In the Christmas of 2021, I looked on the Epic Games store and saw "Death Stranding" was the free game of the week. It had been on my eye for a while, and I was curious to see what it was about - specifically, I remember watching VideoGameDunkey's videos on this classic "Strand type game.”
So I told my new friend from University, George about it, thinking he'd be interested in a free game - and was he ever.
Two weeks after that, he couldn't stop going on about DEATH STRANDING. He told me that it was his favorite game of all time. That he'd done three playthroughs. That I HAD to play it - So I did.
Shortly after he HEAVILY recommended death stranding to me, I gave it a shot. I played through the opening, and I was HOOKED. I had so many questions:
- What the FACK is that GIANT Figure??? {Massive BT}
- What the HELL is the rain doing?? {Timefall}
- What are these INVISIBLE Goblins??? {BTs}
- How did Norman Geedus come back to life?
- Who is this dude BB is seeing?? {Cliff}
- Who is this dude with the mask? {Die-Hardman}
- Who is THIS dude with the mask? {Higgs}
This is where Death Stranding Excels. It gets you THINKING. It's the equivalent of the television show LOST in video game form. So many mysteries that you just want to keep playing and find out the answers behind them. But the true excellence in it, is that for most (But NOT all) of these mysteries, there's no "Moment" where they get answered; instead, you slowly gather an understanding of them from the characters and world-building. Hideo Kojima doesn't spoon-feed you anything. He expects you to pay attention, that you're mature enough that you yourself will come to these conclusions (albeit for most it'll take more than one playthrough to catch them all).
But then a day went by, a week - a month. I didn’t have any interest in playing Death Stranding. After being thrown into the world and doing a couple missions, I felt overstimulated with mechanics and under-stimulated with story beats and I lost interest quickly. I’ll talk more about this later.
The Death Stranding hiatus kept on like this for two years, as I picked up and played other games. Every now and again George would egg me on:
“ You have to play DEATH STRANDING. It is so good. Once you get over that hump, it's fantastic.”, to which I would always respond “One Day.” To my credit, I knew I would come back to it and give it an official try - I just didn’t know when.
Fast forward to February 1st of this year. I’d been at my Co-op job and been living at a new place in the city for a little bit over a month - I felt pretty isolated from everyone I knew, and thus I was pretty sad. Me and George would talk on occasion, but we didn’t go to the same Uni anymore. I would get home from work and lie in bed watching CaseOh videos until I went to sleep. It was a monotonous, repetitive slump that I was caught in.
One day while scrolling through youtube, I stumbled across a trailer for none other than DEATH STRANDING 2. I figured, why not? And watched it: what. the fuck. Was that.
By seeing this trailer I had sparked the inspiration to play death stranding 1 again, so I ran to my computer and started to download it. Upon completion, I started up the game and played through till the point I was at two years’ ago now (in one sitting). But something was different this time. I wanted to see this story through.
That night, I messaged George. We hopped on a call together and he insisted on watching me play. I grinded through the opening chapters and by chapter three, I was hooked. Playing Death Stranding while George watched became a regular occurrence, with him studying and me playing in a call together.
I ended up becoming so engulfed in the game that I beat it in 11 days.
This game did more than provide me with an enjoyable experience. It helped me out of a low point and reconnected me with one of my closest friends. This ironically links up with the overarching story of the game, which is all about reconnecting.
When I beat it and George asked me my thoughts, I was at a loss for words. I didn’t know how to voice how I felt about this masterpiece of a game. So I started writing; this script, actually. I put out all my thoughts, ideas, concepts and feelings on the page so I could truly express my thoughts on the game.
Problems
I’m going to put problems first, so that I can end the review on a positive note.
When I played DS for the first time, I got through the opening two chapters, and that mystical-ness of mysteries slowly faded away. The questions weren't being answered; which would be alright if the gameplay at the beginning of the game was entertaining; but unfortunately, it isn't. The game holds off on giving you things that make deliveries easier - be it a vehicle, power skeleton, or zip-line - in lieu of having you learn the basics. Combined with the lack of true story progression in these acts, it makes it an unfortunate deterrent for players that don't have a George by their side to convince them that the grass is greener on the other side.
I don't have a solution for this - I agree with the game's decision to have you be stripped of any useful tools, since it makes getting them down the line feel so much more satisfying - the ability to fly through terrain that initially took you 5x longer to traverse is an amazing feeling - but maybe they could have spread out the mystery that takes place in the opening prelude into the two acts before chapter three.
I feel like when you come to the end of that chapter, the game truly hooks you. Everything before the bomb conundrum is alright, but it’s not all that gripping; you’ll still be without a main vehicle so the traversal is rather tedious.
As well, I think there is an unreal amount of time-waster cutscenes in the game, be it hooking up a settlement to the chiral network - which shows a 15 second cutscene every time - or doing anything in your private room, they aren’t necessary in my mind.
