Sigh... I really want to speak positively about Mankind Divided because I do see there was some good effort put into it, but, for the most part, I cannot. This game just falls flat overall and it just pains me inside because I wanted to see this game take what Human Revolution did right and take it to the next level.
Instead... it took one step forward and three steps backwards. Well, I'll start with the good because believe me, there isn't much here.
#1: The additional ammo types for weapons now.
THIS was sorely missing from Human Revolution. I sorta let it go since I understand they were experimenting and such, but it was nice to see you actually get two additional ones now: Armor piercing rounds and EMP rounds. Both definitely are a welcome addition and glad to see them in the game. With that said though, I still felt it could have included even more to really mix up play style. How about explosive rounds like with the Revolver from HR, but make the ammo more scarce so players can't use it whenever they want to? Or how about rounds that actually set enemies on fire? Seriously, why aren't there any weapons to incinerate your enemies with like with the older Deus Ex games? That was part of the fun seeing them run around screaming. Well, ok, not so much in Invisible War, but in DX1, it was hilarious. I really miss this in the newer prequel games.
Not to mention I really hate how the EMP rounds are used as an ammo type for nearly all the weapons, but the most they do is temporarily disable machines. Oh great... going back to DX1 type of gameplay, but the wrong kind. I always hated how EMP grenades just made cameras fizzle about and not shut them down like a normal EMP attack would do. Same with robots too. Unless you had master skill, it would just make them spark a bit. Seriously, why couldn't they be just for the pistol and sniper rifle? That way, you could have a short range and long range EMP attack. That and maybe have to use a couple or more to completely fry a drone or robot. Maybe even make EMP rounds less common too so they're more scarce and have to use them wisely. This system in Mankind Divided with them just made them feel less special and not something you try to store up for a big battle up ahead because they aren't that effective overall. Sure, they help, but they aren't exactly big game changes either. Plus, the EMP rounds don't even damage your targets. They just stun them, so what's the point? At least have it so the more you use, you can fry all types of machines.
#2: The new augs.
When I first heard of the new augs, I was more skeptical and not that impressed since they didn't feel that interesting, but looking at them now, some are definitely cool. For example, I think the aug of slowing down time is a great addition since enemies can move faster now, so it's a nice counter balancer. The remote hacking device is pretty good too, but needs a seriously nerfing. I really hate how you can disable pretty much anything with it. I mean, c'mon, that's just making the game even easier than it needs to be. I can understand cameras and maybe the flying drones being disabled by it, but the big robots roaming around too? No. They should not be hackable that way. Make it so they have to be hacked through a terminal due to how formidable they can be. I do sorta like the nano blades and Tesla attacks as well, but to be frank, I feel they needed a big nerfing as well because of how powerful one of them can be. I mean, one Tesla attack can take out 4 enemies at once? C'mon, that's a bit too much, don't you think? How about having it so it takes more energy for each additional enemy it takes out? Would make it less OP.
Last one I liked, but felt could have been done differently was the Titan Shield. On one hand, I'm all for it since it's great to have an aug that can now make you invincible to enemy fire. On the other, did it have to be such an odd design? I mean. why not just make it some energy shield that engulfs around Jensen. Why some weird looking brown and black coating that looks more weird than cool? Sure, a nitpick, but I just felt an energy shield would have more than sufficed here.
As for the rest of the new augs? Yea, I didn't like them much. Anytime, now to mention the last thing about Mankind Divided I really liked.
#3: The crafting part system.
Honestly, the more I look at it, the more I can't help but like it because it feels like a great way to give the player inventive to collect as many as possible. Although, I do have some slight complaints about it. For one, quite a few items can also be crafted by it, which I feel was not necessary. I mean, isn't it enough to just improve your weapon with crafting parts? That felt like more than enough to make it useful. By having it so you can get Bio cells and Multi tools also just make the game even easier than necessary. At least have an Aug skill you have to unlock to do so. That would balance it out somewhat.
So yea, besides this and the music and MAYBE some of the places you visit, that's pretty much the only things I really liked about this game. So now... let's get to the part of things I did not like to things that I hated, starting with the things I did not like.
#1: Only one hub area.
Human Revolution was bad enough only having two hub areas, but this game goes to only one now. Why? Why only one hub? Sure, the hub is big and there's alot to see, but going to different cities to explore was part of what made DX1 so much fun. It was cool visiting places like New York, Hong Kong and Paris. Sure, they weren't big hub areas, but they at least had some uniqueness to them. This just feels like something that the game could have done without. Why not have one area in Prague? Another in London, one in maybe the US and one in China? And speaking of that, that's the next thing I did not like about this game.
