All the doom and gloom over the death of a future Deus Ex game got me looking into my Steam library, and that was when I realized I also purchased DLC. Do note, I finished the main game in 2017, over 6 years ago. I'm also shocked that the last one they've released is pretty good.
Mankind Divided is an amazing game, as in like it takes all the familiar formulas of the early titles, other names like Thief and System Shock, then manages to implement unique ideas and refine the core gameplay to a much moderate degree. High visual fidelity and art design, amazing soundtrack, and overall crazy production values.
All-around amazing except for the story and content. Which, in fairness is Square Enix's fault. But Eidos Montreal did come around the end, and tried putting out 1/3 more content to play. More love from the current Deus Ex team. This is me talking about them now.
Desperate Measures
Ok, what is up with that title logo? Is this some British drama or something? Alright, Desperate Measures. This was a pre-order bonus content only, but that was before people got pissed at Square Enix and they've decided months later to add it as free package as a whole.
And I'll tell you exactly why that was the stupidest thing they've ever done. The story in this one added important pretext to the prologue of the main game. Basically a 1hr dive into who Tarvos Security is and how they were involved in the bombing in Prague.
Some of my favorite augment abilities return, especially the Social Enhancer. Short used, but kind of set me up for what to expect later on. Unfortunately there's not a lot to say about this, though. It fills in the void of espionage that is utilized well in this brief playthrough. There's intrigue, challenging areas to explore, and free Praxis that's only good for this DLC.
God forbid if extra came bundled with the deluxe edition I bought. One time use for a single-player game, one of the worst things a company could do, and pretty much did to me. Also, the amount of Praxis found hidden around. It's as if they didn't plan on monetizing them first.
This one should have been in the main game right after the prologue. It clears up why the footage over the bomber was obfuscated in the prologue. With multiple story decisions that would have also affected the campaign. It's bonkers that it was put into Jensen's Story mode.
Entering Tarvos is a risky endeavor considering who they are, but it feels well curated to be an after tutorial kind of mission. Despite all the odds, I managed to stealth my way in and finish the DLC pretty much. Like, there's enough to stretch another hour, but that's probably about it. The extra hour seems like a waste now, unless you want to get frisky and tests out the augs.
What a shame, there's enough codex to dig deep into how Tarvos works, and the amount of items I've found, including crafting items would have added more to my repertoire overall.
System Rift
Ah Pritchard, things would be less fun if he wasn't around. And he is in this mission, I just wish there was a better reason for its existence than I don't know, some higher cause event that has little or nothing to add for the main game. It's just more Deus Ex, just less serious.
And that last bit, what I meant is one of the side objectives is leaving a figure that looks like Garrett from Thief. As well as some easter eggs plastered here and there. I digress, the story of this mission revolves around a corrupt bank with a big conspiracy in it.
People have died for secrets, blackmailing, corrupt leadership, augs being exploited, and some fancy doohicky stuff I get to do. Gameplay wish it is still exceptionally designed. There's no point if the main story over the DLC have no significant ties to the campaign. Everything feels like a waste of time here, outside of talking to Pritchard and the bank being so huge, I can getaway with a lot.
I did say Desperate Measures was cut content that seemed originally made for the main story. This one, and the other, it makes sense why they're build as side stories, completely segregated. But there's no point playing this one, out of the reason of increasing 4hr playtime.
A Criminal Past
If you like prison escape movies or TV shows, you're going to love this one. Also, this is how you do a freaking logo intro. I might not have enough words to describe just how amazing this chunk of the game is. It's on a whole other level for a premise separate for a mainline Deus Ex title.
The warden is an absolute degenerate, talks like a adrenaline junkie, and is so knee-deep in all kinds of hazardous business, it's no wonder a riot broke out an hour and half later. Adam doesn't even get special treatment for this assignment, all this just to talk to an undercover agent regarding some terrorist plot. This feels like Butcher Bay all over again.
The prisoners in the Pent House Correctional Facility are varied, you have this guy who wants to kick my face in, and then the other guy, being black, is also jacked. I did not mean for that to rhyme, but he has so much more going on. There's even a neo-nazi guy handing out drugs.
The writing here carries the entire story, both in narrative and character dialogue. The energy here is so chaotic, unnerving, because all my augmentations are mostly shut off, taking some time to getting them back, and the place is tight on security. I had to load my saves a lot.
Old issues like the interaction highlight and UI issues make it difficult to move stuff or press E to look inside something. Even affecting how I finished my objectives. One point, I tried to take a chip out of a dead bot, but it is covered by 3 cameras, one of them is a sentry turret. I already took out two guards and I was running around the extra hour because of this.
But anybody's curiosity is rewarded, because there are many items found here and there. And the best part, once I've managed to get control of my augmentations, the game gives me an option to unlock my stuff from the main game or start fresh here. That's actually cool.
And I am sure people play this game for the rewarding pacifist route, but guns a-hoy man, once the prison riot gets going, the fun picks up hard. And the prisoners also being on my side, flex their augs like crazy, LIKE CRAZY! Easily 3-5hrs well spent.
I honestly wished at times the main game had content as good as this. I know it has a lot of its moments, but compared to this crazy rollercoaster of a ride, like every hour has something going on. If this was Montreal's send-off for MD, they nailed it.
Though, it doesn't help that a bunch of recent performance issues, and bad A.I. kind of plagues the entire game. That has something to do with the fact that Square Enix straight up abandoned support for it, and now recent hardware can't seem to run it well (my 6700 XT). R.I.P. DX12 launcher.
Sorry if this was written long, NGL, moving on from this game is going to be a lot harder. So much content potential, so much to work on. Eidos always puts extra love and care into their games, whether they do well or not. Square Enix debacle has ruined the once known publisher, its progress gone in a decade's time. Deus Ex Mankind Divided is currently on big sale till 12th if you're up for it.
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