Posted on: July 28, 2022

Crazy_McGee
Verified ownerGames: 305 Reviews: 28
Cyberpunk 2016
With a title like that I'm sure not to attract too much unwarranted hate, right? In all seriousness though, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is, on the surface, Cyberpunk 2077 made four years earlier. And that is part of what makes it so good - it met or exceeded the goals of CP2077 long before that title got it's legendary (and some would say overhyped) E3 2018 trailer. DE:MD features many of the same base gameplay loops as Cyberpunk: Augments, hub world featuring many branching paths with fixed main missions, and a world that branches out from ours about sometime in the 1990s. That's where the similarities stop. Deus Ex has always been a slow-burn detective game that incorporates conspiracy theories into the narrative and that trend does not stop here. The language feels more...mature in the Deus Ex series; not relying on too much in-game neo-speak or expletives to convey an alien society that feels too much like our own. The world has moved on from the Aug Incident - a mass broadcast signal that caused most - if not all - augmented people to go insane and commit wanton acts of violence to anyone near. Society has thus largely rejected mechanical augmentation technology - and those who still carry it. Make no mistake; you are not the hotshot able to roam around Prague with those around you envying your augments. You are shunned by almost every civilian, the police will give you a hard time and, yes, you have to ride in the back of the train. Why did society rapidly reject augmentation when it was on the verge of making such procedures as common as dental checkups? How are the pro-aug terrorists able to carry out their terrible acts? Who is pulling the strings? Can you ride the front car without that f***ing kid staring at you? I'm not trying to bash CP2077 too hard in my review; it's a fine game as long as you go in knowing what it is. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, however, is best WITHOUT such caveats. It is an excellent title whose only crime is it's abrupt end.
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