Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

"'I once thought I could save the world... now look at it. Sometimes you just have to let go and embrace what you've become."

- Adam Jensen

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is a cyberpunk-themed action RPG game in the Deus Ex series. It was developed by Eidos Montréal and published by Square Enix. It is a sequel to Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which takes place before the events of Deus Ex. Mankind Divided was released for Windows, Playstation 4 and Xbox One on 23 August 2016. Feral Interactive brought the game to macOS and Linux. The Linux version arrived on 3 November 2016, with the macOS version following on 12 December 2017.

Adam Jensen returns as the protagonist for this installment of the series. He obtains several new augmentations in Mankind Divided. Like its predecessors, the game places emphasis on player choice and freedom.

Setting
Mankind Divided is set in the autumn of 2028, two years after the events of Human Revolution, which culminated in the Aug Incident when Hugh Darrow hijacked the biochip signal. As a result of Darrow's signal broadcast, augmented people across the world were forced to violently attack those around them until the signal was shut down by Adam Jensen. In the aftermath of the Aug Incident, the public is outraged and begins aggressively opposing mechanical augmentation. This results in a divided world, where mechanically augmented humans are forcibly separated from non-augmented ones.

By 2029, Jensen now works for the Interpol-funded Task Force 29 (TF29), an international unit that deals with augmented terrorists that have sprung up after the Aug Incident. However, Jensen's allegiance is split between Task Force 29 and the Juggernaut Collective, a hacker group devoted to opposing the Illuminati. The Juggernaut Collective seeks to investigate the Illuminati's influence in the Central European Division of TF29, a unit based in Prague and led by branch director Jim Miller. As told in the novel Deus Ex: Black Light, Jensen had decided to collaborate with the Juggernaut Collective towards the common goal of bringing down the Illuminati.

Meanwhile, the Illuminati have been working on an initiative called the Human Restoration Act, a proposed United Nations resolution. If enacted, the Human Restoration Act would require people with mechanical augmentations to have a control chip inserted in them or else be placed in designated facilities specifically built for augmented people.

Plot
Jensen's work for Task Force 29 brings him to an abandoned, partially-built hotel in Dubai. Here, his TF29 team is tasked with intercepting an illegal arms deal involving mechanical augmentations. During this mission, TF29 and the parties of the arms deal are ambushed by an unknown group of Shadow Operatives wearing gold masks.

The Illuminati Council of Five meets to discuss their next move toward supporting passage of the Human Restoration Act. The group agrees to send Stanton Dowd and Volkard Rand to New York to garner support. Lucius DeBeers, Morgan Everett, and Bob Page then speak in private. Acknowledging that Dowd and Rand probably won't succeed on their own, the Illuminati leader DeBeers instructs Page to deploy sleeper agents embedding within the Augmented Rights Coalition (ARC), as part of their alternate strategy of creating terrorist incidents to be blamed on ARC.

In Prague, Adam Jensen arrives at the Růžička Station to meet with Alex Vega, his Juggernaut Collective contact. They discuss the events in Dubai, and suspect that there was an ulterior motive for Jensen's unit being sent on the mission. Vega wants Jensen to install a "whisper chip" in the TF29 communications system. Suddenly, bombs go off, destroying a large part of the station. The next day, Jensen wakes up finding that his augmentations are malfunctioning. Upon seeing augmentations specialist Václav Koller, Jensen discovers that he has experimental augmentations installed in him that he previously had no knowledge of.

Jensen checks in at the TF29 headquarters and secretly installs the whisper chip as instructed by Vega. With Jensen back at work, Miller first assigns Jensen to retrieve evidence from Růžička Station. After Jensen retrieves the evidence, Miller then assigns Jensen to visit Golem City to bring in ARC leader Talos Rucker. Miller tells Jensen that he is sending him to Golem City because ARC appears to be linked to the terrorist bombing of Růžička Station. Jensen arrives in Golem City, where he meets ARC member Viktor Marchenko. He then makes his way to Rucker's office, but Rucker suddenly dies of poisoning before Jensen can bring him in. Evidence collected by Rucker mention a substance called the "Orchid."