The final thing I’ll say is that I’m not a fan of the pacing. It’s either three hours of gameplay, or three hours of cutscenes. I think it could have been better executed / spread out to hook players in the beginning. Chapter three is the longest chapter in the game, and it is a slog!
Story: 10 / 10
The story in DEATH STRANDING is EASILY one of the best that I have EVER played, being a competitor with GOW: Ragnarok for my favorite video game / story of all time. I can confidently say that this plays out even more like a motion picture than Ragnarok does, and that every important main character has an incredible amount of depth which helps the story be 10x more impactful. It is truly a Kojima game. From the jump you have so many questions about the world and the characters in it. This is a game about bringing the world together; but to me, it is a game about a father finding his son. Every scene or moment with Cliff and Sam is so emotional.
As well, the sheer amount of foreshadowing in the game makes a second playthrough almost necessary to soak up all the information. The lore is a lot to take in, and it can lead to a lot of confusion; which is why I am very grateful to have had George by my side to explain all the moments.
I recall when the game “ended”, being where you arrive at Capitol Knot City and confront Amelie - I was incredibly confused and upset. Some questions were answered, but I found the entire exchange to be too confusing and I couldn’t really understand what was happening. I needed a bigger brain to grasp what was happening. That, masked with the 30 minutes of aimlessly walking on the beach, left a bad taste in my mouth. Thankfully that was not the true ending, and we had the fantastic Cliff / Sam scene, as well as Die-Hardmans excellent confession. The entire final mission was incredibly emotional, and was one of the few video game moments that made me tear up.
I thought I would have a bit more to say about the story, but I don’t; aside from the fantastic plot twists, shocking moments, and central scientific themes such as the “big five,” I can’t think of anything to speak about. I think what makes the story truly 10 / 10 is the characters.
Characters: 10 / 10
I believe that a story can only be as good as its actors / characters. Death Stranding has the best central cast of any game I’ve ever played, with very close comparisons being made to Ragnarok and RDR2. Every single important main character has depth and development to them - each of them are interesting in some way or another. This is great because the non-significant side characters were rather lacking and basic, with some of them not even being the best acted.
Sam is a mysterious individual with a tragic past. He is a repatriate AND has dooms, which to my knowledge is one of a kind. I wish more of his story was told in the main story instead of being buried in the thousands of emails and data logs within the game, as it was incredibly interesting. As far as main characters go, his personality isn’t anything special. This is where the other characters excel.
Amelie IS Bridget, which was such a fantastic revelation. That being said, I never really liked Amelie; I had no reason to. She never really did anything for Sam (that I saw at least) throughout the course of the game, and was rather cruel to him, making him (and Higgs) essentially do all of her bidding. She was, in my eyes, the real villain of the game. I mean, she was pretty ruthless in killing Cliff, and even killed Sam (I know it was an accident). Something just always seemed off about her.
I recall when she handed you the gun and started to walk into the water… which I then proceeded to mag dump her in the head without temptation. Watching that back with George was probably one of the funniest moments I had with the game.
The last thing I’ll say about Amelie is that I REALLY was not a fan of the goofy “Princess Beach” line, and that entire running along the beach scene. It seemed out of place in the game; like an early ending. Perhaps that was done on purpose to throw us off, but regardless it weirded me out. I liked Cliff’s appearance after this scene though, and Die-Hardmans breakdown. I never realized that Amelie and Bridget were never on screen at the same time at once in the game.
Die-Hardman did nothing for the entire game, until the final chapters. This really threw me off, in the best way possible. After playing for a while I thought he was going to be a basic boss man. I remember one of my favorite scenes was the shower scene with Deadman where the suspicions of who Die-Hardman was originated. Side-note; I feel as if some more creative names could have been made for the characters!
Back to Die-Hardman’s suspicion; the shower scene with Deadman was so perfectly executed and really got me into the game. It was so well acted and made you feel like nobody could be trusted.
But then, the reveal. Die-Hardman was John! I couldn’t believe it. I never made the connection in Lou’s visions when I saw him, but it made sense when I found out. The pain that this character hides behind the mask is tragic, as in the end of the game you can see that he tried as hard as he could to protect Cliff. He truly holds himself responsible, which he doesn’t deserve. I’ll talk about his confession later on, but it was truly a bone chilling moment. It felt straight out of a movie, and I FELT for Die-Hardman in that moment. It was fantastic.
Deadman is a strange man that you come to sympathize with; he was made in a lab. He doesn’t have a beach. Or a soul. He doesn’t truly connect with people - until he interacts with Sam. You grow to love his childlike nature, his suspicions, and his social unawareness.
Lou is adorable. God I love the idea of BBs as a whole, and I have no idea how the concept of them was thought up. The bond that Sam forms with Lou throughout the game is truly fantastic, and I felt heartbroken when the last mission came. I really didn’t know if BB would make it, and the trek was one of great solace. The ending scene of the game is a highlight for me, as hearing the birds and seeing BB out of the container was such a great sendoff.
