The PC version of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is not being handled in-house at Eidos Montreal - it has instead been handed to Nixxes, the studio behind many Square Enix/Eidos PC ports over the past 15 years.

The studio made the announcement on its site without much fanfare, and there's been little indication as to what features the PC version of Adam Jensen's latest sneak-or-shoot adventure will see implemented. We do know from earlier confirmation that Mankind Divided will support Direct X 12 and AMD's TressFX tech, so it shouldn't look too shabby.

Nixxes previously handled PC port duty on the likes of Hitman: Absolution, Tomb Raider, Thief and, yes, Deus Ex: Human Revolution - so it's a studio with a lot of experience. Safe hands? The PC version of Human Revolution was handled well, with a number of platform-specific features - though there was room for improvement - so I'll go with 'yes'.

In Face Off, PC Gamer writers go head to head over an issue affecting PC gaming. Today, Tom and Wes argue about boss fights, which have been around nearly as long as video games themselves, and whether they re an outdated concept.

Wes: YES. I ve played many great boss fights in my day, but far too many big games shoehorn in boss fights when they don t need them. Boss fights once made perfect video game sense in linear, side-scrolling levels. Get to the end of the stage, fight the big bad in charge, and move on to the next. And that s still fun! But as games have evolved with open worlds and non-linear levels and forms of gameplay more nuanced than shoot slash punch bad guy, boss fights don t fit as well. Bioshock and the more recent Deus Ex: Human Revolution are two modern examples of boss fights gone really wrong. Bioshock needed an emotional climax, not one that involved shooting a roided-up bad guy. And Human Revolution betrayed the core of its gameplay by making you shoot it out with its bosses, which is something the new Deus Ex is thankfully addressing. Boss fights can still be done well, of course, but they re most definitely antiquated.

Tom M.: NO. Boss fights aren t always fun, but used correctly they can be vital to the pacing of a game. Boss fights don t just represent the end of a level, they are a change of pace after a long stretch of similar gameplay. You ve been running around shooting and beating up bad guys for a while, but how are you going to deal with this new enemy? That s when the concept of a boss fight really shines; when it s not just a bigger harder enemy, but instead challenges you in some interesting and different way. I completely agree that AAA games have recently misused the boss fight trope, treating it more like an expected practice than a place to shake up the game s design, but that doesn t mean boss fights as a whole are an outdated concept.

Wes: Sure—I d look like a big dumb idiot if I said all boss fights today are lame and crappy. There are still good ones! But I think there are two big problems with how boss fights are implemented. In big-budget games, they re often used to facilitate some dramatic cutscene or story moment, which means taking control away from the player or forcing you to play in a specific way. That sucks. And in general, I think too many games use boss fights because they re expected. Boss fights are part of the language of video games, but they re a very old word. And I d like to see more games creating new words instead of falling back on the Middle English that is the boss fight.

Tom: I actually don t mind boss fights being more rigid or scripted than the rest of a game. Making open world experiences where the player has lots of choice is a very difficult thing to do, and too much freedom can sometimes make for a crummy story. Boss fights are the perfect moment for a developer to bring the story back under their control a little bit to let them reliably tell the story they want to. Of course, the boss fight shouldn t take certain options or playstyles away from the player that the rest of a game has made them accustomed to, like in Deus Ex for example. Those fights should be climactic and should represent a shift in the story. Even if they re expected, they can play a vital role in the rhythm of a game.

Wes: Ah, so idealistic! Time and again, boss fights in big-budget games do change up the play style you ve been taught just to show you something cool. Even the Batman games, which have fantastic combat, lose their lustre when they put you in an arena to slug it out with a boss. Think of the end of Asylum, when the Joker gets all beefy and slugs it out with Batman. It s a great game, but that s a cookie cutter boss fight that relies on antiquated video game language. How do we make a big, climactic battle? Hm, how about lots of punching? But the Joker would never do that! He d do something clever. A smart, modern take on the boss fight there wouldn t end with a punching match. I d like to see more games have confidence in what they do best. To use a pretty traditional 2D game as an example: I don t even remember the final boss of Rayman Origins, but I do remember the incredibly challenging and rewarding final platforming sequence leads up to it. Surviving that level is the true boss of the game.

Tom: Lots of games have also tried doing boss sequences or boss levels instead of a straight up fight, and I love that. I think it s great when games don t adhere to the formula, but that s not the solution for every game. Assassin s Creed doesn t really have many boss fights, instead a particularly special baddy will get a mission all to himself. That s cool and different and doesn t shoehorn a stupid arena fight into an assassination game, but I also don t remember a single one of those missions. You know what I do remember? Every single boss I fought in Dark Souls 2. I still agree that developers will put cookie cutter boss fights unnecessarily into games that don t need them, but it s by no means a concept that s lost it s value. It s just more valuable in certain types of games.

