5 Things Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Must Have

The explosive trailer for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the sequel to 2011's Human Revolution, premiered yesterday, revealing plenty of augmented action. The game will take place in the year 2029, shortly after the events of Human Revolution, when the Cybernetic Golden Age has ended. Cybernetically enhanced people are now treated as outcasts, and Jensen must somehow find a way to quell the violence.

But despite Human Revolution's critical acclaim, it had more than its share of faults. Here are five things Mankind Divided needs in order to live up to the promise the previous game started.

New Augments

Whether you decide to rely on stealth or jump in with all guns, Deus Ex is all about using cybernetic augmentations to backup your play style. X-ray vision and invisibility are standards, but it's time for Jensen to upgrade his arsenal in a big way, especially when it comes to combat.

Although Human Revolution has some great gameplay, combat didn't become "good" until about midway through the game, when you could afford some armor upgrades and a few others, like Aim Stabilizer. But apart from the devastating Typhoon weapon system, there was a shocking lack of offensive augmentations. Not even Jensen's ability to punch through walls could be used in combat.

If the trailer is any indication, it looks like Adam will be one cybernetic badass, with the ability run straight into combat and start breaking heads with an array of weapons that include shocking, an area blast, and slicing people up with swords built-in to his arms. The blades can even be thrown to impale enemies at range. Best of all, it looks like Jensen will be equipped with a bullet-proof shell to take on some of the heavier enemies.

Diverse Boss Encounters

One of the biggest problems players had with the initial release of Human Revolution was the boss fights, which all amounted to piling on firepower until he dropped. These encounters not only failed to make use of the game's greatest strengths, steal and augmentations, but it also highlighted its weakness (combat) in a big way. If you didn't prepare Jensen for heavy firefights, then you were in big trouble.

Although the trailer clearly shows that Jenson is ready to take on new bosses head-on, Mankind Divided should definitely have more options to deal with your foes. All options should be made available to you, ranging from turning security robots to your side to defeating an enemy using augmented conversation. In a future this violent, you should always be ready for a fight, but that doesn't mean that every encounter should turn into one.

Global Locations to Explore

Human Revolution took players around the globe, from a futuristic version of Detroit, to the packed streets of Hong Kong, and even the icy wastes of Antarctica. Given the theme of Mankind Divided, and how fear of cybernetically altered individuals has become a global issue, it makes sense that Jensen would have to travel the world in pursuit of terrorist threats. Possibly the most interesting part of globetrotting would be to see how different parts of the world react to the collapse of the Cybernetic Golden Age.

Freedom of Choice

Human Revolution took place during the peak of the Cybernetic Golden Age, where mechanical augmentations such as organ and limb replacements were the answer to leading better lives. Thanks to the events of the previous game, that time is gone, and now cyborgs are treated as outcasts and beaten down in the streets.

Seeing as how Jenson is probably more cybernetically augmented than most, and is so due to a procedure that saved his life, he's in a perfect position to see things from both sides of the story. On the one hand, people fear that the augmented might violently lose control again, and the rising incidents of terrorist attacks aren't helping matters. On the other, Jensen might be enabling a system that abuses people and treats them as second class citizens. People like him.

It's likely the Jensen will be forced to take sides in a war, and it will be up to players to make that decision.

Deep Conspiracies

It's not paranoia if someone is really after you, and Jensen knows better than most that there are some big players out to manipulate global events. This is Deus Ex, so there has to be more going on behind the rising tensions between ordinary people and the cybernetically augmented. We're always under the shadow of the Illuminati, and it's up to Jensen to figure out what their plans are and figure out a way to stop it before another major catastrophe happens.