IntroductionWolfenstein: The New Order was undoubtedly a resounding success, bringing the ailing Nazi-killing franchise into the modern era with a brand new story and amusingly over-the-top gunplay. The Old Blood builds on that success by returning to the game's roots in the style of a two-fisted tale centering once more around the dread castle that is the source of the series' title: Wolfenstein. Essentially acting as a stand-alone expansion, if not a full-blown prequel, The Old Blood serves almost as a love-letter to the original Wolfenstein games released by id Software way back in the 80s, retelling the tale of B.J. Blaskowicz's daring escape from the Nazi-occupied mountain fortress with a modern polish which ties it to the Reich-ruled dystopian future of The New Order. Of course, as what amounts to an expansion, there's not an enormous amount of difference between The Old Blood and The New Order gameplay-wise, but it's always important to remember that as an add-on, The Old Blood was destined to be shorter, and subsequently was doomed (pardon the pun) to have less creative space for the developers to work with. With that in mind, the devilish developers at Machine Games have managed to add and change enough to keep the experience fresh, yet familiar. Ultimately, your enjoyment of this game will rely on whether or not you liked the main experience. If you liked The New Order, then you'll probably like The Old Blood. For those of you that fall into that category, it's available on Steam for $19.99. For those of you who don't, hopefully this review can convince you otherwise. Unless you're a Nazi, in which case you should get some help. StoryThe Old Blood picks up a few weeks before the opening of The New Order, with protagonist B. J. Blaskowicz assigned as a partner to special agent Richard Wesley. Their mission is to infiltrate the infamous Castle Wolfenstein, located high in the German Alps, in order to steal a folder containing information critical to location of the evil General Wilhelm Strauss, whose technological genius is on the verge of costing the Allies the war. This pits them at odds with Helga von Schabbs, a Nazi treasure hunter eager to uncover the secrets of the castle's history, and her ruthless enforcer Rudi Jäger, who really, really likes his dogs. Don't be fooled by the relatively tame opening sequence. Despite his stealthy overture, B.J.'s efforts to grab the Nazi's secret documents goes pear-shaped faster than old Adolf can wolf down sauerkraut. Predictably, the operation spins out of control within the space of about fifteen minutes, just long enough for Blaskowicz to get inside the mountain fortress via tram car, before being discovered and tossed into a cell, deep in the castle dungeons. The plot draws heavily on the original Escape from Castle Wolfenstein, insomuch as that's what you end up trying to do for about six of the game's ten chapters, but it builds on the basic concept enough that it ends up feeling like a classic Indiana Jones adventure, or other, similar tales from the WWII era, which were all about swashbuckling heroes and their daring deeds. The downside of the game's short length is that none of the characters really have time to get developed, leaving them feeling like hollow set-pieces. As a result, many events like this which might otherwise be heart-breaking are stifled by your inability to properly connect with the participants. One good example is a choice near the end of the game which forces you to pick one of two characters to save. Unfortunately you only get to know them for less than ten minutes beforehand, with most of their background delivered through collectible information around the environment. As such, the decision feels somewhat contrived and worse, meaningless. Criticizing this might seem hypocritical given how The New Order pulled the same stunt right at the start of the game, but in that case, time was given for the effects of the choice you made to play out, and were demonstrated in the characters' behavior after the fact. Here, it just seems like a choice between Path A and Path B. Meet Rudi Jäger a Nazi so evil that he could be pulled straight from the pages of classic pulp fiction. For all his faults though, he really loves his dog, Greta. He makes sure she stays fit, and eats only the best prisoners from the castle cells. Ultimately, The Old Blood's plot is, like most of the game, a love letter to the fans. It's an adventure from B. J.'s glory days, and even includes a certain supernatural element, much like many of the prior Wolfenstein titles albeit with an 'ancient technology' subtext that helps keep it from contradicting the decidedly less-spooky narrative aesthetic of The New Order. It's not a superb piece of storytelling, but it does its job in justifying the events that take place well enough that you don't question things in between popping heads. GameplayThere's not an enormous amount that separates The Old Blood from The New Order. There's no truly new enemy types, and while the Laserkraftwerk is no longer present, much of the base game's armory is still available, just with a new polish to fit the setting. The alternative fire-modes of most weapons have been removed, but it's of little consequence overall, as they still kill Nazis with excellent efficiency. Naturally this means that there are a few replacements and switch-ups, such as the removal of the under-barrel rocket launcher for the assault rifle being balanced out by the inclusion of a single-shot rocket pistol. Rather than detracting from the fun however, this simplification of B.J.'s collection of guns just makes everything feel more streamlined somehow. The end result is a system where every gun has it's place, and which requires less fiddling around with keeping track of which boomstick does what. Most the enemies of The New Order make a return appearance, but with a fresh coat of art that makes them fit better into the setting of the war era. One of the better examples is this Nazi super-soldier, a force to be reckoned with in the Reich-ruled 1960s, but still just a prototype here in The Old Blood. Knife-throwing makes a comeback, and is accompanied by the new pipe melee, which can also be used in certain areas to scale walls to locate alternative paths. The combat perks system has also been heavily simplified, retaining its mechanic of unlocking new abilities over time, but with fewer total abilities to acquire, which is fine given the game's reduced length. Overall, all the changes made just make everything feel more old-fashioned, but fast, like an old-school id Software game, which is pretty much the ultimate goal, given how the expansion seeks to recapture the series' roots while retaining the best parts of its new direction. The Old Blood still lacks a multiplayer component, which will no doubt disappoint some, but for a game that stands so well on its basic mechanics, it's not an enormous problem. Nevertheless, to help flesh out the game's lifespan, Machine Games thoughtfully included a Bulletstorm-style challenge mode which places you in some of the campaign's best arena zones to fight against swarms of Nazis in a race to see how quickly, how stylishly and how efficiently you can kill them. It's quite good for those looking to blow off some steam after a hard day by scoring points for gibbing fascists, although like any such add-on, it does wear thin after a while. Still, it's a clever way to eke more fun out what would otherwise be just an ordinary stand-alone expansion. Sound And DesignVery little changes in terms of sound between The New Order and The Old Blood. At the end of the day, many shooters sound like one another to the casual player. The chief difference is the unique soundtrack, written and scored specifically for the expansion by Mick Gordon, mastermind behind the music of The New Order. While it's far from his most significant work, it does do the job of keeping the player engaged. The new music substitutes the heavy electro-metal of the base game with more frantic orchestral fight themes that would be right at home in an action movie and which are more suitable to the altered atmosphere of Castle Wolfenstein and its surrounding environs. While they often lack the scope and scale of The New Order (which is saying something given that's a zeppelin back there), the vistas in The Old Blood never fail to impress. The lighting alone in this scene is astoundingly atmospheric. Really, the largest difference between The Old Blood's campaign and the base game is the level design. There's a much greater focus on arena-style combat, with waves of enemies flooding into areas that need to be eliminated before you can progress. While this might initially prompt a more defensive