Wes: I may not remember the characters of many Assassin s Creed targets, but I do remember some of my more epic assassinations—and I loved that those characters could be killed silently and instantly, if you planned the perfect stealth kill. That s a smart modern twist on the classic boss fight, too me--it elevates what s best about Assassin s Creed, instead of suddenly changing how you play the game. And hell, I love Dark Souls bosses too—I don t hate the traditional boss fight, I just think many games today could do something more interesting with them. It seems like we re mostly on the same page. So...what games are really doing creative boss fights right these days?

Tom: The first example that jumps to my mind is Titan Souls, a game made up of nothing but boss fights. It takes the kill the big monster in an arena concept to its extreme and cuts the fat off everywhere else. If you need to be convinced that compelling and exciting boss fights are still possible in modern games, Titan Souls will do that and then some. Terraria is another good example; each boss is difficult and unique, but also represents a tier of progression. The game has an open world with no fake constraints, but you can mostly only reach bosses in a certain order, each one giving you the means to fight the next. These games embrace the boss fight as the effective tool it is; a change of pace, a milestone in your progression, and a generator of wow moments.

Wes: I ve played my fair share of Terraria, but I ll be checking up on Titan Souls. If killing each boss doesn t make me feel a deep and intense sorrow in true Shadow of the Colossus fashion, though, I m going to hold you responsible for my irrational expectations.

Tom: Titan Souls was the first game that made me physically jump out of my chair when I killed a boss, and I did so for every single one. Consider your expectations rationally high. 

I didn't do a full ghost run of Deus Ex: Human Revolution because some of the people in that game really deserved killing. Even if I had, it wouldn't have been a proper, no deaths playthrough. The game's Pacifist achievement reveals the problem: "Complete Deus Ex: Human Revolution without anyone dying by your hand. (Boss fights do not count.)" Yes they do! It's still a murder!

For Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, things will be different. You'll be able to complete the entire game without killing a soul, even the bosses.

Here's executive game director Jean-Fran ois Dugas giving confirmation:

Human Revolution's Missing Link DLC already gave us a boss we could subdue rather than kill. That boss fight was created in-house by Eidos Montreal, rather than being outsourced like the battles in the game proper. Hopefully, Mankind Divided will get the same sort of treatment by the game's primary developers.

For more on Deus Ex, check out Tom's detailed trailer analysis.

New Deus Ex alert! Deus Ex is one of PC Gamer's favourite series of all time, so we devoured yesterday's trailer with the shivering eagerness of an augmented hobo craving an ambrosia fix. There's a lot packed into those three minutes and twenty-seven seconds, including a bunch of new augmentations, some interesting characters and more clues. Let's start with the fancy new augs.

Spoiler warning: this article contains spoilers for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, so please avoid if you'd like to enjoy a pure run of Jensen's origin story.

New abilities

Directors don't throw new abilities into trailers without thought, and the ones listed here are shown off prominently, which suggests we might be able to upgrade similar abilities in the finished game—fingers crossed. I'm still amazed Jensen gets through an entire fight without chomping a single energy bar. Maybe he's had his batteries upgraded.

Shock blast: The effect is similar to the PEPS gun, which blasts enemies to the floor with non-lethal concussive force. It looks like Jensen's given up on carrying a separate gun around and built one into his arm instead. It's one of a few different non-lethal takedowns shown in the action-heavy trailer, which suggests that lethal/non-lethal options will still be a big part of the game.

Stun knuckles: Ought to be useful for short-range silent non-lethal takedowns. I don't know what it is about this goon in particular that's earned him a KO rather than an elbow chisel through the chest. He doesn't know how lucky he is.

Chisel shot: Speaking of arm-chisels, Jensen can now shoot them out of his forearm to impale guards he doesn't like the look of at distance. 

Shield made of triangles: During the trailer's climax Jensen deploys this shield to protect his perfect face from gunfire. It looks like a last-gasp attempt to deflect certain death, and I can't imagine the in-game equivalent will render Jensen immune to bullets for any great length of time. I wouldn't expect to see him to clomp around squashing enemies like a giant golden golem.

Teleport punch: This is probably the most intense moment in the trailer, when Jensen turns into a bolt of electricity and storms a stage full of terrorist goons. Maybe this is a high-octane replacement for the Icarus Landing System, or a brand new high-level ability that lets Jensen get into close-quarters quickly. It reminds me of the excellent Vanguard charge in the Mass Effect series, which lets Shepard use biotics (space magic) to perform a teleporting punch. It's very satisfying. 

