Games that actually make you sit back and ponder about the results of your actions are a rare treat. Like Mass Effect 3. TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALI! The latest Deus Ex game however, seems to be interested in getting a handle on your feelings, and it has a plan to do so.
A plan that involves thrusting the player into a world where having kickass augmentations has created a segregated population with a heavy-handed police state as a side dish. And that has developer Eidos Montreal a tad bit worried, to the point where they’re testing the story on their QA department.
“We have playtesters coming in and kind of gauge their reactions,” producer Olivier Proulx said to GamesRadar about the more complex moral themes that are present in the game.
We look at how they approach different environments, how they explore it, but after they’re done with the specific map it’s not just ‘did you have fun with it?’ – that’s a component, but we ask what they felt, what they understood of the storytelling aspect of it, to make sure our message comes through.
It’s not about any in-game censoring then, but finding the best possible way to present more mature themes and ideas to players then, as Proulx called series lead Adam Jensen a “stranger in a strange land”, a protagonist who didn’t fit in with either side of the augmentation divide.
That outsider approach however, would allow Jensen to be influenced or to impart said influence on either side of the game. A fact which makes information a very important factor in Deus Ex Mankind Divided.
“As a player, you’re given the opportunity to act as you want – and it’s reflected in how people talk to you and how the story comes through,” Proulx said.
We put tonnes of details into the game, sometimes things players may not even see, but for us it’s important that we tell our story in different ways.
A bigger focus on humanity and the repercussions of your decisions having higher stakes? I totally asked for that. Deus Ex Mankind Divided is out next year. I’ll be making catastrophically horrible choices on purpose when it comes out.
Last Updated: August 12, 2015
Alien Emperor Trevor
August 12, 2015 at 08:37
Stranger in a Strange Land is a Heinlein novel. Guess there are parallels.
Dutch Matrix
August 12, 2015 at 08:37
When Tali took a nosedive off that cliff, I was secretly happy!
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 08:52
Call spoilers you nut. So much for me planning on playing ME3 soon.
Alien Emperor Trevor
August 12, 2015 at 09:08
Well you can choose not to kill her. You know, like a normal person.
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 09:17
So I’ll probably kill her then, I assume. 😉
Alien Emperor Trevor
August 12, 2015 at 09:34
Oh yes, I forgot. You’re one of those Chaos heretics.
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 08:51
Doing QA. Take note WB and EA.
HairyEwok
August 12, 2015 at 08:56
WB and EA do QA… They just don’t give a damn to listen.
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 08:56
Very true.
Pariah
August 12, 2015 at 08:53
But what if you chose green, and then realised you were in a blue mood?
Dutch Matrix
August 12, 2015 at 08:55
Either way, you die…
Pariah
August 12, 2015 at 08:57
Yeah but you get to choose HOW. And in what colour light. That’s important! All your choices led to that moment!
Dutch Matrix
August 12, 2015 at 08:58
With all the deaths in that game, the head writer for Mass Effect 3 must have been on Suicide Watch.
Pariah
August 12, 2015 at 09:03
What does that say about the writer behind Game of Thrones?
Dutch Matrix
August 12, 2015 at 09:03
Perverted old man?
HairyEwok
August 12, 2015 at 08:58
But what if you’re colour blind?
HairyEwok
August 12, 2015 at 08:57
*Waits for team red to jump in*
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 08:57
You don’t choose red. Red chooses you. 😉
Pariah
August 12, 2015 at 08:57
Like a rash, only worse.
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 08:58
I’d be a bit more worried about gangrene than a little rash.
Pariah
August 12, 2015 at 08:59
I don’t know, at least you can amputate to get rid of gangrene. With a rash all you can do is scratch. Also, nobody laughs at you if you have gangrene.
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 08:59
They just silently feel sorry for you. ;P
Pariah
August 12, 2015 at 09:02
I know! A rash causes physical AND emotional trauma. With Gangrene, you just lose a leg.
XD
Captain JJ Fantasticus
August 12, 2015 at 09:04
Haha. Touché
Dutch Matrix
August 12, 2015 at 09:08
Just be happy it is not Leprosy. Reminds me: What did the Leper say to the Prostitute? Keep the tip!
#DoYouWantABucketWithThatJoke
Pariah
August 12, 2015 at 09:16
Good effort. Keep it up, with practice, one day you too can be funny!
HairyEwok
August 12, 2015 at 08:57
This might be true, just ask the ladies out there.
Greylingad[CNFRMD]
August 12, 2015 at 09:46
I make catastrophic choices every day… “Pee in the bowl or out? Hmmm….”