Deus Ex: Mankind Divided [official site] can be completed without killing anyone – even the bosses. This as confirmed by the game’s Executive Game Director, Jean-Fran ois Dugas, in a tweet responding to the question. If you’re a fan or familiar with Deus Ex, or particularly Human Revolution, then you’ll understand why this is significant news. If not I’ll explain below.
Here continues my attempt to discover if Deus Ex really is the best game ever, like my brain thinks. Part One is here. Today I yet again struggle to get the game working, then struggle to work within the game. But cheer myself up reading some newspapers.
When asked, What is the best game ever? I always give one reply. Deus Ex. Back in the days when my passport still allowed me into PC Gamer Top 100 meetings, I would furiously argue that it should be no. 1, and indeed become furious whenever it did not. While I may pick another name if asked for my favourite game, when it comes to best , I always say Looking Glass/Ion Storm s greatest moment.
But what if I m wrong?>
The reveal trailer for the new Deus Ex game [official site] shows the full meaning of that subtitle – almost every man in the video ends up divided right down the middle by a stonking great stabby cybernetic implant. Packed with ultraviolence, it’s the sort of trailer that tells me absolutely nothing about how I’ll actually play the game but I can’t deny that it’s done the trick. I’m even more excited than I was earlier today when I explained to Graham why Deus Ex makes my plastanium heart skip a beat.
It’s the haves against the have-nots – that’s the have-augmented-bits against the have-not-got-augmented-bits – and it looks spectacular.
Deus Ex is being augmented with another Deus Ex. After a nonsensical ARG and an entirely sensical leak, we now have official confirmation of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
Once again, it'll feature Deus Ex: Human Revolution protagonist Adam Jensen, who this time says things like, "sometimes you just have to let go and embrace what you've become." From the sounds of it, he'll be going up against some shadowy organisation and, for some reason, an augmented version of the Heavy from TF2.
Here's the plot, straight outta the trailer's description:
"Deus Ex: Mankind Divided directly follows the aftermath of the Aug Incident, a day when mechanically augmented citizens all over the world were stripped of control over their minds and bodies, resulting in the deaths of millions of innocents. The year is now 2029, and the golden era of augmentations is over. Mechanically augmented humans have been deemed outcasts and segregated from the rest of society. Crime and acts of terror serve as a thin veil to cover up an overarching conspiracy aimed at controlling the future of mankind…"
A press release promises new augmentations, new locations, and a "cloak of conspiracies". That, I'd imagine, is a metaphorical cloak—otherwise the conspirators would be all too easy to identify. In addition, the PC version is confirmed to support DirectX 12 and AMD's TressFX technology. Expect some seriously augmented beard stubble.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has been announced. Adam and Graham decided to activate their social augs and discuss their reasons for being united in excitement for Adam Jensen’s return.>
Graham: Adam, Adam, get this. I have great Deus Expectations>. The title for this (potentially regular?) feature is already paying dividends.
Adam: Oh lord, give me the augmented strength to bear this load.
I’ve seen Adam Jensen from Deus Ex 4* and his hair is lustrous.
I like to make the time at every GDC to attend one talk I almost certainly won’t understand, because it’s useful to remind ourselves every now and then of the absurd technology that underpins the games we play. This year I picked Augmented Hair In Deus Ex Universe Projects, because not only does it fit this mission, but I thought I might get lucky and hear a few hints about Deus Ex 4.
Instead I left the talk with a question: does anyone really care this much about hair?>
Eidos Montreal aren’t saying this is a screenshot from the next Deus Ex game, right. Today they announced the shiny new(ish) engine that’ll power their next cyberfest, and simply wanted to illustrate that with an image. This here Dawn Engine is based on “a heavily modified version” of Glacier 2, the engine IO Interactive created for Hitman: Absolution. This Dawn demo screenshot is perhaps not Newus Ex, but it is quite Human Revolution-y in its gold-washed technohole with metal walls, metal floors, and so many cables and tube lights, yet incongruously swanky furniture.
Fluorescent tubes? Dark, yellowy palette? Derelict futurism? It's all looking a bit Deus Ex to me.
The screenshot isn't confirmed to be from a new Deus Ex game, but is an in-engine shot of the engine behind the new Deus Ex game. It's called the Dawn Engine, and it's a modified version of IO's Glacier 2—the engine powering Hitman: Absolution.
"In the past, we ve relied on existing engines for our games," writes Eidos's Sacha Ramtohul. "But in the end, we found that our creative vision was somehow limited. So we decided it was time for us to invest in creating an engine tailored for our needs."
"Keep in mind despite any hints you may pick up from this image, this screenshot was only taken in order to display the level of detail and artistic fidelity that is possible with the Dawn Engine."
Fine, fine, so it's definitely not new Deus Ex. But the upcoming Universe project is further detailed in the post.
"As you can imagine, the Dawn Engine will form the cornerstone for all Deus Ex Universe projects at Eidos-Montr al," Ramtohul writes. "Some of you have had concerns that 'Universe' meant 'MMO'. Rest assured, it does not.
"Deus Ex Universe is the name we are giving to the fictional world and the rich lore we are creating for it, which will of course include core games, as well as any other projects that will help bring the world of Deus Ex to life."
Personally, I don't really care for the transmedia fudge DE:Universe is hinting at. But "core games"? I'll take some core games, especially if they live up to the light-hell promise of the above screen.