Fragile has a cringey catchline, but a fantastic backstory. Her background scene running through the rain with Higgs had my jaw dropped, as it did a great job in both shocking the player and building up Higgs as a wicked antagonist. Her DOOMs abilities are so neat to see actualized, and while I didn’t like her acting at first, I think she got a lot better as the game went on.
Mama was my favorite actor from the game, and her backstory was mind blowing. A BB Baby? How does Kojima think of this stuff? That idea is just so… cool. I have no other words for it. It’s fantastic. Then, you have to sever that connection? So powerful. I think the reinforced idea of the Ha and Ka with her and Lockne is masterfully executed, and their story together is quite intriguing.
Heartman was my personal favorite, and it seems he was Kojima’s as well. I’ve been told that any “theory” he says in the game is actually confirmed lore, which if true is fantastic. I mean just the core idea of his character is so excellent. He wants to find his family so much that he dies every 21 minutes. I love that idea, it is so unique and how it’s executed as a form of cruel comedic relief.
Every moment with Heartman on screen, I was glued to my screen. Darren Jacobs portrayed the role so well, and while I could barely understand what was going on in regards to the extinction entities, how it was explained from him was gripping!
Cliff. A broken man, regretful for what he did to his wife. He doesn’t want his unborn child to suffer for the rest of his life (side note - what a revelation, that Sam was a BB), so he gives his own in a valiant attempt to save Sam, which tragically fails. He is determined to save his “BB”... which we as gamers are strung along to think throughout the game that is Lou. He is fighting a war in his mind, and we are brought to them three times in the game. Mads Mikkelsen is Clifford Unger, and I couldn’t see anyone else playing him. I will never not nerd out over his final emotional scene with Sam. The whole reveal of the game was AMAZING. I loved it so much, and how we saw the conversation occur twice.
I’m a sucker for father-son games. And Cliff stole my heart.
George always told me that his favorite villain was Higgs. “You have to tell me when you get to Higgs!” When I did, part of me was underwhelmed. Really? He doesn’t seem too cool. If only I knew. Higgs is played by the great Troy Baker, and he plays a character similar to that of Ramsey Bolton in Game of Thrones or Ben from LOST; an evil bastard that you absolutely love to hate. Higgs does some diabolical things, and has mannerisms and quirks (such as the way he speaks, and refers to life as a video game) that just tickle my funny bone. I’ll talk about the gameplay of his final fight with Sam later, but just the raw emotion and the slow unwinding of both Men throughout the course of it blew me away. It became so sad when the music swelled and we saw the two men, exhaust, throw punches. Until the end, Higgs was fantastic. I loved every scene he was in, and I’m so excited to see him - even more unhinged - in the newest installment.
This ensemble of characters come together to create my favorite protagonist team of any game. I got goosebumps when all of them grouped up and Sam said a speech before being sent to Amelie’s beach. Again, each character was explored so well, and were the selling point of the game for me; without them, my overall opinion of the game would be much lower.
Combat: 6.5 / 10
This game is not a combat game, and that is OK. It is one of a kind in its nature, and I do agree with Kojima when he is frustrated because the average modern gamers will stray away from a game if it doesn’t have mindless shooty-shooty mechanics. I actually really like that you’re discouraged from killing enemies. When you do, you either have to run them to the incinerator or dump their body somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It is made a chore and is really not worth it to do.
I only killed two people in my game; one was a porter that I accidentally ran over…twice… and the second was a MULE that I thought I was using non-lethal rounds on. So both were accidents, otherwise I wouldn’t have done anything.
For having pretty basic FPS mechanics, I had fun with the combat; it was still more enjoyable than any Call of Duty I’ve played. Some highlights were getting headshots with the Bola Gun (hilarious) and seeing MULEs go flying when I hit them with the truck. There were so many weapon options that I felt overstimulated by, and I didn’t find myself using them except when I was in a boss fight and players would throw them my way. Speaking of the boss fights, they were alright. Nothing crazy. The bosses physically look spectacular. My favorite of the game was the one-of-a-kind Higgs battle, which was an emotional climax in the game. I loved the way you had to throw shit at him, and how he slowly fell apart through the course of the fight.
BT encounters were always scary, and I either tried to sneak through or run through as fast as I could. They were so excellently executed.
Finally, the war zones were amazing setpieces and one of the biggest mysteries of the game. I enjoyed them not for the combat, but the story behind them.
Special mention: the idea of using Sam's blood as a weapon brings a whole new concept to offensive defense.
