The gorgeous new 'Deus Ex: Mankind Divided' is a blockbuster with a brain
The very self-serious, brow-furrowed man you see here is Adam Jensen. He's the main character — the figurative "you" — in "Deus Ex: Mankind Divided."
In the very first mission, "Mankind Divided" jumps right in with big, broad choices that impact the rest of the game.
Beyond just choosing a weapon here, you choose whether or not you want to play the game from the perspective of an agent who kills or an agent who doesn't kill. You may have already noticed that the options above are both non-lethal weapons — that's because I chose the non-lethal route.
OF NOTE: Just because you choose non-lethal doesn't mean you can't kill enemies, and vice versa. You'll pick up plenty of lethal weapons from the enemies you tranquilize or stun, to say nothing of police station gun lockers and in-game vendors.
Let's be clear: This is a first-person game where your main form of interaction is with a weapon. If it looks like a shooter, that's because it's basically a shooter.
But the game's world is riddled with secret passageways, air ducts, and hackable doors. You're highly encouraged to sneak around as you see fit.
If it seems absurd that a grown man is crawling around in an air duct, with metal arms and legs, trying to be sneaky, that's because it is completely absurd.
And that's part of why "Mankind Divided" is so fantastic. Want to play it straight like a shooter? Fine. Go ahead. It's a good shooter!
But embracing its absurdity is where things get so much more fun. Each mission in "Mankind Divided" is a puzzle waiting to be solved, a world of moving parts.
Despite having an often over-serious tone during story beats, it's clear that the folks who made "Mankind Divided" are aware of how absurd it can be.
And the game equips you with all sorts of sweet, augmented-human stuff. Like the ability to see through nearby walls:
Or to jump super high. Or to move without making a sound. Superhero stuff!
"Mankind Divided" is also drop-dead stunning.
Maybe I haven't mentioned that yet.
Much of the game takes place is Prague, which is beset by a state-sanctioned division between "Augs" and "Naturals."
But that's garnish. The meat of this game is choosing how you want to approach your missions as a robot detective. Sneaky or loud? Deadly or passive? Rogue agent or team player?
"Deus Ex: Mankind Divided" is the rare blockbuster game with a brain, and it's one of the best games of 2016. It's out now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
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