Back in Prague, Miller is irate at the failure of the mission, but has to head off to deal with state police. Back at headquarters, Jensen receives a new lead from TF29 CSI technician Daniel Fletcher, who has been studying the evidence Jensen retrieved from the station. Following the lead, Jensen discovers that the bombs that detonated at the station were made by Allison Staněk, daughter of local watchmaker Nomad Staněk.

Taking advantage of Miller's absence, Jensen enters Miller's Neural SubNet machine to examine evidence of Miller's potential involvement with the Illuminati. Looking through the recorded conversations, Jensen learns that Miller was being ordered by his boss, Joseph Manderley, the overall TF29 director, to put blame on ARC for the Dubai ambush and the Růžička Station bombing, as well a break-in incident that has not yet occurred. The recording also shows that Manderley's actions are being controlled by another man, who had instructed Manderley to order the assassination of Talos Rucker using the Orchid, in order to maintain the cover of an agent embedded in ARC. This man, Manderley's superior, also noted that their next step is to deal with Nathaniel Brown.

Jensen then meets with Janus, the enigmatic Juggernaut Collective leader, via a teleconference. Janus tells Jensen that the person whom Manderley was speaking to in the recording was Bob Page, CEO of VersaLife. Janus suggests that Jensen infiltrate the VersaLife vault in the Palisade Property Bank to learn more about the Orchid. The conversation is abruptly ended, however, when the communication channel is compromised and sentry drones are closing in on the location.

Shortly afterwards, Jensen receives a call from Nomad Staněk that his daughter Allison Staněk, the bomb-maker, is in danger at the hands of cultists of Church of the MachineGod. However, before he can reach the Church, Jensen learns from Vega that VersaLife intends to remove their vault from the bank and that Jensen must break into the bank before this happens. Jensen must choose between confronting the bomb-maker and infiltrating the bank.

If Jensen chooses to confront the bomb-maker, Jensen learns from Allison that Marchenko has moved his base to a location in the Swiss alps called G.A.R.M. He may dissuade Allison Staněk, who turns out to be the leader of the church, from joining a ritual called "ascension" that results in mass-suicide of its participants.

Alternatively, if Jensen chooses to go after the VersaLife corporate vault, he infiltrates the bank and places a device in the vault allowing Janus to extract data on the Orchid. During the data extraction, Jensen hears an audio file indicating that Megan Reed has been working on the Orchid, and that the Orchid in its current state is a dangerous substance. The recording also indicates that Megan's assistant had a sent a sample of the Orchid to G.A.R.M., which Page notes in the audio recording to be a recent acquisition of his. Janus tells Jensen that G.A.R.M. was a Belltower-owned facility that was, for some reason, not listed on their balance sheet when they went bankrupt.

Jensen then heads out to G.A.R.M., via the VTOL of TF29 pilot Elias Chikane. However, when Jensen arrives, he is inexplicably ambushed by Marchenko and the gold-masked Shadow Operatives. Marchenko injects Jensen with the Orchid. While semi-conscious after being injected the orchid, Jensen overhears Marchenko talking about using the Dvali crime organization to smuggle a shipment. Marchenko leaves Jensen to die. Fortunately, Jensen is immune to the lethal effects of the Orchid due to his unique DNA that lacks a gene targeted by the Orchid. Jensen awakens and escapes the facility.

After returning to Prague, which is now under martial law due to unrest resulting from Rucker's assassination, Jensen investigates the Dvali's connection with Marchenko. Arriving at the Dvali Theatre, Jensen discovers that the Dvali have agreed to smuggle a shipment to London. Upon learning this information, TF29 makes preparations for London.

