Believe it or not, the Deus Ex: Mankind Divided release date isn’t all that far away now. The game is coming out on Windows, PS4 and Xbox One on August 23. It’s been a long wait: The excellent Deus Ex: Human Revolution debuted way back in 2011, and was one of the more interesting explorations of humanity’s near future we’ve seen in a game. The sequel promises to take the ideas and gameplay of the first game even farther. That’s an ambitious goal.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided And The Future Of Dark Futurism
The Deus Ex series has always been about humanity’s future, conceptually. It looks at serious issues about the powers and risks of genetic and mechanical augm entation, and aims to do so from a vaguely philosophical standpoint. The games are more overtly like science fiction novels (specifically cyberpunk novels) compared to open-world blank slate series like Fallout. Mankind Divided is certainly going to continue this trend; hence the controversy that has already awoken about “mechanical apartheid.” The term describes the state of the game’s world, where people with augmentations are deeply persecuted worldwide. It’s already turned into a political minefield, but Square Enix is standing by the term as apt.
Indeed, Mankind Divided looks like it will focus on an era when humanity is turned against itself. Human Revolution promised a potentially unified future, depending on the player’s choices at the end of the game, but that clearly has not come to pass.
Gameplay-wise, Mankind Divided follows in the trend of Human Revolution. It’s not a total reinvention like Human Revolution was; instead, it builds on and enhances the system of its predecessor, while adapting the series to the PS4 and Xbox One generation. The first game had a pretty solid mixture of stealth, combat and RPG elements, and Mankind Divided isn’t going to mess with a good thing. Gameplay-wise, expect a better experience all around but without really fundamental changes.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is out on August 23, and we expect we’ll be hearing more about the game soon—certainly at E3 2016 if not before. What do you think? Are you interested?
