Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is an action / RPG game with elements of stealth action ^[3] . As in Human Revolution, the player takes control of Adam Jensen ^[3] . Most of the game, the player can freely move around several open locations, where he can perform basic and side tasks, buy and upgrade weapons, eliminate opponents, communicate with characters and explore the game world ^[3] . The only major location in Mankind Divided , unlike previous games in the series, is the city of Prague ^[3] .

The main storyline quests follow one after another. Side quests can be performed in any order, but at the same time one side quest can open others, and also affect the main storyline. Most quests can be completed in several ways. For example, a player can use firearms and eliminate all opponents, either covertly neutralize them (but not kill them), or by means of communication, without using a violent method, achieve their goal and so on. The chosen method of passing can affect the result of the task and the ending of the game. The game can be completely completed without killing opponents, including bosses ^[3] .

The player can use various types of fantastic lethal and non-lethal weapons, which are represented by pistols, submachine guns, sniper rifles and grenades. Most weapons can be modified. The player is also available various items that can replenish health and energy, as well as briefly change other aspects of the gameplay.

As in the last main game of the series, the character development system is represented by the augmentation system, which has been reworked ^[4] . The player can receive or buy skill points, with which you can improve the various active and passive abilities of Adam Jensen ^[3] . An important change in the game was the addition of automatic replenishment of the full scale of energy, while in the predecessor it was required to look for and use additional reserves.

The events of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided take place in 2029, 2 years after the events of Human Revolution . The plot is based on the Pancake incident - one of the key events in the gaming universe of the Deus Ex series, which took place in the Human Revolution finale, during which augmented people around the world fell into a state of insanity for a short time, began to destroy property and kill other people, causing significant damage around the world with their actions ^[3] . The actions and choices made by the player in the last part do not affect the development of the plot of Mankind Divided . It is understood that the main character of the last game, Adam Jensen, did not die, destroying the Panhei complex with him (one of the endings).

After the Panchean incident, augmented people were everywhere discriminated against, and the fear of a similar incident prompted governments around the world to imprison survivors in the ghetto . The society, the split of which was only outlined in Human Revolution , after the incident was divided into two militant groups - those who are the majority advocates of the purity of the human body and augmented people and sympathizers with them.

The protagonist of the game is Adam Jensen, who at the time of the start of the game is an agent of Task Force 29, a fictional unit of Interpol , and is also a secret informant of a group of hackers called the Juggernaut Team, whose leader is the mysterious hacker Janus ^[3] .

Jensen's first mission to Mankind Divided as an OG29 agent is to infiltrate an unfinished hotel in Dubai in order to disrupt the arms deal. After Jensen has completed his task, mercenaries in golden masks arrive at the hotel, who begin to destroy the arms dealers. The main character must stop the helicopter with weapons in any way. Some time after the mission in Dubai, Jensen wakes up in a train heading for the Ruzicka station in Prague. Upon arrival at the station, Jensen meets with another member of the Juggernaut Team, Alex Vega, with whom the protagonist discusses the current situation. After some time, a terrorist attack occurs at the station.

Announce

The first rumors about the development of a new part of the series appeared when Square Enix registered a new brand under the name “Deus Ex: Mankind Divided” on March 27, 2014. In October of that year, it was confirmed that work on a new part of the game was indeed underway ^[5] .

On April 6, 2015, Square Enix launched a project called Can't Kill Progress , an alternative reality game designed to advertise its new, at that time unknown, product via the Twitch online translation service ^[6] . The broadcast lasted until April 8, and throughout the entire time the audience was offered to solve puzzles in order to get more information about what was happening, as well as vote for some scenarios. The announcement of Mankind Divided was supposed to take place at the end of the broadcast, but the Russian site " Kanobu " devoted to gaming topics, published the screenshots of the new game a day earlier ^{[7] [8]} . The materials were removed from the site a few minutes later, however, the link to them was saved in the Google cache , which allowed the leak to spread quickly on the network. According to the Kanobu representatives, there was no embargo on the materials received “from their own source”, so formally there were no violations by the site ^[9] . Almost simultaneously with this, information about the game was leaked from the Internet browser Game Informer , which subsequently received the right to publish exclusive content related to Mankind Divided ^{[10] [11]} for a month.

