Recent reviews by -Kaz

This game is amazing.

BUT

You need to buy premium bioware currency to get the DLC.
The site you buy the currency on is unsecured, looks like it's from 2011, and is not the site the game itself sends you to buy the DLC...because that site no longer exists.
Also the DLC is still full price 7 years after release.
So maybe skip buying that.

Also, ♥♥♥♥ EA for simply not giving a ♥♥♥♥ about making this a nightmare to buy.

Just replayed through the whole thing again nearly 10 years after release.

With a couple graphics mods this game still totally holds up 99% because of amazing writing, pacing and storytelling.
No native controller support on the PC versions of the Mass Effect games is still the dumbest thing ever but theres mods for that.

Had to run this is Windows XP SP2 compat mode or it wouldn't launch at all.
You need to enable that mode on 4 different .exes so beware that.

Also you can load your save file into Frog Fractions 2...so there's that.

>>>I got this on sale for $20 and while the end came abruptly and awkwardly, I think I got my moneys worth.
I am not recommending for everyone but this game fulfulls a niche that isn't really hit on much...<<<

Holy crap this game had so much potential. The set up was good. The background is good.
It looks sharp as hell. The previous game was good too! But this seems really rushed and incomplete in a lot of ways.

Stealth was the hardest thing in the world in this game until I realized how stupid the AI is. There is an ability that mutes your footsteps and it's pretty much useless since you can walk up behind guys and powerbomb them into a table without alerting his buddy 5 feet away. I chokeslammed a guy into a urinal when a guy was using the next one over and didn't raise suspicions at all. I was on the default difficulty, but since it says 'this is how Deus Ex is meant to be played' I guess this behavior is cannon.

The biggest upgrade in this installation over Human Revolution is the shooting. It's actually doable. It's definitely not perfect by any means but you can play the game totally as a shooter whereas in Human Revolution it was almost impossible to play that way. Anoother welcome change is the boss encounters. The boss fights in Human Revolution were notoriously bad, having been farmed out to another development house, and just didn't sit in the world like they should have. Mankind Divided has better fights and you can actually do pacification with tranq darts and stun guns. One boss I waited for them to round a corner and I just elbowed them in the face to knock them out - job done.

I only encountered that one and the final boss though. A majority of the time I talked my way out of situations. The new social upgrade is interesting and cool, but also kept me from paying attention to what was actually being revealed to me. I just stared at the alpha/beta/omega blips to be able to choose the correct response.

Throughout the story Jensen has the personality of a rock. It's common in RPGs to write the main character that way. The Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, had mutations that killed all his emotions - but he's likable, smiles, hits on women and says really funny things few and far between giving him a unique and malliable personality.

In this game Adam Jensen is equally emotionless to allow the player to dictate the characters opinion on things, but he doesn't follow through beyond the conversation at hand and maybe a follow up chat with HQ. Not a whole lot is at stake besides how some threads end. There's no big left turn caused directly by you that is of any real consequence. So even with your choices in there, Jensen doesn't seem like he gives a crap about anything that is happening to anyone. Which is kind of crazy since they are rounding up augmented people and putting them in prison cities...and he is an aug. It feels like the theme is there as a background element but it's too big of an idea for the main character to actually confront in the writing. His mission ultimately will effect this story, but playing as him he doesn't seem emotionally attatched to anything happening. But maybe that's just his cold robot heart? It seems weird.

Without giving any major spoilers I'll also add the end comes in hot and almost totally unexpectedly.
The best parts of the story aren't paid off at all, and it ends abruptly. They even show a big bad in the opening you never actually encounter in the game...but I could of missed that part since an Act 1 side mission bugged out on me and I couldn't finish it until it reset and autocompleted in Act 3...

For real though, when you show a meeting of the shadow government in the opening of your game, it's a given you will be taking down everyone in that meeting in some way... but you don't even meet most of them.

Ultimately, the main story is 7ish hours and the story is told poorly. All the side content is around 20-30 hours but isn't really necessary besides getting the XP to upgrade your augments. You can also pay real money to skip that and just buy XP...and that's gross but they game isn't designed to make levelling up harder because of it. Unlocking everything is actually super easy over the course of a normal playthrough.


At full price of $60 It's super hard to recommend this game. It's not RPG enough for RPG fans(The Witcher 3 Expansion Blood and Wine is cheaper and better for that), it's not shooter enough for shooter fans(DOOM and Titanfall 2 are also cheaper WAY better at that).