style of fighting, higher difficulties increase enemy aggression, promoting quick movement from cover to cover and skilled control of armor, ammo and health supplies to stay alive. In between these segments there's plenty of spots to practice either a stealth or guns-blazing approach, though generally you'll find yourself resorting to the latter after picking off a few juicy targets from the shadows simply because it's more fun that way. Also of importance is the improved performance. The Old Blood seems to experience less severe graphical issues than The New Order, which many will attest to as having extremely troubling frame-rate drops and other visual bugs, particularly on ATI graphics cards. This may be do to the compressed nature of the levels, which tend to feature fewer colossal skyboxes and gigantic set pieces than The New Order. There's still enough hiccups to warrant asking why Bethesda hasn't put the time and effort into fixing the problem outright, but whatever the reason, at least you're less likely to experience the pain of watching textures pop into existence all around you as you try to get a bead on the krauts shooting at you, and that's always a good thing. Final VerdictSo, is The Old Blood worth your time? Well, if you enjoyed The New Order and want more, then the answer is probably yes. It's a good game, with decent pacing and an okay story layered on a solid foundation of action, adventure and the wanton slaughter of that most universal of bad guys: Nazis. Sure there are some flaws, and a few lingering technical issues (looking at you, Bethesda Softworks. You know what you did.), but overall, if you like single-player shooters, then this is definitely one game you shouldn't miss out on. At the very least it should tide you over while the sequel finishes cooking. Final Score: 8.6
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TItle: Wolfenstein: The New Order Developer: Machine Games Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Director: Jens Matthies Music Composed by: Mick Gordon Release Date: May 20, 2014 IntroductionFor those of you who might be unaware, the Wolfenstein series has the auspicious honor of being the game that took the first-person shooter genre on its first tentative steps down the path that has made it what it is today. With its identity of wanton violence and semi-comedic tone, the franchise has always been one of the big staples of id Software, who would afterwards go on to produce numerous other shooters of equal or greater acclaim. Yet after over two decades and increasingly less-successful installments, things were looking less and less sunny for the Nazi-slaughtering saga. An unsuccessful soft-reboot in 2009 had yielded less-than-promising results, and it was starting to look like the unfortunately-named protagonist B. J. Blazkowicz might have to finally embrace retirement. Enter Machine Games, a relative newcomer to the scene of video game development, who took up development of a new installment in the franchise at the behest of Bethesda and ZeniMax Media. In 2014, they announced and released Wolfenstein: The New Order, a resurrection every bit as miraculous as most players had dreamed of. Now, with a standalone expansion to its name, and a sequel on the way, its hard to argue with the success of Machine Games' efforts. However, it's fair to ask: Is it still worth buying three years on? If you're interested in killing fascists regardless of the quality of the experience you can pick it up on Steam for $19.99. However, if you still harbor doubts and want to know a little more before spending that hard-earned cash, read on. StoryThe New Order, like the previous 2009 Wolfenstein game, is a soft reboot of the series, meaning that while the events of the numerous other installments may or may not have happened, for the most part they have little bearing on the plot of this newest title. The only returning characters from the prior game are Caroline Becker (plucky, now-paraplegic female side-kick), General Wilhelm 'Deathshead' Strasse (evil Nazi super-genius), and Blazkowicz himself. Everything else largely escapes mention, which is good, given the huge shift in tone the story takes in comparison to the previous games. The game opens on a sunrise raid against the castle fortress of General Deathshead. The year is 1946, and regardless of whether or not the fuhrer himself is actually still alive, the second world war is still going, a full year after it should've historically ended. The world is facing the very real specter of conquest at the hands of the increasingly-advanced Nazi war machine, who have achieved an unstoppable technological edge over the Allies. The raid is revealed to be a last-ditch effort to kill Deathshead, identified as the man responsible for this unchecked scientific advancement. It's a great setup that immediately establishes a sense of urgency and action, especially when Nazi jet-fighters begin attacking the propeller-powered transports of BJ and his comrade Fergus. The game opens at the end of the war, in the midst of a desperate final assault that predictably goes horribly, horribly wrong in the span of about ten seconds. It really sets the stage for the enormous 'what-if' scenario that follows. As things progress, The New Order does more and more to establish its own identity. The supernatural elements of previous Wolfenstein games bear no presence in this newer, darker world, which amazingly manages to take what has classically been a goofy, somewhat hare-brained excuse to shoot people wearing swastikas and turns it into a strong, clever and engrossing plot. The first hour or so of the game involves landing on the beaches of Deathshead's castle compound in a spectacularly explosive fashion to find the Allied forces being slaughtered wholesale by automated machine gun nests and gigantic robot dogs. Teaming up with his pilot Fergus Reid and a band of survivors led by Private Probst Wyatt III, Blazkowicz storms the castle, rappelling up its outer wall and into the main keep. What follows is a dark turn of events as the few that make it are captured by General Strasse himself, who forces BJ to make a horrible choice that goes on to affect both the story and the gameplay itself. It's an amazingly well-executed bit of drama thanks to a number of factors, not least of which is superb voice-acting on the part of all concerned. The prologue concludes with BJ escaping the castle, only to take a shrapnel wound to the head that leaves him in a vegetable. He is rescued by a Polish doctor and his family, and proceeds to spend fourteen years in an insane asylum, parked in a window-side wheelchair. From there, things start to take a very Man in the High Castle turn. With no one to stop them, the Nazis prevail, and within a couple years, the whole world is at their feet, and when Blazkowicz finally awakes in 1960, things have changed for the worse in a big way. All countries, even those that once thought the Nazis their allies, now pay homage to Hitler's grim vision of Germania, and the swastika flies from every flagpole. Freedom is a memory, and the shadow of the Reich looms over all in the form of massive, intimidating structures built on the ruins of the old world, crafted from super-concrete and lined with guards, guns and cameras. It's a terrifyingly accurate realization of real-world Nazi ambitions made manifest through their unchallenged technological power. Hitler's vision of Germania was one of power and intimidation. In the gray concrete nightmare of Nazi-occupied London, even the buildings are doing a sort of seig heil. It's undeniably creepy to look at. Fortunately, you get to blow it up not long after laying eyes on it. Of course, the craftsmanship doesn't stop there. Throughout the course of the game, various hidden cutscenes, character interactions and newspaper clippings provide lore of how this twisted vision of the future came to pass. It's a testament to the efforts of the writers in their goal to 'play it straight' with a classically goofy narrative that they have added so much detail to help establish more of a connection with the world. For example, many historical events and deeds recognizable from our own timeline are still present, but are now tainted by the Reich's involvement. The moon landing is credited to one Hans Armstahl, and the gulags of Russia now sit side by side with a training ground for the German army's most elite units. It's a testament as to how much time the writers spent building this world that you can even find a album from the German version of the Beatles during your playthrough. That being said, what's even more impressive is that despite this impressive and grim backdrop, things retain just enough of a tongue-in-cheek