Today’s review is of one of 2019’s most ancipated releases: Death Stranding. Now I anticipated doing this review awhile back and actually avoided everything but the teaser trailer that was first released, so all I had seen was footage of naked Norman Reedus on a beach with dead sea life clutching a baby, and that was it. I was weirded out. To my surprise, even after all the media hype around the 8 minute trailer that was released for the game right before launch, people still didn’t seem to totally understand what it was and the reviews have been pretty love or hate. Well, I’m here to tell you that I’m in the strongly in the “love” category for this one and this is easily my most pleasant surprise of of the year.

Before we get into the game itself, I need to explain the man behind the game because in my opinion he’s just as important: Hideo Kojima. If you’re a fan of any Metal Gear game, that’s him (except that awful Metal Gear Survive). He’s known for putting a LOT of story and exposition in his games, creating very memorable characters, and all around making his games as much a movie as they are something you can play. When he creates something he wants it to be the whole shebang. Death Stranding is the first game released under Kojima Productions, since he and publisher Konami not so silently parted ways a couple years back.

So now that all that’s out of the way, let’s get to the game. There’s really no solid category this game fits in. I would say it’s mostly adventure with some action sprinkled here and there, but the majority of the game is exploration by way of traveling from one point to another. You play as Sam, a guy who’s known as a type of delivery-man, a “porter”, who is hired to deliver cargo mostly on foot to various cities that are referred to as “knots”. The reason it’s mostly on foot is because the landscape is pretty much ravaged by a cataclysmic event caused the Death Stranding killed a lot of the population. With it came a type of rainfall called “timefall”, where the raindrops rapidly age whatever it touches. All of this effectively segmented everybody who was left into these Knots. Add in that now when people die they explode in a nuclear-level detonation called a “voidout”, and yeah, everything pretty much sucks rocks for these people now. And I haven’t even gotten to the actual enemies yet. That’s just the environment.

So Sam is one of the few porters with the courage and tenacity to travel from place to place making deliveries, many times crossing over hilltops and mountains covered with rocks that resemble Aggro-Crag on Nickelodeon GUTS. Along his way he fights these types of terrorists called MULEs who try to steal stuff, and monsters called BTs who are basically undead ghost-things that try to drag the living into…I don’t know where. The whole thing is insane. I’m really trying not to get into spoiler territory because there’s SO much to this story that develops as you go along.

So some reviews online have joked that the game’s a walking simulator. There’s a ton more to it than that but you really do have to make deliveries and the amount of crap you’re carrying and your balance plays a huge part in your success. You have a max weight limit before you’re encumbered and as you start to creep up on that, Sam has a harder time keeping his balance while walking. You’ll have to decide how many supplies you’ll want to bring, like ladders, ropes, weapons, and repair sprays, and how much room that leaves you to pick up other items on the road and avoid enemies, because you’ll come across stuff you’ll definitely want to find the room to bring with you. You can take items called PCCs that basically make mailboxes, bridges, even safe houses, right in front of you, but in order to upgrade or even just create some of them, you’ll need to have the resources required. The Knots you’ll visit have resources you can claim, but more importantly that’s where the other players come in.

So there is some action to it and you’ll eventually have access to things like assault rifles and shotguns, but mostly you’ll be exploring and you’ll sometimes come across the MULEs and BTs.

iSee, just like in the Dark Souls games, when you’re connected online, players all help each other without actually being in each other’s game. You’ll see signs and markers other players have made showing where dangers might be, or you’ll come to a mountain not knowing how to get around it when you’ll see a ladder someone left behind, making your travels a lot easier. You’ll see an uncompleted highway and then maybe pick up the game later in the day to see it completed because other players donated the resources to fix it, and now EVERYBODY can ride their bikes down the highway. It’s a really great reminder of how much people do like to help each other unprompted.

More and more of the game opens up as you play and you’ll find there’s more layers and variety added on with every story mission you complete. You’re not just progressing through the story but getting new and better gear unlocked, a fast travel option, not to mention there are lots of different environments that you’ll see, and the game is gorgeous. After playing all the big releases on PS4 and Xbox the only game with graphics I can think of that are on par with this is the newest God of War. Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen look like themselves. For anybody who played games back in the early 90’s, seeing the technology come this far is exciting.

So there is some action to it and you’ll eventually have access to things like assault rifles and shotguns, but mostly you’ll be exploring and you’ll sometimes come across the MULEs and BTs. You do have the option to fight either of these enemies or avoid them altogether. I can say that the MULEs are like bandits, and are dangerous in their numbers and ability to overwhelm you, but the BTs are a different story. These enemies you can’t even see right away because they’re kinda like ghosts. Your only way of detecting them are by your scanner which in a very R2D2-like way will alert you of where they are and give a little thumbs up when you’re clear, and you’ve also got your BB, or “Bridge Baby”.

So without getting too into it, it’s basically a baby who’s been genetically altered to stop aging and growing and just lives in this little pod you connect to your suit, and the babies can sense where BTs are because they have this weird connection with them thus they’re a “bridge”. The baby has some personality of it’s own and I actually grew attached to him as I progressed through the game. There’s also another story that revolves around him that you’ll see unfold and how he fits into all of this. Anyways, if the BTs find you it’s a struggle to get away from them and the entire environment around you changes and if you’re not quick, this basically becomes a boss battle. I got really lucky and made it out of one alive because I happened to be carrying a ton of grenades on me to whittle down the boss’ health and kill it, but normally I do not prioritize weapons over mobility. I won’t go much into it for sake of spoilers but the first time you see a BT kill someone it’s pretty horrifying. The MULEs become particularly hateful villains later in the game as well.

So what’s not to like? To me, not much. The travelling can get a little monotonous later in the game, like when you’re asked to do a really long-distance backtrack to a previous area. I hate backtracking to begin with and in the context of Sam’s purpose this does make sense that he’d have to, but still. Also the waypoint system in this isn’t great. Like they make it sound like you’ll get the easiest route to go through, but it’s more as the crow flies than anything else. Otherwise a lot of my gripes I had a the beginning of the game are all solved by the end because of additional gear and upgrades added in to improve your quality of life, so to speak. I also think it’s a little too easy to drop stuff. If you’re going through water and don’t keep your balance, you’ll get swept away by the water and drop cargo while you’re trying to stand back up, which can mean chasing after your stuff.

At the end of my playthrough with this game, I’m really happy with it. Like really happy. I bought the special edition and think I got my money’s worth out of this and I rarely think any game I buy at release is worth the price. I’m also not a Metal Gear fan so seeing Hideo Kojima use his talents on something different was nice to see, and I think it’s proof that the guy’s not just good at creating those games but at basically everything he puts his mind to. If any of this sounded interesting enough to justify a purchase, I urge you to do it. It’s thought provoking, emotional, the exploration is both relaxing and exciting at the same time, and the graphics are insanely good. Also I’ve got an Amazon link in the description that helps support this channel if you buy through that.