Before leaving for London, Jensen meets with Alex Vega in his apartment. Vega tells Jensen that Nathaniel Brown, whom Page mentioned in the NSN recording that Jensen uncovered, is working to oppose the passage of Human Restoration Act. The reason is that if the Act passes, Brown's corporation, the Santeau Group, which is in the business of making safe-havens for augmented people, would be unable to sustain the inflow of the augmented into their safe-haven cities such as Rabi'ah, which would result in enormous financial loss. Vega tells Jensen that the Illuminati's plan is to stop Brown.

Two days later, the Task Force arrives at London's Apex Centre, where Brown is hosting UN delegates to persuade the delegates to vote against the Human Restoration Act. Marchenko and the Shadow Operatives are there in an attempt to assassinate Brown and the delegates using the Orchid. During this mission, Jensen defeats Marchenko and attempts to prevent Brown and the delegates from being assassinated.

A week later, Jensen and Alex Vega reflect on the outcome of the events in London. If Jensen was able to save Brown and the delegates, the Human Restoration Act fails to pass. Otherwise, the Act passes. Jensen wants to help the Juggernaut Collective investigate Manderley and Page. However, Jensen also makes clear that he wants to meet Janus, the enigmatic Juggernaut Collective leader, face-to-face.

In a mid-credits scene, the Illuminati Council holds another meeting. Volkard Rand is angry that he wasn't informed of the actions that others, presumably referring to Bob Page, had put into play. After the meeting is adjourned, it is revealed that the TF29 resident psychologist Delara Auzenne was using the NSN avatar of council member Elizabeth DuClare. Auzenne reports to Lucius DeBeers that Jensen is very close to contacting Janus, and that Jensen's memories are consistent with this objective. The conversation reveals that Jensen is being used by the Illuminati to uncover Janus.

Continuing from Human Revolution
Save files from Deus Ex: Human Revolution do not carry over into Mankind Divided, so individual players' choices in Human Revolution are not be reflected in Mankind Divided. Instead, certain outcomes in the story all canonically follow from different possible paths in Human Revolution. For example, regardless of which signal the player chose to broadcast at the end of Human Revolution, Panchaea collapses in every possible ending.

The developers have stated that regardless of which signal is broadcast at the end of Human Revolution, the truth is obscured by rumors and disinformation. Disinformation about what happened surrounding the Aug Incident leads to the truth being intentionally hidden. This resolution of the Human Revolution storyline allowed the developers to use different aspects of each ending to form the backdrop of Mankind Divided.

Gameplay
The game features FPS, RPG, and stealth gameplay elements. This gives players a wide variety of options for approaching each mission. There are usually multiple ways to complete mission objectives, with different player choices potentially leading to different outcomes. It is possible to play through the entire game without being detected and killing anyone, including during boss fights. The hacking mini-game originally introduced in Human Revolution returns in Mankind Divided, along with a new ability to hack objects remotely. The "conversation battle" mechanic also makes a reappearance.

New combat and tactics
The new combat system was designed to give players more choices, including more options to complete objectives, whether through the use of augmentations, combat or possibly even dialogue. Players can use more vertical space, glide between cover and make use of new non-lethal weapons. The cover system has been improved. Players can still crouch and move around cover, but now they can also click on an empty space near a new cover and dash for it. Players can also go invisible using the cloaking augmentation.

Enemies have new combat abilities not seen in previous games in the franchise. For example, certain augmented enemies will use cloaking and shielding abilities, and can dash from one place to another, making combat more fast-paced and encouraging planning and forethought from the player before leaping into battle. However, the new Titan Shield augmentation permits players to engage in open combat without taking damage, so long as energy does not run out.

New weapons and augmentations
Mankind Divided features augmentations from Human Revolution as well as several new ones. New augmentations include a Nanoblade launcher, the above-mentioned Titan Shield, and a fist-mounted electro-shock system akin to modern-day Tasers. This Taser-like augmentation, known as TESLA, allows Jensen to tag and take out enemies silently from a distance. Additionally, Jensen now has an arm-mounted P.E.P.S., replacing the P.E.P.S. weapon in Human Revolution, that fires a directed energy blast with a strong knockback effect. Some enemies in Mankind Divided possess augmentations similar to the ones used by Jensen, making them more deadly.