The thing it has going for it is the setting and themes which no other game are really doing right now, but this one does them only sort of. So if you like dystopian cyberpunk stuff and demand AAA graphics, then this is probably your best bet at the moment. But as a game for a normal person to just pick up randomly, it's skippable.

When it's working it's probably the best Hitman game to date.
It combines the sandbox nature of Blood Money with the challenges / leaderboards of Absolution.
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I say, 'When it's working.' because it not only uses Steam, but also requires you to be always online.
This game is entirely single player so not being able to play when you have no internet is a kick in the ♥♥♥♥.

Also, when I first purchased the game I had the recommended hardware to a T. The exact CPU and Videocard suggested.
It defaulted to Low graphics and crashed randomly and constantly. I never figued out why exactly it crashed so badly, even on all low settings at low res as a test.
The solution for me was to buy a new graphics card. Now it runs fine with no issues.
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The gameplay seems to be a iteration of Absolutions attempt at making the game easier for everyone with hitman vision and HUD elements that let you know about opportunities and dangers. But the level design is an iteration of the Blood Money philosophy of crating a clockwork level with AI routines and let the player loose. There are authored specialty assassinations like past titles but also allows for and even encourages experimentation.

There is an experience bar for each level of the game, which unlocks more loadout options and starting locations (along with disguises) within a level. You gain level XP but completing a long list of specialty kills like 'Dress as X Character to kill Y Target with Z' but also with feats such as making it look like an accident or completing a level without alerting anyone.
It encourages replayability and I found myself wanting to jump right back into the same mission again to discover all the secrets.

On top of that you can play, create and share custom contracts within the levels much like Absolution.
You begin the level and kill any NPC with as many stipulations as you want to add on to it and then publish it to the contracts available for other players. This creates a leaderboard for that contract.

On top of that there are elusive targets, which are unique targets that you only have one try to kill, if you fail you fail forever, if you succeed you gain a level XP and bragging rights. There have been a lot this season and Io have confirmed they will continue into Season 2, even for the Season 1 maps.

On top of that there are escalations. Sort of like the player contracts but created by Io. Its the same contract you complete 5 times, each time they add a new twist to it. These are interesting but I found a lot of them beatable using the same tactic every time, except for some where the last time they do something totally off the wall.

The levels are pretty sizable. Some are so large that even after playing through it multiple times I was still finding new areas, and disguises. The very intricate kills are usually hinted at via the challenges or opportunities system. Opportunities give you checkpoints and a vague idea of how to get a high level disguise or how to set up one of the flashier kills, but not all of them so again, potential for exploration and replayability are very high. And it has to be because of the business model.

You can buy the intro pack which includes 2 training levels and the first main level. From there you can purchase each level seperately if you want. But honestly I think they're all worth playing. This is a great introduction to a classic franchise whose older titles are hard to go back to.

Unless your internet sucks. Then dont bother because you have to be online.

Straight forward and simplistic first person shooter where you try to survive as long as possible.
Global and Friends leaderboards with the ability to watch replays straight from the leaderboards.

The artstyle reminds me of a cross between DOOM and QUAKE. Has the pixely texture qualities of DOOM but the somewhat simple model geometry of QUAKE (its actually more complex but feels classic).

It's super tough and made me hate it.
But it dumps you back in for another run so fast it's hard to stop.

Value really depends on what you can get out of what is really a completely repetitive game where you are just trying to live as long as you can. At this time the longest run is around 8 minutes. Average runs are around 1 minute.

But again, it's super tough and made me hate it.
But I can't stop...

An update to the original 2011 game adding a new playable character and 2 new levels.
This is also the version to make its console premiere on XBLA.

Clearly Mega Man inspired platform action but with linear level progression. Well designed levels with really cool boss encounters. They do rely on locking you in a room and continually sprinkling in enemies a lot...but it isn't too bad.

Gameplay Video

A unique mix of the random nature of a card game along with a full third person action combat system for enemy enounters.

Gameplay Video

Link to a video about the gameplay and features.

An asymmetric couch foe-op game that is up to 4 players.
You are either the hero, trying to kill the final monster;
or you are a monster trying to kill the adventurer.

The game is still early in terms of there's only one end boss available that I've seen so far.
Also there is no online multiplayer; and theres no official word that there will be any.
So beware that.

All in all it's pretty great.

A simple but very fun puzzle game with a really cool artstyle!

Link to my Video Review

Totally frustrating game design that puts you in situations that leave you in a clueless purgatory; or outright kills you again and again with no feedback as to what you need to do to progress.

There are also quick time events that you don't actually have to do, they play themselves.

It's ambitious in what it seems like it's trying to accomplish, but it's execution is extremely lacking.