Live Action Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Trailer Lays Out Mechanical Apartheid

[Lizzy Finnegan]

Live Action Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Trailer Lays Out Mechanical Apartheid


A little bit of feels.

Eidos Montreal has released a new live action trailer for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, which covers the events between Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the newest upcoming installment.

"In 2027, mechanically-augmented people all over the world suffered from extreme psychotic delusions, lost control of themselves, and started attacking people. Millions died. Hundreds of thousands more were injured and maimed," reads the video's description. "In the wake of this global catastrophe, society has become divided by hatred, prejudice, and fear, with many countries now enacting harsh laws. The most notable of these laws is the highly controversial "Human Restoration Act", aimed at isolating "Augs" and keeping them away from "Naturals"."

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided releases on August 23rd, 2016 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

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[meirol]

The acting in this one is pretty "eeeeehhhh". I'd would rather have it no dialogue. Atleast they didn't give too many lines to a specific actor, I wouldn't expect them to deliver them well.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Is it strange that I wasn't suprised how it had ended up like that (I haven't played that franchise) given to our history?

In saying so I don't get why the augment people simply removed the artifical limbs or go back to being disable as in missing a limb (yes I can get it probably wasn't a easy thing to do).

 

[jimslade]

The new Deus Ex seems to become the worst of the series. Yeah, I get it, the weak plot of the horrendous last one (yes, I think it was bad as hell storywise and in terms of gameplay) led to a future in which "poor" Augs are hunted by kind-of-racist Non-Augs. Most probably though, the real future will look the other way around: rich people will be able to buy augmentations becoming more attractive and efficient than rather poor Non-Augs. And because now they are more efficient they will become even richer.

Does this game try to be allegoric or prophetic SciFi? No one knows. But who cares, that other trailer told us the best way to deal with violence against minorities is to use violence yourself. Hurray! For me, this game already is a piece of s**t. Of course, everyone will hype it and it will be successful as hell. So in the end, Square Enix will have produced the perfect pro augmentation propaganda piece that uses cool killing moves, lots of nice little gadgets and very, very alarming morals. Congrats to us all.

 

[Irridium]

Why don't they just take the augments from the people? I mean yeah I'm sure there's quite a few where they can't do that easily, but like for that lady why not just take off her arm? It could still work fine in the context of the video. People coming at you and just taking parts of your body. Dire stuff. And probably a lot easier than rounding up every person with a mechanical arm/leg/eye/whatever and throwing them into a sectioned off area.

 

[DEAD34345]

Why don't they just take the augments from the people? I mean yeah I'm sure there's quite a few where they can't do that easily, but like for that lady why not just take off her arm? It could still work fine in the context of the video. People coming at you and just taking parts of your body. Dire stuff. And probably a lot easier than rounding up every person with a mechanical arm/leg/eye/whatever and throwing them into a sectioned off area.

Because then there'd be no excuse for you to go around shooting people in the head stabbing people with your elbow blades.

Christ. The last game wasn't exactly intelligent, but it was a masterpiece compared to whatever the hell I just watched. I mean really? Really, Square Enix? There are so many interesting directions and possibilities for conflict with human augmentation, and you do this?

Ugh.

 

[Recusant]

Above and beyond concerns that this simplifying a complex series of interwoven problems (which Human Revolution seemed to be pushing towards) into a simple us-versus-them issue is going to negatively impact the world-building, it makes absolutely no sense in the context of the larger series: we've got a social powderkeg so tense they're literally calling it "Apartheid" (and I'd've laid good money that Squeenix wouldn't be brave enough to court that kind of controversy) in 2027, and yet we're supposed to arrive at Deus Ex (the unsubtitled) less than 25 years later? That's about how long ago actual Apartheid ended. I think we may need to send Eidos Montreal to South Africa for a while.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Well, I'm excited for this game, and I really liked the trailer.

I think it's cool.

I'm pretty stoked for August when it comes out since from what I've seen thus far it looks like a blast.

 

[Metalrocks]

well, even if the trailer is rather questionable, i guess the game it self would still deliver solid gameplay with different approach to reach your destination. i always like the option to kill or not to kill anyone and the outcome is slightly different because of that.

