Review | Death Stranding, my experience as Sam Porter Bridges

Three and a half years have passed since that day when Hideo Kojima took the stage of E3 and said: "I'm Back!"
It was a long and exhausting wait but in the end it happened: Death Stranding is among us.
I played it.
I have lived it.
I metabolized it.

 

My umbilical cord has remained attached for more than 50 hours to the PlayStation 4 console and I think it will stay there for a long time.

Death Stranding: here is the verdict

At the top of the page I have schematically collected my opinions on the first product of the new Kojima Productions. Satisfied with the vote, you can stop here at Capital Knot City, close the page and go back to flaming on social networks. In this way, however, you would deprive yourself of an exciting journey in a review that will clarify many of your doubts. The choice is yours, however I will wait for you on the ̶b̶a̶c̶h̶e̶c̶a̶ ̶d̶i̶ ̶F̶a̶c̶e̶b̶o̶o̶k̶ beach.

If you are still here thank you, it matters a lot to me, it matters a lot to the Player staff. In the age of social media, where everyone gives themselves to sentiment, it is important that you also read the opinions of others and I am aware that mine will be neither the first nor the last and it is not even said that it is the closest to the your yardstick and your sensitivity. What I try to do in this review is to convey my feelings to you, what I felt, I perceived, I lived in Social Strand Game of the teacher.

Simply, going beyond what I have repeatedly called "the festival of hype, memes, mystery and Kojimian fanaticism", I try to explain to you why Death Stranding is an important title for the gaming industry and why it will be talked about for years to come.

The review is divided into three parts: in the first I make a very small reference to the plot but it will be completely spoiler free. In the second I will do more spoilers, delving into some game mechanics while the third will be a brief highly spoiler-worthy reflection.

Is Death Stranding a walking simulator? (Elementary plot spoiler)

I cannot introduce the matter to you without a minimum synopsis. You can rest assured, it's not spoiled (unlike the launch trailer). You play as Sam Porter Bridges (played by Norman Reedus) who in a post-apocalyptic future, in a fragmented society, is a courier and has the task of reconnecting the United Cities of America under one large network, the "Rete Chirale".

To carry out this feat, Sam will always carry two fundamental elements with him: the Q-Pid, a key to connect the network, and a strange capsule containing a live fetus that we will also have to take care of. Its use? Well, be patient, it's spoiler.

In the game you travel from one coast to another of the nation to join the chiral nodes and in the meantime you make deliveries for the various inhabitants at the end of which you receive a rating and likes, but not those you see on your Facebook posts ̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶ ̶I̶n̶s̶t̶a̶g̶r̶a̶m̶, they are here intended as a real currency. Deliveries include the most disparate orders: they can be construction materials, objects of common use, medicines and food.

Hence, the jokes, the memes, the much spammed "walking simulator" or "Poste simulator" if we want to make fun even more. In the memetic context I had a lot of fun with each release of the trailers, you who follow me know that. If you don't follow me you are a bad person.

However, pad in hand I have to be serious, critical: there is no such thing in the world that I define the gameplay of Death Stranding as a "walking simulator". It would be inappropriate. As if a politician signs up on Tik-Tok.

Kojima Production's game has the great merit of transforming the most basic type of mission, the fetch quest, literally the delivery of an object from one point to another on the map, into something new, satisfying, interesting, dynamic.

The apocalyptic world of Death Stranding hides many pitfalls, ranging from the common unevenness of the ground such as mountains, cavities or rivers, to adverse weather conditions, to "Mules", real cargo thieves, up to the CA, menacing creatures that do not belong to this world. All inconveniences that in addition to "killing you" could cause damage, destroy or lead to the loss of your cargo.

You understand right away that it is not simply a matter of moving from point A to point B, there is much more. Walking itself becomes something different, rewritten from scratch. Sam's movements are realistic, believable. You don't control a "Super Mario", you don't jump, you don't sprint endlessly. It's all pretty damn realistic. The protagonist consumes vigor, therefore he loses his balance, staggers, stumbles and we players absolutely perceive the fatigue.

The input is also functional, with the L2 and R2 keys corresponding respectively to the left and right arms, they are used to pick up objects with the hands or to balance the load in case this is too unbalanced.

In this regard, I want to talk to you about load management: you have to distribute the weight of the objects to be transported throughout Sam's body. You are free to choose whether to put everything in the backpack on your back, to carry something by hand or to place part of the load on your shoulders, on the special hooks of the suit.

