Death Stranding: Director’s Cut Review – Kojima’s Post-Metal Gear Opus Shines on Xbox

As a seasoned gamer with over two decades of gaming under my belt, I must confess that Death Stranding left me utterly bewildered and intrigued in equal measure. Hailing from the quirky mind of video game auteur Hideo Kojima, this title is an unparalleled oddity, akin to stumbling upon a David Lynch or Cronenberg film in the realm of gaming.

Initially playing Death Stranding may leave you puzzled about its purpose, but don’t worry, no pre-release details could fully prepare you for Hideo Kojima’s creation following Metal Gear. This game is unique and perplexing, but it’s also innovative, thought-provoking, and at times laborious. It rarely becomes dull; instead, its relevance has grown since its 2019 debut.

As Sam Porter Bridges, played by the ruggedly silent Norman Reedus, you are a delivery man tasked with reconnecting the fragmented ‘United Cities of America’ following the devastating event known as ‘Death Stranding’, which drastically changed the world. Your mission is to restore communication between Knot cities and unite the country. To accomplish this, you must travel to various locations including cities, distribution hubs, and survival shelters. Once there, you will connect these places to the ‘chiral network’ using your Q-pid pendant.

In a world where only scattered remnants of America remain, pockets of life persist amidst the encroachment of the realm of the deceased. This blurring of boundaries has resulted in strange, beached objects that are mysteriously connected to areas where an unusual kind of rain (timefall) perpetually falls, causing rapid decay. Preparation-minded individuals dwell on the outskirts and may require persuasion to join the UCA and the chiral network, which is where your delivery abilities would prove useful. Oh, do be prepared for a significant amount of technical terms and heavy dialogues, delivered by a peculiar cast, throughout Death Stranding. However, despite these challenges, this game offers an unfailingly captivating experience.

Labeling Death Stranding as simply a “walking simulator” significantly undersells its complexity – it’s actually a blend of various genres. While it does have elements of survival and shooting games, at its core, it’s a game about forging connections, a concept Hideo Kojima calls a ‘social strand’ game. Essentially, this gameplay mechanic revolves around building connections by constructing structures. If you admire something someone has built, you can express your appreciation by pressing the View button on your controller, which is equivalent to giving “likes”.

Whatever structures or belongings you or others in your world create will stay until they are deliberately taken apart or wear down over time. This process, called timefall, can harm your supplies, corrode your weapons and equipment, and weaken any constructions you’ve made. The decay of structures can be slowed by making repairs – a task that can be done collaboratively with other players – while supplies can be refurbished using a repair spray or timefall shelter. While it might seem bothersome, remember it encourages you to take care of your possessions and plan routes based on weather forecasts available on your map embedded in your handcuffs (Sam’s communication device).

Death Stranding is complex at first, with many aspects to grasp, but it swiftly feels familiar. Initially, navigating seems laborious – even climbing a rocky hill feels like work, however, once you begin connecting settlements to the chiral network, you gain the ability to manufacture gear from gathered resources and chiral crystals which greatly simplifies your journey. Important items such as power boosters, speed enhancers or all-terrain exoskeletons improve your movement, balance, and endurance significantly, but they’re drained by battery life. Ideally, someone will have set up a recharging generator in advance, or you’ll need to construct one yourself using a Portable Chiral Converter (PCC).

In Death Stranding, neither reverse trikes nor trucks handle the game’s rugged, rocky landscapes effectively, but they do offer faster transportation for cargo and travel between points A and B compared to walking. However, Sam’s boots wear out over time, so having a spare pair attached to your boot clip is advisable. By supplying enough materials and chiral crystals, you can create roads using the auto paver, which, coupled with bridges, significantly simplifies navigation. Ladders and ropes provide simpler ways to traverse treacherous areas, reducing the difficulty of long, challenging journeys somewhat. The game also features signs that players can leave, providing warnings about dangers, useful items, or offering quick stamina boosts or other benefits, reminiscent of Dark Souls.

Essentially, the core aspect of Death Stranding involves packing Sam with supplies and then journeying to facilities where the efficiency, quality, and quantity of your delivery are assessed. Over time, you’ll establish a stellar reputation as an exceptional courier, capable of delivering items to any location, regardless of whether it’s atop a towering mountain or nestled in a low valley.

In the latter stages of the game, certain tasks become extremely tough, requiring you to traverse large distances, often hindered by BTs which can only be defeated using specific strategies. At these times, a touch of survival horror stealth becomes crucial as BTs won’t detect you if you move quietly, necessitating holding your breath when they approach too closely, indicated by their ominous tar handprints. These instances are incredibly tense but may become frustrating later on, particularly when you’re striving to deliver an item undamaged to its destination. The challenge is that BTs are invisible unless scanned with your odradek (the small windmill device attached to your shoulder), connected to your reliable Bridge Baby (BB), or if they appear as a spectral silhouette made of swirling black ash when you get close enough.

As a fan, I find myself frequently dodging the relentless BTs, but MULES, these cunning terrorists, are always lurking, drawn to cargo like moths to a flame due to their insatiable greed for theft and hoarding. Eliminating them is not an option I’d consider, as it would only lead to more of them joining the horde of BTs wandering the earth. Fortunately, there are non-lethal alternatives available. I can sneak up on them and tie them up with ropes or knock them unconscious with rubber bullets instead. Interestingly, Sam is not bound by death; he’s a ‘repatriate,’ which means he possesses an extraordinary ability to resurrect indefinitely. Death, if it were to occur, would send him to the ‘seam.’ There, he can follow a golden thread back to the world of the living.

It’s clear that Death Stranding offers a vast and intricate experience. Summarizing and reviewing its complexity can be challenging, as it often involves potential spoilers. Yet, the artistic brilliance displayed throughout the game is undeniable. At times, the game may become frustratingly repetitive and laborious, but it swiftly regains your attention with its surreal atmosphere, stunning visuals, and engaging gameplay. Admittedly, the narrative is intricate and lengthy, mirroring Kojima’s signature long cut-scenes, but persevering until the end makes it worthwhile.

Could Death Stranding be considered a masterpiece? That’s debatable, but it’s undeniably a product of creative brilliance run amok. It showcases the vision of a video game auteur, who had the freedom to create whatever he desired, with a stellar cast featuring performances by Mads Mikkelsen, Lea Seydoux, Margaret Qualley, and Lindsay Wagner. The outcome is something that’s undeniably peculiar and unlike any other gaming experience you might have encountered. It’s evident that Kojima’s penchant for the unusual, so vividly displayed in the Metal Gear series, remains unabated – Death Stranding is a unique enigma, teeming with odd, unsettling, and indelible visuals that wouldn’t feel out of place in a David Lynch or David Cronenberg film. It’s a game that, on paper, might not seem promising, but it successfully pulls off its unusual elements, such as babies in jars, a character with a skull mask named ‘Die-Hardman’, and an ending that is typically lengthy yet manages to deliver a satisfying conclusion.

In this Director’s Cut version, you’ll find an abundance of additional content added to an already expansive game. Experience racing on the Fragile Circuit with time trials, discover new gadgets, and enjoy stunning 4K resolution at 60fps optimized for Xbox Series X|S. This enhanced visual experience might make Death Stranding the most visually impressive game on Microsoft’s console in a while. In essence, Death Stranding is truly unique and sets a new benchmark for delivery games since Paperboy.

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2024-11-12 17:12