The “Deus Ex: Mankind Divided” art book is an electrifying exploration of the visual and conceptual realms that accompanied the blockbuster gaming experience of Eidos Montreal. The review that follows will take you through the book’s content, its layout, and the creative process behind the game design that eventually won the game accolades. The game, the book, and art are all interconnected, and therefore the book offers a comprehensive and entertaining experience to the reader.
Introduction
“Deus Ex: Mankind Divided,” came out in 2016, and portrays a dystopian future in which humans and augmented (those with advanced biomechanical implants) are separated by a huge gulf. The video game has become famous for its engaging story, accessible world, and painstakingly designed visuals. The art book is like a door to this world, inviting readers to see the creative process and the enormous work that went into the realization of this artistic vision.
Structure and Presentation
The “Deus Ex: Mankind Divided” art book has been segmented into multiple parts, where each part unveils a new facet of the game’s artistry. The segments harbor character design, environment design, technology and augmentations, concept art, and backstage secrets. The book is extremely well set out, with excellent printing as well as very thorough captions that not only provide the context but also make commentaries on the pieces of art.
Cover and Physical Quality
The very first thing that one notices about the art book is its excellent physical quality. The cover is really eye-catching, and it has a glossy finish along with elaborate details that resemble the game’s cyberpunk vibe. The binding is strong and the paper used for pages is of high quality, thus making sure that the pictures are bright and the texts are sharp.
Character Design
Main Characters
The most interesting part of the art book is character design. This part goes through the main character of the game, Adam Jensen, and other important characters too. The book displays the very first concept sketches, accurate character renders, and the creators’ notes on the characters’ looks and personalities.
Adam Jensen: The main character, Jensen’s design is a huge part of the game’s story and visual recognition. The art book reveals that his look was a mixture of the demand to show his augmented side and still keep him human enough to be relatable. He has gone through different designs and one of them shows his augmentations hidden in his clothes and overall look.
Supporting Characters: The art book also features the designing of characters like Viktor Marchenko, Alex Vega, and Elias Chikane who support the main ones. For each character’s design, there are notes that elaborate on the decision making behind their looks, how their appearance corresponds with their past, and their role in the game’s universe.
Factions and Groups
The art book reveals the visual identity of the various factions and groups within the game, for instance, the Task Force 29, the Juggernaut Collective, and the Augmented Rights Coalition. The aesthetics of these groups are very meticulously detailed, thereby showcasing the thought process behind the designing of their uniforms, equipment, and overall visual theme.
Task Force 29: As the elite unit Jensen is a part of, Task Force 29’s design represents a compromise between cutting-edge technology and tactical efficiency. The art book provides a preview of the designers’ efforts to give a high-tech, professional appearance by combining sleek armor and sophisticated gear.
Juggernaut Collective: The design developed by the Juggernaut Collective takes a more severe and hidden look as its main objective. The art book gives a detailed explanation of how the group’s underground nature and hacker ethos played a significant role in their visual style, resulting in a mixture of both makeshift and high-tech elements.
Augmented Rights Coalition: The ARC design reinforces their identity as outcasts and revolutionaries. The book provides insights into the designers’ work and how they combined a mix of practical, utilitarian clothing with augmented enhancements to create a look that mirrors their determined struggle for equality and justice.
Environment Design
The environment design part of the art book is a visual treat, displaying the intricate and absorbing worlds that were developed for “Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.” This part is organized according to different locations in the game, each with its own aesthetic and atmosphere.
Prague
Prague, the prime location of the game, is shown in incredible detail. The art book takes us through the city’s design, showcasing its combination of historical architecture and futuristic elements. The designers were aiming for a city that was not only authentic and lived-in but one that also reflected the cyberpunk themes of the game.
City Streets: The book illustrates the active life of the streets of Prague with their mix of antiquity and neon-lit modernity. It tells about the way the designers worked with lighting, color, and texture to create a sense of place and history while also depicting the societal tensions that are present in the game.
Apartments and Interiors: The book contains detailed drawings of various apartments and interior spaces that give a good idea of the disparity between the lives of the rich and the oppressed. It explains that the atmosphere and mood of each space were conveyed through the use of various textures, materials, and lighting.
Golem City
Another key place in the game besides Golem City, a huge slum for augmented people. The art book discusses the artistic process of this heavy and suffocating environment and through the art shows the deepness of the design work that made it both believable and very frightening.
Structure and Layout: The book gives a general picture of the Golem City site and indicates the way the labyrinthine design mirrors the alienation and separation of its people. Very detailed sketches, for example, show the high buildings and the pathways that are very narrow, which are characteristic of this place.
Living Conditions: Pictures of the tiny and dirty living conditions in Golem City call attention to the poor state of the people living there. The book tells how the art designers incorporated visual storytelling to build up the despair and at the same time the strength of the people living there.
Additional Locations
The art book deals with the other locations in the game as well, like the Palisade Bank, the Utulek Complex, and several concealed facilities. The same dimension of detailed analysis is given to each of the sites, thus illustrating the different design elements employed to create the various and unforgettable environments.
Technology and Augmentations
The tech and augmentations part of the art book goes into detail about the sci-fi devices and body bio-mechanical improvements that are the heart of the game’s universe. This part is of special interest due to its meticulous analysis of how the designers anticipated and built these advanced components.
Enhancements
The augmentations are designed not only to enhance the player’s experience but also to reflect the main themes of transhumanism and divided societies. A variety of augmentations are shown in the art book, starting with the distinctive arm blades of Jensen and moving to more delicate augmentations.
Design Philosophy: The book describes the underlying design concept for the augmentations; it shows how futuristic aesthetics and realism were to be combined at the same time. It also explains how through the research of present-day medical and technological advancements, the designers were able to come up with the plausible future technologies.
