Mankind Divided is a step up from Human Revolution in just about every way. The most important area of improvement is undoubtedly level design. The levels in MD are much closer to the original Deus Ex than HR’s are in terms of openness and room for player creativity. In Human Revolution each level has maybe two or three infiltration routes. The levels in MD give you the feeling that the options for tackling them are basically limitless. This was one of the great strengths of the original and is mostly replicated here.
Story here is a bit stronger than HR’s, which is to say a pretty decent take on the themes and tropes of Deus Ex. The premise of an augmented apartheid being manipulated and taken advantage of by various parties is definitely more interesting and feels more grounded here than the anti aug bias in HR. In HR the anti-aug factions mostly appealed to ideas of human purity in a philosophical sense, which was a pretty weak and boring argument considering much more compelling material arguments against augmentations that the game didn’t really tackle e.g. hardening class boundaries, mandatory augmentation for certain jobs, etc.
The anti-aug violence in MD feels much more grounded and realistic due to the aug incident and the way those in power paint augmented people as dangerous and deviant. This groundedness causes the players actions and choices in the game to hold more weight. Instead of being asked to stop a Luddite holding people hostage you’re being sent to arrest a peaceful leader for aug rights that your corrupt bosses want you to get rid of. This sense of working for the bad guys but trying to somehow do the right thing or at least minimize the damage you’re causing is very much present in the original deus ex and it is here as well. The same can’t be said for Human Revolution.
The only step down from HR in my opinion is probably the visual aesthetic. HR had a very unique and striking cyber renaissance aesthetic, which MD replaces with a drab world in collapse saturated with greys and blues. While this change makes sense and I’m glad they didn’t just keep the same aesthetic from HR, this new aesthetic doesn’t really do anything interesting or creative to stand out.
The length was also a bit of an issue for me. MD is on the shorter side, the 2nd shortest DE game after invisible war, and I wish it was longer and had more levels outside of the Prague hub world which takes up most of the game. Some of the best levels in the game, like the London and Golem levels involve you traveling to a new visually unique area, and I wish there was more of that.
Overall this is a really enjoyable game and the first in the Deus Ex series to feel like a worthy follow up to the original. It doesn’t have anything really special to elevate it to the level of the original, but it’s a quality game nonetheless.
Story here is a bit stronger than HR’s, which is to say a pretty decent take on the themes and tropes of Deus Ex. The premise of an augmented apartheid being manipulated and taken advantage of by various parties is definitely more interesting and feels more grounded here than the anti aug bias in HR. In HR the anti-aug factions mostly appealed to ideas of human purity in a philosophical sense, which was a pretty weak and boring argument considering much more compelling material arguments against augmentations that the game didn’t really tackle e.g. hardening class boundaries, mandatory augmentation for certain jobs, etc.
The anti-aug violence in MD feels much more grounded and realistic due to the aug incident and the way those in power paint augmented people as dangerous and deviant. This groundedness causes the players actions and choices in the game to hold more weight. Instead of being asked to stop a Luddite holding people hostage you’re being sent to arrest a peaceful leader for aug rights that your corrupt bosses want you to get rid of. This sense of working for the bad guys but trying to somehow do the right thing or at least minimize the damage you’re causing is very much present in the original deus ex and it is here as well. The same can’t be said for Human Revolution.
The only step down from HR in my opinion is probably the visual aesthetic. HR had a very unique and striking cyber renaissance aesthetic, which MD replaces with a drab world in collapse saturated with greys and blues. While this change makes sense and I’m glad they didn’t just keep the same aesthetic from HR, this new aesthetic doesn’t really do anything interesting or creative to stand out.
The length was also a bit of an issue for me. MD is on the shorter side, the 2nd shortest DE game after invisible war, and I wish it was longer and had more levels outside of the Prague hub world which takes up most of the game. Some of the best levels in the game, like the London and Golem levels involve you traveling to a new visually unique area, and I wish there was more of that.
Overall this is a really enjoyable game and the first in the Deus Ex series to feel like a worthy follow up to the original. It doesn’t have anything really special to elevate it to the level of the original, but it’s a quality game nonetheless.