The energy system of Human Revolution has been revised such that energy is now on a single long bar that gradually refills over time. Some augmentations have an activation cost that lowers the maximum amount of energy the player can regenerate. Degradation of the maximum amount of energy can be reset by using a Biocell. The Biocell also has other uses such as energizing devices, and are in limited supply, so players must choose how best to use them.

The new Icarus Dash augmentation provides a new dash system. The Icarus Dash can also be used to quickly move from cover to cover and even over horizontal gaps to reach areas not otherwise available to players, similar to a teleport. This could be useful for crossing across ceiling areas or to make quick leaps into moving vehicles. The dash can also be use on targets to knock them down.

Several augmentations can now be charged for a secondary effect. For example, Jensen's Nanoblade launcher augmentation permits the nanoblade to explode on impact when charged, allowing augmentation to act as an explosives launcher. The P.E.P.S. non lethal weapon has a primary effect of knock enemies over, but charging it before using has the effect of knocking enemies out.

The game allows for greater flexibility in gunplay, allowing players to customize the sights and ammunition type of their weaponry. A new weapon, the Battle Rifle, has also been introduced to serve the role of a designated marksman rifle. Players are free to swap out weapon modification and change targeting patterns during combat. Ammunition includes armor piercing rounds and EMP ammo for taking out electronics.

Story branching
Story decisions made by the player have consequences. Eidos Montréal, the developers of Mankind Divided, wanted to be sure that choices and consequences pay off in many levels throughout the game. During conversations with both enemies and allies, players will often be given multiple dialogue options that will allow them to approach the situation in different ways. There is no "morality system" per se, and players can choose to kill everyone if that is how they want to play the game.

Because of player choice, the game's final mission may not play out the same way it did for someone else, adding to the game's replayability. There are also optional side missions that permit the player to new characters and get a better understanding of the story as a whole. Side missions allow the player to see even deeper into the life and backstory of Adam Jensen as well as the lives of the people around him on the streets.

New Game+
Completing the game unlocks New Game+ (new game plus or NG+), which allows the player to start a new game while keeping all inventory items, credits, augmentations, and Praxis points at the end of a previous playthrough. Items stored in the three storage units of Jensen's apartment do not carry over.

The save state serving as the basis for New Game+ can be overridden each time a standard new game is completed. However, a completed New Game+ cannot serve as the save state for another New Game+. That is, once a New Game+ has been completed, it is not possible to carry-over the inventory and augmentations of the completed New Game+ into a subsequent New Game+.

Gameplay articles

 * Walkthrough
 * Augmentations
 * Achievements
 * Weapons
 * Items

Breach
Breach is a game mode included in Mankind Divided, and was also released as a free standalone title (Deus Ex: Breach) on January 24, 2017. Breach is set in the virtual world of the Neural SubNet, which is depicted in a surreal, polygonal graphic style. However, the weapons and augmentations in Breach are generally analogous to those of the main game. Breach includes a plot-driven campaign in which player takes the role of a ripper working with the hacker ShadowChild to extract corporate data from the Palisade Blades. While actual gameplay is single-player, Breach permits players to send challenges to others, and the game's background environment reflects the activities of other players. Breach also serves as a challenge-mode, with leaderboards allowing players to compare scores and positions online.

VR Experience
VR Experience was released on January 24, 2017, as a free virtual reality technology demo available on Windows systems. It permits players to explore several environments featured in the main game.

Jensen's Stories
Jensen's Stories are story-based DLCs for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Jensen's Stories are accessed from game's main menu screen.

