It's been long since I first touched this game back in 2018, and I reckon it is finally time for me to write a proper review for this game... a magnificent game but not one without its flaws. I have also lost count of the time since I last wrote a proper video game review, partially because I barely played any games in the past years, and after finding myself lost in the sea of books, documentaries and other form of resources about these classic games I used to play but did not know so well, I genuinely felt there was still much to learn before briefing someone of the game. But now after beating every mission there is in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided I decide it is time to talk something about this particular game.

The first thing that caught my attention when playing the game on PS4 was the stunning graphics. That being said, it strikes perfect balance between graphics and performance while running on a console, achieving a smooth 30 fps without compromising the graphics. In year 2020 where ray tracing technology is already implemented on several main stream triple-A titles, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided(will be called MD later on) still hold its place. High resolution texture, superb quality of SSAO, complicated geometrics and lighting, and proper use of bokeh effect combined together makes it one of the most demanding titles in 2016, and part of that still holds true in 2020. And for reference, the game runs 60 fps smooth on my GTX1070 on 1080p high setting.

Locations are impressive but could be made more seamless or varied. When returning from Dubai you will be introduced to your own apartment, which is located in one part of the city Prague hub. Oddly enough, a world that do not seem so big is cut off into two parts, and taking the subway to travel from one part to the other can be a real pain in missions that frequently need so. Other locations, aside from the main hub Prague, are also impressive but could be better in terms of replayability. Maps of GARM, London and Golem are all huge, beautiful hubs but are only featured each in only one mission, which seems not only a huge waste to me, but in some way that these maps are not at all organically connected.

The concept of completing the mission with different viable approaches is definitely the main reason that attracted me into playing this game, and after tens of hours of playing I still find it thrilling to accidentally find a vent shortcut, a destructible wall, or simply passing enemies toe to toe when cloaked. But one thing about the concept is quite interesting and not so obvious to a lot of people: even though you can choose to fight your way in or pass enemies in stealth, and the game actually offers different upgrades to better suit your playstyle, a player is most likely to stick to his preferable way of fighting during the entire playthrough, thus making the viable approaches a bit meaningless.

To solve this problem the game actually encourages you to try different playstyles, and one of the biggest efforts they make is by adding a separate mode called Breach, which put less emphasis on the plot and your choices but gameplay. But after briefly playing, rather than a comparable add-on to the main game it quickly felt more like a poorly executioned idea to prolong your playtime. Instead of adding to the stories and characters in the single-player campaign, they thought: Hey, how about making a standalone combat mode, to which we can easily implement more microtransactions? That move soon was proved wrong by gamers and game reviewers, which partly contributed to the poor sale figures of this game.

But after talking about so many negative points of this game, do I recommend it? Absolutely yes by any means. It is a flawed game at launch, but today at around 20 dollars with all dlcs included this is definitely a bargain. I'm still pissed off by the fact that they ripped "Desperate Measures", a mission involving Jensen investigating the bomber at Ruzicka station, off the main game and made it a separate dayone dlc for no apparent reason, and the annoying microtransactions still exist in this game. But despite its minor flaws in the current state, one can never have a better time to dive into the deus ex universe and enjoy themselves. Without further adieu, please get ready and embrace the deus ex world.