Gameplay / Content: 6.5 / 10
This is the lowest score in the review, and it pains me to give Death Stranding this score. Unfortunately I don’t think it’s fair to give it a score that is higher than this. The majority of gameplay is delivery / fetch quests, which I adamantly despise and I think are uncreative forms of content. That being said, these missions always felt more interesting than, say, Skyrim fetch quests. You were always working on the common goal of “Reconnecting America” and each delivery counted towards something. The resource management on your back and in vehicles was fun to interact with (and thank god for the Auto-Arrange feature), and walking was kept interesting with trying not to eat shit being a central goal that kept it engaging.
I raided maybe two MULE camps? It wasn’t something that really captured my interest, but it was neat that they put them in the game, and I appreciate the parallel between social media and the MULEs.
But it’s not all bad; I actually found myself really enjoying the gameplay loop later on, and loved gathering materials to create road systems and zip line routes. Every now and then I would do standard deliveries just for the heck of it!
After thinking on it for a while, I decided I wouldn’t attempt to platinum this game, because I would lose my patience doing repetitive deliveries, getting caught by BTs. The idea of sinking in 30 more hours doing the same exact thing just didn’t grasp me enough, and I didn’t have it in me to continue the game. As well, I didn’t want to tarnish my opinion of the game as a whole.
Traversal: 7 / 10
For a game with a central mechanic about traversal, it unfortunately doesn’t hit all the main notes. Vehicles, while fun, are very clunky to control and get “caught” on too many things. With that being said, I am a fan of the battery aspect and managing your cargo load / maximizing efficiency as to not run out of charge.
I actually look back on the mountain as one of my favorite gameplay parts of the game; while it was tedious to trek up the mountains, once I had a zip-line system connected it felt great to traverse. The excess amount of time you spend traveling I found I spent thinking; about the game, about life. It was a great change of pace to play something peaceful where I could let my mind wander. I often created theories in my mind or nerding out about the game while going from point to point, and it really allows the player to soak in the world.
The feeling of creating an entire zip-line connection or highway and zooming through it is such an accomplishment that I don’t get to feel often in games. I played without other people’s structures so I believe it made it feel that much more rewarding. Speaking of structures, they were a great addition that kept things fresh.
World: 8 / 10
This is a tough one, because the physical world is lackluster. But, the lore behind the world is incredible. I’ll speak on the physical world first; it is (maybe intentionally) barren and gray. There wasn’t much to look at for it all, but it did have a couple neat places - such as the mountain area (which was a pain to traverse) and the tar pit. Even so, I often found myself just looking around at the scenery. I was a fan of the different terrains that you had to overcome such as the rocky area east of the weather station, the large river, the mountains, and the open fields of the western area of the map. Each provided a different challenge to overcome.
I do wish that more central cutscenes occurred outside of the private room to add a bit of contrast.
The world building is so incredible. Repatriation and Dooms are such intriguing concepts, and one of the biggest mysteries of the game. The revelation that Amelie has caused Dooms by saving Sam was such an incredible twist and was a great “aha” moment. Also learning how repatriation was created was a jaw dropper.
The aspect of a Ha and Ka was intriguing and actually made a lot of sense, and was a great way to explore the afterlife and the concept of a soul.
The vast amount of different things going on in this game is incredible; timefall is a fantastic concept that is actualized immaculately. BTs are terrifying and mysterious. The nature of beaches and how they tie in so effortlessly to the story is excellent. Chiralium and the Chiral network are just zany enough to work. I love how the game is both grounded in reality, and yet completely outside of it.
A special world highlight is the supercells. Being taken to the different warzones where you truly have no idea what is going on within them is such a unique feeling. I loved all of those chapters of the game and they brought such intrigue and mystery to it; I was especially a fan of the parallel between the final warzone confrontation between Sam and Cliff and how that was the same scene as the end of the game.
Favorite Part
I have two favorite parts of this game:
The Sam / Cliff Revelation, and their final moment together. This was simply beautiful and the reveal was shocking. I almost cried, and I get goosebumps thinking about it. It has instantly become a classic moment in my mind of great video games, similar to that moment in RDR2 (you know which one if you’ve played it).
Die-Hardmans confession. The acting by Tommy Earl Jones in this scene was unmatched, and resulted in me having a great affinity for a character I didn’t think too much of before this point of the game. Seeing the behind the scenes moment for this scene gave me a great appreciation for him.
Special Mention: Low Roar
My other favorite part of this game is the music. Never have I heard more introspective pieces of music, with my favorites being “The Machine,” “Patience,” and “Bones.” I was greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Low Roar’s lead Ryan Karazija, and I hope he is at peace.
This music is something I needed at this point of my life, and has become an inspiration for my own music that I create. It encapsulated Hope in Despair. Karazija is a beautiful singer and the songs are some of the most moving pieces I have ever heard. Death Stranding moved me, but the music moved me even more. Thank you Low Roar.
And thank you, if you managed to make it through my entire sloppy review that I wrote in one draft. I have thoughts to make a video out of this review, but am unsure if I'm going to go through with it. Please play Death Stranding, as it is so much more than a "Walking Simulator."
