What New Augmentations We'd Like to See in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has been announced, and sees Adam Jensen, a man brimming with mechanical augmentations, return as the playable character. Two years have passed since the previous game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, so in that time it's safe to assume some brand new augmentation technology has been developed. Eidos Montreal has teased a few new augmentations in its cinematic trailer - watch out for the stun darts and the titan armour - but we have our own ideas about what we'd like to see.

The interesting thing about Mankind Divided is that it's still set far before the first game's nanoaugmentation technology comes around, so we're still limited to bulky, obvious mechanical augmentations. This means we tried to keep our ideas within the realm of technological possibility, but also think about how they would create fun new ways to approach the stealth, combat, hacking, and social elements of Deus Ex.

Super Jump - Daniel Hindes

This is a basic, but joyful addition: I'd like to be able to jump really high, with some springy augmented legs. Human Revolution ensured Jensen could fall from heights safely with the Icarus Landing System, but how about allowing him to scale heights quickly and safely, too? If the game's current-gen exclusivity means we might see more open levels, this augmentation would make for a great exploration tool as well as open up new tactical avenues in combat.

Spy Drone

My favourite augmentation in the original Deus Ex was the Spy Drone. It didn't make much fictional sense: a flying robot the size of a fist just popped out of JC Denton's head. But it was extremely useful flying it around and scouting out areas with its picture-in-picture mode. I would love to see a similar augmentation in Mankind Divided. Maybe Jensen detaches part of his arm, which sprouts wheels and allows him to buzz around and scout out enemies behind cover?

Blink

Mankind Divided's cinematic trailer showed Jensen warping into a group of enemies and knocking them down, akin to the Biotic Charge power from Mass Effect 3. I'm not sure exactly how it works - maybe you can only warp to enemies - but I'd like to see a similar teleportation power for moving around the world, similar to Dishonored's Blink ability which allowed you to cross short distances almost instantaneously.

Deployable Turret

Jensen spends a lot of time cowering behind cover in Human Revolution, so I'd like to see some augmentations that give him more options when under fire. One idea is a deployable sentry turret. Perhaps this detaches from Jensen's back and assembles itself where you indicate on the ground, and automatically targets nearby enemies. This would give them something else to shoot at, allowing you to reposition or flank them safely.

Power Kick

There is little else I find more satisfying in a first-person game than kicking things and watching them go flying. For me, Dying Light was all about kicking zombies off ledges, and Crysis 3 made kicking cars a viable combat strategy. Jensen's augmented legs could easily be upgraded to deliver a powerful roundhouse that could send enemies flying into crates, or crates flying into enemies.

Aug Disruptor

If Jensen will be going toe to toe with more augmented enemies in Mankind Divided, an augmentation that messes with an enemy's own augmentations would be very useful. It could have a number of functions, such as sending enemies beserk for a brief period of time (as seen at the end of Human Revolution), causing them to attack their allies. Or, perhaps you could remotely shut down someone's augmentations for a brief period, causing them to freeze in place and wonder why they suddenly can't move - lining them up for a quick takedown.

Distractor

I felt like Human Revolution could have done with a wider range of stealth abilities beyond Jensen's cloaking device, so I'd like to see an augmentation that distracts enemies temporarily. Perhaps you could target an area on the ground, and generated a directed, localised noise disturbance in that area. Or, you could target a specific enemy and disrupt their augmentations, causing them to see static for a short period in a similar manner to how the Syndicate reboot allowed you to hack enemies.

Ghosting - Kevin VanOrd

In Human Revolution, Jensen could punch through walls with identifiable weak points, but otherwise, concrete and drywall were insurmountable obstacles. In Mankind Divided, I would love to see Jensen able to briefly enter a quantum form that allows him to shift through walls or even drop through the floor. These surfaces would be highlighted when you pressed a particular button, and as long as you have enough energy, you could slip into a parallel hallway, or down into a room below. Of course, this could put Jensen in even more danger if you aren't careful, but it would open up a new means of navigation that opens up new tactical possibilities. Sure, this sounds more like magic than technology, but I'm willing to overlook the complete lack of sense. You know. For science.

Blending - Aaron Sampson

Hey, sometimes I would hit the punch button at the height of a dialogue tree and knock an important character out. Or sometimes I just decided to punch out everyone in an entire bar and then laugh when a main character threatened me. For some reason, I couldn't then escort him to the bathroom where all the patrons and security were taking a dog pile power nap, but I digress. Jensen generally seemed bad at blending in over the course of Human Revolution. Convincing people, through another dialogue implant and some outfit changes, that you really are part of the thug life gang, police, or upper crust of society would be really amazing.