Environments are able to respond dynamically to combat. Gunplay was a specific focus during development, as most players reported enjoying the game more when played stealthily. There are over twice as many available augmentations than present in Human Revolution, and weapons can be fully customized on-the-fly.ĪI opponents no longer splinter off by themselves, but move as a unit, and many are outfitted with augmentations.
Missions are selectable by talking to characters in the game's hubs, and their objectives can conflict with the interests of both parties Jensen serves. Notably, boss fights can be defeated without directly engaging in combat. Gameplay-wise, Mankind Divided places a strong emphasis on player choice, allowing a totally-binary approach to either "full-stealth" or "full-combat" at any point in the game. The story will setup the world present in Deus Ex, which takes place 23 years later. Jensen also moonlights as an informant for "The Juggernaut Collective", a covert operation whose interests conflict with Interpol.
The conflict reached a boiling point when two factions - Interpol, a private military company that Jensen belongs to that is bent on exterminating augmented humans, and an organized resistance - targeted one another. The canonical ending of the previous game is a mix of the different endings where whatever Jensen's plan was to save humanity was unsuccessful, and mankind has become engulfed in a civil war over the ethics of human augmentation, resulting in the persecution of augmented individuals. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is a direct continuation of Adam Jensen's journey, taking place two years after the world-altering ending of Deus Ex: Human Revolution.