feeling to prevent an atmosphere of utter despair from settling in. It also compensates for the sheer lunacy of some elements of the world, such as the massive, robot panzerhunds like the ones you face in the prologue, which by 1960 have become more commonplace. It's a seriously dark future, but it's also a wacky retro-tech vision thereof, run by almost but not quite comically evil bad guys, and it's into this nightmare that BJ finds himself thrust when he is awakened from his comatose state by German troops arriving to 'decommission' the asylum and its patients. From there, the story follows his efforts to reunite with his former comrades wherever they might be, and finish the mission that he set out on back in 1946: to kill General Deathshead and every Nazi he can shoot, stab and strangle along the way. Frau Engel is the face of the modern Reich. BJ encounters her during a train ride to Berlin, during which there is a beautifully-executed and very tense moment of drama that does a lot to establish the insanely evil nature of her character and the world. Wolfenstein's story is impossible not to compare to Phillip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle, given how both confront the problem of a Nazi-ruled 20th century. However, unlike the TV show, or even the book, the plot of Wolfenstein is very much action-oriented, and plays as such, with increasingly wild set-pieces being drawn in. It plays its hand as a one-two punch of crazy, fast-paced violence interspersed with short but meaningful bits of well-acted and -executed character development, mos of which focus around BJ coming to terms with living in a world where hope seems to have died a long time ago. This delicate balance is marvelously paced and played, though it's not without flaws. Some while find the crazy, almost disconnected scene-hopping of Blazkowicz's quest for revenge hard to keep up with, and others might argue that the story lacks a solid, over-arching villain. Certainly, General Strasse's stand-in Frau Engel has some excellent moments that establish her as a vicious and despicable psychopath, but she always seems second fiddle to Deathshead himself, who despite being so well-established with his opening appearance, only shows up again at the end of the game. There are also a couple instances where character who have obviously suffered mortal wounds seemingly shrug off their injuries to return. While it is true that the world of Wolfenstein is obviously unreal, this overt dismissal of physics, like seeing an ally take a burst from twin assault rifles straight to the torso, only to shrug it off with some bandages later on, is a hiccup in an otherwise smooth ride that could've been done without. GameplayThe New Order's gameplay stands astride the boundary between old and new, offering a mix stealth and action. It's not Deus Ex, and BJ is by no means made of glass, but thanks to the addition of knife-throwing, special take-downs and the ability to peek out from cover, there is a definite element of subterfuge to be found in what might have otherwise been a run-of-the-mill shooter. For those that prefer to run and gun however, the game has you covered with the ability to dual-wield virtually everything Blaskowicz lays hands on, giving you the opportunity to really stick it to the various breeds of Nazi pig you'll run up against. Add to that the fact that nearly every weapon has a secondary fire and you can really play some one-two punch maneuvers, dashing and sliding in and out of cover while spraying Nazi goons with a hail of lead and lasers. Exploration and scavenging are also encouraged, since ammunition can be a little scarce, and it's easy to run short, especially since the temptation to just spray some righteous death around wildly like a true action hero is hard to resist. Raiding boxes and discovering hidden side-routes is of critical importance, and when in doubt, you can fall back on your trusty Lazerkraftwerk, which is pretty much what it sounds like: a prototype Nazi laser gun that can be used to cut through certain walls and the flesh of fascists with equal ease. It can be recharged at various handily-placed power stations scattered throughout the environment, and it gets progressively cooler the more you upgrade it. They say quantity has a quality all its own, and you know what? They're right. If you need more proof that two is always better than one, look no further than these akimbo assault rifles with under-barrel rocket launchers; guaranteed fun for the whole platoon. Speaking of upgrades, the game includes unlockable perks for BJ that help improve his fighting style depending on how you approach situations. Do you like throwing knives into unsuspecting Krauts? The stealth tree allows you to carry more shivs, and dampens the sounds of your movement. Prefer blowing them to kingdom come? The demolitions skills will be your friend. It's not enormously game-changing or influential, but it does add a measure of customization based on the player's preferred methods of combat. Ultimately, The New Order doesn't bring anything wild to the table beyond BJ's bizarre ability to ignore the effects of recoil when one-handing a two-handed weapon, but it does produce a good blend of old and new, enough so that the majority of fans and newcomers will find something to enjoy. Like most FPS games, its charm lies in giving you something to kill, and then offering as many ways as possible to do that, in as many different settings as it can justifiably cram into its plot. Anything else is icing on the blood-soaked cake. Sound and DesignUnfortunately, The New Order has some serious technical difficulties to own up to when it comes to actually playing. On the PC version, low framerates are a frequent issue thanks to the frustrating failings of the id Tech 5 engine, ironically the same software used to make id's other, far less successful title Rage. Pop-in textures are a persistent issue, and while forcing the game to run in 32-bit mode does clear up some of the problems, many others persist. Also, the bugs are significantly greater with systems using ATI video cards, given that Wolfenstein is an OpenGL game, meaning it uses certain software components that Radeon cards are simply not prepared to handle. Sadly there doesn't appear to be a full solution for these problems for anyone not prepared to do some serious research and tinkering, which places the blame more on Bethesda's shoulders for not taking better care to ensure legacy support for their product. Yes, you get to go to the moon. No, you don't get to play golf on the surface. Yes, you get to shoot Nazis in the name of freedom. No, there aren't any aliens...unless the Nazis have taken that too. Apart from these glaring failings, everything else is quite good. The world created by the conceptual artists and modelers is darkly beautiful, and if you can ignore the visual bugs, the game itself plays like a dream. Granted, some segments are better than others, with the level featuring a destroyed bridge as a major set piece standing out lovely to look at, but hell to play through. Also, higher difficulties tend to offer little in the way of replayability. The only extra challenge you'll encounter on 'Insane' and 'Uber' is finding ways to deal with enemies that are little more than highly-superior bullet-sponges. It's also worth noting they can sneak up on you far too easily, especially for people known for wearing jackboots at all times. More than once you'll probably find yourself wondering who's shooting at you, only to discover you've been flanked without any auditory warning. This might make sense in a game where motion is more important, but Wolfenstein is enough of a cover-shooter that sound cues should've been given more thought. It's also important to recognize that the music is a product of the mind of Mick Gordon, the composer and producer of the earth-shatteringly awesome soundtrack for the 2016 reboot of DOOM. While not quite as badass as his later work, The New Order's songs are still a force to be reckoned with, blending his special brand of techno-metal with a variety of other styles to produce an auditory experience that does a great deal to add to the action and tension of your situation. Final VerdictWolfenstein: The New Order is a fresh take on a very old franchise, and one that succeeds remarkably well. Yes, it's story is derivative, but it's fun and told in a heart-felt fashion, amidst the goofy over-the-top set pieces and moments of cavity-searching Krauts with a pair of retro-tech laser guns. The combat is quick, violent and engaging, standing somewhere between a cover-shooting stealth game and a classic run-and-gun title, and pulling it off amazingly well. Of course, replayability