Game Name: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided DLC (A Criminal Past)
Release Date: February 23rd, 2017
Platforms: XBOX One, Playstation 4, Windows and Mac OS X
Introduction
After playing A System Rift DLC, I was tempted to stop there. I was kind of disappointed in the story. However, one chatter in one of my streams advised that A Criminal Past is a much superior DLC to A System Rift. Thanks evolutioneh ! Since I came this far in the game why not try the last DLC.
Story
This particular story starts before Mankind Divided and is the first mission for Adam Jenson at TF 29 (Task Force 29). You start off by being in the psychologist's office with Dr. Delara Auzenne.
The premise is that Adam will tell Dr. Auzenne what happened at the Aug prison in a session. She wants to know more about what happened and this is where the story starts.
You are put into a high security prison specifically for augs called the Penley T. Housefather Correctional Facility. You are injected with a chip that with block your augmentations. Adam's role is to get information from an agent that has been undercover in the prison for over 2 years.
That is the gist of it. Throughout the story you get to discover different things about the prison, while you achieve this end goal of getting the information.
Gameplay
This is where A System Rift failed but A Criminal Past excelled. A Criminal Past feels like a true Deus Ex game. It has all the same elements as in the real game. The story is well done and the voice acting is stellar as usual. You also feel like you have the freedom to roam and see what goodies lie in the prison.
This really felt like it was a mini version of the Main Mankind Divided main story. I felt engaged the whole time. This time around, at least at the beginning, you are robs of your augs completely. However, for whatever reason, in this instance, it felt justified and I understood why they did it as it was part of the story. There was not part in the story of this DLC that I ever felt like I was handcuffed due to my choices.
The new characters that you meet are cool. It was nice seeing some different people than the main game.
In the end the game felt like it fit in this universe and it was a step up from A System Rift. This one seems like they gave some TLC to the gameplay and developed a good enough story to merit its own DLC.
Sample Gameplay - A Criminal Past
Bottomline
I think that this is a worthy of the DLC name. Unlike A System Rift where I felt like the game was just removed from the main game to make it incomplete, this game was different. it gave a little more insight into the life of Adam Jenson and what other cases that he worked on.
Too bad that they stopped at this one. I would have liked at least one more DLC from this sequel. After a System Rift I did not really want to play more. However, I have a completely different outlook after playing this DLC.
Too bad that this franchise is not in the plans at the moment as they needed to make space for other AAA titles. I do hope that they revisit this game sooner rather than later.
Rating: 4.5 chokes out of 5
What did you think of the DLC? Did you play it? How did you like it?
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