Deus Ex Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Pre-Release Thread

[toro]

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's lead writer wanted to kill off Adam Jensen

 

[Durandal]

What the fuck is up with that UI? I thought they've learned after Invisible War.
At least everything else looks 'improved'. From HR, that is.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's lead writer wanted to kill off Adam Jensen

The writers still need a reason for Jensen to not appear in the original games, which is probably going to lead to some kind of canon sacrifice ending.

 

[Zombra]

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided's lead writer wanted to kill off Adam Jensen

“[Mary DeMarle, executive narrative director] wanted to kill him,” affirms Jonathan Jacques-Belletête, the executive art director on both games. “I thought she was crazy! My point of view was that it’s so hard to create an iconic character in this industry - it kind of happens by magic, and we achieved that, so I was like, ‘Mary, why would you kill that?!’”

Gravelly voice
Trenchcoat
Sunglasses
Spiky hair
No other character traits
"Iconic"

 

[Infinitron]

What the fuck is up with that UI? I thought they've learned after Invisible War.
At least everything else looks 'improved'. From HR, that is.


The writers still need a reason for Jensen to not appear in the original games, which is probably going to lead to some kind of canon sacrifice ending.

According to the timeline, Jensen is 59 years old during the events of Deus Ex. He could just be retired, or be serving as an NSF general somewhere or something.

A sacrifice would be more dramatic of course.

Gravelly voice
Trenchcoat
Sunglasses
Spiky hair
No other character traits
"Iconic"

He is though. He even got a Codex emoticon!

 

[Zombra]

"Emoticonic" is about right.

 

[Infinitron]

Preview list:

Rock Paper Shotgun: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/10/08/deus-ex-mankind-divided-preview/
Eurogamer: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...nkind-divided-choice-consequence-and-cynicism
PC Gamer: http://www.pcgamer.com/deus-ex-mankind-divided-is-shaping-up-to-be-the-best-deus-ex-yet/
PCGamesN: http://www.pcgamesn.com/deus-ex-man...han-sneak-or-shoot-in-deus-ex-mankind-divided
IGN: http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/10/08/the-smart-evolution-of-deus-ex-mankind-divided
GameSpot: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/what-playing-the-same-level-for-three-straight-hou/1100-6431257/
Polygon: http://www.polygon.com/2015/10/8/9477257/deus-ex-mankind-divided-preview-demo-dubai-prague
The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/8/9453553/deus-ex-mankind-divided-hands-on-preview-interview
Gamereactor: http://www.gamereactor.eu/previews/354253/Deus+Ex+Mankind+Divided/
Shacknews: http://www.shacknews.com/article/91654/deus-ex-humanity-divided-impressions-augmented-to-the-teeth
GamesRadar: http://www.gamesradar.com/deus-ex-mankind-divided-is-technically-great-but-nothing-with-its-story/

 

[Gnidrologist]

Gravelly voice
Trenchcoat
Sunglasses
Spiky hair
No other character traits
"Iconic"

JC? Ah yes, haircut. That changes everything.

 

[Athelas]

JC? Ah yes, haircut. That changes everything.

1. Nobody called JC 'iconic'.
2. Deus Ex makes fun of JC's derpiness, even though his reason for wearing those sunglasses is actually explained (covering up the nano-agents' unusually colored pupils to blend in easier). Meanwhile, Human Revolution presents Jensen's badass sunglasses augments with a straight face and expect you to take it seriously, with not a hint of irony or genre-awareness.

 

[Gnidrologist]

That is very serious issue.

 

[Carrion]

Meanwhile, Human Revolution presents Jensen's badass sunglasses augments with a straight face and expect you to take it seriously, with not a hint of irony or genre-awareness.

I don't know, sunglasses coming out of his skull always seemed humorous on purpose to me. Jensen's overall more serious than JC, but there is some subtle irony about him at times.

In any case the lack of character was never a problem with Jensen, just like it wasn't with JC. If anything, I thought he had too much of a personality at times. His hair is stupid, as well. Just don't think there's much reason for comparison since we're talking about two completely different games, one being part of the Deus Ex series (which only includes one game and one shitty spinoff that doesn't exist) and another being part of the Human Revolution series that at most displays a very slight Deus Ex influence at times but is a completely different thing altogether.

 

[Zombra]

I don't know, sunglasses coming out of his skull always seemed humorous on purpose to me.

I wish I could think that too. I honestly believe he's supposed to be unironically cool.

In any case the lack of character was never a problem with Jensen, just like it wasn't with JC. If anything, I thought he had too much of a personality at times. His hair is stupid, as well. Just don't think there's much reason for comparison since we're talking about two completely different games

The point isn't to compare Jensen and Denton, but to make fun of the fact that EM are touting Jensen as some kind of epiphany. They could have put a leather blanket on a dog instead and the character would be just as compelling.

But comparing the two does make it even funnier because, as Gnid observed, Jensen isn't even a new character, it's just Denton again if he lost his comb and forgot to shave. "Magical"!