 

[Somebloke]

I'm just wondering whether these people are taken from some side objective in the game.
(recalling how the manner in which the poor protagonist in the somethinginthesea web puzzle, that led up to Bioshock2, appeared in the latter)

 

[owbu]

I'm quite worried this game is going to suck.
Do you remember Bioshock and how good it was?
Now, do you remember how Bioshock 2 was a dull and soulless copy&paste of everything that Bioshock invented?

Yes, in this series, its called invisible war!

 

[Hawk of Battle]

I'm so glad I only ever played the first Deus Ex. None of these sequels/prequels can live up to the original story.

 

[mtarzaim02]

I'm so glad I only ever played the first Deus Ex. None of these sequels/prequels can live up to the original story.

Which was?..
Oh yeah. A secret society is controlling the world and you have to choose sides. NWO illuminatis BS that fuels at minimum 50% of today anti-government morons. It was so edgy in the 90s. Not so much today.

If I remember correctly, in HR, it is clearly said Augments need heavy medical care because of organic rejection. With Jensen being the new cyber-adam, they might have found a way for making the augmentations tolerable for the organic body. Yet, when augmented, you cannot go back, since your brain have to be partly augmented for the cyberstuff to work.

It is also presented in HR how labor people are "forcibly" augmented to do their job. With a big loan on their ass, just like education loans are toward students today.

Now, as HR's last level shown, you had a world-wide breakout of crazy augmenteds killing everyone, because of the big vilains. But since it's all about politics, world governments kept this secret, and blamed augmenteds for "doing it by their own free will". Only Jensen, a few corporate higher-ups and the AI journalist know the truth.

Fast-forwarding to Mankind Divided, and you indeed have an apartheid situation, where augs are seen as murderous junkies, not for real scientifc reason but to be a scapegoat for the masses. Augs who were forced before to augment themselves to keep their job, are now shuned by the very society they hacked themselves to build.

So, tell me: which game has the best story?

 

[Hawki]

Above and beyond concerns that this simplifying a complex series of interwoven problems (which Human Revolution seemed to be pushing towards) into a simple us-versus-them issue is going to negatively impact the world-building, it makes absolutely no sense in the context of the larger series: we've got a social powderkeg so tense they're literally calling it "Apartheid" (and I'd've laid good money that Squeenix wouldn't be brave enough to court that kind of controversy) in 2027, and yet we're supposed to arrive at Deus Ex (the unsubtitled) less than 25 years later? That's about how long ago actual Apartheid ended. I think we may need to send Eidos Montreal to South Africa for a while.

I don't think that's all that fair. Deus Ex has a set timeline (i.e. the original game takes place in 2052), so it has to build up its own mythology around said timeline. Two years ago we were at the point where Guns of the Patriots stated that a war economy would exist. Three years from now we'll be in the same timeframe as Blade Runner, with hover cars and Replicants galore. By 2020, according to Perfect Dark, hypercorporations will dominate the world economy and we'll have flying cars as well, not to mention first contact with aliens three years after that. And so on and so forth.

Never played Deus Ex, but on principle, I'd rather that a series stick to a timeline, albeit outdated by the real-world, than try and shift dates around to meet the real world. Because the real world is always going to be a tough beast to tame to get your future sci-fi right.

On the subject of Deus Ex though, I will say that was a decent trailer.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

I was fully on board with the trailer until the voice acting of the guy talking about paying in blood threw me off. That was so very bad compared to the rest of their effort. Jeez, August, i forgot about the delay. Do i have to really remain alive till then? *Siiiigh!* Guess it's time to stop procrastinating.

 

[Sonicron]

Some mediocre acting by people who probably have little acting experience, but a solid and exciting trailer nonetheless especially in terms of atmosphere. Tense as fuck, and actually really clever to emphasize the juxtaposition between big political issues and their immediate effects on a small (yet technologically divided) family unit. The whole thing lasted less than 4 minutes yet made me empathize immensely with the protagonists. Good job, Squenix!

