Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's 101 trailer is strangely on the nose

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“Engaging them with modified firearms…exploding nano blades…”

Game trailers often apply one of two methods: the cinematic/narrative option teases some story to hope that would-be players become invested in the events happening in this make-believe world, and gameplay trailers attempt to entice people with interesting scenarios and events that look entertaining to play. Eidos Montreal tries to do a hybrid thing (hoho! So thematically appropriate!) with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided‘s 101 trailer, and it’s kind of weirding me out.

Our mechanically-augmented protagonist Adam Jensen talks us through the stakes of the world (shadowy governments, shadowy rebels) in his gravely gravelly tones, and proceeds to explain all of the very Deus Ex-y things he can do in them. “But [the tower’s] makeshift construction provides me with plenty of options. Going in full force and guns blazing…may cause casualties.” Uh. “If ARC had no involvement in the bombing…it might justify going in like a ghost. Hacking their security systems…using the architecture to my advantage…delivering concussive blasts via the PEPS gun…and relying on the tesla’s electrified projectiles to avoid unnecessary deaths. A lack of casualties would be a show of respect to someone like Rucker.”

I mean, on one hand, we get to see all of our options, but on the other, it’s all a bit on the nose. It’s interesting that they’re still mostly showing off the area we saw last E3, but I suppose it’s the most polished slice at this point. There are short blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em glimpses of new places to go, but I imagine we’ll be seeing more of those later.

It’s been some time since I’ve playedDeus Ex: Human Revolution, but I’m waiting ’til Mankind Divided gets closer to release before jumping back in. Not too much longer then, since the game releasesAugust 23 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.