But every so often comes a game that’s so ambitious it aims to combine the best elements of titles across genres into an experience, and has all of those disparate additions work so well they become an entirely unique experience, and one that’s unforgettable and memorable. And while there have been some brilliant examples of such titles in recent years, there hasn’t been anything quite like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

But why not? Yes, a few titles have come close, but they don’t scratch the particular itch that this one does. Join us as we take a look at what makes a game whose title hides the brilliant cohesion of its many systems that make it a memorable romp through a dystopian, cyberpunk-inspired world in which man and machine are increasingly becoming synonyms.

It was going to be a challenge to top the cliffhanger that Human Revolution set up, and Mankind Divided doesn’t even try to. That’s a very clever choice, allowing the developers to bring a more focused narrative to the table while managing to incorporate familiar gameplay elements from past titles, some coming with new twists.

But let’s focus on the story for now. With the augmented beings driven to extreme violence at the end of the previous instalment, Mankind Divided cleverly speeds up the clock a bit, allowing the dust to settle on those events and presenting the aftermath as a narrative vehicle for them to tackle some complex themes.

The result is a gritty, sometimes dark narrative in which returning protagonist Adam Jensen has received some handy new augmentations and is ready for another adventure in which the stakes are quite high, involving the fates of all augmented beings. This is a clever move, although it takes a while for it to become evident in the game’s story.

Its placement ensures that the stakes are immediately raised, working well with the game’s branching narrative to ensure that all of your past decisions now come into play, shaping the impact your actions have on the game’s world for better or worse. It’s a choice-based narrative that’s quite good, and perhaps even on par with the one in The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, a title that has quite a few possibilities in its story based on your decisions as Geralt.

Jensen has a similar impact as a protagonist, and the story often has narrative branches that could have you smiling with relief for having chosen the right decision according to your personal canon, or even going so far as to restart a playthrough if the consequences of your actions were too much for you to handle.

It was a level of complexity that was quite rare for games in 2016, and although the gaming world has since caught up, it isn’t easy to craft a story as riveting as the one in Mankind Divided, despite a few plot points not hitting as hard as we would have liked, thanks to the experience’s length. But then again, a longer game might have run the risk of the narrative outstaying its welcome.

But even if the story hadn’t clicked as well as it did, Mankind Divided always had its gameplay to back it up.

The very first improvement over its predecessor that quickly became evident was Mankind Divided’s refinement of the franchise’s stealth mechanics. With the option for sneaking up on enemies for either lethal or non-lethal takedowns, hiding their bodies to prevent your cover being blown, cover-to-cover movement, and hacking, Jensen had a stealth toolkit that could rival even the best in the stealth business.

These additions made Mankind Divided all the more conducive to a more subtle, silent approach than previous titles in the Deus Ex franchise, and perhaps even other games, thanks to how well-implemented the mechanics are.

It’s also a good idea to talk about level designs at this point, and how they tie in the idea of branching possibilities from the story into the gameplay. There are always multiple ways to approach a problem in the game, with those solutions often relying on specific augments that you’re likely to have if you’re leaning toward specific playstyles.

That automatically means that you’re not punished for choosing a specific character archetype, something that other RPGs don’t get right on many occasions. Yes, your hacking skills may not be up to the task of disabling that pesky security system. But if your set of augments is good enough, you could always tear it off the wall if you wish.

But it goes deeper than that. There are surely at least a few other ways around the panel, waiting for diligent players to discover them, and each one potentially leading you to stumble along a chain of side quests that are as good as the ones in the main story. No matter what you’re doing in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, there’s a very strong chance that there’s a better way to do it waiting for you to figure it out.

But that could easily get overwhelming in a game as complex as this one. However, it’s all presented so organically that choosing your augs based on the situation at hand becomes second nature. Plus, if a quiet approach doesn’t work, there’s always the option to get your guns out of their holsters for some good ol’ fashioned shooting.