Story

Project scriptwriter Mary DeMarle in an interview for Game Informer noted that she sought to write the plot together with other members of the development team. This made it possible to work together on the game from different angles and create new ideas. She emphasized that it is not enough to write letters on paper - you need to understand what the player will see and feel during the passage ^[12] .

Revealing the role of Adam Jensen in Mankind Divided , Mary emphasized that in Human Revolution he had to make a choice, on which not only his life, but also most of humanity depended. But two years later, it becomes clear that Adam was wrong and now he wants to correct what happened. To do this, he had to look for an influential and powerful patron to confront the hidden forces that influence world processes. Therefore, Adam began working for Interpol. In the realities of the new part of the series, augmented citizens are being severely persecuted, and many organizations are trying in every way to infringe on their rights. In response to this, clandestine opposition communities are created that want to restore the rights of augmented people. However, these groups are regarded as terrorist, and Adam, as an agent of Interpol, will have to establish their involvement in some terrorist acts. The main plot is to find a balance between these groups. According to Mary, the main idea of ​​the new game is the question of "accepting yourself as you have become not of your own free will, but because of circumstances, and further understanding of who you are" ^[12] . According to another studio scriptwriter, Jacques-Bellett, it was planned to “ kill ” Adam at the end of the first game, but it was decided to leave him because Adam is an outcast for both sides and is most suitable for an objective image of conflicting camps ^[13] .

One of the weaknesses of Human Revolution was considered the lack of influence of actions during the game on the ending. As a result, the choice depended on the decision at the last level. Olivier Prou, producer of the studio, said that the developers of Mankind Divided will not repeat this mistake. Developing the idea, Pru stated that the final will depend on many decisions taken during the passage, but with the proviso that elections at the last level will have a slightly greater significance. Leading developer of the project, Jean-Francois Doug, explaining the reason for the stingy ending of the previous game, said that this happened because of the lack of time to implement all the ideas of the team. In the new game there will be no such “ tricks ” ^[4] .

Gameplay

In Mankind Divided , augmentation system has been processed, in which all skills are not out of balance and are not too powerful, but are still quite effective ^[4] . In addition to the augmentations that were presented in Human Revolution , new ones were added to Mankind Divided , which, for the most part, are a reflection of the “ advanced technologies ” of the Deus Ex world. One of these is the Titan Shield , which temporarily protects Adam from physical damage. The art director of the game, Jonathan Jacques-Bellet, emphasized that the geometry of this ability conveys the aesthetics of the game. The development of animation and visual effects associated with the “shield” took a year, during which the basic concept changed several times. The greatest difficulty was caused by the image of the reaction of the armor to the bullet. Another innovation is the Tesla module ( English Tesla ), which is an electromagnetic weapon built into the brush and having four charges to neutralize opponents. Augmentation is an alternative to stun guns. Also changed the role of nano-blades ( Eng. Nano-Blade ), which will become possible to use also as a remote weapon. Another non-lethal weapon is built into the forearm - the PEPS shock pistol ^[13] .

The game was announced on April 8, 2015. On August 31, 2015, developers officially announced the release date for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - February 23, 2016. Until the beginning of October 2015, the program “Augment your pre-order” was in effect, according to which the developers had to release the game 4 days earlier with a certain level of pre-orders ^[14] . Later, this program was closed due to the indignation of the players, and all bonuses (except for the early release) were included in the usual pre-order ^[15] .

Subsequently, the release of the game was postponed for 6 months in order to finalize the game to the proper form ^[1] . The release of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided took place on August 23, 2016 on the Microsoft Windows , PlayStation 4 and Xbox One platforms ^[1] . Simultaneously with the game, 2 additional sets of weapons were released. A month after the main game was released, on September 23, 2016, the first plot add-on System Rift ^{[16] was released} , and on February 23, 2017, 5 months after the release of System Rift, the second add-on called A Criminal Past ^{[17] was released} .

