So Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was just announced, and everyone is getting excited to see what the next big Deus Ex game is going to be like. Deus Ex: Human Revolution was a pretty good game, getting high scores from most outlets, and generally being liked by fans. However, it still had some issues that people brought up time and again, mostly in the linear way you eventually had to design your character in order to take on the game’s boring bosses. Here’s what I want to see them update, fix, and include in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided .
Customizable Weapons
One of first screenshots of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided showed Jensen looking at a rifle, with a U.I. outlining each part of it, from scope, to sight, to silencer, ammo type, and firing pattern. Now, there is nothing we like more than building guns in order to get more parts in order to build better guns. So if Deus Ex: Mankind Divided can expand on this, I would be happy as a genetically engineered clam. We just hope that they go outside the comfort zone of bullets and semi-auto firing. Give us some explosive, electric, or even laser ammo. Come on, man. It’s the future!
Group Social Situations
One of the few details that we know about Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is that enemies won’t necessarily be operating alone, so you won’t be able to just stealth takeout or talk down one enemy at a time. So now that we know that enemies will fight together, we also hope that they can think together. I don’t want to be able to bribe one guard while three others watch. I want to have to deal with how people think as a group.
Pacifist Capabilities
Deus Ex: Human Revolution advertised that it would be able to be beaten without ever firing a shot. This turned out not to be true, and there were several areas where battle was needed. I want to see this promise made good upon this time. I want to be able to get through this whole game without ever firing a shot. I want to be able to talk down or stealth take out bosses, or maybe even hack the environment so I don’t have to fight them.
Disguise Capabilities
Speaking of non-lethal capabilities, one thing I want to see Deus Ex: Mankind Divided expand on is Jensen’s ability to not fire bullets. In Human Revolution, Jensen’s abilities were divided up into four different areas, combat, stealth, hacking, and social. But stealth always means sneaking around so people couldn’t see you. I want to see Jensen hide in plain sight if he can. I want to see this and his social abilities interact. I want the game to expand on any possible way that I can get around a situation without shooting someone in the face.
Human Hacking
All right. It’s the bleak cyberpunk future. A horrible organization has essentially hacked everyone’s brain and made them go berserk. It’s pretty obvious that you are going to mostly be fighting transhumans this time around. So why not let us do some brain hacking? Once again, I really want to see Jensen’s abilities expanded in non combat areas. Why fight when you can get someone else to fight for you?
More Liberal Upgrades
One of the problems I had with Deus Ex: Human Revolution was that you could very often find yourself backed into a corner once you upgraded yourself. You’d usually spend money on abilities that seemed like they would be good in the long run, only to find that you needed one specific ability to make one specific part of a mission easier. Then, if you actually do take that ability, you’ll find it’s not useful anywhere else in the game. Part of the appeal of being a bionic transhuman is the ability to be modular. I’d like to see the ability to swap upgrades in and out so that we avoid situations like this.
A Permadeath Mode
Search for Deus Ex Permadeth on the internet. I guarantee you you’ll lose at least a few hours. The original Deus Ex is one of the most beloved permadeath challenges out there. It changes the game so much when you have to treat your character as if he only has one life to live. You certainly don’t go into situations guns blazing as much as you would otherwise. I just want to see this integrated into the game itself.
More Interesting Bad Guys
As I said before, the boss battles were perhaps the worst part of Deus Ex: Human Revolution . They never felt like they were particularly interesting. Instead, they dragged on forever and punished anyone who didn’t go fully into combat. Also, as I said before, I wouldn’t mind seeing the ability to talk down bosses, stealth kill bosses, or even hack the environment to have drones or other people take out bosses. I also wouldn’t mind bosses that operated more like a puzzle and less like an enemy that has an unwarranted amount of health.
Speedrunning Features
In 2014, a speedrunner named XEXI completed Deus Ex: Human Revolution in just over an hour, and it was absolutely awesome. The shortcuts he took were impressive. It was an incredible fusion of a pacifist and an incredibly accurate combat run. I want to see people rewarded for finding the most accurate and quick route through each mission. Usually you get rewarded for taking your time and exploring all the facets of the game, but some people like to blaze a trail through the middle, and they shouldn’t be left behind either.
Mobile Device Integration
Finally, let’s talk about the real omen of the bleak cyberpunk future: smartphones. Deus Ex: Human Revolution showed a lot of what it could do with a second screen in its Wii U version. Now we would like to see it divorce itself from that hardware and instead let us keep track of Jensen’s status on our own iPhones or Droids. We have been talking about this type of mobile integration for years and we still haven’t achieved it. It would be so fitting of Deus Ex , a game about the problems of progress, to finally be the game to do it right.