 

[Infinitron]

Jensen and JCD aren't that similar. Jensen is a bit emo, with an emo backstory, but also fairly world-wise. Denton is more of a cipher, a bit cocky and self-assured at times, but almost endearingly naive when he argues for the traditional American way(tm) in the face of the conspiracy that has long since made an irredeemable mockery of it.

You could say that Denton is like a younger Jensen, I guess.

 

[Gnidrologist]

I think it's grounded, because Jensen, despite being ex spec-op and a subject to certain experiments, all in all is still a human of ''our times'', while JC wa supposed to be the super soldier made entirely in the lab and tutored by commissars of gubermint. I didn't find his naivety part of the camp or ironic at all, when i played the game. He was what he was supposed to be. Also, complaining about glass augments - plz.

 

[Naveen]

You could say that Denton is like a younger Jensen, I guess.

HERESY!

But yeah, they are very different characters, not only in personality and their beliefs but also in how they are presented. Jensen follows the cinematic rule of cool: he is "cool" because he has the appearance of someone cool and does cool things, but usually in cutscenes. He poses like a movie actor in slow motion, jumps from impossible high places, doesn't look back at explosions (not literally, but you know what I mean) and has a gravelly voice. He has a few interesting dialogue lines, but his coolness comes most from his movie character vibes.

JC Denton, on the other hand, is awesome for what he says (mostly one-liners) and how he acts (or doesn't). He could be the protagonist of a novel and he would still be interesting. Example:

He enters a bathroom and finds a junky holding a bomb:

-GET BACK! I got a bomb.
-(totally unfazed) A bomb is a bad choice for close range combat.

Or:

Walton Simons: You take another step forward, and here I am again, like your own reflection repeated in a hall of mirrors.
Denton: That makes me one ugly son-of-a-bitch. How did my face get all marked-up with bioelectrics?

 

[WhiteGuts]

bravery isn't a function of firepower agentorange

 

[Alfons]

I think it's grounded, because Jensen, despite being ex spec-op and a subject to certain experiments, all in all is still a human of ''our times'', while JC wa supposed to be the super soldier made entirely in the lab and tutored by commissars of gubermint. I didn't find his naivety part of the camp or ironic at all, when i played the game. He was what he was supposed to be. Also, complaining about glass augments - plz.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Jensen bioengineered to accept augs without the need for an external drug?

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Yeah, but he wasn't raised by a corp.

 

[Neanderthal]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Jensen bioengineered to accept augs without the need for an external drug?

I thought he was born with this? He was the genetic step forward that his other half was using without his knowledge, as a solution to getting rid of the drug. Did I not understand this?

 

[Diablo169]

I thought he was born with this? He was the genetic step forward that his other half was using without his knowledge, as a solution to getting rid of the drug. Did I not understand this?

Nah he was experimented on as an infant by Versalife.

 

[Gnidrologist]

I don't recall the details, but yeah, i think he was special from the get go although experiments with him started before scientists realized it, which is why the phony parents and what not else that old senile lady told him. Think she repeated several times how special little Jensen was. Anyhow, Blackheart nails it. He wasn't raised by paramilitary entity to forge mindless drone out of. JC only gradually started to doubt the world around him and obtain heightened self awareness so to speak. Jensen is an emo with heightened sense of what he believes to be good from the get go.

 

[Alfons]

I thought he was born with this? He was the genetic step forward that his other half was using without his knowledge, as a solution to getting rid of the drug. Did I not understand this?

It's been a while since I played and I wasn't paying that much attention in the first place. All I remember is the dying PI asking for painkillers and calling Jensen an asshole and "robot" while sitting in a pool of his own blood.

 

[Infinitron]

Jensen is implied to have been genetically engineered in a lab. While he could have been some sort of "miracle baby" who was discovered and brought in for research, that doesn't seem to make much sense. There wasn't anything outwardly unique about him before he was augmented, so the only way that could have happened is if the Conspiracy was scanning the genomes of every single baby born as early as the 1990s (he was born in 1993) in search of some unique pattern. Seems like a stretch even for Deus Ex.

 

[Lacrymas]

It's not very well explained tbh, it's just hinted that he was experimented on. I dislike him anyway, too stereotypical Hollywood/video game protagonist. About the glasses - I thought the glasses were our interface and it gives him the ability to monitor his body, ammo and items? That's why the tech guy (Pritchard?) had to calibrate them at the beginning. Denton had this ability directly implanted into his eyes, I think.

 

[Athos]

If I remember correctly, Jensen was "born" at White Helix labs, a subsidiary of Versalife which was experimenting on some sort of genetic therapy using babies as test subjects. Adam was the only one to show positive results and was saved when the facility was burned. Apparently Adam was concieved artificially because in the game is implied that his biological parents were two scientists who died in the fire. From what I understood it's not clear whether Adam's tolerance for augs was intended or was a side effect of the therapy, because another "superpower" he has is a stronger immune system.
By the way, skull specs are super cool, haters gonna hate

 

[pippin]

Jensen was a test subject, and was needed close to the groups which had interests in the augmentation research process, and that's why his wife used his info and later gave it to Bob Page, according to the ending. His genetic information, plus all the data they had from augmented Jensen, was later used and refined by the people who worked on JC Denton's augs.