Feral Interactive developed and released a version of the game for Linux on November 3, 2016 ^{[18] [19]} , and for macOS on December 12, 2017 ^[20] . In Russia and the CIS, physical copies are distributed by Buka with full Russian localization ^[21] .

For Deus Ex: Mankind Divided , 2 plot additions were released, as well as 2 sets of weapons. Both story DLCs and both weapon sets are available for purchase as part of the Season Pass or individually.

System Rift

A Criminal Past

Prior to the release of the game.

Warren Spector , one of the creators of Deus Ex , praised the work of Eidos Montreal to continue the series, but reacted negatively to the abundance of violence in the Mankind Divided trailer, commenting on the words: “ Deus Ex never put the murder at the forefront .” Spector also called boss battles Human Revolution a weak point, since they do not provide action options, but only leave the opportunity to kill ^[49] . According to development manager Jean-Francois Doug, Mankind Divided will have the opportunity to go through the game completely unnoticed, including boss battles ^[50] .

In the preview from " Gambling " for the authorship of Yevgeny Baranov, an ambiguous assessment of the plot of Mankind Divided is given . According to Baranov, the ending of the first part could lead to many social and economic disasters, but the developers decided to put pressure on the “ sore spot ” in the form of oppressed minorities, the belittling of which is depicted in many scenes of trailers. Not only the plot, but also the stylistic part of the game has not changed: black and gold colors and elaborately detailed surroundings still prevail in the picture, and the soundtrack borrows many of the motives of the previous series. All these nuances are noted unworthy of a loud announcement. Gray and blue colors will be added to the black and gold compositions of the environment, which, according to the developers, symbolizes the powerful "corporate feudalism" that fights against augmented people. But the reviewer expresses concern about the many times increased detail, as this may interfere with the perception of a holistic picture of the location. Changes in the gameplay are in the nature of increasing the convenience of the game in any style: both secretly and ahead. However, Baranov adds that there were noticeably fewer second ones, and the mechanics of covert passage were always the envy of other games. As a result, the preview says that everything remains at the same high level, but for the second time, “ jumping above your head ” will be possible only due to serious shocks during the game ^[51] .

After the release of the game

The game received mostly positive ratings. According to the Metacritic aggregator, versions for the Xbox One and personal computers received 83 points out of 100 possible based on 18 and 56 reviews, respectively, and the version for the PlayStation 4 got 84 points based on 59 reviews. Yevgeny Baranov from Igromania, previously the author of the preliminary review of Mankind Divided , in his review rated the game at 9 points out of 10 possible, noting a “worthy” plot, detailed elaboration of the main game location, improved gameplay compared to Human Revolution, and the developers pay equal attention to the “open” and “quiet” versions of the passage, but the author drew attention to the fact that Mankind Divided is “essentially the same game as five years ago”, the game’s open ending, as well as the presence of everything one full game howling location unlike past games ^[3] . Reviewer of the PlayGround.ru portal Yevgeny Vasyutinsky gave the game 9.2 points out of 10 possible, praising the game for its cyberpunk atmosphere, gameplay and variability, while noting the “reduced scale” and technical problems as disadvantages ^[52] . The IGN portal reviewer also scored 9.2 out of 10, calling Mankind Divided a game that improves the gaming experience of its predecessor in all aspects ^[53] . The PC Gamer portal gave the game 88 points out of 100 possible, also noting that the game lacks a second main gaming location besides Prague, but calling it “a great game in the genre of immersive sim with the best level design in its series, surprisingly rich setting and incredibly rich set of augmentations. " PC Gamer reviewer also noted that the creators of Mankind Divided in the face of Eidos Montreal are closer than ever to breaking the high quality standard set by the original Deus Ex .

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