We delve into what we know about ‘Mankind Divided’ in preparation for E3. Get hype.

Square Enix

TO AUGMENT OR NOT TO AUGMENT?

Game: ‘Deus Ex: Mankind Divided’

Developer/Publisher: Square Enix

Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Release Date: TBA

One-sentence pitch: ‘Mankind Divided,’ a direct sequel to ‘Human Revolution,’ shows gamers a world divided between augmented humans and “pure” humans—plus, it looks like a ton of fun.

2011’s Human Revolution ended on a cliffhanger of the player’s choosing, which led to a devastating new world order regardless of what choice you made. Mankind Divided, the newly announced sequel to it, looks to answer some of those lingering questions. Set two years after the end of Human Revolution, Mankind Divided, as you might be able to tell from the title, is set in a world where humanity is fractured between “pure” and augmented humans. Augments are now being rounded up and put into pseudo-concentration camps, and it is up to the player what to make of it. Human Revolution’s Adam Jensen returns as the gravelly-voiced, super-augmented protagonist in Mankind Divided, with even more upgrades to help kill or help people (at the player’s discretion, of course). Yes, the Mass Effect-esque player choice mechanic is back in Mankind Divided, though, unlike Mass Effect, save files from the past game will not carry over. Instead, Square Enix is choosing to have the chaos caused by the ending of the last game basically mask the choice that the player made. Sounds a bit like a cop-out to me, but that doesn’t change how great the new game looks.

As of now we have only gotten to see a single announcement trailer, but the gameplay has been confirmed to be basically the same as in Human Revolution. As a huge fan of Human Revolution, I couldn’t be happier that Mankind Divided is following the same formula. I am even more excited that the new game will continue interesting philosophical debate that all of the Deus Ex games have explored. What we need now is to find out what Square Enix has in store for us at E3.

Square Enix has to deliver at E3 if it wants to keep gamers interested… ‘cause we are a fickle bunch. Since we have already gotten a cinematic trailer, we can fully expect a gameplay trailer before the week is out. Other than that, it is hard to say. A gameplay trailer by itself isn’t enough to make most gamers excited. No, for us to stay excited we need to be surprised. I can’t exactly say what Square Enix could reveal, but it is a good idea to expect the unexpected. Multiplayer, multiple protagonists, co-op and DLC are all potential surprises in store for us, but I am sure that Square Enix can come up with something I haven’t even thought of. We will just have to wait and see.

What do you think Square Enix could do to surprise us? Team Augment or Team Human? Tweet me @adam_mcconnell, and do me a favor and follow us @YouNerded.