The ending question

Mankind Divided won't carry your savegames over from Human Revolution, so which of the game's four endings will become canon? The recurring drowning sequences in the trailer suggest that Jensen may have flooded the Panchaea facility, rejecting the philosophies of Darrow, Taggart and Sarif and absolving himself of responsibility for humanity's future. The "I used to think I could save the world" line in the Mankind Divided trailer fits with that decision, and it's the ending that gives the sequel's writers the most space to set up a new story. Check out the shadow above the water. It looks like Malik's VTOL, doesn't it?

The Illuminati

It wouldn't be Deus Ex without this cabal of manipulative leaders, represented throughout the series by the Illuminati claw above—they are not a subtle bunch. In the Mankind Divided trailer the claw ties together a bunch of technology companies, including Sarif Industries. if David Sarif returns, it'll be interesting to see if he's capitulated to Illuminati pressure after the events of Human Revolution. 

In Human Revolution the Illuminati installed kill switches in augmented bodies in an attempt to achieve world domination, so it's not a huge leap to suggest they might be behind the virus that sent augmented humans mad, and provoked the social divide between augs and aug-nots that exists two years later in Mankind Divided.

Bob Page

Darn it, face-concealing software, you had one job. This momentary glitch gives us a glimpse of B#B P-*&, who could be Bob Page, a master conspirator in the original Deus Ex (which is set after Human Revolution and Mankind Divided). The shot of the Illuminati claw in the Mankind Divided trailer includes a number of tech companies, including Versalife, which is a subsidiary of Page Industries in the original Deus Ex. Page even appears in a post-credits sequence in Human Revolution, in which he talks about the development of a mysterious nanite virus. Hmmm.

Ivan Berk

Zoom. ENHANCE. Check out the screen on the right in this freeze frame and you'll see details of Ivan Berk, featured prominently throughout the trailer. He's 27, there's a warrant out for his arrest, and is a prime suspect in the bombing of Ruzicka Station in Prague. He's also clearly affiliated with the huge metal terrorist leader man, who looks like a cross between Barrett from Human Revolution and Jack from Tekken.

Curiously, Jensen is seen defending Ivan from rampaging cops and attacking his group at the theatre. Does that mean we'll be able to choose our allegiances, or is Jensen using Ivan as a mole to get access to the big metal man?

Prague, Montreal and other locations

Prague is definitely going to be a significant location in Mankind Divided. In Game Informer's story, already summarised on GAF, Utulek station is mentioned as a haven for the downtrodden aug-addled members of society. It's apparently based on Kowloon Walled City, which bears a passing resemblance to the shot above.

The Illuminati members on the secret call in the trailer are located in Montreal, Hong Kong and Paris. A significant Montreal hub was cut from Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and this might be the studio's chance to revisit those ideas. An upper level to China's Hengsha was also planned. While it's unlikely that old Human Revolution assets would be translated into the advanced Dawn Engine that powers the sequel, there would be plenty of design work to draw on.

Returning talent

It's exciting to see so many of the original team working on Mankind Divided. Human Revolution was great, but was held back by an engine that couldn't quite realise the density of detail a busy futuristic urban environment requires. Jonathan Jacques-Belletete was art director on Human Revolution, and the bold black-and-gold-and-triangles look has clearly made it into the new game if the leaked shots are anything to go by. I can't wait to see what the art team has done with the extra power afforded by the new engine.

Michael McCann is doing the music, which is fantastic news—Human Revolution's score is excellent. Mary Demarle returns to direct the story and familiar names like Anfossi and Jean-Francois Dugas are back too. If you're interested in the team, I highly recommend Deus Ex: Human Revolution's commentary mode, which offers lots of frank insight into the development process.

What did you think of the trailer? Anything we've missed?

Details about the next game in the Deus Ex series' story, missions, augmentations, and more have been revealed via Game Informer's exclusive cover story. Set in 2029, two years after the events of Human Revolution, Adam Jensen is now working with a group called Task Force 29. Sponsored by the government, they've been set up to combat "a new breed of terrorism." In the trailer and screenshots we've seen enemies with augmentations, which this is almost certainly referring to.

While there were references to the original Deus Ex in HR, the events of Mankind Divided may be more closely linked to JC Denton's story. It's been suggested that we'll see events described in Ion Storm's game's first-hand, and the accounts we've heard may not be entirely true. Jensen, it seems, is also secretly working for a group called the Juggernaut Collective. Allegiances are frequently fragile in the corrupt future of the Deus Ex series, so this isn't entirely surprising.

Exotic locations are also a staple of the series, and Mankind Divided will take us to a location based on the real-life Kowloon Walled City. Expect these city hubs to be crammed with side missions, which Eidos say will be more meaningful than in HR.

There's loads more info in Game Informer's article, some of which you can read here courtesy of GAF. No release date for the game has been set yet.