is limited since there's no multiplayer component, and while the unlockable special 'secret' difficulties are interesting, they aren't enough to hold the attention of anyone but a really hardcore gamer who wants to test themselves. That being said, it's easy to see why this game is getting a sequel, and why it deserves one. And really, shooting Nazis is an American pastime, whatever the alt-right might claim. It doesn't get more patriotic than knifing a jackbooted Jerry in the back, then drowning him in the bowl of the toilet he just relieved himself into. So what're you waiting for? The world needs heroes! Join up today, and take back your future! Final Score: 8.8TItle: PREY Developer: Human Head Studios Publisher: 2K Games Director: Chris Rhineheart Writers: Scott Miller & Chris Treagus Artists: Rowan Atalla & Jeff DeWitt Music Composed by: Jeremy Soule Release Date: July 11, 2006 IntroductionLong, long ago, in the ancient days of 1995, 3D Realms announced they were starting production on a game called Prey, a title that would run on cutting-edge software and serve a similar purpose to Unreal, in that it would showcase the power of both the hardware and software of the time. A number project leaders, including Tom Hall of id Software, came onto and dropped off of the project as it stumbled through development. A trailer released in 1998 implied a story with themes of alien abduction and Native American mythology, which given the increasingly weird direction shooters were taking at the time, wasn't really all that strange in retrospect. The project was repeatedly declared dead, only to be resurrected by 3D Realms over and over, with new features being tacked on with every iteration. Finally, after over a full decade in development hell, Prey made the final leap to store shelves in 2006, where it became successful enough to warrant a sequel that sadly didn't have the good fortune of its progenitor. Said successor managed to pump out some gorgeous screenshots, a few gameplay videos, and then promptly died without ever leaving the developers' hard-drives. Prey promised to turn players' worlds upside-down, and boy did it deliver. The gravity-shifting technology came in at a relatively early stage in development, and like the software behind its portals, managed to stick it out to the final release. Since then, despite the ground-breaking technology the game introduced, it has faded into obscurity. Only recently has it garnered any real interest, with a 're-imagined' version of the franchise crafted by Arkane Studios set for release a mere month or so from this writing. Even then, the only connection this new installment seems to share with the original is its name and the theme of alien invasion. So what went wrong? What went right? And most of all, is this product of ten years of struggle still worth playing? All of these are questions I will seek to answer thoroughly. However, I should also mention that if my answers leave you feeling you'd like to try this title, you might be in for a bit of trouble. Prey is no longer available on Steam, and physical copies are all that's left. My best recommendation is to try Amazon, where you can find new and used copies starting at $19.95. That's where I got my original copy, and if you're lucky, your copy will have a retail CD code that is still valid, and which if entered online will automatically provide you the Steam version for free. You can read about how to do that here. StoryLike most things about it, Prey's story went through a number of iterations, with different focuses and different elements being tried out. Ultimately, the result is a very strange collision of alien abduction themes and Cherokee myth. You play as Domasi Tawodi, a.k.a. 'Tommy', an ex-military Cherokee garage mechanic who feels trapped by his life on the reservation. He wants to leave, but at the same time he struggles with his feelings for his boyhood sweetheart Jen who runs the local bar, which keep him rooted despite his efforts. The game communicates all this beautifully, taking lessons from Half-Life that so many other shooters at the time strangely failed to learn. It spends the time to set up the plot and make us care about the characters, even Tommy's old grandfather Enisi, who is a staunch traditionalist and chides Tommy for rejecting his heritage. The story begins on a rainy evening in Jen's bar. Business is slow, and the player gets a brief introduction to the key players and a bit of combat when two rowdy truckers who just won't take no for an answer try to lay hands on Jen. Then, suddenly, aliens. No, really; a giant spaceship shows up outside, and proceeds to abduct Tommy, Jen, the truckers, Enisi and the whole goddamn bar. It's quite jarring, and yet such a perfect beginning for what follows. Tommy awakens aboard a massive alien ship in orbit over Earth alongside everyone else, trapped in a strange mechanism unnervingly like an automated pig-line at a slaughterhouse that appears to be transporting him and dozens of other unfortunates to an unknown destination. Naturally, he escapes just in time, but his girlfriend and grandfather are not so lucky, and Tommy is forced to watch helplessly as Enisi is impaled, sucked dry, and then pulverized, apparently to feed the partially-organic alien craft he is now trapped on. Usually when a game kills a major character early in the story, it's a detriment to the overall plot. Not so with Grandpa Enisi. Being impaled and crushed into mush might put the old man down, but it doesn't take him out of the fight... Normally this event would serve as the key 'motivation' to propel the player forward, but Prey's story is surprisingly more nuanced than all that. Despite being unable to prevent his grandfather's death, Tommy is able to spare Jen, though this only leads to him being forced to try and hunt her down as the killing line redirects her deeper into the colossal mothership. Not long into his journey, though, Tommy suffers a near-death experience, and suddenly comes face to face with Enisi once more, now dwelling in the Land of the Ancients, the Cherokee afterlife. From there things proceed to get REALLY weird, which should say something given how odd they already were. Normally this is the point where most people would simply quit for the sheer corniness of the ideas they're being forced to swallow, but Prey is a master of presentation, and everything flows together so well that I found myself accepting all of it without question. I won't spoil it, but for all its psychedelic nonsense, there is a definite method to the madness. Prey manages to tell a heartfelt story at the same time it's taking you on a mind-bending adventure, and it does it so well that any cliches I encountered that might've made me yawn and turn my head were easily glossed over. Tommy's journey through the alien ship is fraught with danger. These little buggers are not among them. They might look scary, but seeing them skip towards you like ugly rabbits, only to get beat down by your pipe-wrench rapidly removes any menace they might have. Granted, it's not perfect.The lengthy development cycle shows in the form of a few loose threads, the biggest of which is a bizarre subplot involving abducted children getting possessed by angry spirits bleeding over thanks to Tommy's contact with the hereafter. Normally there'd be a really good reason for the player being forced to kill children, even if they're evil devil-children out to murder the living, but this never really gets resolved, ending up feeling like it was inserted for shock value more than anything else. It's a big detractor for many people, but I was able to ignore it for the sake of the skill with which the main narrative is delivered. GameplayPrey's gameplay is very much the standard shooter fare, with some cool ideas layered on. Like most games of it's time, it has a very linear progression, though its level design can often make you feel otherwise. Ultimately though, when taken in with a critical eye, the overall sensation I got was 'unfinished'. That's not the same thing as bad, but it is kind of disappointing. One of the big selling points was the revolutionary technology behind its inclusion of portals. Unfortunately, while the game does include these and they are still very cool, with hindsight, it's easy to see how little Human Head Studios actually did with the things. There are a few 'WOW!' moments where they really put the things to good use, like an Antichamber-style set of spatially-looped identical corridors, but I kept finding myself why they didn't do more. Another cool aspect that felt squandered was Tommy's ability to spirit-walk, letting him enter a ghost-like state while leaving his body behind. This lets him pass through