The literal running of the Blade.
System Rift takes characters and places from different parts of the Deus Ex universe and connects them in a neat, interesting way. It even hints at some potentially ambitious new directions for the series to explore. But while it’s substantially larger in size than the first episodic add-on, Desperate Measures, it doesn’t provide enough space for the new connections it makes to truly breathe and develope.
System Rift starts in a new hub area within Prague, and continues on into a super-high-security satellite installation of the Palisade Bank known as Blade 1. You could blaze through it all in just under two hours if you really wanted to, but like the rest of Mankind Divided, you’d be missing out.
There’s a lot of meat to scrape out of the nooks and crannies in and around the Blade. There were stores and buildings I never went into and alternate routes I spotted but couldn’t take with the augments I’d chosen, and that’s just in the hub.
Running the Blade
The Blade itself is huge - six floors worth of well-guarded offices topped off by another infiltration space that’s crammed with a preposterous number of automated security devices. A daunting number of robotic drones patrol the two-floor area, and its chambers are laced with arrays of moving laser-grids and turrets equipped with infra-red sensors that can detect Jensen even if he's using a stealth camouflage aug. It really tested me, successfully making me feel like I was infiltrating a malicious corporate entity of near-limitless reach and resources.
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It made me feel like I was infiltrating a malicious corporate entity of near-limitless reach and resources.
The story formally brings self-aggrandizing hacker and security analyst Frank Pritchard back into the fold from Human Revolution, and he and Jensen pick up their fun like/hate relationship without skipping a beat. Annoying as he can be, Pritchard brings out the human being in Jensen nicely, making him ever so slightly more relatable than his wooden demeanor usually allows. The hacker Shadowchild, who you might recognize if you’ve been playing Mankind Divided’s Breach mode, also makes an appearance, and she knows a thing or two about Pritchard herself. There’s even a section of Breach-style platforming and puzzle-solving at one point, which finally ties the ancillary mode into the main story in a meaningful way.
But it’s still a bit too small in scope to tell a fully contained story of its own. While there are a few sidequests you can pursue, and lots of the typical Deus Ex passive storytelling through overheard conversations and emails if you take your time, System Rift is only long enough to connect some dots and imply new, potentially exciting directions the story could take; it stops short of delivering any revelatory conclusions though.
The Verdict
System Rift does an admirable job of tying Breach mode into the main story while starting to fill in the gaps between Human Revolution and Mankind Divided, but it doesn't feel complete unto itself. You’ll get two to four hours more of excellent Deus Ex gameplay, and a glimpse of what the future may hold, but not much more, which is just a bit of a tease.
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