Death Stranding Review (PC)

Each generation has a few games that are somehow bigger than the sum of their parts. It's impossible to say why, only that it's true. Death Stranding is a prime example of a game that captures players' imagination, even though if we take it apart, it shouldn't be something special.

I'm sure there's a debate about the art status of games, which often happens in the entertainment industry. What constitutes art? Such a question might seem challenging to answer, but it's actually not that difficult. Art moves us, so anything that elicits any kind of response from our id can be safely shelved until the category of art.

On its own, Death Stranding might seem like the odd duck, but the name Hideo Kojima is attached to this project, and it elevates it to a completely different level. While Hideo Kojima worked on many other projects, he's best known for the Metal Gear series. Following a rather eventful departure from Konami in 2015, he started to work on Death Stranding, providing fans with glimpses of weird gameplay and mocap action.

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In some ways, Death Stranding feels like the kind of project that has been sitting in the back of Kojima's mind, and, only after leaving Konami, he was able to put in on paper. To merely say that it's a strange game makes it a disservice, as it's much more than just a jumble of old and new concepts.

I always believed that it's a good sign when I'm asked to explain the plot of a book, game, or movie, and I can't do it either without taking a long time or sounding like a crazy person. Explaining what this game is about is strenuous and only players will fully understand. The reason is not that it's a too complicated story, but that words can't encapsulate the experience in a meaningful way.

Players explore the world after a catastrophic event called Death Stranding, which leaves the United States, and presumably the world, in pieces. Only a few cities survive, separated by vast distances. They communicate through an extensive "chiral network" and through porters, people who are willing to venture into the wilderness to confront the ever-present horrors and dangers.

You take on the mantle of Sam Porter Bridges, a legendary porter who made his name carrying cargo from one city to another. It turns out that he's needed to rebuild a broken Chiral network, uniting the cities and humanity.

The problem is that the vast open spaces between the cities are populated by invisible creatures called BTs (Beached Things) and by other people who are generally trying to kill you and/or steal your cargo. And this is where things start to become weird.

The one constant throughout the game is the feeling of unease. I can't put my finger on it, but playing the game gives me anxiety in the pit of my stomach, and I only felt that in two other games. The first one was S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and the second was the original Dead Space. I'm sure that other players will have different reference points, but they should be there.

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Maybe it's the small unborn child attached to the character's chest that helps him see the invisible enemies and which is always referred to as an "it." Maybe it's the detector's clicking sound that points me the general direction of the closest BT. Or perhaps it's the fact that I'm probably lied to by the characters that are pushing me forward into the story. I can't say for sure, and that makes it great.

Another exciting aspect is the lack of predictability. Having played so many games, I can usually anticipate the direction of the story or the gameplay, but Death Stranding always managed to surprise me. The story is constantly shifting gears, taking me in new directions, and the game is never as dull as you might think. Carrying huge boxes around could become a chore, but that's never the case.

The game incorporates some familiar elements, like a third-person shooter or stealth gameplay, but it's not just one thing. From time to time, you'll even build new structures, helping you and other players, adding another layer of complexity.

The incredible Decima engine helps the gameplay; it's the same engine used in Horizon Zero Dawn and a handful of other titles. The vast, open spaces, the high resolutions textures, the precise mocap technologies, and the physics engine, and the color palette all come together beautifully. Many of the frames look like paintings, and you get easily absorbed by the views.

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Playing the game on Windows elevates the original gameplay to new heights, especially if you own an Nvidia RTX card. Death Stranding features one of the best implementations of Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), a technology that allows players to run the game at higher framerates without impacting the quality. A similar effect can be obtained with AMD's Fidelity FXCAS technology.

Of course, Death Stranding wouldn't be as good without the stellar cast that gathers names such as Mads Mikkelsen, Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux, and many others. Some of longer story sequences (always rendered in-engine) are more akin to movies than a game.

Lastly, I have to mention the soundtrack that's somehow perfectly suited to the eerie gameplay atmosphere. I haven't heard of any of the artists used in the soundtrack, but I immediately looked for other songs once I listened to them.

Unfortunately, the game is not perfect. Kojima said that Death Stranding is part of a new genre called action game/strand game (social strand system) and makes of asynchronous multiplayer features. Basically, players see the effects other players have in the world, but never interact with them.

For me, at least, any kind of social features bring down the gameplay. That feeling of loneliness, exposure, and gloom is undercut when you're going down a path and encounter a weird smiley face left behind by the users RabbitsandRoaches95, asking to give it 5 likes. Some of the online features can be turned off on the map, but not in the game world.

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The Good

The Bad

Conclusion