So I told my new friend from University, George about it, thinking he'd be interested in a free game - and was he ever.
Two weeks after that, he couldn't stop going on about DEATH STRANDING. He told me that it was his favorite game of all time. That he'd done three playthroughs. That I HAD to play it - So I did.
Shortly after he HEAVILY recommended death stranding to me, I gave it a shot. I played through the opening, and I was HOOKED. I had so many questions:
- What the FACK is that GIANT Figure??? {Massive BT}
- What the HELL is the rain doing?? {Timefall}
- What are these INVISIBLE Goblins??? {BTs}
- How did Norman Geedus come back to life?
- Who is this dude BB is seeing?? {Cliff}
- Who is this dude with the mask? {Die-Hardman}
- Who is THIS dude with the mask? {Higgs}
This is where Death Stranding Excels. It gets you THINKING. It's the equivalent of the television show LOST in video game form. So many mysteries that you just want to keep playing and find out the answers behind them. But the true excellence in it, is that for most (But NOT all) of these mysteries, there's no "Moment" where they get answered; instead, you slowly gather an understanding of them from the characters and world-building. Hideo Kojima doesn't spoon-feed you anything. He expects you to pay attention, that you're mature enough that you yourself will come to these conclusions (albeit for most it'll take more than one playthrough to catch them all).
But then a day went by, a week - a month. I didn’t have any interest in playing Death Stranding. After being thrown into the world and doing a couple missions, I felt overstimulated with mechanics and under-stimulated with story beats and I lost interest quickly. I’ll talk more about this later.
The Death Stranding hiatus kept on like this for two years, as I picked up and played other games. Every now and again George would egg me on:
“ You have to play DEATH STRANDING. It is so good. Once you get over that hump, it's fantastic.”, to which I would always respond “One Day.” To my credit, I knew I would come back to it and give it an official try - I just didn’t know when.
Fast forward to February 1st of this year. I’d been at my Co-op job and been living at a new place in the city for a little bit over a month - I felt pretty isolated from everyone I knew, and thus I was pretty sad. Me and George would talk on occasion, but we didn’t go to the same Uni anymore. I would get home from work and lie in bed watching CaseOh videos until I went to sleep. It was a monotonous, repetitive slump that I was caught in.
One day while scrolling through youtube, I stumbled across a trailer for none other than DEATH STRANDING 2. I figured, why not? And watched it: what. the fuck. Was that.
By seeing this trailer I had sparked the inspiration to play death stranding 1 again, so I ran to my computer and started to download it. Upon completion, I started up the game and played through till the point I was at two years’ ago now (in one sitting). But something was different this time. I wanted to see this story through.
That night, I messaged George. We hopped on a call together and he insisted on watching me play. I grinded through the opening chapters and by chapter three, I was hooked. Playing Death Stranding while George watched became a regular occurrence, with him studying and me playing in a call together.
I ended up becoming so engulfed in the game that I beat it in 11 days.
This game did more than provide me with an enjoyable experience. It helped me out of a low point and reconnected me with one of my closest friends. This ironically links up with the overarching story of the game, which is all about reconnecting.
When I beat it and George asked me my thoughts, I was at a loss for words. I didn’t know how to voice how I felt about this masterpiece of a game. So I started writing; this script, actually. I put out all my thoughts, ideas, concepts and feelings on the page so I could truly express my thoughts on the game.
Problems
I’m going to put problems first, so that I can end the review on a positive note.
When I played DS for the first time, I got through the opening two chapters, and that mystical-ness of mysteries slowly faded away. The questions weren't being answered; which would be alright if the gameplay at the beginning of the game was entertaining; but unfortunately, it isn't. The game holds off on giving you things that make deliveries easier - be it a vehicle, power skeleton, or zip-line - in lieu of having you learn the basics. Combined with the lack of true story progression in these acts, it makes it an unfortunate deterrent for players that don't have a George by their side to convince them that the grass is greener on the other side.
I don't have a solution for this - I agree with the game's decision to have you be stripped of any useful tools, since it makes getting them down the line feel so much more satisfying - the ability to fly through terrain that initially took you 5x longer to traverse is an amazing feeling - but maybe they could have spread out the mystery that takes place in the opening prelude into the two acts before chapter three.
I feel like when you come to the end of that chapter, the game truly hooks you. Everything before the bomb conundrum is alright, but it’s not all that gripping; you’ll still be without a main vehicle so the traversal is rather tedious.
As well, I think there is an unreal amount of time-waster cutscenes in the game, be it hooking up a settlement to the chiral network - which shows a 15 second cutscene every time - or doing anything in your private room, they aren’t necessary in my mind.