force-fields, traverse otherwise-invisible bridges, and press buttons he might not otherwise reach. There's a definite element of stealth to the mechanic that didn't get the attention it deserves, especially since they give you a bow and arrow while ghost-walking and see to it that enemies generally don't notice you when you pass by them in your astral form. This guy starts off as a big, bad boss, but by the end of the game, he's just another rank-and-file baddie, albeit in more of a mini-boss role. And to clarify any confusion you might be feeling; yes, you can rip off his arms and use the guns, which Tommy is demonstrating in the picture. This power also ties into another pioneering idea that Prey was among the first to introduce, which was making it impossible for the protagonist to die. If Tommy runs out of health, he's transported to the astral plane where he can use his bow to shoot down the wraiths of the dishonored dead, whose energies restore his bow's ammo and his HP, before he's automatically thrust back into the land of the living. It's a great concept, and it really lays the groundwork for the death and revival system that would later become such a huge part of big titles like Demon's Souls. Unfortunately the reason those other titles handled the idea better is because they probably learned from Prey's mistake, in that it doesn't seem to attach much weight to the constant death and rebirth. Granted, you can get killed pretty quick if you're not careful, but it doesn't have as much impact when you know you're never going to get a 'GAME OVER'. You die and revive, die and revive, and there's never any real consequence to discourage you from just rushing into battle head-first. Part of the reason for the incorporation of this mechanic might've been because at the time of Prey's creation, there were no such things as checkpoints apart from the auto-save at the start of every level. Having to reload the game certainly is a challenge, but at the same time, making them immortal seems like it sucks a lot of the danger out of the experience. Perhaps it would've been better if there were consequences for too many consecutive deaths, like reduced maximum health, which would require use of an alien health station or some-such to fix. It's all about risk versus reward, and when there is no risk, there's not much reward. Tommy's ability to spirit-walk allows him to go places he otherwise might not be able to, such as over these unseen ancestral snot-bridges. They're usually a good way to pick up extra ammo or reach a button, but not much else... As for the actual fighting, Tommy's arsenal in the real world is pretty creative. There's not many different actual weapons, with your basic grenades, assault rifle, etc., but they all come with an alien look and spin, thanks to alternative fire modes. One unique entry into the player's armory is the Leech Gun, a nifty device that recovers ammo by drawing power from nodes spread around the ship. These nodes come in different types, and depending on which one you recharge your gun with, you can blast, freeze, electrocute or even vaporize your foes. It hearkens back to how F.E.A.R. managed to keep my interest by introducing a slew of cool novelty weapons, except in this case they're all condensed into a single instrument of death. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but again, I kept thinking to myself that a lot more could've been done with the idea. The game itself also offers enough variety in the enemies to prompt some experimentation. The best parts are generally further into the story, when you get a good mix of tough enemies coming at you from all sides, and I do mean ALL sides. Prey isn't cheeky about using its portals to drop enemies on you from every direction. Unfortunately the terror of being ambushed wore off after a while thanks chiefly to Tommy's immortality, further proving it was a system that could've used more work. These guys turn up about halfway through the game. They pack a rocket launcher that can also eject a cloud of vaporized acid for blocking attacks, making explosions the only real way to damage them. Ultimately, Prey's chief weakness is that it had a lot of great ideas and not enough space to fit them all in. The various gimmicks are light-years ahead of their time, but they've all been done better by other game released afterwards, chiefly because they picked one particular gimmick to build themselves around. Prey on the other hand tries hard to do everything all at once, and unfortunately it suffers for it. I honestly couldn't help but wonder if a remake incorporating more modern interpretations of its various ideas would actually be good. Frankly, I think Prey could've learned a lot of lessons from Tron 2.0 in regards to player power and progression. Sound & DesignDespite all its shortcomings, Prey's overall look is definitely unique. It combines the best bits of what I liked about Quake 4's obsession with body-horror with a smooth, shiny pseudo-industrial look that really hammers home the metaphor of your being trapped inside a giant death machine. The alien ship, the Sphere as it's called by its inhabitants, is vast, and you're constantly exposed to enormous vistas that help reinforce how you're lost in a huge, HUGE place, and being hunted at every turn. Combined with the repulsive organic sections, which seem to bleed through the metal architecture everywhere you look, and you also get the sense that you're in the belly of a beast, a microbe that's being tracked for extermination. It's a very good visual metaphor, though I could've done without some of the sections that force you to fly around in a zero-gravity maintenance craft to get from place to place. It quickly felt all too much like filler around the third time I encountered one. The alien Sphere itself is an omnipresent enemy, and the game takes every opportunity to emphasize the sheer scale of the odds Tommy is facing. It really helps play into the game's title, making you feel like you're trapped and up against an impossible foe. I was also impressed to learn during my research that they chose actual Native American actors to play the key roles, and it warmed my heart to read about the seriousness with which their opinions and perspective were taken during the development process. Ultimately, I think the game turned out better for it, as while the incorporation of Native American myth isn't a huge part of the game, when it does turn up it's at least treated with respect. More importantly though, the characters don't come of as raging stereotypes, which is good because the original name for the protagonist was 'Talon Brave'. Tommy is a big step up, and to this date, I've yet to see a more developed and interesting Native American character in a game, which is a total shame. The sound design of the game is average for its time period, but Prey truly shines in its soundtrack, which is sweeping and orchestral, and could easily be applied in a full feature film, like most of Jeremy Soule's work in the early 2000's. Its main theme really stuck with me, and to this day I enjoy hearing it simply for the skill with which it was composed. Like Halo: Combat Evolved, it takes setting and atmosphere very seriously. It has the hallmarks of the days when game music was more than just a thing to keep the ear occupied beyond explosions, something which I hope will soon be back in style, given the impact DOOM 4's soundtrack had. I'd love to return to that, because music is as much part of a game's story as it is a movie's. A good song can make or break a scene depending on whether or not it fits. Final VerdictPrey certainly isn't perfect, and was ragged around the edges even on release, but it was a game made to showcase new things and pioneer new ideas, and it did a pretty good job, given how many of its mechanics went on to turn up in other titles. Gravity-shifting, portals, cool minority protagonists; all of these and more were explored as features, and amazingly enough, they held together well enough to provide a good, solid game overall, rather than coming off as a tech demo. Granted, I can't say they served the game well in terms of physical longevity. The multiplayer component (Multi-Prey) is long dead, and after a brief jaunt through its maps, I can only imagine how confusing and jarring it must've been for those that tried it The cancelled sequel would've featured a new protagonist on an alien world playing the role of bounty hunter, while still keeping players tied to the story of the original game. Unfortunately, the project was scrapped months before release. Also, there's the sad story of the cancelled sequel that would've featured playing a bounty-hunter on a planet with an alien-noir vibe. The idea had much to recommend it in terms of uniqueness, as did the gorgeous art-style, but alas, as previously mentioned, the project was cancelled by Bethesda Softworks despite mountains of gameplay and screenshots already having been released. I can only assume they weren't satisfied with the final product, though given some rumors that the game would've used the infamous BRINK parkour engine, it might've been for the best. Still, it is my hope that someday the project gets recycled into something else...or at least that we'll get an art book. You can read my thoughts about the big re-imagining of the franchise by Arkane Studios here. Overall, Prey is a product of its time, while simultaneously being a visionary whose ideas were never fully appreciated until more fully applied by others. I still feel it's worth playing now and then, if only to see how far we've come. If you're a fan of older shooters like me, then I totally recommend picking it up if you can. If not, well that's your choice. Still, it's a shooter definitely worthy of respect, and it is my hope that someday, somehow, Prey truly will continue and Domasi Tawodi will return to kick alien ass once more. Minimum System Requirements
