A question we often hear in our line of work is “what makes a game great to you?” And we know that the answer is subjective. We’re all bringing our own preferences to the table, and what works for you may not necessarily work for us, and vice versa. But, for the most part, great games either excel in one aspect or do well enough across the board to merit the praise or criticism that they receive.
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.