Functional Details: The functionality and purpose of each augmentation are illustrated with drawings and annotations. The illustrations and annotations cover everything from how the augmentations will be assimilated into the human body to the potential benefits and drawbacks associated with them.
Gadgets and Gear
As far as augmentations are concerned, the art book goes beyond exploring the character’s various gadgets and equipment to features weapons, hacking, and other technologies that are highly advanced and crucial for the content of the gameplay.
Weapons: In the book, detailed sketches of the game’s weaponry are presented, which include not only traditional firearms but also cutting-edge energy weapons. It shows the designers’ ambition to contrive weapons that were both futuristic yet established in reality.
Hacking Tools: The design of hacking tools and devices is likewise treated as a subject to show how that hacking and devices were created to support the game’s stealth and strategy aspect and how these factors determined the tools’ visuals and functionality through the use of detailed illustrations and notes.
Concept Art and Behind-the-Scenes Insights
The concept art section of the book is a real goldmine of early sketches, paintings, and ideas that eventually contributed to the making of the final game. By this section, one gets an irresistible view into the creative step, presenting how the very first concepts were later transformed.
Early Concepts
The early concept art is revealing the first ideas about the characters, environments, and technology. These pieces of art are often quite divergent from the eventual designs, thereby affording one the opportunity to see the iterative process of game development from the inside.
Character Evolution: The initial sketches of characters such as Adam Jensen tell the story of how their designs underwent a transition from one stage to another. The book unveils the reasoning behind these transformations and gives due credit to the interplay and feedback that took place in the process of eliminating the ‘looks’ of each character.
Environment Development: The artist’s canvas was broad for Prague and Golem City, and the first paintings and sketches are now showing us the evolution of concepts through different stages and ideas. The publication elaborates on the gradual development of these concepts in terms of how they were molded and the game’s story and gameplay needs.
Artistic Techniques
The art book also goes deeper and deeper into various artistic techniques that designers used, such as from digital painting to 3D modeling. This part is especially important for the aspiring artists as it not only points out the tools but also the methods of creating the game’s breathtaking visuals in a very straightforward manner.
Digital Painting: A master’s guide to digital painting techniques, through the concept art, is the way the author really gets inside the head of the artist. He tells us about the three main factors of making artwork and they are very god lighting, color, and composition.
3D Modeling: The metamorphosis of 2D drawings into 3D representations is investigated, thereby demonstrating how the designer resorted to futuristic software for anticipating coming up with their ideas. The book lists not only elaborate but also colorful illustrations, with technical aspects on the making of environments and characters that are real and immersive.
Thematic Exploration
Besides the technical and artistic side, the art book studies the thematic aspects of “Deus Ex: Mankind Divided”. It identifies and analyzes the game’s visual design in terms of the impact of technology on society, the very definition of identity, and the continuous battle for freedom and equality among the disadvantaged.
Technology and Society
The art book takes a look at how the game’s design showcases the intricate connection between technology and the human race. To this end, it mentions the portrayal of futuristic augmentations along with their ramifications for individuals and groups.
Visual Storytelling: The book renders a clear picture of the visual devices that were at play in the communication of the game’s themes, with a case in point being the dichotomy of the elite’s tech world and the impoverished people’s filth and squalor. It reflects upon how the discriminating and conflicting factors within the game world were brought to the fore through the design choices made.
Identity and Augmentation
The issue of identity, especially in the case of augmentation, is one of the most important themes in “Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.” The art book depicts how the artists gave character traits and changes in characters to the extent of these ideas.
Character Representation: The book takes a deep dive into the way characters such as Adam Jensen show their inner conflicts and the whole society problems through their looks and augmentations. It also sheds a light on the meaning behind some of the design choices like the modern, high-tech aspect of Jensen’s augmentations versus the more unrefined and makeshift approaches of other characters.
Human versus Machine: The book works to illustrate the visual tension between human and machine, showing how the characters were able to combine their human characteristics and the powers they got from the machines. It points out the design limitations in terms of emphasizing this duality like the merging of mechanical elements with organic attributes.
Freedom and Oppression
The art book suggests that the environments and character designs in the game depict freedom and oppression. It reveals that the oppressive ambiance of places like Golem City is a stark contrast to the more open and luxurious settings of the elite.
Environmental Storytelling: The book reveals how different locations through their designs narrate a tale of control and resistance. For instance, the enclosed and disorderly design of Golem City evokes a feeling of being trapped while the elegant and high-tech facilities of the Palisade Bank speak to power and control.
Symbolic Imagery: The art book not only brings out the use of the symbolic imagery to fortify the themes but also the use of barbed wire, surveillance cameras, and graffiti in the environments to symbolize the battle against oppression.
Conclusion
The “Deus Ex: Mankind Divided” art book is undoubtedly a must-have for the game fans as it gives a very thorough and detailed insight of the stunning visual design’s creative process. With the book, one will get a wide range of the character and the environment design, the technology and augmentations, and the thematic aspects which are the reasons for the game’s world to be so attractive.
Final Thoughts
The art book not only emphasizes the skillful and imaginative work of the Eidos Montreal team but, on the other hand, it also acts a mentoring and motivating source for the new artists and game inventors. Besides, it reveals the practical ways of the used methods and the progress of making a very intricately detailed and engaging world.
The “Deus Ex: Mankind Divided” art book is thus a collector’s item for anyone, be it hardcore “Deus Ex” fans, artists on a hunt for some muse, or individuals merely curious about video games’ artistic side. It is nothing less than a masterpiece that shows the power of visual narrative and the extraordinary skills of the creators who made this gloomy future appear real.