There is no object that does not have weight and you must carefully choose how to arrange them and what to carry. Also because, given the obstacles listed above, the load is not your only need.

You are therefore forced to bring with you equipment such as ladders, ropes, CCP (in short, a technology that literally prints buildings) and weapons (I'll talk about the latter later) to place them in the game world. In this way you facilitate your travels and also those of someone else (I refer you to the next paragraph).

Death Stranding: we are all connected (Asynchronous multiplayer)

Death Stranding is a single player game that integrates perfectly with asynchronous multiplayer. What does it mean?

Do you deliver, but what if you lose your cargo? Another player can deliver it for you and in the same way you can do with the lost loads of others. Your altruism will be rewarded with likes.

This principle also works with signs and objects: similar to what happens in a Dark Souls, you can place signs to give information or warn of a danger to other players. Anyone who uses them automatically gives you a like and has the ability to add more within a short time limit.

Similarly, if you place a ladder to overcome a relief or a flood in your game, you will cause it to spawn in other players' games as well.

I don't stop there: if you are in an area connected to the Chirale Network you can build objects, buildings and infrastructures such as a post box, a watchtower, a shelter or even a bridge. The first will be buildable right away, only with CCPs and will be immediately usable by other players who, also in this case, will be able to reciprocate the favor with likes.

Constructions such as bridges or highways will also require cooperation between multiple players to complete. Everyone is free to enter the number of resources they prefer (provided they have them available) to contribute.

The way you view loads and other players' items and buildings is random, not based on your friends list, nor are there any advanced forms of communication. The other players, by the way they do not physically appear in your game. The perception you have is therefore that of a solo adventure where you can only see the footprints of other users, entities foreign to you but to which you are still somehow connected.

So, is this Death Stranding fun? The concrete feeling of progression in an adventure shaped by us (and by others)

What really matters in a game? To have fun or to bring emotions to life? Death Stranding is amusing in many places, in others it gives you enormous stress. For me, overcoming almost impossible journeys, such as that of a high mountain was tiring but it was an unforgettable videogame experience. I felt it, it was true, tangible, as in a few titles of this medium.

Not touched with a pad, Death Stranding might appear repetitive but trust me: the feeling of progression brought by the connection of a new node, a new delivery (whether main, secondary or to help someone) or construction made me feel satisfied. This is not only for the likes, but also because each completed delivery often leads to the unlocking of new objects, new possibilities. The way of playing is constantly renewed and I am convinced that no game is similar to the others. As I already told you, it took me about fifty hours to complete it, but don't look at the clock: time is really the most relative thing.

And then the three-wheeled motorcycle arrived. She completely upset my routes: she speeded them up and redesigned the trips that I would also have made on foot. Slower journeys where, however, I would have paid more attention to the constructions of the other players and in the same way, with good probability, I would have also made my own.

At one point in fact I decided to give up everything, go back on foot and start building highways, not caring about the review to be done in a hurry.

A long time later I even realize that there is an even faster way to get around, but I won't tell you. These feelings of contentment and freedom and the obsessive attention to detail are in my opinion the strong points of the Death Stranding gameplay, a gameplay that I loved, adored. Not absolutely monotonous and quiet gameplay: I can assure you that it also shoots, but I'll tell you about it after.

A gameplay that, however, also has slow, reflective, experimental phases, especially at the beginning. For this reason I am aware that it cannot be appreciated by everyone. It turned out that such a game design either you love it or you hate it.
Alpha or Omega.
White or black.
Sword or Shield. No, ok, let's not go offtopic.

Here is also the explanation of the so polarized valuations behind this title.

It is also true that there are small defects, small nuances that I did not like but are absolutely negligible. I can mention them all in one line: artificial intelligence not always brilliant, vehicle performance not always optimized (and I would like to see, we are talking about a very varied terrain) and the lack of intuitiveness of the menu interface in the first hours of the game. Nothing, however, that cannot be filled with a little practice.

Needless to say, Kojima himself pointed out, that playing offline only would not only lose a lot, it would even be distorted.

I do not intend to proceed further on the game mechanics in this section. I will set out to deepen everything in the spoiled part of the review.

