Live-action trailers for video games aren’t new. But this is one of the best I’ve seen. Developer Eidos Montreal created a four-minute short film depicting the politically violent world of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
Called “The Mechanical Apartheid,” the trailer shows the current world state of 2077-79. Deus Ex is a near future setting with cybernetically augmented humans as a focus for ethical and political issues.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is a direct sequel to 2011’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The sudden violent attacks by augmented people is a reference to the climax of that game, now called the “Aug Incident.” Protagonist Adam Jensen witnessed a shadowy organization pull off their plan to infect “augs.” This caused them to violently attack everyone – not unlike a massive zombie horde.
As we can see in the trailer, that event caused worldwide consequences. Humanity has regressed to a new state of fear and segregation as “augs” are rounded up and put in camps. The parallels to humanity’s past are obvious. Deus Ex reiterates the same theme in each game – the danger of highly advanced technology – and wraps it up in a one-man cyber stealth-warrior with nifty retractable sunglasses.
The trailer effectively sets the mood and themes of the universe through news-reels and montages. I also enjoyed the couple drifting apart and later literally pulled apart by the surrounding events. While no in-game footage is seen, expect a healthy mix of shooting, stabbing, stealth, dialogue, and choice-driven gameplay.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is scheduled to be released August 23, 2016 for Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PC.