The final thing I’ll say is that I’m not a fan of the pacing. It’s either three hours of gameplay, or three hours of cutscenes. I think it could have been better executed / spread out to hook players in the beginning. Chapter three is the longest chapter in the game, and it is a slog!
Story: 10 / 10
The story in DEATH STRANDING is EASILY one of the best that I have EVER played, being a competitor with GOW: Ragnarok for my favorite video game / story of all time. I can confidently say that this plays out even more like a motion picture than Ragnarok does, and that every important main character has an incredible amount of depth which helps the story be 10x more impactful. It is truly a Kojima game. From the jump you have so many questions about the world and the characters in it. This is a game about bringing the world together; but to me, it is a game about a father finding his son. Every scene or moment with Cliff and Sam is so emotional.
As well, the sheer amount of foreshadowing in the game makes a second playthrough almost necessary to soak up all the information. The lore is a lot to take in, and it can lead to a lot of confusion; which is why I am very grateful to have had George by my side to explain all the moments.
I recall when the game “ended”, being where you arrive at Capitol Knot City and confront Amelie - I was incredibly confused and upset. Some questions were answered, but I found the entire exchange to be too confusing and I couldn’t really understand what was happening. I needed a bigger brain to grasp what was happening. That, masked with the 30 minutes of aimlessly walking on the beach, left a bad taste in my mouth. Thankfully that was not the true ending, and we had the fantastic Cliff / Sam scene, as well as Die-Hardmans excellent confession. The entire final mission was incredibly emotional, and was one of the few video game moments that made me tear up.
I thought I would have a bit more to say about the story, but I don’t; aside from the fantastic plot twists, shocking moments, and central scientific themes such as the “big five,” I can’t think of anything to speak about. I think what makes the story truly 10 / 10 is the characters.
Characters: 10 / 10
I believe that a story can only be as good as its actors / characters. Death Stranding has the best central cast of any game I’ve ever played, with very close comparisons being made to Ragnarok and RDR2. Every single important main character has depth and development to them - each of them are interesting in some way or another. This is great because the non-significant side characters were rather lacking and basic, with some of them not even being the best acted.
Sam is a mysterious individual with a tragic past. He is a repatriate AND has dooms, which to my knowledge is one of a kind. I wish more of his story was told in the main story instead of being buried in the thousands of emails and data logs within the game, as it was incredibly interesting. As far as main characters go, his personality isn’t anything special. This is where the other characters excel.
Amelie IS Bridget, which was such a fantastic revelation. That being said, I never really liked Amelie; I had no reason to. She never really did anything for Sam (that I saw at least) throughout the course of the game, and was rather cruel to him, making him (and Higgs) essentially do all of her bidding. She was, in my eyes, the real villain of the game. I mean, she was pretty ruthless in killing Cliff, and even killed Sam (I know it was an accident). Something just always seemed off about her.
I recall when she handed you the gun and started to walk into the water… which I then proceeded to mag dump her in the head without temptation. Watching that back with George was probably one of the funniest moments I had with the game.
The last thing I’ll say about Amelie is that I REALLY was not a fan of the goofy “Princess Beach” line, and that entire running along the beach scene. It seemed out of place in the game; like an early ending. Perhaps that was done on purpose to throw us off, but regardless it weirded me out. I liked Cliff’s appearance after this scene though, and Die-Hardmans breakdown. I never realized that Amelie and Bridget were never on screen at the same time at once in the game.
Die-Hardman did nothing for the entire game, until the final chapters. This really threw me off, in the best way possible. After playing for a while I thought he was going to be a basic boss man. I remember one of my favorite scenes was the shower scene with Deadman where the suspicions of who Die-Hardman was originated. Side-note; I feel as if some more creative names could have been made for the characters!
Back to Die-Hardman’s suspicion; the shower scene with Deadman was so perfectly executed and really got me into the game. It was so well acted and made you feel like nobody could be trusted.
But then, the reveal. Die-Hardman was John! I couldn’t believe it. I never made the connection in Lou’s visions when I saw him, but it made sense when I found out. The pain that this character hides behind the mask is tragic, as in the end of the game you can see that he tried as hard as he could to protect Cliff. He truly holds himself responsible, which he doesn’t deserve. I’ll talk about his confession later on, but it was truly a bone chilling moment. It felt straight out of a movie, and I FELT for Die-Hardman in that moment. It was fantastic.
Deadman is a strange man that you come to sympathize with; he was made in a lab. He doesn’t have a beach. Or a soul. He doesn’t truly connect with people - until he interacts with Sam. You grow to love his childlike nature, his suspicions, and his social unawareness.
Lou is adorable. God I love the idea of BBs as a whole, and I have no idea how the concept of them was thought up. The bond that Sam forms with Lou throughout the game is truly fantastic, and I felt heartbroken when the last mission came. I really didn’t know if BB would make it, and the trek was one of great solace. The ending scene of the game is a highlight for me, as hearing the birds and seeing BB out of the container was such a great sendoff.
