Death Stranding isn’t an easy game to categorize, let alone describe. Its jumble of narrative themes and gameplay mechanics make it something unique within the AAA game space. Death Stranding is both different from and exactly what you would expect from its storied creator, Hideo Kojima. This automatically makes it a divisive title. Some (like myself) will love it, while others won’t. Whatever camp you fall into, it’s safe to say Death Stranding is a game many will talk about for years to come.
The game’s story takes place in the near future after the world suffered an apocalyptic event called the (you guessed it) Death Stranding. As protagonist Sam Porter Bridges (played by The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus), your job is to venture across a devastated America in an attempt to bring the country back together. You do this by delivering packages to various individuals and organizations. The trek isn’t easy thanks to the treacherous terrain, acidic “Timefall” rain, and deadly enemies (both human and paranormal) that you’ll encounter along the way.
As is typical of Hideo Kojima games, Death Stranding’s story has a high learning curve. In the beginning, the game throws many phrases and acronyms that aren’t explained until much later. Though convoluted and filled with numerous twists, the core theme of people needing to connect (or reconnect) with one another resonates; especially during a time where society feels more fractured than ever. Even if some of the crazier concepts go over your head, you’ll be able to understand Death’s Stranding’s main underlying theme.
Since Sam Bridges is effectively a delivery man, you’ll spend most of your time going around the world delivering packages to various settlements. These come in the form of distribution centers, waystations, and prepper settlements. Each has packages for you to deliver to the other settlements. At first, this isn’t easy since you’re going to locations on foot. As the game progresses, you’ll get items that facilitate travel. This includes robotic exoskeletal legs, bikes, trucks, and more. By opening up your map, you can plot the best, most efficient routes to your destinations. What’s cool is that the game never erases routes taken; letting you know which to take and which to avoid. Since travel is such an integral part of Death Stranding, the ability to map out routes is crucial.
Using a device akin to Star Trek’s replicator, you can construct bridges, generators, beacon towers, and delivery kiosks. Bridges are especially important for getting across deep rivers or massive chasms. At a certain point, you’ll be able to construct highways that span large sections of the map. As you can imagine, driving on a nice paved road is preferable to doing so on rock-filled terrain. You’ll need materials to build these constructs. Thankfully, there are plenty of metals, ceramics, special alloys, and chiralium crystals scattered across the world. One can spend a significant amount of time rebuilding roads and making constructs if they wish. Though you’re rebuilding to ease your journey, there’s another reason why it’s good to build up the world.
When initially entering a new location, you’ll find it devoid of most man-made structures. After connecting a location to the Chiral network, you’ll see player-made constructs pop up all over the place. Yes, Death Stranding does indeed feature an online component. And it’s rather neat. Most of the bridges, ladders, grappling hooks, and even vehicles I used came from other players. This made getting around much smoother. Adding to the fun of seeing these player-made constructs was the fact you could, quite literally, smash “Like” on them when prompted. There’s a weird satisfaction that comes with “liking” what others built and having them do the same for yours. It helps you feel connected to a wider world, which is what Death Stranding’s central theme is all about.
Though there’s a lot of walking involved, this is not a “walking simulator.” You can and will have to engage in combat. Human enemies called MULES will try to rob you of your packages if you step into their territories. You can use melee attacks and firearms to take them down. My personal favorite anti-MULE weapon is the bola gun since its ammunition ties enemies up and renders them immobile. You have the option of killing MULES if you wish. The game doesn’t penalize you. However, for reasons I won’t spoil in this review, it’s best to incapacitate them non-lethally.
BTs (Beached Things) are the game’s deadliest foes. You know you’re in BT territory when it begins to rain and your BB unit (the baby attached to your chest) starts fidgeting. You can avoid the normally stationary BTs by carefully (and slowly) walking around them. Later in the game, you’ll get tools to take out these supernatural entities. If you’re familiar with Kojima’s Metal Gear series, then the stealth you’ll need to employ when navigating BT (or MULE) territory will feel familiar.
A large tar-like lake forms underneath your feet when a BT catches you. If you don’t make it outside of the lake’s perimeter, the BT will pull you into the murky substance and toss you into the middle of a boss fight. You have the option of escaping the immediate area or dealing with the oversized BT boss. What’s cool about these battles is that they take place above a rolling black ocean. You’ll have to jump to whatever surfaces you find floating above the tar to evade and attack the BT. There are also some truly epic story-based BT boss battles. These typically play out like the aforementioned encounters, only you cannot escape from the area. I never avoided battles against BTs because I had so much fun taking them on.
Death Stranding runs on a modified version of Guerrilla Games’ Decima Engine. This is apparent in the game’s varied environments and color palette. Every location, be it mountain valley, foggy swampland, snow-covered peak, dense forest, or crimson desert, looks stunning. What’s even more impressive is that, despite the size of the (mostly) open-world, there is never an instance of graphical instability. Death Stranding runs great.
Well-known actors portray most of the cast, and each resembles their real-life counterparts. Whether it’s Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Lindsay Wagner, or even director Guillermo Del Toro, everyone looks amazing. This also extends to their performances, which were all motion-captured. If you’ve seen Norman Reedus on The Walking Dead, you’ll be familiar with Sam Bridges’ mannerisms. Hideo Kojima always wanted to make films and Death Stranding is the closest he’s come to realizing that dream.
One thing I wanted to touch on is how the characters appear as if they came straight out of Kojima’s previous Fox Engine. There were many instances where I felt like I was watching cutscenes from Metal Gear Solid V. I suppose this isn’t too much of a surprise since Hideo Kojima developed both titles. Or it could just be me seeing something that isn’t there. Either way, I absolutely love the character models and feel they set a new standard for other games to follow.
There’s more I can say about Death Stranding. Like I mentioned in the intro, the game has a ton for people to delve into it. But I think I’ve given you a good breakdown of what to expect. Again, it isn’t a game like Spider-Man or God of War in terms of mainstream appeal and instant satisfaction. This is very much for those who are willing to play something that’s unusual for the AAA space. As a massive fan of Hideo Kojima, I’m very satisfied with this game. If you’re also an admirer of Kojima or simply want to try out something that’s truly out there, you should give Death Stranding a try. You may love it. You may hate it, but it’ll get you talking regardless.