And boy does this one deliver on that front. The cover system works as well for the game’s gunplay as it does for its stealth, and taking enemies out with a variety of great guns and weapons is a blast. It’s almost as if the choice between going in quietly and just kicking in the front door is among the hardest ones to make in the game.

The augments work very well as another facet of the game’s story and gameplay. They can give you mobility, combat specialities, crowd control tools, or the ability to move unseen through even the most secure facilities. You could choose to specialize, or perhaps spread out their utility to let you navigate more complex situations in the field.

Prague and its districts serve as interesting locations to explore, with the open-world sections feeling just about large enough for them not to become repetitive. It’s yet another part of a game that fits very well with the others to make it a cohesive whole that comes together to present an experience that’s both unique and entertaining.

But, you may argue, there are a ton of other games that are well put together and present an experience that’s perhaps almost as good as the one in Mankind Divided. So what sets it apart?

You could think of Mankind Divided as a title whose ambition inspired others to follow in its footsteps. Where Winds Meet is a title that immediately comes to mind, considering how Everstone has attempted to include just about anything a player can think of as a part of its wuxia-based open world.

Yes, it does have solid stealth mechanics. Its combat is quite exciting too, and the story isn’t too bad. However, it’s a different game altogether, with a completely different goal in mind. It’s built for longevity through constant additions, and not as an experience that can remain memorable despite being comparatively shorter.

For all their ambitious similarities, Where Winds Meet and Mankind Divided are very different experiences and, as such, are not really comparable. Outer Worlds 2 is another excellent, massive RPG with excellent combat, a lot of options to approach your goals in the open world, and a choice-based narrative.

However, its take on corporate greed doesn’t come close to the dark gravitas of a world in which human beings are split into factions based on how they have responded to augmentations. Once again, the two games might have similarities, but they take entirely different directions as far as the experiences they offer are concerned.

Are you beginning to see a pattern? There are a few current-gen titles that are perhaps as exciting and even fun to play in their own right. They are definitely great games, but they are not Mankind Divided. Despite the title being around nine years old at the time of writing, it continues to stand out as an example of ambition grounded in solid execution.

And that’s among its biggest strengths. There aren’t many games like it because it isn’t easy to strike a balance between the weight of its thematic inspirations and a story that justifies all the mayhem its gameplay brings to the table. It isn’t easy to craft an experience that plays as well as this one does. Mankind Divided aims for the sky and finds a well-deserved place among the clouds.

With many years of great games like it behind us, and many more to come, we hope that we get to see another title that makes us fall in love as much as this one has.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

“…no Deus Ex because the people in charge are psychopaths,” Toufexis wrote when asked if any of the projects he was working on were related to the seminal immersive sim franchise. He did, however, confirm that he is working with Bungie on Marathon. It’s worth noting that the Embracer Group owns the rights to Deus Ex, though Toufexis didn’t call them out by name.

The last development on the franchise came up in January 2024, when a rumour indicated that a new title was under development for two years before ultimately being cancelled. It was allegedly developed by Eidos Montreal, which had also made Human Revolution and Mankind Divided. It is also worth noting that whether the cancelled title was a sequel to Mankind Divided, a reboot or a remake is unknown.

April 2025 also saw some rumours surrounding the franchise pop up again, this time with Eidos Montreal “actively pitching” a new game in the franchise to “external partners and publishers.” These pitches apparently didn’t see much success, unfortunately, with the project noted as “too niche” and not worth the financial risk.

While Adam Jensen’s story has largely been abandoned after the 2016 release of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the original Deus Ex is slated to make a comeback in the form of a remastered release by Aspyr Media. Originally planned for release in February, Deus Ex Remastered has since been delayed, with Aspyr noting that the decision was to “better meet fan expectations and deliver the best possible experience for players.”

Deus Ex is a series of cyberpunk immersive sims that have players take on the control of JC Denton in the 2000 original, Alex Denton in 2003’s Deus Ex: Invisible War, and Adam Jensen in 2011’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution and 2016’s Mankind Divided. The titles depict a world decades in a future ravaged by war, disease and income disparity, where body and mind augmentations have become commonplace enough that you can see people from all walks of life using them.