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Operating System: Windows XP (or Compatability Mode) Processor Capacity: 2.0 GHz DirectX: Version 9.0 RAM: 512 MB Hard Drive Space: 2.2 GB --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- TItle: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Developer: Eidos Montreal Publisher: Square Enix Director: Jean-François Dugas Writers: Jason Dozois & Steven Gallagher Artists: Martin Dubeau & Michael Lanoie Music Composed by: Michael McCann & Sascha Dikiciyan Release Date: August 23, 2016 IntroductionDeus Ex; it's a name with a freight train's worth of baggage, a franchise that many have struggled but never quite managed to emulate. The first game came out of nowhere, produced by Ion Storm Studios back at the turn of the millennium, and blew the PC gaming community away with its sheer scale and range of player choice. Even now, after over a decade, it remains a landmark title and lingers at or near the top of many top-ten lists. As a result, countless fans were shocked and filled with despair when the sequel flopped, causing the collapse of Ion Storm in the process. For years, it was feared that Invisible War had doomed the series to only two installments, preventing further exploration into what was clearly a rich and nuanced universe of cyberpunk ideas and ideals with a deep history and limitless potential. Then, in 2011, Eidos Montreal breathed new life into the franchise with it release of a prequel, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which took players back 25 years before the events of the original game, thrusting them into an era of conflict where the cybernetic augmentation technology that formed one of the franchise's biggest narrative vertebrae was still in its infancy and at the mercy of unseen forces who sought to control or eradicate it. It was a huge hit, reviving interest in the series and restoring faith to fans who had long ago relinquished hope of ever returning to that world of shadowy organizations and sinister conspiracies. Now, Mankind Divided takes us back again, two years after the events of Human Revolution, and while it has its flaws it does a stellar job of carrying on the core of what makes the series great. At present, it is available for purchase on Steam for $59.99, with two DLC expansions, System Rift and A Criminal Past, the latter of which should be freshly released at the time of this article's publication. StoryMankind Divided picks up two years after the events of Human Revolution, with augmented protagonist Adam Jensen returning to his role as beleaguered hero. For those that haven't played Human Revolution, consider yourself warned since I'll have to spoil a lot of stuff for anything I'm about to say to make sense. If you wish to spare your fragile sensibilities and learn everything on the fly, do not click this link. Now, I'll proceed on the basis that you've spoiled yourself and watched the two recap videos therein, so brace yourself. Many fans will be disappointed to learn that Mankind Divided negates the final choice offered at the end of Human Revolution. In a way, this means that Mankind Divided suffers from an issue that Invisible War also faced, which is what to do after your previous game concluded with a v-ending (i.e. a vending machine of possible outcomes). Deus Ex has always handled such scenarios somewhat better than say, Mass Effect 3, but it hasn't been without its problems, the biggest of which is how to continue the plot without making the whole thing making the player feel disenfranchised and depowered. Invisible War played the dangerous game of trying to weave a narrative where all three potential outcomes happened regardless of the player's choice, which depending on who you ask was an interesting design choice that people simply didn't appreciate or a horrible mistake that led to the subsequent plot being ridiculously obtuse and complicated. I wonder if Adam gets sand in his augs? Bad enough it turns up in your shorts. Imagine it leaking out of your arms...OH GOD, IT'S EVERYWHERE! GAH! I NEED OIL! HELP! ARGH! Mankind Divided takes a different route, and in doing so, falls into the same trap Invisible War tried to avoid. Essentially, the plot of Mankind Divided states that no matter what choice you made at the end of Human Revolution, Panchea explodes, hurling Adam into the ocean and leaving him in a coma that lasts for six months. In that space of time, the world does an about face and turns on augmentation technology. Biotech firms take a dive in stock-price, and Sarif Industries, Adam's former employer, goes bankrupt, with angry looters pillaging and burning the company headquarters. New laws are instituted around the globe in dozens of countries legalizing discrimination against those with augmentations. Naturally, in this new atmosphere of hate and fear, it's only a matter of time before something gives. A string of world-wide terrorist attacks leads to the formation of Task Force 29, the precursor to the original game's UNATCO. Jensen joins as the sole augmented agent, but with a hidden agenda. During his time out of the public eye (which you can read about in this full-length novel), he's been recruited by the Juggernaut Collective, a group of world-class hacktivists who seek to expose the real culprits behind the now pithily named 'Aug Incident'; the Illuminati. Jensen's job is to infiltrate TF29 and find a way to use them to expose his true enemy. One thing you should get used to in this game is being harassed by the police. They're all assholes. If they're not muttering slurs as you pass by, they're demanding to see your papers. It's chilling how much it adds to the air of oppression. The game opens with Jensen taking part on a mission to Dubai, now an abandoned wasteland (who saw that one coming?), where the game's first mission takes place. His job is to assist in the interception of an arms-deal between two known criminals. However, in the midst of the operation, a group of gold-masked augmented mercenaries crash the party and try to kill everyone involved. Before Jensen can find out more, he's recalled to TF29's Prague HQ in Eastern Europe. Arriving in the Czech city by train, Adam meets his contact in the Collective, Alex Vega, who replaces Faridah Malik (don't worry fanboys, she's alive) in of your plucky fly-girl companion. While the Dubai mission does a lot to kick things off with a bang, it's this brief cinematic intro to the post-Incident world that really sets the stage. As they walk through the crowded train station, Alex and Jensen are treated to the sight of faceless, militarized police in riot gear and exo-frames harassing and/or detaining augmented visitors with impunity. The people around them give them ugly looks and everywhere, slurs are on the tongue of everyone who doesn't have a machine attached to them. It's a chilling sight, made all the more powerful when it's cut short by a series of explosions that blasts the station into rubble. Prague is overrun with augmented homeless people disenfranchised by the new laws passed after the Incident. They live in constant fear of being swept up by the police and deported. Not once does the game skimp on the chilling nature and the reality of its narrative regarding fear and hate. The gameplay picks up the following day with Jensen awakening in his top-floor apartment and follows him as he tries to uncover the facts behind the bombing while continuing his work as a mole. The plot only gets more complex from there, but then it's Deus