Death Stranding Review (Xbox, PlayStation & PC)

Hideo Kojima is a lot like the weird uncle at a reunion — strange, unorthodox, yet also the most interesting person in the room. If you take a moment to engage in some form of conversation, then you can either expect an hour-long tale about something that makes little to no sense to you whatsoever, or, if you’re lucky, an idea that sounds absurd on paper, yet somehow manages to pique your interest and make you want to learn more about it. Death Stranding isn’t all that different, in that it comes across as a ludicrous idea on paper, yet the more you talk about it, the more you want to know about its secrets and, more importantly, how it would look in a digital world.

“It’s a UPS simulator in a post-apocalyptic setting,” was the general consensus after its launch — and that turned out to be, well, on the nose, sort of. But, Death Stranding was always destined to be a tough sell, not because it lacked the wow factor of a huge open-world sandbox, but because it didn’t make an effort to tease the advantages of playing it before it hit the shelves. It just sort of bowed its head and openly stated that, if you had a lifelong fondness of Kojima, then you would probably enjoy Death Stranding. Like a cat with a laser pen, then, most people found themselves chasing the red dot without thinking twice about what lurked on the other side of the room. For the longest time, nobody knew what Death Stranding was, if not a love letter to postal workers and a representative for Monster Energy. As it turned out, though, it was a lot more than a UPS simulator. It was, weirdly, a striking cinematic experience that had a lot more to offer than a mindless slog through a barren wasteland.

Death Stranding isn’t really a game that you can walk into with the intention of enjoying without knowing what looms on the other side of its beefy campaign. It’s a game that forces you to chase a carrot on the end of a stick, but also one that yanks it away just as soon as you get within spitting distance of it to take a well-needed nibble. An hour will pass, and then another four will vanish in the blink of an eye, yet you won’t ever come close to taking a bite out of it, for it always finds another way to keep you venturing just that extra mile. You’ll volley back and forth, and sure enough, you’ll develop a love-hate relationship with Sam Bridges and the art of cargo hauling. You will also gain a hatred towards ladders, water, and just about everything that fleshes out a seemingly desolate world. And yet, you will come to realize that, the more you subject yourself to the pantomime that is Death Stranding, the less likely you are to abandon ship and leave it dangling in the wind.

The game itself forces you to acknowledge and come to terms with the fact that, beautiful post-apocalyptic setting cast aside, the journey ahead will feel like the loneliest trek you will ever make. With a scarcity of interactions with NPCs and a depressing atmosphere that feels barren and devoid of human spirit, it forces you to “be your own best friend” as you mindlessly travel back and forth across enormous distances, lofting cargo on your shoulders and finding the means to restore faith in a world without a beating heart. You aren’t the hero of the story; you are, whether you like it or not, the porter who just so happens to possess the keys to rebuilding the tapestry and restoring a link between faraway settlements. The sad part is, you have nobody to guide you through the process other than a newborn in an incubator who, in a nutshell, serves primarily to warn you about any supernatural phenomena in the vicinity of your route. But other than that, it’s just you, a stack of boxes, and a lonely road.

Of course, Death Stranding isn’t just about hauling cargo to and from settlements; it’s about calculating your risks, mapping routes, balancing inventory, and building a repertoire of tools to aid your frequent encounters with the unknown. For example, if you find yourself with the monumental task of trekking across the map with more cargo than you can handle, then you may need to decide whether or not to make sacrifices to aid your journey. Will you need a ladder to cross that horrifying ravine, or will you be able to find an alternate route? Can you push yourself to the brink of death without the aid of an exoskeleton? Do you have enough stamina-boosting drinks to keep you from stumbling when the going gets tough? In Death Stranding, almost everything you do requires some level of patience and blind faith. And here’s the bitter truth: it isn’t for everyone.

Although Death Stranding does make an effort every once in a blue moon to season your expedition with the occasional cinematic or plot twist, boss battle or stealth segment, the experience is, in short, exactly what you think it is: a third-person walking simulator with supernatural elements. It’s a sci-fi thriller, a chore core sim, as well as an all-around oddball flick that doesn’t often make the slightest bit of sense. To that end, it is somewhat difficult to recommend it to everyone, as it isn’t really a game that you can explain. It’s grueling work for the idle hands—a repetitive slog that often rewards you for your commitment to retracing the same steps hundreds of times over. Is it always worth the trek? No. Yet, Kojima has an awful habit of leaving the best moments until you reach the home stretch. I’d hate to spoil it, but to be honest — yes, in the long run, Death Stranding is a worthy investment. It’s just a shame that you have to jump through a thousand hoops before reaping the fruits of your labor. Thanks, Kojima.

Verdict

Death Stranding isn’t so much a video game as it is a cinematic pantomime with perplexing infusions that only the likes of Hideo Kojima could chalk up to rock the apple cart. Granted, it isn’t the most exciting IP on the block, and it certainly isn’t one that will attract the eyes of everyone in the room, for that matter. That being said, it is an experience that leaves a lot to the imagination, as per the Kojima mantra. It’s a strange ordeal that, while still ridiculously repetitive and often depressing, still finds ways to deliver an entertaining experience that can keep even the itchiest trigger fingers trekking for hours. Maybe it’s Kojima, or maybe it’s the fact that it hides a lot more than it lets on. Either way, I think we can all agree that Death Stranding is a one-of-a-kind affair that you’ll either love or loathe. The question is, how far are you willing to travel to find out which emotion resonates with you most?