#2: You only visit places in European locations.
Seriously, what the heck happened here? I understand wanting to try something different, but did the developers forget what is part of what makes Deus Ex an immersive experience? Visiting different iconic countries is part of that. Plus, of all the unique locations to pick in Europe to have a hub area, they settle on Prague? Prague?! Again, WHY?! You could have picked Italy and have it be in Rome. You could have picked Germany and have it be in Berlin. Heck, you could have picked France and have it be in Paris like DX1. But no! You picked Prague! This has to be one of the dumbest decisions these game developers ever made. It's nonsense like this why I'm convinced the more you work on Deus Ex, the less you have an actual clue why people love it. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the area of Prague in general, but Deus Ex has ALWAYS been about visiting major countries and cities as part of its narrative. Like I said, that's part of what gives the game its immersiveness: being apart of the big area and making a difference in them.
For shame, developers. You don't break tradition in certain games just to "mix it up". That's just terrible meddling and unnecessary. I wouldn't have minded Prague being in the game as a small place to visit in Europe, but the main one? No. This game should have been all over the globe, with it ranging from the West Coast in Los Angeles and Midwest states of maybe Utah or somewhere in that area since it would have been the perfect time for it considering this would be just before the 2030 quake of the timeline and the rise of the NSF. You could still even have the Garm research area as part of the mission and even the London area when you try to save Brown from getting killed. There, problem solved. But I'm only beginning to scratch the surface of the unnecessary changes to this game that irritated me.
#3: Daytime missions.
Ok, don't get me wrong, I'm not against daytime missions entirely, but like I mentioned with the areas, it's a tradition to have the game and missions take place at night, so if you're going to break that tradition, it better be for a good explanation. Well, guess what? There are none! They just do it for the heck of it. -.- Ugh... you know, there would have been a simple way to explain this away and not make it look so jarring and out of place. Like, oh, I don't know... have it so a crucial event is taking place during the daytime hours so Jensen and his team have to get on it now or risk it all going to pot? There, I came up with a logical explanation within 60 seconds. What's this developers' excuse?
Anyway, now to move onto the stuff I hated about this game
#1: Hardly any new interesting new weapons.
Yea... I'm just going to say, I HATED how streamlined the weapons are in this game. I only liked a few of the changes. The Grenade Launcher now firing different types of grenades and the Devastator shotgun since it's the strongest weapon in the game that's non explosive. The only other weapons that I liked kept from HR are the tranquilizer rife and stun gun since they actually shoot additional rounds now. Plus, they actually have a nice redesign too, so yea, a plus for those, but other than that, I'm VERY disappointed to say the least about the weapon choice. Gone are cool weapons like the Heavy Rifle, Plasma Rifle and even the Rocket Launcher. Instead, we got something that might as well be an elite sniper rifle called the battle rifle.
Oh yea, speaking of sniper rifles, guess what else? There are NO SILENCERS for one. Great... another one of the best things about this series is taken out. Ugh! Sorry to keep typing that, but I just cannot understand why they would remove so many good weapons for one that wasn't even necessary. Couldn't they have just improved on the Heavy Rifle and Plasma Rifle for this game? Maybe this time the Plasma Rifle could have been OP this time instead of under-powered. But no... that would make too much sense I guess...
#2: The game was cut in half.
Yea, I'm not going to blame the developers for this one since this is more on Square Enix, but nevertheless, this REALLY hurt the game because it was just starting to get good once you get to the London area. But no... gotta save that for a sequel that may possibly never come. Yea, here's a tip for you, Square Enix: DON'T put the cart before the horse! Make sure the game is good in Mankind Divided and THEN focus on the sequel. By trying to squeeze all you could from this game just to milk another sequel, you hurt this prequel series to the point it may never get another shot. Congrats...
And now, time to talk about the thing I hated most about Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
3: How most of this game's story and characters within it were utterly pointless in the grand scheme of things.