Ex, so that's to be expected and enjoyed. It always manages to keep enough character development in play so that it doesn't turn into a total mess of political maneuvering like Ghost in the Shell (an opinion that will doubtlessly offend countless weeaboos and cyberpunk fans alike) which is good, because without some meaningful and interesting personalities to play off, Jensen can feel like a block of wood, especially with his dry, gruff delivery of his lines. I'm not saying he's bad; obviously, a large chunk of his personality is meant to be filled in by the decisions the player makes through him, but still, it'd be nice to see those decisions have a cumulative effect on him. Regardless, Adam's journey through the jungle of conspiracies and shadows is a unique and quite interesting one, especially given how it takes us down a road that Deus Ex has never explored. In Human Revolution, you felt more like a free agent, investigating things as it suited you on the budget of David Sarif, who also makes a return appearance, albeit with a reduced role. In Mankind Divided, things feel more serious, and the harsh demeanor of your boss at TF29, David Miller, lends things an atmosphere of professionalism and urgency that I've never really gotten from the other titles in the series. It's also quite a shift in narrative since usually, half the plot consists of a descent through layers of conspiracy as the player character discovers just how many puppet-strings are being pulled all around them. Mankind Divided eschews that, with Jensen already well-aware of the threat posed by the Illuminati and committed to fighting them at every turn. It does feel very much like a middle installment...which is unfortunate, because it feels like an unfinished one. Later on you get to visit the Utulek Complex, a.k.a. Golem City; a massive failed housing project that has been converted into a ghetto for the augmented. Here, the oppressed live in squalor while being harassed by the militarized police who arrest people because they feel like it and shoot anyone who resists. The game's story is padded with dozens of hours of side-missions, probably more than were shipped in Human Revolution, but this doesn't save the main plot from feeling shockingly short. I wouldn't compare it to coitus interruptus, but frankly, you meet the chief villain about halfway through the game, yet he's never truly developed, and always portrayed as a puppet of greater forces. You're left feeling robbed of a satisfying showdown. The game does build to a climax, but it's weak compared to some we've confronted in the past installments. The ending feels more like your confrontation with Barrett in Human Revolution than a climactic struggle like the conclusion of the first game. Furthermore, there's a mission that was apparently trimmed out to be sold as DLC that had no place being so removed. I could go on and on, but ultimately, to make things short, the biggest flaw with Mankind Divided is that it feels unfinished, an accusation I lay at the feet of Square Enix, whose involvement in the franchise I have recently come to detest. Yes, it was probably their money that helped raise the series from the dead, but it is also they who have seen fit to inflict players with micro-transactions in the form of consumable packs, an annoying phone-app tie-in and the removal of content for the purposes of locking it behind DLC. The Missing Link expansion for Human Revolution was a nifty little tie-in, but System Rift and A Criminal Past both sound and feel like they should've been part of the main game from the beginning, especially from a narrative perspective. It's a frustrating, money-grubbing strategy that I can't help but liken to Capcom's brand of dickish behavior regarding locking up crucial parts of their releases behind pay-walls, and as a fan it pisses me off to no end. Furthermore, evidence suggests that the reason the game concludes with so many hanging threads is because it was butchered to make way for the creation of a planned trilogy that would start with Mankind Divided. While I'm happy to have more Deus Ex, as a consumer, I demand a finished, satisfying product, not half a story. It would also seem this 'strategy' has come back to bite them in the ass, since due to poor initial sales, Mankind Divided has condemned the franchise to potentially permanent hiatus, which simply triples my frustration. Regardless, what story there is to Mankind Divided is well-built and superbly crafted, while sadly cut short in so many ways. Prague serves as the central hub, much like Detroit and Hengsha in Human Revolution, with almost all the content taking place there. This might be a contributing factor as to why the game felt shorter, since classically, Deus Ex games have gone around the globe in telling their stories, yet we never seem to leave Europe. While it does add an element of focus to the narrative, with events in the game showing their effects heavily on characters and places, it still feels somewhat like we've been robbed of a bigger story. By and large, Breach is a disappointing obstacle course that tries and fails to feel relevant. It might lend some extra life to the game for some, but not to everyone. Honestly, I could've lived without it. The game's Breach mode doesn't do anything to help fill this gap either. While it was touted as a way to take Deus Ex multiplayer (something the franchise has always struggled with), it never managed to capture my interest, instead of feeling like a long string of story-contextualized time-trials, something I personally loathe. What makes it worse is that the section of the story that's supposed to give it context is locked up in the System Rift DLC, meaning it all makes very little sense and seems separated from the main plot, leading me to question its relevance. Deus Ex has always been very rooted in its story, which is why its multiplayer never really took off. For me, Breach feels like a wasted opportunity, where money was misspent to try and breathe longevity into the game beyond its story, which wouldn't have been necessary had the story actually been shipped as a complete experience. GameplayThankfully, one place where things are still wonderful and fun is the gameplay. It could be said that the game is a cover-based shooter, but that would be doing it a disservice. Since Human Revolution, the developers have added a vast number of new and exciting ways to approach your problems, should you even decide to do so, rather than sneaking around them, which is always a viable alternative. Freedom of choice is the name of the game and it's the heart and soul of the Deus Ex series. Much of the basic framework of Mankind Divided carries over from its predecessor, with using stealth and environmental exploration to find ways to sneak around foes, or else using cover to protect yourself while you do battle with them. Everything you do earns you experience which adds up to Praxis Kits, which in turn are spent to upgrade your augmentations. I was actually a little impressed with how they managed to contextually justify the inclusion of Adam's new powers, as well as the need to reset them to zero to prevent him being an overpowered bad-ass right from the start. Regardless you can take any number of approaches to situations where talking isn't an option. Don't want to fight? Just sneak past them. Want to raise a ruckus? Go right ahead! Want to be sneaky? Distract and isolate the baddies, then pick them off one by one. It's remarkably intuitive and gets even more fun as more options become available. This nifty little inventory wheel is quite helpful, and a nice addition that I quickly learned to appreciate even without a controller. There's also one for your augmentations that's equally efficient. You can also use this as a quick means to bind things to hotkeys. Speaking of options, there's little that wasn't taken from the previous game that Mankind Divided doesn't expand upon. All your weapons can now be customized on the fly, with a press of a button allowing you to leap into a first-person weapon-feature menu similar to Crysis, where you can change fire-modes and add or remove attachments like silencers and scopes. As for ammunition, all weapons now feature options for armor-piercing rounds (for heavy and mechanical targets) and EMP rounds (for disabling robots, drones and cameras). It adds a lot of depth to a combat system that felt a tad shallow last time around. I was very pleased, though I didn't take the improvements without a grain of salt. My biggest gripe was that despite developer promises to the contrary, it still feels like players who choose the stealth option are awarded more XP, potentially limiting players who prefer to enter a room