The main stories often involve the protagonist taking on what starts as a relatively simple mission, but then quickly evolves into something much larger, with several layers of conspiracies involved in just about every aspect. The original Deus Ex was widely praised for the level of freedom it allowed players in how they could tackle missions, while both Human Revolution and Mankind Divided saw acclaim thanks to their efforts at world-building as well as their stories and characters.

“We looked at all kinds of things,” he said. “I know people are probably tired of me saying this, but Fallout: New Vegas was a big inspiration for us.” Along with New Vegas, however, Adler also said that “the newer Deus Ex games” were also inspirational, referring to 2011’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution and 2016’s Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

Adler has been revealing quite a few details about The Outer Worlds 2 over the last month. In a recent interview, he revealed that the upcoming RPG will not allow players to respec their builds. While he noted that there are games that provide that option and it’s not the “wrong” choice by any means, it is simply the wrong choice for The Outer Worlds 2.

“There’s a lot of times where you’ll see games where they allow infinite respec, and at that point, I’m not really role-playing a character, because I’m jumping between – well, my guy is a really great assassin that snipes from long range, and then oh, y’know, now I’m going to be a speech person, then respec again, and it’s like… for me, it’s not wrong that people like to play like that,” said Adler.

“Look, if we’re going to do The Outer Worlds 2, I want to make sure that the role-playing is really strong,” he continued. “I want to make sure that you’re building your character and really doubling down – making sure that role-playing comes through the whole experience.”

Adler also spoke about how the RPG mechanics of The Outer Worlds 2 will reinforce players’ choices by giving them consequences and a generally reactive world and story. He noted that this comes down to respecting the player’s time, and in exchange, getting the respect of players for the choices they might have to make.

“We want to respect people’s time, and for me, in a role-playing game, this is respecting somebody’s time,” Adler explained. “Saying your choices matter, so take that seriously – and we’re going to respect that by making sure that we give you cool reactivity for those choices that you’re making. That’s respecting your time.”

“So you know your question was, was, how do you cater to that? And I would say you’ve got to be clear with people early on what the experience they’re getting is. If that’s not for them, that’s understandable. We hope that we can convince you that it is – but I’m also not going to make a game for literally everybody because then I feel it waters down the experience a lot.”

The Outer Worlds 2 is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 29.

The Order: 1886

Despite its frustrating overreliance on then-outdated QTEs, The Order: 1886 oozed style and atmosphere. It’s steampunk story set within a vampire-enriched Victorian London expressed deep imagination too. Perhaps its sky-high expectation was ultimately it’s undoing but there’s enough here to warrant a sequel. Interestingly, developer Ready at Dawn have since been acquired by Meta, and Sony themselves renewed the IP as recently as December 2021 – a VR sequel, then, surely isn’t out of the question.

]]> 606230 https://gamingbolt.com/deus-ex-mankind-divided-is-free-on-the-epic-games-store Thu, 14 Mar 2024 16:09:39 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=581721 The latest free PC games are now available to redeem on the Epic Games Store, and at least one is an underrated classic. It’s Eidos Montreal’s Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, available until March 21st. You’ll need an Epic Games account to claim it and the Epic Games Launcher to play it, though.

As a follow-up to the critically acclaimed Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Mankind Divided continues the story of Adam Jensen. Augmented humans face prejudice after the Aug Incident, and Jensen quickly finds himself caught between the Illuminati, Juggernaut Collective and the Augmented Rights Coalition.

The sequel offers even more side mission chains and immersive sim mechanics, with your decisions influencing their outcomes. Jensen can also take advantage of new abilities, which allows players to lean further into stealth or all-out combat. Though receiving critical praise (check out our review here), Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was criticized for its cliffhanger ending.

Unfortunately, a sequel isn’t forthcoming, as rumors claim the Embracer Group cancelled a new title in the series after two years of development. Eidos Montreal is reportedly working on an original franchise, so stay tuned for further announcements in the future.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is free on the @EpicGames Store until March 21!

