Death Stranding Unsurprisingly Looks Bonkers

It’s a testament to Hideo Kojima’s status as a game director and writer that the new Kojima Productions could wait so long to show gameplay for Death Stranding without fans (figuratively) rioting. It’s been around three-and-a-half years since the developer was established, though they spent a good chunk of that time hiring new staff after leaving Konami. But it helped that the journey to the reveal was entertaining, with trailers and teases from Kojima himself that continually usurped each other in how bizarre they could be. The trailers made the last batch of Metal Gear Solid V previews seem grounded in comparison, and it was easy to wonder whether an actual video game was being advertised instead of an interactive movie given the lack of gameplay.

The game had to be shown sometime, considering Kojipro and Sony have been providing trailers with very vague hints about its narrative since E3 2016 just under three years ago. This Pre-E3 2019 season was one of the best times to showcase the project, considering Sony won’t be in attendance at the show proper this year. The teases for this trailer were leading to something big, given the sheer amount of them that came from the Twitter accounts of Kojima and other actors and production staff involved.

The new trailer wasted little time confirming the setting as the United States, with main character Sam Porter Bridges, played by Norman Reedus, speaking to the President of the United States by her bedside. The scene confirms the dire state the country, a condition that extends to the world as it exists in the game, with Bridges feeling that everything’s beyond hope. The condition was triggered by a series of mysterious explosions that happened across the world, which gave rise to supernatural events known as Death Stranding. The game will be about bringing the country, and perhaps the world, back together, and healing the divisions that manifested as a result of the aforementioned occurrence.

Given the divisions that currently exist in the United States, the story sounds like an allegory to the current times. But it could also be referencing other eras and events in history. Anyone familiar with Kojima’s past in the Metal Gear series should be used to his games having political allegories, which appear to be getting less subtle with each passing project.

Also, none of the current story details even hint at why Sam and others are carrying babies in pods around as part of his travel gear, who are apparently capable of providing thumbs-up animations. Perhaps we’ll learn why in the months to come, but they’ll save some twists for the final game.

The trailer and details also provided a new glimpse at the gameplay. A good part of the quest will entail travelling around a ravaged world, which involves searching for a way through obstacles by using Sam’s equipment or by taking different paths while travelling to a destination. Sam will have to balance his cargo well in order to travel efficiently, as carrying too much will result in him toppling over. He’ll also have to watch out for bandits that want to steal his equipment. The quest to mend a broken world will also involve helping other players through asynchronous multiplayer features, where supplies can be sent and safehouses can be shared with others. It doesn’t sound like it will have full-blown multiplayer, since the game has a story to tell.

Heck, the story was bound to be the focus given the top talent involved. In addition to Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, Lindsay Wagner (de-aged to resemble her late 70s Bionic Woman-era self), Tommie Earl Jenkins, Guillermo Del Toro (though he didn’t provide voice and motion capture work due to his schedule), Nicolas Winding Refn (same as Del Toro), and Troy Baker (who was also in MGSV as Ocelot) were previously confirmed. The newest trailer showed Margaret Qualley for the first time, who will play Mama — no relation to Big Mama, I’m sure. This is a hell of a cast they’ve assembled, and should make for the closest Kojima’s come to becoming an auteur.

Since this is a AAA game, it will unsurprisingly have combat. Among the main enemies are the Homo Demens, guys who wear hazmat-like suits who attack Sam if he’s spotted — similar to guards in a Metal Gear game. In combat, Sam can attack, dodge, or shoot if he’s armed. Other enemies will be of the supernatural non-human variety. The details suggest killing the enemy is rarely the answer, meaning non-lethal play is encouraged. This could hint at a segment that makes the player feel guilty if they’ve enjoyed all the killing, similar to the battle (or “battle,” depending on your perspective) with The Sorrow in Metal Gear Solid 3.

In another neat feature: The player won’t receive a “Game Over” if Sam falls in battle or in another scenario. He’ll instead awaken in a purgatorial location referred to as “the other side” in the trailers, which resembles a hell on Earth, so he can find his way back to the living world. It looks like a location out of Apocalypse Now, complete with a reference to boot.

The new Death Stranding trailer is the clearest look at the game we’ve seen thus far, but it continues the trend established in prior previews in showcasing how out-there bizarre this game will be. But that’s a good thing. Not every game should be conventional for the sake of it, and more games should seek to challenge common perceptions of what a video game should be, especially in the AAA realm. I’ve seen criticism for its weirdness, from commenters saying Kojima must be on drugs — which usually comes from people who’ve never tried drugs. This isn’t to say Kojima always nails bizarre themes and aesthetics whenever he attempts them, but experimentation is welcome in the predictable world of big-budget titles.

In fact, this game will mark a good chance for Kojima to stretch his wings again, as it’s the first non-Metal Gear title he’ll be intimately involved with since adventure game Policenauts, which released in Japan (and Japan-only, though a fan translation exists) 25 years ago in 1994. This is outside merely serving as a producer for the Zone of the Enders games and designing the first Boktai title. Thank goodness he’s been freed from Konami’s clutches.

Death Stranding will arrive for PlayStation 4 on November 8th, earlier than many expected. We should see regular gameplay previews from here on, though don’t expect one from E3 in less than two weeks. The previews have been delightfully bizarre, so savor them while you still can.