After wowing fans with the opening cinematic for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Eidos Montreal has peeled back the curtain on the very first gameplay clip for the upcoming sequel, which takes grizzled protagonist Adam Jensen into the year 2029.
That places Mankind Divided two years after Human Revolution, and the studio’s Executive Audio Director Steve Szczepkowski narrates the footage above and tells us the state of the world in which Jensen exists. In fact, the quasi-sequel will explore a future in which augmented individuals have effectively been kicked to the kerb, brandishing them as the outcasts of society. Cast your mind back to the original reveal trailer and you’ll remember that Eidos Montreal refers to this exclusion as a “mechanical apartheid,” but already there has been a small backlash against this terminology.
Taking to Reddit, former director Gilles Matouba touched upon the term, and offered a response to those who deemed its usage as insensitive.
“Thing is… I am Black (& French…). And Andre is Asian (& French). When we decided to go all-in on delivering the experience to play as Adam Jensen, an Augmented, in a world aggressively segregating his own kind, we actually wanted to offer to our audience something unique. Something that was close and very personal to us.”
While it’s understandable that the term itself would evoke negative connotations, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will tell a tale of biomechanics and far-future tech, which has irrefutably blurred the line between man and machine. Such a plot line will always draw some form of social commentary, and it seems best to reserve judgement on Eidos’ title until we see and experience the final product.
Expect Deus Ex: Mankind Divided to launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC at some point in 2016. To sate your appetite, be sure to check out the gameplay trailer above, but be on the lookout for spoilers in and around the 18:25 marker.
