After 5 years of waiting almost to the day since the release of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the new opus Mankind Divided is finally available!
Developed by Eidos Montreal like its predecessor, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided once again puts us in the shoes of Adam Jensen a human being who has been augmented, making him a cyborg, an organic being with mechanical parts.
You can also find the interview of Olivier Proulx, Game Producer, by Juliaan and Nicou during gamescom 2016.
The history
It's hard to talk about the story without spoiling it. I will therefore not dwell too much on it, but I will talk about its "implementation" (and the link with Human Revolution) but, above all, something that marked me a lot in this opus, the atmosphere that results from it.
Mankind Divided takes place 2 years after the events of Human Revolution. If you have not played Human Revolution, a 12-minute video retracing the entire main plot of the latter will be available when you start the game. Mankind Divided therefore takes place 2 years after "The Incident" which was started by Hugh Darrow, the founder of Augmentation Technology. At its origin, a biochip which was grafted to replace another supposed to have a defect (and supposed to deactivate the increases in case of problem). The latter actually had the real purpose, when a signal was broadcast around the world, to drive all people with augmentations crazy and out of control. Hugh Darrow implemented this plan in order to force the Illuminati (enemy in the shadow of Adam Jensen since Deus Ex first of the name) to come to light, but also to warn the world of the danger of the technology of increase that he himself created.
Two years later, we find ourselves again in the shoes of Adam Jensen in a world that heals its wounds. The Incident was one of the deadliest and bloodiest events in recent history in the world of Deus Ex, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries across the world, both among the "natives" and the "Increased". As a result, the United Nations was asked to do something about the augmented issue and in particular to adopt the “Return to Human Act”, purely and simply prohibiting increases and putting current augmentations in limits. cities specially created for the occasion, more like open prisons and slums. Law which is heavily opposed by the augmented ones, their sympathizers and mainly by the CDA: the Coalition for the Rights of the Augmented, an activist group which fights relentlessly so that the augmented are equal to the natural ones. It is against this very dark background that Mankind Divided opens its doors.
The Incident created a deep schism between the natural and the augmented, resulting in behaviors of rejection, incomprehension, hatred and anger. And that's where the vibe of Mankind Divided comes in and does a superb job. As an augmented, you travel a world that rejects, fears and hates us and the game makes us feel it from start to finish. We meet in Prague, the city where all the augmented ones have taken refuge and whose eyes are on the whole world. The city is like the world: Natural versus Augmented. Whether for housing, neighborhoods, public places, public toilets, public transport, everything is separated with on one side, Natural and on the other, Augmented.
Metro entrance for the Augmented
Metro entrance for Naturals
Natural / Augmented dock separation
Natural / Augmented dock separation
Throughout the adventure, as an Augmented, you will be regularly pushed around, insulted, spat in the face and that, by "civilians" as well as the authorities. If you stray from the “trails” reserved for the Augmented, for example by getting into the metro car reserved for Naturals, be prepared to be stopped and checked. Are you playing too smart in the city (jumping, crouching and hiding, etc.)? The police will ask you to stop and in some cases may even become "suspicious".
Controlled for the sole pretext of being an Augmented
And beware if you ask a question ...
Hatred, rejection and discrimination in one picture
The hatred is clearly visible.
This atmosphere is also visible in the main quests as well as the side quests as well as during the many dialogues found in the game.
An augmented woman who had her mechanical limbs killed and torn off ...
... whose investigation will be sent very quickly ...
… To end up with a rather brutal identity check when leaving the area…
This is also transcribed into the game via events and places with, for example, the appearance of religions specific to the Augmented and, unfortunately, its share of fanatics and profiteers. Politics (internal and international) is also very present in the game and plays an important role in this opus, where in the previous one, it was more in the background.
Praised be the Mechanical God
Fear, fear and rejection. Perfect ground for the emergence of sects ...
This atmosphere of fear, hatred and awe is really well transcribed in the game and it is all the more believable that this kind of "ethnic" separation recalls what has already existed (and still exists) in our real world. The game also helps bring to the fore the debate on body modifications, enhancements and replacements that are just beginning to be talked about among the "general public" in our real world, especially thanks to new feats and real leaps. progress made by medical scientists for ten years in the field of prostheses, artificial limbs, mechanical and on support systems and improvement of the human body. Should we allow them? Ban them? Make them accessible to all without constraint? Only reserve them for those who need them (paralyzed, disabled, etc.)? These questions are part of the basis of the story of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and you will encounter characters with similar or contrary opinions (or even no opinions) throughout the game.
The game and its gameplay
If you've played Human Revolution, you won't be disappointed by Mankind Divided. We find more or less the same weapons, the same increases (with news though) and the gameplay itself has hardly changed. The gameplay of Human Revolution was already very good and stuck well with the game, with its universe and there was no real reason to modify it in depth, even if a few small options and possibilities were added. At first, we see the arrival of new increases in addition to those already present in the first opus. These new increases fit in perfectly with the gameplay and are far from trivial or unnecessary and whether you play stealthy or go for the castagne, you will be served. Full Shield, Blast, Stun Laser, Blast Blade for Ranged Assassination, and more are all new augments. However, you will not be able to activate them all at the same time, otherwise your system will overheat and you will have bugs (bugs on Adam, not real bugs on your system!), Forcing you, at the start of the game, to choose a "Orientation" in the way you play. As the story progresses (and depending on your choices), you can make sure to activate them all at the same time.