Desperate Measures
A single-mission DLC originally available as a pre-order bonus or through purchase of the Day One, Collector's, or Digital Deluxe editions of Mankind Divided. Desperate Measures was later released as a free download. "Taking place in Prague, the ‘Desperate Measures’ extra in-game mission has you playing as Adam Jensen, returning to the epicenter of the Růžička train station explosion that recently rattled the city to its very core. With tampered security footage hampering the investigation behind the attack, you must rely on both your augmentations, and skills as a covert operative, in order to unveil the true culprit responsible for the bombing."

System Rift
The first full-length story DLC, released a month later after the game's initial release. "In Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - System Rift, you will reunite with Frank Pritchard, Adam's friend and former colleague at Sarif Industries, and assist him in hunting down information on the mysterious Santeau Group. Desperate to get more information, Pritchard targets one of the most secure data banks ever created - the Palisade Blade. In agreeing to help, Adam may also be able to uncover hints as to who the Illuminati really are."

A Criminal Past
The second full-length story DLC, released on February 23, 2017. "Adam Jensen is back in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – A Criminal Past, along with both an old acquaintance in Delara Auzenne, and new characters. The second Story DLC will provide players with more insight into the lore of the Deus Ex Universe, allowing them to experience Adam Jensen’s first mission for TF29, set some time before the events of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

In Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – A Criminal Past, Jensen is transferred deep into a hostile, high-security prison for augmented felons. His mission: track down and retrieve sensitive information from a fellow undercover agent who has gone dark. Success will help the fight against terror around the world, but Jensen will need to confront a darker side to his role before the day is done."

Items and gear
The following items packs, originally pre-order bonuses, are currently available as free downloads: The following items packs are currently available as paid add-ons: Items made available by DLCs are accessed using the "storage" tab on the left side of the inventory screen interface. Outfit skins for Jensen's armor and trench coat are accessed by the "outfit" menu that appears when the game is paused.
 * Intruder Gear
 * Elite Edition 10mm Pistol
 * A custom skin for Jensen’s trench coat
 * Enforcer Gear
 * Elite Edition Combat Rifle
 * A custom skin for Jensen's combat armor
 * Classic Gear
 * Classic Diamond Back .357
 * Classic skins for Jensen's trench coat and combat armor as they appeared in Deus Ex: Human Revolution
 * Augmented Covert Agent Consumables Pack
 * Consumables: 1 Praxis kit, 300 Weapon Parts, 1000 (in-game credits), 1 EMP grenade, 1 Frag Grenade, Pistol EMP ammo (15), Combat Rifle regular ammo (20), Revolver Armor Piercing ammo (10)
 * Assault Pack
 * Elite Edition Battle Rifle
 * Chaff Augmentation
 * Consumables: 1 Praxis kit, 500 Weapon Parts, Battle Rifle regular ammo (20), Battle Rifle armor piercing ammo (10), 2 Frag Grenades, 2 EMP Grenades
 * Tactical Pack
 * Elite Edition Tranquilizer Rifle
 * Micro Assembler Augmentation
 * Consumables: 1 Praxis kit, 500 Weapon Parts, Tranquilizer Rifle ammo (10), 3 Smoke Grenades, 2 Gas Grenades
 * DLC weapons can be used across any number of playthroughs. Each time you start a new game, a new copy of the weapon will be available for retrieval from the storage tab.
 * DLC consumables (Praxis kits, weapon parts, credits, ammo and grenades) are one-time-use items. Once a DLC consumable is retrieved from the storage tab, it is permanently redeemed and will not be available in a subsequent playthrough, nor will it be available if an earlier save is loaded.

Season Pass
The Season Pass provides all paid DLCs and the following additional consumables: 4 Praxis kits, 5000 (in-game credits), 1000 Weapon Parts, and 5 Booster Packs, and 20 Chipsets for Breach.