Of all the things that angered me to no end, it was THIS. So much of the stuff in Mankind Divided is just pointless filler. Very little of it actually feels relevant to the DX1 timeline, let alone connecting to it. Sure, Human Revolution didn't exactly have a ton pointing to the DX1's timeline either, but you know what? They had quite a bit the more I looked at it. We see how Adam Jensen's DNA will play a role in the creation of JC Denton. We see Bob Page behind the scenes, manipulating Megan to make his Gray Death virus in the years to come. Heck, we even see what Gary Savage was doing before working at X51 in Vandenberg and why his daughter was named Tiffany. THAT stuff there alone on top of Jensen influencing a young Tracer Tong and meeting his dad to see why he was against augmentations really felt like it had relevance to the DX1 timeline.
But THIS?! This game has maybe one or two moments if that, and even they don't have much connection. Sure, we see Bob Page talking to Megan about the Orchid in the Versalife vault when invading it, but honestly, that still feels more like it was about this game's plot than referring to something in DX1. Same goes for your meeting with Eliza too. Sure, it was a nice touch and there is some speculation she'll eventually become the Daedalus A.I, but again, there is nothing concrete to suggest that is what is going to happen. The only other thing that might have any slight relevance is the fact Task Force 29 is an agency that will eventually lead to the creation of UNATCO. Sure, would be nice if that happens, but again, no proof it will. Mostly speculation.
Other than that, this game's story could easily be one big DLC side mission because of how it has so little relevancy to the DX1 timeline. Heck, you could remove it entirely and I doubt it'd change much. THAT is how stupid and pointless this whole plot was in Mankind Divided. It reeks of Attack of the Clones pointless. I mean, seriously, what was the point of having it be some mission of investigating Rucker and his group for a possible bombing? Does he have any connections or relevancy to the timeline? Does Marchenko for that matter either? The short answer is a big fat NO. So again, I ask you, why even have Jensen and Task Force 29 deal with them if you're not going to show how either of them affect the characters that are around during DX1?
What makes this even worse is the Deus Ex wiki says Task Force 29 was even monitoring NSF activity during the time Jensen was apart of the group, so why not have him go there instead of some pointless mission of going to Golem City to find Rucker that led to mostly nothing?!
I'm sorry, but the NSF storyline is far more interesting to explore in comparison to Rucker's group because they actually play a freakin part of the DX1 timeline! So why not have Jensen deal with them as part of the plot dealing with aug prejudice because guess what? THEY HATE AUGS just as much as the people in Prague! UGH! I'm just... I cannot believe the sheer stupidity of the decisions made for this game. You writers had a golden opportunity to explore another facet of the DX1 world with the NSF, something I'm pretty sure most fans would love to see and learn more about. BUT NO! You just had to do things your way. Yea, how did that work out for you?
I'm sorry to get this steamed, but I just cannot believe how badly this story was botched up. Like I said, the game decides to deal with aug prejudice as part of its plot, and instead of using that for the NSF since it would fit them to a T, they instead choose some group called A.R.C that's not half as interesting in comparison, let alone relevant. Sure, I don't hate the idea of A.R.C being apart of the series, but as I said, they're not as interesting compared to the NSF. If they're going to insist on having A.R.C, then have it be they're the anti-NSF in terms of augmentations. You know, like the Templars and Omars from Invisible War. Sure, that game was not good, but I liked the fact it showed two extreme sides of this subject. THAT is how you deal with the Aug issue, not this dumb storyline of whether or not the Human Restoration Act passes because that frankly has little bearing on the actual timeline, if any.
Anyway, I've said what I needed to say. Let me tell you something... I really did not want to hate the game as much as I sadly do. The irony is, I love and hate it because it's not a bad game gameplay wise. Quite the contrary in fact. The gameplay looks ridiculously fun to participate in. The music is great to listen to when roaming certain parts of the game. Even the detail put into the levels and exploration of the world you're in is pretty impressive too, but when it comes to living up the Deus Ex banner? It fails hard. Sure, maybe not as hard as Invisible War and The Fall, but my point still stands. Mankind Divided is a slap in the face to the Deus Ex franchise as far as I'm concerned. And in some ways, it's even more than Invisible War was. Sure, Invisible War was bad, but it at least tried to follow the Deus Ex formula. This game? Pfft... what formula? Let's just do our own thing because yea, THAT ALWAYS worked out well, am I right? -.-
Those things mentioned above are the only things saving this game from me giving it an even worse score. Because the music, gameplay and exploration of the levels Mankind Divided had are indeed are very, VERY good, I'll at least give it a 6 out of 10. But if these things were not here, I wouldn't hesitate giving it possible a 2-3 out of 10 because those are the only saving graces of this game.
As JC Denton put it, "What a shame..."