Fragile has a cringey catchline, but a fantastic backstory. Her background scene running through the rain with Higgs had my jaw dropped, as it did a great job in both shocking the player and building up Higgs as a wicked antagonist. Her DOOMs abilities are so neat to see actualized, and while I didn’t like her acting at first, I think she got a lot better as the game went on.
Mama was my favorite actor from the game, and her backstory was mind blowing. A BB Baby? How does Kojima think of this stuff? That idea is just so… cool. I have no other words for it. It’s fantastic. Then, you have to sever that connection? So powerful. I think the reinforced idea of the Ha and Ka with her and Lockne is masterfully executed, and their story together is quite intriguing.
Heartman was my personal favorite, and it seems he was Kojima’s as well. I’ve been told that any “theory” he says in the game is actually confirmed lore, which if true is fantastic. I mean just the core idea of his character is so excellent. He wants to find his family so much that he dies every 21 minutes. I love that idea, it is so unique and how it’s executed as a form of cruel comedic relief.
Every moment with Heartman on screen, I was glued to my screen. Darren Jacobs portrayed the role so well, and while I could barely understand what was going on in regards to the extinction entities, how it was explained from him was gripping!
Cliff. A broken man, regretful for what he did to his wife. He doesn’t want his unborn child to suffer for the rest of his life (side note - what a revelation, that Sam was a BB), so he gives his own in a valiant attempt to save Sam, which tragically fails. He is determined to save his “BB”... which we as gamers are strung along to think throughout the game that is Lou. He is fighting a war in his mind, and we are brought to them three times in the game. Mads Mikkelsen is Clifford Unger, and I couldn’t see anyone else playing him. I will never not nerd out over his final emotional scene with Sam. The whole reveal of the game was AMAZING. I loved it so much, and how we saw the conversation occur twice.
I’m a sucker for father-son games. And Cliff stole my heart.
George always told me that his favorite villain was Higgs. “You have to tell me when you get to Higgs!” When I did, part of me was underwhelmed. Really? He doesn’t seem too cool. If only I knew. Higgs is played by the great Troy Baker, and he plays a character similar to that of Ramsey Bolton in Game of Thrones or Ben from LOST; an evil bastard that you absolutely love to hate. Higgs does some diabolical things, and has mannerisms and quirks (such as the way he speaks, and refers to life as a video game) that just tickle my funny bone. I’ll talk about the gameplay of his final fight with Sam later, but just the raw emotion and the slow unwinding of both Men throughout the course of it blew me away. It became so sad when the music swelled and we saw the two men, exhaust, throw punches. Until the end, Higgs was fantastic. I loved every scene he was in, and I’m so excited to see him - even more unhinged - in the newest installment.
This ensemble of characters come together to create my favorite protagonist team of any game. I got goosebumps when all of them grouped up and Sam said a speech before being sent to Amelie’s beach. Again, each character was explored so well, and were the selling point of the game for me; without them, my overall opinion of the game would be much lower.
Combat: 6.5 / 10
This game is not a combat game, and that is OK. It is one of a kind in its nature, and I do agree with Kojima when he is frustrated because the average modern gamers will stray away from a game if it doesn’t have mindless shooty-shooty mechanics. I actually really like that you’re discouraged from killing enemies. When you do, you either have to run them to the incinerator or dump their body somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It is made a chore and is really not worth it to do.
I only killed two people in my game; one was a porter that I accidentally ran over…twice… and the second was a MULE that I thought I was using non-lethal rounds on. So both were accidents, otherwise I wouldn’t have done anything.
For having pretty basic FPS mechanics, I had fun with the combat; it was still more enjoyable than any Call of Duty I’ve played. Some highlights were getting headshots with the Bola Gun (hilarious) and seeing MULEs go flying when I hit them with the truck. There were so many weapon options that I felt overstimulated by, and I didn’t find myself using them except when I was in a boss fight and players would throw them my way. Speaking of the boss fights, they were alright. Nothing crazy. The bosses physically look spectacular. My favorite of the game was the one-of-a-kind Higgs battle, which was an emotional climax in the game. I loved the way you had to throw shit at him, and how he slowly fell apart through the course of the fight.
BT encounters were always scary, and I either tried to sneak through or run through as fast as I could. They were so excellently executed.
Finally, the war zones were amazing setpieces and one of the biggest mysteries of the game. I enjoyed them not for the combat, but the story behind them.
Special mention: the idea of using Sam's blood as a weapon brings a whole new concept to offensive defense.
Gameplay / Content: 6.5 / 10
This is the lowest score in the review, and it pains me to give Death Stranding this score. Unfortunately I don’t think it’s fair to give it a score that is higher than this. The majority of gameplay is delivery / fetch quests, which I adamantly despise and I think are uncreative forms of content. That being said, these missions always felt more interesting than, say, Skyrim fetch quests. You were always working on the common goal of “Reconnecting America” and each delivery counted towards something. The resource management on your back and in vehicles was fun to interact with (and thank god for the Auto-Arrange feature), and walking was kept interesting with trying not to eat shit being a central goal that kept it engaging.