Go after the Illuminati in our cyberpunk action-RPG: https://t.co/YJ5mAsT8p8 pic.twitter.com/Ro8L7kp1ao

— Deus Ex (@DeusEx) March 14, 2024

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Set against the backdrop of Prague, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided presents a dense network of systems and gives players ample tools to bend those systems to their will. Missions take place in open-ended sandboxes with multiple paths to your objective, and depending on your character build – you can choose to sweet talk your way through guards, hack into security systems for a convenient backdoor entry, or just blow everything in your path with sheer brute force. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is arguably the series at its best both visually and mechanically, and it remains a joyous experience even after all these years.

At this point, it’s hard to say, especially after the latest tweet by Elias Toufexis, who voiced Adam Jensen in Human Revolution and Mankind Divided. Toufexis said, “As happy as I am to be busy, I wish I was even more busy on a new Deus Ex.” He also clarified that he’s “not under any NDA for Deus Ex because no one has called me about it. Truly.”

A report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier in November 2022 indicated that a new Deus Ex was in “very, very early” development. Toufexis probably wasn’t contacted because the project hasn’t reached the voice-acting stage. Maybe it’s in pre-production while the developer works on its rumored new IP (which may be a new co-op RPG, per a recent job listing). Time will tell, so stay tuned.

Yeah, as happy as I am to be busy, I wish I was even more busy on a new Deus Ex.
I am not under any NDA for Deus Ex because no one has called me about it. Truly. https://t.co/eup2dSst1r

— ᴇʟɪᴀꜱ ᴛᴏᴜꜰᴇxɪꜱ (@EliasToufexis) July 8, 2023

For PS5 players, action hack and slash title Soulstice will be available. PS4 players can look forward to Tacoma, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Killing Floor 2. A game trial for WWE 2K23 will also be available, though this is more than likely exclusive to PS Plus Premium.

It’s worth noting that several other titles like ELEX 2, Redout 2, MX vs ATV Legends, PAW Patrol Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay, My Friend Peppa Pig and DC League of Super-Pets: The Adventures of Krypto and Ace for PS4 and PS5 are mentioned in a recent PlayStation Access video. You also have The Talos Principle: Deluxe Edition, Lonely Mountains: Downhill, Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York, A Hat in Time, Carto, Forager, Dodgeball Academia, The Wild at Heart and Thief coming to PS4.

Classics coming to PlayStation Plus Premium include Killzone: Liberation for the PSP and Worms and
Herc’s Adventure on the PlayStation One.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – Prosthetic Tool

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice starts off pretty simple with the protagonist Wolf being tasked to rescue his master from the clutches of Genichiro Ashina, but that fight leaves our wolf handicapped with one severed arm. Thanks to the help of the titular Sculptor, you get a prosthetic tool in replacement which not only allows you to get back into the fight but also increases your versatility in combat. You can attach different weapons to this tool which helps you give an edge over certain enemies. For instance, the loaded axe can be used to break down enemy shields while the firecrackers can be used to distract enemies or you could use the flame vent to dish out some fire damage instead. On top of these capabilities, this prosthetic arm also allows you to close huge gaps through the use of an attached grappling hook – making it the most important part of your arsenal.

Batman: Arkham Knight

How ironic is it that Batman: Arkham Knight looked incredible on PS4 and Xbox One while running better on both consoles than on PC? Probably as ironic as it looking better than Gotham Knights, even though it’s also stuck at 30 FPS on consoles. I digress. Either way, there’s no denying that Arkham Knight is gorgeous with excellent texture quality and character models.

The rain effects and how they realistically interacted with the environment; the lighting and fog quality; the draw distance, and sheer attention to detail – it’s spectacular and ran at a rock-solid frame rate. Regardless of the Batmobile hate, almost everyone can agree that Arkham Knight is a technical marvel. Again, on consoles, but the PC version has improved over time.