The narrative power of Death Stranding (no, it's not an interactive movie)

In the titles of Kojima and his Kojima Productions the fear of the public (and maybe yours too) is that of having to deal with “interactive films”. I want to tell you a secret: it's not true, it's a lie. Excluding Metal Gear Solid 4, the balance between gameplay and cutscene was always good.

Here, in Death Stranding it is no exception. We play, a lot, quiet! The nine and a half hours of cutscene are well distributed throughout the game time. The first two hours of play and the final climax are exceptions.

However, we are talking about script and acting of the highest level. Each cutscene is a small masterpiece and conveys very strong emotions. I do not deny that I have been moved more than once by the stories of characters that three minutes before I did not even know. If in the gameplay there is that subjective aspect that you may like or not, in the context of storytelling we are faced with something that reaches perfection, a writing with many interpretations that we will discuss at length.

I already know what you are thinking, what you fear. I am especially referring to you, Metal Gear Solid fans who were disappointed with the truncated plot of The Phantom Pain. Don't worry, here it all comes back. Everything is connected, there are no plot holes. Everything flows like a raging river and this thing made me really happy.

In case you didn't know, the cast of Death Stranding has a lot of movie stars. I have already mentioned Norman Reedus but there are also Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal the series), director Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape of Water, The Labyrinth of the Faun), Margaret Qualley (from Inglourious Basterds), Lindsay Wagner (The Bionic Woman ) and other old acquaintances of Kojima such as Troy Baker (Ocelot in MGS V).

Technically the best on PlayStation 4, but the sound is not far behind

Death Stranding has an excellent graphics sector. The game runs on a modified version of the Decima Engine, made by the Guerilla Games (those of Horizon: Zero Dawn). I spent hours and hours observing the exciting photorealistic gameplay landscapes and I was really amazed by the quality of the object and character models, as well as that of their animations. The compliment should also be given to those who took care of the design of the semi-open world game world and its particular aesthetic that often winks at the Lovecraftian.

In some circumstances the environments are dynamic, sometimes even in an exaggerated way, entire game scenes can drastically change, they turn into something else without any feedback on the framerate. Uploads are frequent, but not too long.

A compliment should also be given to those who took care of the sound design and the soundtrack, composed mostly of pre-existing songs by artists such as Low Roar and Apocalyptica. There are also some artists that I deeply despise but I don't blame anyone, I can always unplug the headphones.

Death Stranding: is it for me or not?

Wait a minute, I have to tell everyone this, sorry.

Ultimately, what do I feel like saying to the recipients of this first part of the review, those who have not played the title and are undecided about its purchase? Because yes, for consumers € 70 is always € 70 and a purchase with your eyes closed should never be done. My advice is: try it from someone, a friend, maybe and don't trust the gameplay too much (even if I'm making one myself). However, you will not be able to understand it until you have touched it with the pad.

I'm back, let's continue with the spoiler part, I have only scratched the surface of what is a much longer speech. If you haven't played the game and you don't want to anticipate anything, go away, buy the game and come back here when you're done.

Are you still here? Did you play the game or don't give a damn about spoilers? Actually no, don't tell me, it comes more natural to explain everything to you. Let's proceed!

 

The World After Death Stranding (Medium Plot Spoiler)

What is Death Stranding? Since we are in the spoiler area (however content) I can finally answer you!

The phenomenon that gives the game its name is a catastrophic event, a huge explosion that gave rise to a series of chain events that brought death and destruction but also to the superimposition of our world and that of the dead. A world that until then was unexplored, not tangible.

After the Death Stranding, humanity, taking refuge in underground cities, becomes aware of the beaches, the otherworldly places of passage connected to one's soul (in the title we use the binomial Ha for the body and Ka for the soul) in which particular individuals I am able to go in and out. The skill of these people is named “DOOMS” and it is of a different level from person to person.

Sam is not only gifted with this ability but is also able to literally "resurface" die and return to the world of the living.

Beaches and DOOMS aren't the only news: a new material is discovered, “Obamium”. No sorry, forgive me, that's the meme this afternoon, the "Chiralium". What we commonly call "dark matter".

The catastrophe has also changed the ecosystem of the planet, the very laws of physics are altered. Now the rain, due to the high density of chiral matter contained in it, accelerates the time of the objects and organisms it touches. It therefore takes the name of "Cronopioggia".

