There is still some time left before “Deus Ex: Mankind Divided” hits the shelves, but people throughout the industry are already getting a chance to try out the new game. And from what we can tell from the current previews and initial impressions, this just might be the “Deus Ex” that fans have been waiting for.
When “Human Revolution” came out, it was met with mixed reactions from long-time fans of the series. On one hand, people praised it for its attention to detail and the deep storytelling, but on the other, the level design felt too forced in some places and this drew a lot of criticism. It looks like those issues were taken into consideration in the development of “Mankind Divided”, and the game will now offer a good mix of stealth, action and drama.
From what we’ve been able to gather from the various previews about the game, stealth is still a viable option, but now feels much more natural and not forced. This was one of the main gripes fans had with the last game, as there were often sections where progressing through stealth meant triggering a specific sequence, usually involving the disabling of some conveniently placed security features.
Then there was the problem with bosses – those sequences made a pure stealth build non-viable, as the player was still forced to fight against some quite tough challengers occasionally. There was basically no way to circumvent those fights, which meant that players were still forced to invest into a combat-oriented development of their characters. This led to wasted inventory space and skill point allocation, and in the end many players realized that gunning through the levels was a much more accessible alternative, unlike in the first “Deus Ex”.
The clash between this gameplay style and the storytelling of the game is apparently a thing of the past in “Mankind Divided”. Previews about the game describe it as much closer to the original “Deus Ex” in terms of its level design, for example, and it sounds like players are now going to get a variety of options to approach any situation, instead of trying to find the “golden corridor” placed by level designers.
Not only that, but getting caught is no longer practically equivalent to a “game over” screen, forcing the player to load their last save. There will now be multiple ways to get out of a tricky situation even when enemies have seen the player, so it might pay off to study the different paths through the levels more carefully, and pay attention to enemy patterns.
Of course, we can also expect a visual upgrade in the new game, but as long as it’s on the same level as the original “Human Revolution” was (relative to current releases on the market, of course), it should be perfectly satisfying to all players. Plus, “Deus Ex” has a distinctive visual style that adds a lot to the aesthetics of the game, making it even easier to make a stunning environment.
The setting of the game should be very interesting as well, as it sets the premise for a deep, involved story with a lot of parallels to the modern world. It will be exciting to see what kinds of ideas the writers of the game want to develop this time around, as they’ve proven to have great creative motivation and a lot of experience.