Death Stranding One of the only games at the show to stand toe-to-toe in hype with Final Fantasy VII Remake was gaming visionary Hideo Kojima’s first new game since his departure from Konami: Death Stranding. This game has drawn reactions of astonishment and bewilderment basically nonstop since it was announced back in 2016. It features the likenesses of Guillermo del Toro, Mads Mikkelsen, and Norman Reedus, as Reedus’ character Sam treks across post-apocalyptic America carrying a baby in an amniotic sack, fending off some sort of mysterious rain ghosts. If you’ve been following this game, you know I’m not making this up. Up until this point, no one was particularly sure what this game would even be. Kojima is well known for his beloved stealth-action series Metal Gear Solid, but the sparse gameplay clips of Death Stranding had so far only shown Sam walking along valleys, extending robo-ladders from his backpack to climb cliffs, and cautiously avoiding . . . the rain? At this year’s show, however, Kojima gave an hour-long stage demo of the game and, after watching it, I can finally say I think I know what it is. And what it is is very strange. The presentation starts with some typical Kojima weirdness as Sam wakes up from a nap on the ground, unzips his pants, and starts peeing away from the camera. A meter pops up beside him showing his bladder’s contents in milliliters quickly decreasing. Sam continues like this for 20 seconds or so, aiming the stream around in various directions until his bladderometer reaches zero. The realism of today’s games truly is awe-inspiring. Next, Kojima showed Sam carrying supplies across the wilderness. But there is much more to this act in terms of game mechanics than you would expect. Every piece of gear you give Sam to carry adds to a weight total, and shows up physically as another item on his back. If you stack them poorly, Sam’s center of balance (shown by a faint yellow circle under him), will be thrown off and it will be difficult to move and balance.
Balance is an important part of the game, it seems. The L and R buttons are dedicated to controlling Sam’s balance as he moves across the terrain. You have a variety of sensors to show you how treacherous different terrain is, from the steepness of slopes to the depth of rivers. If Sam stumbles or falls, his supplies can be damaged or lost. Kojima pauses to talk about what the “stranding” in the game’s title means. First, it implies the solitude of being “stranded.” Sam is alone throughout much of his adventure except for holograms, and of course his amniotic baby companion BB. However, “stranding” also refers to each player’s game world as one unique “strand” of a larger thread. And those strands can cross over. Kojima reveals the game will feature passive multiplayer features, somewhat similar to those of games like Dark Souls or No Man’s Sky. As you connect different geographical regions to an in-game network, you begin to see traces of other players’ Sams, like their footsteps, paths through the world, rest points, and most importantly, items. You can use things left behind by other players, like their ladders, shelters, and equipment. And of course you can also craft and leave things behind for them. You can even give other players “Likes” for the things they’ve left. Kojima reiterates these separate yet connected game instances are the titular “strands” of Death Stranding. The demo continues, and at one point Sam receives a harmonica for delivering some goods. He stops to rest and changes his shoes, massages his shoulders, and plays the harmonica for BB. This is all done through the player’s input rather than through a scripted cutscene. BB reacts positively to Sam’s harmonica playing and bestows him with a few Likes. Something more akin to a traditional Metal Gear Solid game finally appears as Sam encounters a camp of “Mules,” enemies who will try to steal your cargo (though not actually try to kill you). They have amassed a sizable collection of cargo in their camp taken from other players’ Sams. Our Sam proceeds to approach the Mules’ camp in a freeform stealth sequence reminiscent of Metal Gear Solid V. He is eventually spotted and the Mules
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