guns-blazing. Regardless, it's a nice set of touches that helps spice things up when you want to meet new people and kill them. The augmentation tree returns of course, with players spending Praxis points as previously mentioned to use the cool new abilities. Most of these powers require energy from a meter, the mechanics of which have been vastly improved since Human Revolution. Augmentations now have an energy cost to activate as well as an amount they drain when in use, but once they're turned off, they'll automatically recharge to the point where they were first activated, minus the cost it took to turn them on. It's a little complicated at first, but what it ultimately means is that using augmentations no longer feels as constrained as it did in Human Revolution. The Remote Hacking augmentation allows you to control certain electronics from a distance. It's a hoot when you can turn on a TV on the far side of the room to distract bad guys. Of course, some of the new powers require unique ammo in addition to energy to function, such as the Nanoblade, which allows Jensen to fire his arm blades like a javelin an nail enemies to walls. An extra upgrade allows you to make the blades explode upon command, which leaves it just short of Dead Space 2's Javelin Gun as the best spike-launcher ever, if only because you can't electrocute the target in addition to blowing them up. There's also the Icarus Dash for those who prefer exploration and maneuverability. If your augmented legs can't do the job, you can use the Icarus Landing System that saves Adam from long falls to launch yourself to new heights in a flash of lightning that would make Barry Allen envious. Or if needs must, you can use it to charge into enemies, who go flying like they've been hit by a freight train. Probably the most controversial change will be the hacking mini-game, which makes a return from Human Revolution with expanded features. This is another area where I have difficulties, mostly because while Electronic Multi-Tools have made a return from the original Deus Ex, offering an alternative who don't want to hack things, you don't get any experience for using them, whereas you do get it for hacking things. It feels like a thinly-veiled incentive to make people play the mini-game they put so much work into developing, which is annoying because it makes me feel like my choices are being punished, which should never, ever be the case in a Deus Ex game. Remember the P.E.P.S. riot gun from Human Revolution? Now you have one in your arm. And it's friggin' awesome. It can be tuned for wide-burst blasts or precision shots. Allowing you to take on crowds or individual targets. If anything, I feel the developers should've removed all experience bonuses and instead simply kept them as incentives for exploring the area and accomplishing objectives. That way, nobody would lose out. However, this is not the case. Worse yet, it often feels like the developers went out of their way to get you to hack things by other means. In the previous installments, seven to eight times out of ten, you could find the code to a door or the password to a computer somewhere in the environment provided you looked hard enough. This does not appear to the be case anymore, since more often than not, I found myself resorting to multi-tools since the codes I sought were absolutely nowhere to be found, not even when I took to Google for assistance. Again, you also get a reduced reward for actually finding and using the code as opposed to hacking something. Alas, there's nothing to be done now except get on with it. The new version of the hacking system took me a while to get used to because you can't see the whole data-grid at once and need to use the WASD keys to shift the camera, something that was obviously a hold-over from the design who had to think of console players. There are new collectible little software consumables in addition to the old that do things like remove the fog from the grid so you can see all the nodes, or else increase the speed of your node-capturing routine temporarily. I can't say it's not fun in its own way; I just protest at it being shoveled onto our plates without our asking for it, something on which Jensen has a lot to say. Sound & DesignThere's little left to say in regards to the sound and graphics for Mankind Divided except that they are jaw-droppingly gorgeous at maximum settings, though I don't recommend using Ultra unless you can also run Crysis, because WOW does it generate a lot of heat. All the screenshots so far should be indicative of what to expect at high or max settings. For my part, I played on medium with some of the niftier features disabled to spare my machine the suffering. Given that Mankind Divided runs on its own graphics engine, one which took almost the entire development life of the game to complete, I can almost forgive some of the bugs...almost. With that in mind, I feel compelled to mention that the interface has some pretty serious and repeatable glitches. Now I hope these will be resolved in the near future, but it's frustrating trying to open the 'Objectives' menu for a quick check, then pop over into the pause menu, then go back only to find the damn thing keeps re-opening 'Objectives' every time you try to close it. There's also some odd movement issues I ran into, such as my sprint feeling and looking like I was doing something from the Ministry of Silly Walks, with only one of Adam's hands flying up on the left where both should've been pumping as I ran, while the screen rocked forwards and backwards. Needless to say, I was irritated by these and other such bugs, and I only hope they get stomped out in future updates. No, this image has not been edited in any manner. Yes, this is exactly how good the game can look at 'Ultra' settings. Just be sure you have the graphics card to support it...or a fire extinguisher. As usual, the level design is stellar, which is good because as a Deus Ex fan I know we will settle for nothing less. The world as a whole feels cohesive and lived-in. I was still finding hidden locations twelve hours into the game, and I'd barely scratched the surface of the main hub in Prague. Granted, the character models seem to suffer some of the same problems with limited animation loops that they did in Human Revolution, but mocap data takes up a lot of space, and it's not too noticeable if you aren't looking for it. One particular design choice I was very pleased with was the reduction of how much yellow there was in the visual design. I get that the whole piss-filter thing was to help enhance the 'Golden Age of Augmentation' theme that Human Revolution was gunning for, but after hours and hours of endless yellow, it really began to grate on my nerves. Mankind Divided adopts a more black-and-white schema for everything, with some yellow left over, but not so much that it makes you want to climb the walls. Advertising gets really strange in a cyber-punk world. This is just one of the stranger 'billboards' you'll run across while exploring Prague. There's also one for anti-depressants that shows a guy leaping off a building. There's little else to say beyond the fact that the environment artists really outdid themselves here. The moment I stepped into Prague's Red Light District, I immediately felt like I'd walked into a vision of Blade Runner, minus the VHS tapes and 80's technology. The world feels so REAL it almost hurts. I just wish I could experience it at maximum settings. I can only dream of how it would feel in a proper VR setup. The art and modeling teams deserve a huge round of applause for their work. Final VerdictI've had a lot to say regarding Mankind Divided, mostly because the Deus Ex franchise is such a huge and wonderful one. It's worthy of respect in so many ways, and it deserves to have its legacy treated with care. For the most part, Eidos Montreal has done just that, albeit at the behest of Square Enix, who fell just short of destroying this game EA-style, jeopardizing the future of the series with their toxic attempts to erect pay-walls where none should exist. Mankind Divided is worth your money, and I strongly, STRONGLY recommend it, if only so that by increasing its sales, we can get it out of hiatus and maybe get a Director's Cut like Human Revolution where the DLC is actually integrated into the main game. If you like stealth, a strong story about human nature and are just generally a cyberpunk fan, look no further. This is your game. Minimum System Requirements
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I'm a blogger. I review games, mods, or whatever else I feel like, and voice my thoughts for your entertainment (and my portfolio). Reviews
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