I'm cautiously optimistic about the new game, seeing how I very much enjoyed its predecessor, but I'll say these trailers are certainly doing their best to keep me excited.

 

[Recusant]

Above and beyond concerns that this simplifying a complex series of interwoven problems (which Human Revolution seemed to be pushing towards) into a simple us-versus-them issue is going to negatively impact the world-building, it makes absolutely no sense in the context of the larger series: we've got a social powderkeg so tense they're literally calling it "Apartheid" (and I'd've laid good money that Squeenix wouldn't be brave enough to court that kind of controversy) in 2027, and yet we're supposed to arrive at Deus Ex (the unsubtitled) less than 25 years later? That's about how long ago actual Apartheid ended. I think we may need to send Eidos Montreal to South Africa for a while.

I don't think that's all that fair. Deus Ex has a set timeline (i.e. the original game takes place in 2052), so it has to build up its own mythology around said timeline. Two years ago we were at the point where Guns of the Patriots stated that a war economy would exist. Three years from now we'll be in the same timeframe as Blade Runner, with hover cars and Replicants galore. By 2020, according to Perfect Dark, hypercorporations will dominate the world economy and we'll have flying cars as well, not to mention first contact with aliens three years after that. And so on and so forth.

Never played Deus Ex, but on principle, I'd rather that a series stick to a timeline, albeit outdated by the real-world, than try and shift dates around to meet the real world. Because the real world is always going to be a tough beast to tame to get your future sci-fi right.

On the subject of Deus Ex though, I will say that was a decent trailer.

But that's my point- I'm not talking about the real-world timing of the events in the game; I'm talking about the in-game timing. Regardless of what technology and laws do, it takes time for social attitudes to change. That's why we didn't have the Civil Rights movement until all the slaveholders, all their children, and most of their grandchildren had all died off. That's why GTE, with one of the worst customer service reputations in the country, realizing that a total revision of their practices would still take a generation to repair their reputation, opted instead to change their name to Verizon. That's why even after the revelation that companies were making "light" foodstuffs that were no less fat-and-calorie heavy, but lighter in color, or texture, or even weight- hell, even after laws were made that said "you can't do that" and companies started making "lite" products to avoid those restrictions- people still flock to them as a savior of diets.

With that in mind, it's ludicrous to assume that people are going to change their ideas about mechaugs from resistance of their very nature to acceptance and awe in only 25 years.

 

[jimslade]

So, tell me: which game has the best story?

Well, Deus Ex 1 has. HR was predictable as hell with a boring to outright stupid protagonist and lots of plot cliches.

First, you don't really see his wife die. In every movie and every game this means, she's still alive. But okay, Jensen doesn't know he's in a game. But early on in the game you find documents mentioning the corpses couldn't be identified. That was the moment I thought to myself: "Maybe that douche should have been investigating the mysterious death of his wife the past years instead of drinking..." But the fact his wife is still alive is treated as the big twist after two thirds of the game. Come on, that's lame as hell!

Furthermore, the first time you see that guy having a laboratory at the south pole you instantly know he's the bad guy. Because he's suspicious looking, tells creepy shit and has a freaking laboratory at the freaking south pole!! Even Jensen could figure that out. However, this is also treated as a big reveal and twist. Again, Jensen and everyone involved in the plot are stupid as hell.

Then, this exact guy tries to talk everyone in to update their chips just to turn them into zombies. I thought: "No thanks, you're most probably the bad guy behind all this and that update will most probably f**k up my head." Surprise: It did. Oh, and also: Zombies. Come on, that's pretty lame, too. I have to fight zombies in the final act of a Deus Ex game. Only to come into a room with three buttons where I literally (!) can choose the ending.

The whole storytelling of HR was written like a bad B-movie. If only Adam Jensen would not be the over-cliched "I have to drink and mourn because my wife presumably died - although her corpse never was identified" prick, there maybe would have been a chance to relate to him. But he was as stupid as the script was.

Of course, Deus Ex 1 has aged. It is as cool and edgy as "The Matrix" is after all these years. But it still was something very special for its time and I think it still holds up pretty well.