Prequel captures ‘Deus Ex’ magic
The action/role-playing game “Deus Ex,” developed by Ion Storm and published by Eidos Interactive in 2000, was a huge hit. In just three years, it spawned the popular sequel “Deus Ex: Invisible War.”
In 2007, Eidos Interactive launched an Eidos Montreal division, and just four years later Eidos Montreal pulled off a miracle by resurrecting “Deus Ex” with the prequel “Deus Ex: Human Revolution.”
The fledgling studio had somehow managed to capture the creative gameplay and hard-edge sci-fi that made the original a cult classic.
Though “Deus Ex: Human Revolution” wasn’t perfect (its boss fights were frustrating, its dialogue clunky and its conclusion disappointing), the creative team clearly had mastered key game-design aspects. “Deus Ex: The Fall” was a second prequel that came out in 2013. Now Eidos Montreal has unveiled its third prequel, “Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.”
The campaign in this game takes place in the wake of a global cataclysm known as “the Incident,” in which humans who had used robotic augmentation to enhance various bodily functions suddenly and simultaneously went berserk.
Thousands died in a subsequent rampage that, in turn, sparked a backlash against augmentation technology. Survivors
Interms of gameplay, the bombing leaves Jensen with hardly any of the augmentations he had acquired earlier. So players must build their own version of him from the ground up.
with augmentations have been deemed dangerous and are treated as secondclass citizens.
In this period of “mechanical apartheid,” as Eidos Montreal calls it, players of “Mankind Divided” once again step into the role of Adam Jensen.
A former employee of the defunct Sarif Industries, Jensen is now a security agent with Task Force 29, an Interpol division targeting terrorism.
After completing a mission, he’s returning to his home base in Prague, when a bomb goes off at the train station. Though Jensen is injured in the blast, he survives. And his next mis- sion just might once again shake up the world that has become polarized by the Incident.
In terms of gameplay, the bombing leaves Jensen with hardly any of the augmentations he had acquired earlier. So players must build their own version of him from the ground up.
His abilities offer players a wider selection of game styles than in earlier prequels. With new Titan armor and a speedy Icarus Dash, he can use overwhelming strength and/or speed to terminate foes.
Most of “Mankind Divided” takes place in the game’s cleverly conceived version of Prague, where a more unified plot and tighter storytelling are pluses.
For example, while at work in the city, Jensen stumbles by chance upon a forgery ring. And when assigned to rescue a young man dealing with thugs in the city’s red-light district, the agent can either shoot his way to success, or sneak in and kidnap the target.
The problems in “Mankind Divided” have multiple solutions. A locked room, for example, could be accessed by hacking, or by moving a vending machine to reveal a hidden passage. No two situations are the same — which heightens a player’s sense of satisfaction when he or she makes the best choice.
Eidos Montreal has refined the “Mankind Divided” gameplay to the point that Jensen, who never had much cha- risma, seems even more of a cipher than in earlier games.
But the developer will likely fix that soon: This new chapter of “Deus Ex” feels like only an introduction to something much bigger still to come.