Yum yum all these increases!
Speaking of choices, you should know that this Deus Ex offers more and their impact is greater than on the world around you. Your actions and your way of playing also influence the game as well as the main plot (less than on the side quests though). Additionally, side quests can impact the main quest. For example, having completed a side quest and saving someone can cause that person to support you on a main mission. The dialogues and attitudes of the characters also vary depending on the way you play. If, for example, you hit a character without having killed any of their minions, they will be more inclined to listen to you and argue with you whereas if you have killed all of their minions / friends, don't expect to be able to reason with them or to coax him well. It is also felt, when playing, that Mankind Divided almost behaves four times more dialogue than its predecessor (95 lines of dialogue in Mankind Divided against 000 in Human Revolution!).
When we are rejected on all sides, we try to escape reality as best we can ...
Very difficult dilemma ...
Even rummaging through computers counts in the game
Kill or leave alive, the choice is yours
In terms of levels and possibilities, they are much more numerous than in Human Revolution. Where there were, in general, 2 or 3 "paths" in the previous opus, Mankind Divided offers more, whether they are "classic" passages, ventilation ducts, paths hidden behind destructible walls, roofs, sewers, undergrounds, etc. The game has only one “big” hub, but it is much larger and offers more possibilities, areas to explore and locations than what was present in Detroit, the main HUB of the previous game. It is possible to enter and visit almost all of the buildings, even if this sometimes concerns only one or two apartments. There is a second, smaller HUB (similar to Hengsha in Human Revolution), but, like this one, it can only be accessed through the main quest, and once it quits it is no longer possible to to go back there. It is smaller in terms of "cover", but on the other hand, it is much more dense and populated.
A game within the game
This is not the next Inception title, but another game that is present in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. It is easily possible to miss it, but this last one is really not anecdotal and is really very complete.
The "Breach" game mode puts you in the shoes of a professional hacker trying to steal the biggest and dark secrets of multinationals and rich men on the planet by infiltrating you into the servers of the largest and most secure bank on the planet .
You will therefore browse a virtual space at the controls of an avatar and you should access the bank's servers in order to steal the data.
The levels are, like in the story mode, populated with enemies, cameras, turrets, lasers, etc. In addition to that, you can be affected by penalties in certain levels or apply them yourself, but also apply bonuses to yourself, somewhat reminiscent of the "map" system of the expedition mode in Rise Of Tomb Raider.
The adventure is made up of a story, many levels and challenges and, like in the story mode, you will be able to customize and evolve your avatar with increases, but also to customize your weapons.
This game mode is really addicting, quite difficult and will satisfy those looking for a little more history as well as those looking for challenges.
Optimization, graphics and soundtrack
On the optimization side, the game is pretty well optimized. On an average configuration (I5 4570 - 3.20Ghz, 8 GB of ram and a GTX960 of 2 GB), I run the game without problem in “high” preset at 60IPS, with occasionally a few drops to 40 when there is a lot of action on the screen (multiple explosions, shots, smoke, etc). However, it should be noted that these IPS drops mainly come from the hard drive. Indeed, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided does not really like HDDs and seems to have trouble with them. It is preferable and even advisable to have an SDD and to install the game on it in order to avoid these slowness and drops of IPS. This concern is also felt during loading screens, which can sometimes last 2-3 minutes. Apart from these concerns, the optimization is good and you can enjoy the title as it should even if you only have the minimum configuration required.
As for the graphics, I find them very correct in high. They should definitely look even better in Ultra, but unfortunately I don't have the setup to test. On the artistic direction side, the game is simply magnificent. The details are numerous, the world is very detailed and the environments are varied. Where in Human Revolution, we had more or less one and the same "atmosphere", Mankind Divided offers us many places with different atmospheres, the fact that the city is present both day and night also brings a big plus and we rediscover the place with pleasure.
As for the soundtrack, the music is really pleasant and pleasant, the sound effects are well done and the sound atmosphere in general, that is to say the dialogues of the NPCs that we meet, the comments, remarks and thoughts that we “catch” while walking in the city, etc. are really many and varied, which avoids a feeling of boredom or "already heard" even after many hours of games.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the game did not disappoint me at all. If you liked Human Revolution, I advise you to jump on Mankind Divided with your eyes closed. Lifespan level, I am currently at 35 hours of playtime and still have not finished (main mission 13 of 17). The title has enormous playability, in particular thanks to the different ways of approaching each mission (stealth, nag, hacking, etc.), in the scriptwriting choices and the various "openings" that these choices bring. I was captivated by the atmosphere of the game, so well brought, carried out, believable and realistic that it makes us "feel" what the characters live, undergo and almost makes you want to take sides, for one side as for the other. The little IPS dropping issues (mainly due to HDDs) are sometimes a bit annoying, but this happens very infrequently and usually subsides after a few seconds. The Season Pass is really not necessary for the moment, the DLC "stories" only coming out this fall and during 2017, we can do without. The small bonuses offered are ultimately very unattractive.
- Replayability
- ambience
- Mode Breach
- Small IPS drop worries
- Season Pass (which is unnecessary at the moment)
"It was Eliza Cassan, for Games Managers"
