Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is an upcoming FPS role playing game with elements of stealth thanks to a number of its gameplay mechanics.
The game is currently being developed by Eidos Montreal who have previously developed Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Deus Ex: The Fall (with N-Fusion Interactive) and the multiplayer portion of Tomb Raider. They also developed the recent Thief Reboot.
The PC port of the game will be developed by Nixxes Software, the same team that handled the PC port of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Square Enix will be publishing the game.
At this time, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is without a release date or release window. It’s currently being developed for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is the sixth property in the Deus Ex established chronology, with the two original games (Deus Ex & Invisible War) following after.
The first sign that the game even existed was in October of 2013 when Eidos Montreal made the announcement that they would be continuing to develop the series and bring it to mobile platforms (Deus Ex: The Fall) and to publication in a series of comics.
Speaking about this, Eidos Montreal studio head David Anfossi, has said, “I’m pleased to confirm that we are already into production of the starting point for Deus Ex: Universe with a new game for PC and next-generation consoles. We’re very excited about it at the studio and I wanted to let you know that most of the team behind Deus Ex: Human Revolution is already working hard on this new game.”
Following this, in December of 2014, Eidos Montreal revealed a new video game engine called the Dawn Engine. It was built on top of the Glacier Engine, which was put to use in Hitman: Absolution.
After this, in March of 2014, the game’s name was discovered thanks to a trademark that was filed by Square Enix, once this was found it was later revealed to be Mankind Divided.
The official reveal and the announcement of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was less than perfect for Square Enix, with the game being leaked a day ahead of its planned reveal. Despite this, Square Enix continued with a three day promotional run called “Can’t Kill Progress” which included a live stream, by way of Twitch, that featured an unknown man in an unknown location pacing around, sleeping and apparently meditating in a room.
This was followed by a tweet from the official Deus Ex Twitter feed that read, “Come see the future of Deus Ex, tomorrow at 09:00PT/12:00ET/18:00CEST on http://www.deusex.com . #CantKillProgress.”
Since being announced, it has been alleged that the game will make use of DirectX 12 and AMD’s proprietary hair related technology Tress FX 3.0.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is set some two years after the events of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The year is now 2029. Adam Jensen returns as the main character.
Set in “the aftermath of the Aug Incident” which saw augmented humans briefly robbed of their self control and millions of lives being lost, “the golden era of augmentations is over.” Because of this, augmented humans are segregated and kept separate from other humans.
A spat of terrorist attacks are starting to appear and as a part of an Interpol-backed task force, Adam Jensen must work to stop these attacks. Other factions with their own vested interests will appear in Mankind Divided, including the mysterious Juggernaut Collective. Jensen will be able to work with the Juggernaut Collective on the side though as before, you can never truly trust anyone.
At this time, gameplay specifics haven’t been revealed, but with that being said, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is unlikely to change too much from the format that was established in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
The game seems to be taking a leaf out of the Director’s Cut of Deus Ex Human Revolution, now offering players multiple ways of tackling the bosses. Previously, stealth and hacking orientated characters were forced to fight their way through boss battles.
As is the case in most Deus Ex video games, the player has significant input in missions, whether it’s choices made, missions completed or missions ignored. In Mankind Divided, players will encounter situations that will have multiple avenues of approach.
In a given example, Jensen must track down an informant who has information regarding the whereabouts of a Transhuman (augmented humans) group leader. The informant however, has been arrested by police forces and Jensen must intervene to get the information he needs. You can leave the informant in custody and quiz his wife for helpful clues, interrupt the police’s proceedings or simply head to the leader’s hideout. Once there, you can try and talk to the leader and reason with him/her. Or, you can take a more violent route.
Impactful side quests return to the series with alliances being made and friendships being forged. Some quests may even pop up during story missions.
Mankind Divided is said to include twice the amount of augmentations that were in Human Revolution. Also returning are a number of already existing weapons and augs that include the concussive PEPS gun, the C.A.S.I.E. Social Enhancer that helps monitor peoples moods for easier manipulation, Silent Running and Cloaking. Some newer features include the ability to hack devices remotely and a new ammunition type called Tesla Darts that are likely used to knock out augmented individuals.
Jensen’s augs can be assigned to the D-pad for easy access and situational swapping. However, they still require energy to use, meaning you won’t be an unstoppable force of constant augmentation. The energy for these augs will be stored inside Jensen by way of bio cells that will recharge on their own, given enough time.
One of the more interesting elements of the game, is the new variety of enemies, some of which are augmented too. Women will also be taking to the field as aggressors, opposed to the all male, visored foot soldier army of Human Revolution. Some of these enemies will also take to the field in exoskeleton suits and mechs are expected to make a return.
In an announcement trailer for the game, Adam was seen to propel himself across the room on what looked like a beam of energy, resulting in a devastating full body tackle. Adam was also shown to protect himself from incoming ballistics by coating his entire body in a matrix of some material that served as a full body shield/armour.
An image that was released for the game showed an assault rifle type weapon that sported a new customisation interface. Whereas the player would previously alter their weapons by way of a menu interface in the inventory, Mankind Divided appears to use a system of customisation somewhat akin to that seen in the Crysis series.
At this time, the only character that has been confirmed and detailed is Adam Jensen. Adam is now working for Task Force 29, a task force that was funded by Interpol, but Adam also has ties to a hacking group known as the Juggernaut Collective. With the rise of the ARC (Augmented Rights Coalition), Jensen aims to work with the JC to bring them down.
Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.
