be like. Now, almost a decade later, I finally know.

And honestly? It was exhausting. In the best and worst way possible.

Too many damn vents.

My feelings for this game are complex and hard to summarize under a "Yes" or a "No". If I could answer the question with "Eeeeeeeh, weeeeelll I guess?" I feel like that would be more appropriate.

If you liked Deus Ex: Human Evolution, you'll like this game. It's a sequel that builds off of its predecessor while also introducing some more of its own. The story continues not too long after the first game and a couple books and side stories released between games helped set this one up. I would say there's a solid 40 hours of gameplay with even more if you play Breach which is an arcade side game that puts you through segmented timed hacking missions and challenges.

From a hub city that slowly changes as the game goes on, you venture out to various locations to progress the story which really leans on the ever growing divide between humans with cybernetic enhancements and those without. The gameplay continues to be solid with encouragement of playing the missions loud and guns blazing or quiet and stealthy. There's lots to explore, characters to talk to, side missions, abilities to level up. Again, it's more Human Evolution, and I liked that game, so I can't complain. Arguably it's Deus Ex by name only, but that's fine if you just think of the original(s) and the new ones as separate things.

But all that is ruined by one thing: Single. Use. DLC. Now if that doesn't already make you vomit in your mouth or make you feel sick, allow me to add some ipecac to the formula and explain the situation. You have your base game, which as I mentioned has more of Human Evolution. You go to various locations, have a choice of how you want to approach the conflict, and finish the game just fine. However there is also the option to buy booster packs that include ammo, armor and weapons that applies to ONLY ONE SAVE FILE. So you spend your real money to buy a win button for a single save.

DLC is already in hot water. In ages past, expansion packs and DLC meant you got entirely new campaigns that added hours to the game. But over the years video games became more expensive, development time took more time, the industry became more predatory, and DLC started to shrink. Now we're stuck with situations like this. Single use DLC. It's not a bad thing to make something extra for your game and charge a few bucks for it. Whether it's extra missions, cosmetics, or a brand new weapon, but making content that is only good once is sleazy to say the very least.

Even though you can play through the game just fine without these disposable booster packs, it just becomes a fly in the ointment and can ruin the experience when you're being reminded of their existence every time you load up the game. So would I recommend the game? Eeeeeeeh, weeeeelll I guess?

I'm giving a positive review in the hopes and prayers that the publishers greenlight another Deus Ex game. Pls boss. I'm fiending over here boss.