Characters

 * For a full list of characters, see Deus Ex: Mankind Divided characters (category page)

Central characters include:
 * Adam Jensen
 * Jim Miller – Director of Task Force 29's Central European Division
 * Alex Vega – Juggernaut Collective member
 * Delara Auzenne – Task Force 29 psychologist
 * Viktor Marchenko – Rogue member of the Augmented Rights Coalition
 * Talos Rucker – Leader of the Augmented Rights Coalition
 * Janus – Unseen leader of the Juggernaut Collective
 * Bob Page – Illuminati member
 * Frank Pritchard (System Rift) – Jensen's old associate from Sarif Industries
 * ShadowChild (System Rift and Breach) – A skilled hacker
 * Hector Guerrero (A Criminal Past) – An undercover Interpol agent

World locations

 * Dubai
 * Prague
 * Útulek Complex, also known as "Golem City"
 * G.A.R.M.
 * London
 * Pent House (A Criminal Past)

In-game media

 * eBooks (see Tablet Collector for a list of eBooks sorted by location)
 * Picus TV News Reports
 * The Picus Daily Standard
 * Samizdat (newspaper)
 * Lazarus' radio segments
 * Pocket secretaries
 * Computers/Emails

Official App
An official Deus Ex Universe app was released to provide information about the games and the latest Mankind Divided news. It was available to download from the App Store and Google Play. Once Mankind Divided was released, it served as a companion app for the game. It currently features a scanner which can be used to scan triangle-shaped codes found in various promotional videos and posters. These codes unlocked exclusive content related to the game and its development. The app was discontinued in 2018. The content unlocked by the app are still available, however.

AugAware campaign
Adding to the Augmentation theme of Mankind Divided, Square Enix and Eidos Montreal placed marketing, disguised as propaganda posters around New York City in August of 2015 - stating "Keep Our Streets Human!" These posters included a triangular QR code, and a URL of AugAware.org. The URL led to the official Deus Ex Website.

In mid April 2016, the team chose to promote the game even further by publishing the "Aug Aware" website, which was located at AugAware.org. The website was later discontinued in 2018. For content posted on the website, please see AugAware.org articles.

The AugAware website featured several articles "written" by those who strongly opposed the use of augmentation, stating that humans should be pure (or whole) and retain the physical limbs they were born with with mention of "purists and the augmented being at war." The website itself had the appearance that it was "hacked" by the Augmented Rights Coalition, possibly an attempt to stave readers from gaining insight and joining the side of the pure. The website had a countdown timer at the top, counting down to May 26th 2016 at 6am PDT.

Two videos also surfaced, one that looks like security camera footage depicting a man in a small market with a cybernetic arm that he suddenly loses control of, knocking over 20K worth of wine bottles. The other was of a man in an alley, beating another man with his own augmented leg. The description of the second video reads as follows:


 * The fear over the augmented community has boiled over into the streets, as evidenced by this video footage which shows an argument turning into a brutal fight. Unlike the Panchaea Aug Incident, the humans took this round, as a beast of a man ripped off an Aug’s leg and used it to beat him. “There is reason to be concerned,” says AugAware.org, the organization responsible for releasing the footage. The AugAware.org website seems to indicate that their anti-Aug awareness campaign is just beginning – check the site on May 26th to see what’s next.

Related Deus Ex print media
Several print titles that depict events taking place between Human Revolution and Mankind Divided were released together with or shortly prior to the game's relase.
 * The novel Deus Ex: Black Light was released on August 23, 2016, concurrently with the game's release. Black Light is set approximately one year after Human Revolution, and explains how Jensen came to join TF29 and the Juggernaut Collective.
 * The short novel Deus Ex: Hard Line was released together with the game, initially as a pre-order bonus and later as a free download. Set before Mankind Divided, Hard Line features Alex Vega and describes her story prior to working with Jensen in Prague.
 * Prior to the game's release, the five-issue comic Deus Ex Universe: Children's Crusade was released between February and July 2016. Set after Black Light and Hard Line, Children's Crusade depicts Jensen's early work with TF29 in Prague.
 * The mini-comic Deus Ex Universe: The Dawning Darkness was released together with the game, initially as a pre-order bonus and later as a free download. The comic is set immediately prior to Mankind Divided, and depicts the events leading to the first mission of the game.