A naked Norman Reedus, a crying baby, and a cetacean stranding. While these three situations may sound like prompts for a creative writing exercise, it was what ran the mind of nearly every videogame journalist for nearly three years. Then after a plethora of fantastically nonsensical trailers that included Mads Mikkelsen smiling villainously at doll and Nicholas Winding Refn repeatedly dying, the story trailer for Death Stranding was released and things finally started to make sense.
Death Stranding is a PS4 & PC game written and directed by Hideo Kojima and his first following his controversial split from Konami. Despite the awesomely bizarre trailers that preceded it, Death Stranding’s premise is (thankfully) quite simple; you play as Sam Porter Bridges (Norman Reedus), a ‘Porter’ tasked by the president to reconnect a fractured, post-apocalyptic, America by making deliveries and connecting its citizens to the chiral network - Hideo Kojima’s answer to the internet. Along the way he meets characters like Fragile (Lea Seydoux), Mama (Margaret Qualley) and Deadman (Jesse Corti/Guillmero Del Toro) who help with his journey. But, he also runs into the likes of psychopathic terrorist Higgs (Troy Baker) and the mysteriously captivating Cliff (Mads Mikkelsen) who seize every opportunity to hinder it.
If you haven’t already gathered from that character list above, the cast Kojima has curated for this game is impressive. It’s one of the first times I’ve known a game to have such a prestigious Hollywood cast and not push it as a selling point. There’s a certain surreality about this fact too; when I saw Mads Mikkelsen’s character for the first time, I couldn’t help but smirk as I remembered the films and television I’d previously seen him in. The game also features a range of cameos from personalities all across culture, so this surreality never fades.
If you’ve got this far into my thoughts on the game so far, you probably have one question based on the immense coverage the game’s been getting following its release: Is Death Stranding a walking simulator? Having sunk over twenty five hours in, I can safely answer with yes and no.
Yes, a considerable chunk of Death Stranding does involve on-foot traversal. Additionally, this walking comes with jarring mechanics, rough terrain and a gargantuan world to navigate. As I began playing the game, this combination did begin to feel tedious and I wasn’t entirely prepared to do this for. But then, I was introduced to Death Stranding’s stunning progression system. After these long, gruelling journeys, the game rewards you with items that gradually make traversal not only much easier, but a lot more fun. What was even more surprising was how these rewards were things that I had previously taken for granted in previous games. It adds a layer of reality to the game as you do start out as a deliveryman who progressively becomes the hero of the story, instead of starting as a character magically bestowed with guns, grenades, bullets, knives and health kits from the jump.
While travel is a large part of Death Stranding, its environmental design is spectacularly serene. It makes for a surprisingly laid-back experience as you admire the game’s varying landscapes on your travels from A to B. However, this environment isn’t to be trusted; you’ll frequently encounter Mules and BTs who seek to steal your cargo, capture or kill you, and generally make your delivery duties a nightmare. These encounters inject a sudden hit of intensity to the game as you tactically fight off the Mules and carefully sneak around BTs. They also interlace Death Stranding with an effective sense of strategy as you carefully plan each route and manage your cargo according to the obstacles you’ll face on your way.
As a Metal Gear Solid fan, I was concerned the writing Death Stranding would begin to feel convoluted, but it’s a lot more accessible for new Kojima fans. More than anything, I admire Kojima’s writing here for its originality and willingness to embrace complex, socially relevant concepts without feeling overwhelming. The cutscenes often deliver story beats at a digestible pace, while more detailed lore is kept in letters sent by characters for the player to access at their leisure. However, as with any Kojima game, it’s not quite that simple. The game (as of where I’m at) is currently shrouded in a engaging sense of mystery as we’re left to muse and theorise on the story arcs of Cliff and Higgs who, despite infrequent appearances, leave you with you a new set of questions every time.
However, my favourite part of the game is its multiplayer “social strand” system. While Death Stranding is primarily a single player game, this is where some of its best gameplay moments stem from. The multiplayer works similar to that of Dark Souls, you won’t see another player online, but you will see the structures they build and leave behind for you. Bridges to circumvent rough terrain, generators to re-charge vehicles and ladders to cross rivers can all be constructed to make traversal easier. For example, early on in the game when travelling to receive deliveries, I would always pass a particularly violent Mule camp nearby and run the frequent risk of failing my mission. Now a full stretch of road floats above that camp and I haven’t walked through it since. Moments like these embrace the game’s core theme of connection and collaboration in such an innovative fashion and when players share their structures online, this thematic integration goes further as other players respond with how that structure helped their journey.
As much as I’m enjoying the game so far, I will point out one downside, this isn’t going to be a game for everyone. It’s not a conventional game roped down to a singular genre with a high-concept story and its leftfield gameplay mechanics may be jarring for newcomers. But, for me, it’s certainly one of the most unique experiences I’ve had with a game for a while. The sheer ambition of Death Stranding and its graceful balancing of story, gameplay and multiplayer elements provides gamers who are tired of yearly release cycles and unfaithful developers with a satisfying sigh of relief. I’m excited to see where this game leads me next, whether the public opinion will change, and whether it will launch Kojima’s next franchise. But, for now, I’ve got to get back to reconnecting America with Norman Reedus and his funky foetus.