Looking for a comprehensive Death Stranding Review? We’ve got you covered! Take a step into a world ravaged by the mysterious phenomenon known as The Death Stranding. In a world where death isn’t necessarily the end and strange otherworldly beings roam the world, which can only be seen by those between life and death, a handful of heroes are trying to reconnect the world. Here is our Death Stranding Review.
Developed and Published by Kojima Productions, the mastermind behind Konami’s Metal Gear Franchise, comes a brand new adventure, just as insane, just as gripping, and far better than some simple “FedEx Simulator“.
Story:
The story of Death Stranding, at least on the surface, revolves around Norman Reedus’s character, Sam “Porter” Bridges, reconnecting the world using a wireless network to link bunkers to a network.
The deeper into the story you go, you learn that there is far more to the game than you can see. For instance, there are stories about the different characters. In addition to this, there is the story about Sam and his past.
All these different stories are more or less separated from the main story and unfold in a way that’s hidden until the team at Kojima Productions wanted to show it. Examples being Sam’s connection with BB (Bridge Baby) to the point where he sees BB as his son, and doesn’t treat him like others treat the BBs.
Overall, the story is just as in-depth and complicated as Metal Gear with as many twists and turns as you might think, going from a barren and tranquil, almost untouched landscape to the trenches and Battlefields of WW2.
Mechanics, Graphics, & Technical things:
Mechanically, the game has an appearance of an RPG but plays like an action-adventure. This was the first obstacle which I struggled to overcome, as it looks like something which it’s not and plays like something it isn’t. The easiest way to explain this is it’s like you’re playing a game of chess where there are no rules and the board is a non-orthogonal shape and uses a 3rd dimension to play. Confusing, don’t start to cover how this game feels to play. One of the key things that makes this happen is that you control a character in TPP, and the way they move is much like you would expect. The problem comes when your objective comes into play, which is when you are a glorified delivery boy. This core system is what throws you off
On one side, this mechanic is simple and easy to understand as just a simple fetch quest or something of the like, however, it’s more like a repeating fetch quest which provides grades of the condition of the delivery. This simplifies it somewhat because there are so many factors that you need to look at, it’s very RPG.
In addition to this, there is a Fabrication system at terminals which gives you the power to construct items to use within the world, weapons, transportation, traversal gear, and so on. This is a powerful feature which lets you decide how you play the game. On the flip side of this, anything you do in the world benefits other players, which is a rather cool system. While the game is solo, the online functions to link or connect players in a condition where they are in an atmosphere of cooperation and assistance is one which only Kojima Productions could achieve as well as this. In short, if you build a road in the game, you aren’t the only player who is playing Death Stranding to benefit from this; everyone connected to this server will receive the road and can show some favour to the construction player with Likes, much like you would on social media.
Addressing the graphics, to say you could walk into the game would be an understatement and looking at the characters, they are close to, if not better than Epic Games’ Metahuman system. Worlds are lush, breathing, and living. Every part makes you think you could just run your hand through the water or touch the trees.
As for characters, previously noted Sam Bridges is played by Norman Reedus, best known for his role in The Walking Dead as Darryl Dixon. Other likenesses of Mads Michalson, Troy Baker, and Guillermo del Toro, and they all look like who they are meant to be. The trait that makes the characters even that much more human is the emotional set which they have, for example, there are tears which fall from characters at times.
There are so many technical things within Death Stranding, which is so unique that it would take too long to evaluate everything; instead, there are some features which have been picked to highlight. The first of these is the weather and day cycles. While this was to be expected from the game, it wasn’t expected that rain ages organic matter like the human body. The game refers to the rain or snow as Timefall, but ageing organic matter isn’t entirely true. The Timefall also ages the structures you construct, the cargo you are carrying, but ignores grass and trees.
Another thing that caught attention was the similarities with Metal Gear, which can be seen in the way that Sam moves, which is very much like Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. This isn’t out of the ordinary, but sounds, Locomotion, and traversal are close to the way which was used for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. The main reason for the similarities is probably to save time in making the game, and wanting Sam Bridges to move in a similar way to Venom Snake. The other things that point towards Metal Gear are a PS5 exclusive feature, which is a transporter for the cargo. While you have anti-grav transports, you also have access to a Biped unit, which looks like a smaller version of one of the Geckos from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots.
If this wasn’t enough to tie to Metal Gear, there is one more thing, which is the narrative storytelling and cinematography. While Metal Gear has a distinctive way to unfold its stories, which sometimes feels like it takes forever, it has a pretty distinctive way. This can be seen in how Death Stranding plays out, you rarely get a short cutscene, and even more of a rare thing is one that makes complete sense without needing to ask more questions. An example is when you meet Heartman, he dies every 21 minutes in order to go to the beach and search for his family, then 3 minutes later, he is revived, but the question is, why does he? How did he become this way? Is it permanent? Is he actually dead? Etc, etc, another example is Die-Hardman, he is introduced as someone whom Sam knows, the question becomes why? Who is he? Why does he wear a mask?
CONCLUSION:
Overall, the game is amazing, and unfortunately, holding off to play it till recently was a crime. The game is incredible, and in true Metal Gear tradition, Death Stranding doesn’t shy away from long exposition cut scenes.
While the game does throw me off with what genre it is meant to be, it’s easier to just accept it since it’s Kojima Productions. Although it seems repetitive with needing to keep returning to terminals to increase the connection, it is fun. The game also makes it feel like a challenge to get the best result by changing difficulties and getting a perfect result.
Although it hasn’t been addressed yet, I wanted to keep this here. This is, of course, the BT’s. The BTs are entities which are past death and are metaboss and boss battles. Upon being captured by some of the humanoid BTs, you can get pulled into a battle with an animal BT, which will change depending on the area you are in. Most of the time, I had a whale, but there is a stag, which, when defeated, will give valuable resources.
One of the staples of Metal Gear Solid 2: The Sons Of Liberty is adding your in-game date of birth to calculate in-game additions. Death Stranding asks for this information on starting up and will reward you with DOOMS. Dooms are, to put it simply, in-game hazards or benefits. Presumably, the Higher the Dooms, the better the chance of survival, meaning players who are one of the following constellations would do better than others:
- Cancer
- Pisces
- Cetus
- Delphinus
- Gigas
That being said, this function doesn’t seem to modify the game or alter the experience in any way, meaning it would be something similar to the Perma-death in Hellblade, more on a psychological level, which makes you question if you have done the right thing. There might be one thing which affects it, which is the Giga BTs which spawn. For example, I chose a date in November, which is encompassed by Cetus, which is seen as a Whale. Previously, I stated that this was what I fought like 90% of the time. It might be a coincidence or by design, but it could be that picking one of these impacts the likelihood of getting a certain BT; however impossible that might sound, it seems strange.
As a final note, the game is every bit the crazy plunge into a Kojima Production game, captivating, engaging and breathtaking. I can’t wait till June 26th to see what Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is like after this adventure. I only hope it has the magic that this one does and continues taking us to this fantastical tale.
Looking for more reviews to read? Be sure to visit this page and discover a wide range of informative and insightful reviews. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to gain valuable insights and make informed decisions.
