There are vents galore, naturally, but you can also do a favour for a fellow inmate to get access to a security card. One of your first objectives is reaching cell block B (Jensen’s stuck in A), and there are a number of ways to do this, making use of all of the game’s systems. And is, arguably, more interesting because of how tight security is. The prison is, like the main game’s Palisade Bank, an intricate puzzle-box waiting to be cracked. The story and characters are the weakest link in A Criminal Past-it’s the level design that makes it worth playing.

A lot of the dialogue is clunky and awkward, and about as grittily authentic as Jailhouse Rock, but overall it doesn’t really matter. “He’s been hookin’ and crookin’ since he was dancing in his daddy’s balls.” says a topless man called Flossy, who’s wearing a pork pie hat for some reason. But also because Eidos Montreal’s attempts at tough-guy prison talk is laughably bad. Partly because you’re a metal-armed superman. The prison doesn’t feel as intimidating as it should. Although at one point I did fall off a balcony and die, and on the game over screen she said “Try to concentrate, what really happened?” as if Jensen had said, while telling his story, “And then I fell off a balcony and died.” Still, it’s cool to see them experimenting with storytelling. I backtracked to finish an optional objective and heard her ask Jensen why he decided to go back, which was a nice touch. In the present day, just after the events of Mankind Divided, he’s in psychiatrist Delara Auzenne’s office recalling what happened, and sometimes you’ll hear their conversation as you play. This was Jensen’s first undercover job with TF29, and it’s presented as a flashback. The first hour of the mission is like a cyberpunk Shawshank Redemption, with Jensen wandering the prison yard, talking to other inmates, and getting the lay of the land. But you’ll need to find him first, which is easier said than done when you’re surrounded by aug-hating guards with itchy trigger fingers and hardened criminals. Housefather Correctional Facility to give it its full, exhausting name-to locate a fellow undercover agent and squeeze him for intel about a terror attack. This forces you to adopt a new play style and not rely on your augs so much, at least until you find a way to reactivate them. But when Jensen first arrives, working undercover for Interpol’s Task Force 29 and posing as a criminal, he’s implanted with a chip that disables his augmentations. The perfect playground for an immersive sim. Built to house augmented criminals, there are cameras, drones, armed guards, laser grids, and automated turrets everywhere you look. The Penthouse is a maximum security prison balanced on top of a mesa somewhere in the Arizona desert.

One last favor deus ex