A Criminal Past

Spoilers for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - A Criminal Past follow!

For the achievement of the same name, see A Criminal Past (achievement).

A Criminal Past is the second and last story DLC for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. It was released on February 23, 2017 and is available on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, online stores, and also as part of the Season Pass for Mankind Divided.^[1]

Synopsis

	"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."

Plot

After the events of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Delara Auzenne asks Jensen to recount his undercover mission in "the Pent House" - the Penley T. Housefather Correctional Facility - an Aug-only super-maximum security prison in Arizona. Auzenne tells Jensen that she wishes to learn about Jensen's interactions with Hector Guerrero, an undercover Interpol agent who was stationed in the Pent House.

Jensen explains that Interpol had received intelligence reports of possible terror attacks on pro-Aug groups in the U.S., and that Guerrero was the only one who could confirm if the intel was solid. However, Guerrero had gone dark, and it was necessary for Jensen to infiltrate Pent House in order to reach Guerrero.

In the story that Jensen recounts, Jensen arrives at Pent House using the alias Derrick George Walthers. Upon arrival Jensen is given a Tai Yong Medical suppressor chip that suppresses his ability to use augmentations and causes pain whenever Jensen even thinks about using them. At Pent House, Jensen meets Theodore Zenga, a Detroit native who was once arrested by Jensen but struggles to recall Jensen's name. Jensen also meets Frederick Flossy, who informs Jensen that the guards have been baiting the inmates into breaking rules and subsequently executing the inmates. Flossy suspects that an inmate named Wilburg was killed by the prison guards and tells Jensen that the inmates need to stand together.

Flossy also directs Jensen to Peter Wörthmüller, an enigmatic inmate known as "the Fixer" who has a pill that can disable the suppressor chip, which would allow Jensen to regain access to his augmentations. If Jensen meets with the Fixer, he can choose to accept or decline the pill. Jensen can also learn from the Fixer that Flossy has ordered an altered biocell from the Fixer. Jensen can assist Flossy by retrieving the biocell and delivering it to another inmate known as Red Shoes.

Jensen eventually locates Guerrero, known in the prison by name Oscar Mejia. Jensen informs Guerrero of the situation, but Guerrero is reluctant to leave the prison. As the two are conversing, they are interrupted by Thomas Stenger, Pent House's head of security, who accuses Guerrero of murdering Wilburg. The prison guards proceeds to incapacitate Guerrero and Jensen.

Later, Jensen wakes up and is confronted by Stenger. Stenger now believes that Jensen was sent to Pent House by Junkyard, a black market group that utilizes Pent House's execution policy to harvest augmentations from inmates. Stenger himself is working for Junkyard and has been using his role, as one of the two officers of Pent House in charge of approving the execution of inmates, to carry out Junkyard's augmentation harvesting operation. Stenger tells Jensen that Guerrero, whose is also a Junkyard member in his undercover Oscar Mejia identity, has compromised the Junkyard operation at Pent House by going "off script," implying that Guerrero's murder of Wilburg has now caused a riot among the inmates. Stenger informs Jensen that Guerrero has been placed in solitary confinement and will be shortly executed. However, before the conversation can continue, Stenger must attend to dealing with the riot that has broken out. By now, the inmates have broken out of their cells and have taken several areas of the prison, including the administrative offices building.

With the prison under riot, Jensen rescues Guerrero from solitary confinement. If certain evidence has been found, Jensen may get Guerrero to confess to murdering Wilburg, in which case Guerrero will claim that it was done out of necessity to protect his Interpol identity.

Guerrero tells Jensen to disable the facility's transport tracking system and anti-aircraft turrets, so that the two can escape from the helipad. In the course of doing so, Jensen may discover that Stenger has been killed. A pocket secretary on Stenger's body reveals that Guerrero was actually Stenger's superior in carrying out Junkyard's operations at Pent House, and that Guerrero made the calls as to which inmate was to be executed for harvesting. Jensen can also discover, from an audio recording found in Stenger's office, that Wilburg was another Junkyard member who had threatened to have Guerrero expelled from Junkyard, and that Guerrero actually killed Wilburg in order to maintain his position at Junkyard.

After disabling the tracking system and anti-aircraft turrets, Jensen arrives at the helipad to find Guerrero. However, Jensen finds that Guerrero has taken the Fixer into custody. The Fixer wants to leave Pent House, but Guerrero indicates his intentions to execute the Fixer. Guerrero states that the Fixer must be put down because he has discovered that Guerrero and Jensen are both Interpol agents. In this confrontation, Jensen may side with either the Fixer or Guerrero, or alternatively attempt to persuade Guerrero to stand down. If Jensen attempts to persuade Guerrero, he will find that Guerrero, having been undercover for so long, has settled in with Junkyard and is unsure whether he is still loyal to Interpol. Depending on the outcome, either the Fixer or Guerrero, or none or both of them, will step into the VTOL along with Jensen to depart from the facility.

As Jensen's story ends, Delara Auzenne asks Jensen what really happened to Guerrero at the helipad. If Jensen states that he killed Guerrero, Auzenne will be pleased. However, if Jensen states that he brought Guerrero back or cut him loose, Auzenne will be surprised.

Jensen then asks Auzenne what she would have done if she were in his position—whether she would have killed an agent in front of her, with no questions asked, if she had a suspicion that the agent was bad. Auzenne answers by saying that maybe she would, if she really felt that the person in front of her was no longer on her side. Auzenne also tells Jensen that understanding when to pull the trigger in this situation is the single most important instinct an agent can possess. As Jensen departs, he tells her that Guerrero was right that there was no terror attack, and that he wonders what else Guerrero was right about.

Gameplay

See also: A Criminal Past walkthrough

At the start of gameplay, Jensen is unable to use any of his augmentations, due to a chip he received upon arrival at the prison. As the story progresses, the player is presented with opportunities to regain access to Jensen's augmentations. The story recounted in A Criminal Past is prior to the time Jensen discovers the experimental augmentations installed in his body. However, players who choose to regain access to Jensen's augmentations have the choice of either respecting story continuity with Jensen's traditional aug tree, or getting access to the experimental augs.

As the DLC unfolds as a frame story in which Jensen is recalling a past event, Jensen's potential for "death" during gameplay is treated in a unique fashion. During death animations Auzenne will have a voiceover, telling Jensen that he did not die and to focus on what really occurred. Death is therefore treated in the DLC as Jensen misremembering events or possibly experiencing some strong emotion in retrospect that affects his recall of the story.