I raided maybe two MULE camps? It wasn’t something that really captured my interest, but it was neat that they put them in the game, and I appreciate the parallel between social media and the MULEs.
But it’s not all bad; I actually found myself really enjoying the gameplay loop later on, and loved gathering materials to create road systems and zip line routes. Every now and then I would do standard deliveries just for the heck of it!
After thinking on it for a while, I decided I wouldn’t attempt to platinum this game, because I would lose my patience doing repetitive deliveries, getting caught by BTs. The idea of sinking in 30 more hours doing the same exact thing just didn’t grasp me enough, and I didn’t have it in me to continue the game. As well, I didn’t want to tarnish my opinion of the game as a whole.
Traversal: 7 / 10
For a game with a central mechanic about traversal, it unfortunately doesn’t hit all the main notes. Vehicles, while fun, are very clunky to control and get “caught” on too many things. With that being said, I am a fan of the battery aspect and managing your cargo load / maximizing efficiency as to not run out of charge.
I actually look back on the mountain as one of my favorite gameplay parts of the game; while it was tedious to trek up the mountains, once I had a zip-line system connected it felt great to traverse. The excess amount of time you spend traveling I found I spent thinking; about the game, about life. It was a great change of pace to play something peaceful where I could let my mind wander. I often created theories in my mind or nerding out about the game while going from point to point, and it really allows the player to soak in the world.
The feeling of creating an entire zip-line connection or highway and zooming through it is such an accomplishment that I don’t get to feel often in games. I played without other people’s structures so I believe it made it feel that much more rewarding. Speaking of structures, they were a great addition that kept things fresh.
World: 8 / 10
This is a tough one, because the physical world is lackluster. But, the lore behind the world is incredible. I’ll speak on the physical world first; it is (maybe intentionally) barren and gray. There wasn’t much to look at for it all, but it did have a couple neat places - such as the mountain area (which was a pain to traverse) and the tar pit. Even so, I often found myself just looking around at the scenery. I was a fan of the different terrains that you had to overcome such as the rocky area east of the weather station, the large river, the mountains, and the open fields of the western area of the map. Each provided a different challenge to overcome.
I do wish that more central cutscenes occurred outside of the private room to add a bit of contrast.
The world building is so incredible. Repatriation and Dooms are such intriguing concepts, and one of the biggest mysteries of the game. The revelation that Amelie has caused Dooms by saving Sam was such an incredible twist and was a great “aha” moment. Also learning how repatriation was created was a jaw dropper.
The aspect of a Ha and Ka was intriguing and actually made a lot of sense, and was a great way to explore the afterlife and the concept of a soul.
The vast amount of different things going on in this game is incredible; timefall is a fantastic concept that is actualized immaculately. BTs are terrifying and mysterious. The nature of beaches and how they tie in so effortlessly to the story is excellent. Chiralium and the Chiral network are just zany enough to work. I love how the game is both grounded in reality, and yet completely outside of it.
A special world highlight is the supercells. Being taken to the different warzones where you truly have no idea what is going on within them is such a unique feeling. I loved all of those chapters of the game and they brought such intrigue and mystery to it; I was especially a fan of the parallel between the final warzone confrontation between Sam and Cliff and how that was the same scene as the end of the game.
Favorite Part
I have two favorite parts of this game:
The Sam / Cliff Revelation, and their final moment together. This was simply beautiful and the reveal was shocking. I almost cried, and I get goosebumps thinking about it. It has instantly become a classic moment in my mind of great video games, similar to that moment in RDR2 (you know which one if you’ve played it).
Die-Hardmans confession. The acting by Tommy Earl Jones in this scene was unmatched, and resulted in me having a great affinity for a character I didn’t think too much of before this point of the game. Seeing the behind the scenes moment for this scene gave me a great appreciation for him.
Special Mention: Low Roar
My other favorite part of this game is the music. Never have I heard more introspective pieces of music, with my favorites being “The Machine,” “Patience,” and “Bones.” I was greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Low Roar’s lead Ryan Karazija, and I hope he is at peace.
This music is something I needed at this point of my life, and has become an inspiration for my own music that I create. It encapsulated Hope in Despair. Karazija is a beautiful singer and the songs are some of the most moving pieces I have ever heard. Death Stranding moved me, but the music moved me even more. Thank you Low Roar.
And thank you, if you managed to make it through my entire sloppy review that I wrote in one draft. I have thoughts to make a video out of this review, but am unsure if I'm going to go through with it. Please play Death Stranding, as it is so much more than a "Walking Simulator."
ClarkGW
3 months ago