The release of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is around the corner: The next game in the acclaimed cyberpunk series is out on August 23, and it has found itself mired in controversy. Let’s set aside the controversy and its merits or lack thereof for now, since ultimately that’s not what’s important. It’s the quality of the game that’s important. And since Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is a direct follow-up to 2011’s Human Revolution, it’s worth remembering that Human Revolution was awesome.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided: In Human Revolution’s Footsteps

When Deus Ex: Human Revolution came out in 2011,epectations weren’t terribly high; the second Deus Ex game had come out a full eight years before, from a different developer, and the series had since gone dormant. Its revival naturally brought concern, since the original is so iconic. But Square Enix is no slouch and knew what they were dealing with. Deus Ex: Human Revolution isn’t quite the same kind of game as the original, but it was reviewed very well pretty much across the board.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution was a worthy successor to the original, and the gameplay successfully captured that feeling of choice. Players could go full stealthy, full hackery, full-frontal assault, or anywhere in between, and the gameplay rewarded all those decisions… except, of course, for the infamously bad boss battles that were outsourced, but sort of fixed later on. Square Enix has sworn up and down that Mankind Divided will not have this problem.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is fundamentally a similar game to Human Revolution. It expands on its predecessor, but a lot of the fundamental mechanics are the same, but adopted for a new generation of consoles and with new mechanics and a new story. That’s all good news: The things we liked in Human Revolution aren’t going anywhere, and the other parts of the game are going to be better. The boss fights will work from day one, and there will be even more augments and other powerful add-ons to keep the game exciting. If you liked Human Revolution, Mankind Divided seems like the perfect follow-up—controversy or no controversy.