The Bridge Baby, the tool to connect to the hereafter and see the stranded creatures

Particular entities are linked to this phenomenon. In fact, if you wander specially equipped with a hood (otherwise you get old and get sick) you will surely come across the fearsome CA, literally Stranded Creatures. In English we say BT, you can't imagine the jokes with this acronym and I'm not even explaining them to you, get there.

ACs are generated from people's corpses, each decaying corpse emanating a large amount of chiral matter. Therefore, it begins to time and the CAs appear. This is probably what always happens to Lucca Comics.

If humans with DOOMS are able to travel from the realm of the living to the beach, the CAs are able to return from the realm of the dead to our world to ruin our expedition.

Imagine having to cross an already very steep territory. Then it starts to rain and these CAs appear that do not see or hear you but perceive your breath and want to drag you into the realm of the dead making you lose all the packages.

The worst part is that they are invisible but quiet, you can identify them! Remember the fetus in the glass jar? What do you always carry with you? Well it's considered an instrument and it's called BB, Bridge Baby, and there's a reason why you bring it to you: it's connected to a strange piece of equipment called Odradek.

The Odradek tells you the location of the CAs and makes them visible for a short time. As soon as you see them press R1 to hold your breath, if you're lucky they won't notice you!

In my game I happened to meet them several times. They were among the strongest moments of my travels. Around me the ever-growing grass from their rain, the metallic sound of the Odradek that almost reminded me of a dentist's drill and those damned CAs staring at me. Meanwhile, the terror of losing my packages, which I have jealously guarded for the entire itinerary.

The fight against the stranded creatures

What happens if they kidnap you? A visually very cool thing and that's what I was telling you when I was talking about drastic changes of scene. If you are "grabbed" by the CAs below you it is created a sea of ​​tar. Here you can try to escape, if you fail and lose your balance, in addition to throwing a lot of curses you are transported to a Super Smash Bros Ultimate arena.

No, I'm kidding, you are transported to an arena where the CAs merge and create a creation that is very reminiscent of the beasts of HP Lovecraft's imagination. At this point you can either escape from the surrounding area or face it, with grenades and ammo done of your own blood or pee, or poo.

I'm not ironic, I'm serious!
Kojima pazzo, Kojima genio!

Aesthetically these areas are fantastic, destroyed buildings emerge from the tar that you use as strategic points to shoot the beast CA. They are very hectic phases in which you will find yourself in front of a very different gameplay compared to your "quiet" walks. You do not care about the load, if it falls or if you lose it. Here it is important to survive.

Sure, if you die you come back to life as Krillin from Dragonball (man, yes I included Dragonball in my review, now for the strange laws of the internet it will be the most read) but the cost is a huge void (crater) that stays for a long time in the game map ed clear all buildings in the area.

To wrap up the discussion on CAs, there are individuals with DOOMS who have a strong bond with the afterlife and are able to control it. One example is Higgs (Troy Baker) who is part of the terrorist organization Homini Demens. He is able to bring them together and create the beasts I just told you about. I don't want to tell you more as here too there is a limit with spoilers.

The donkeys, when delivering packages becomes an addiction

As if that were not enough, in this chaotic world of Death Stranding you will find yourself in front of the donkeys who are nothing more than couriers addicted to the practice of delivering packages. For this reason, if you pass in their areas they will try to KO you to steal them and then keep them in custody in their camp. As you will have understood, your packages can end up there, but you can also retrieve those of others and deliver them for them.

The fascinating, brilliant thing is that neither you nor they can kill you. A single death would cause the birth of CA and therefore the risk of void. The ingenious gameplay of this game therefore forced me to adopt non-lethal tactics against these individuals such as going stealth or using the shooter to trap and then stun the poor forklifts.

The war zones, re-enactments of past scenarios

In certain chapters of the game you are thrown into past war scenarios, such as First, Second World War and Vietnam. Without a doubt I tell you that they have a majestic, fearful aesthetic, stuff never seen in a video game.

Cliff (Mads Mikkelsen), a mysterious man who is able to control an army of undead (other than the common CA) ready to shoot you. In these phases you will find yourself in front of a real shooter.

I still haven't figured out if I prefer these stages or those against CA beasts. One thing is sure, in both cases the game design and the level design are something masterful. The adaptability of the mechanics that the game has, in passing from one phase to another is just as incredible: a minute ago I was carrying packages, now I'm in the trenches fighting ghosts of war. But what are we talking about?

Death Stranding, in conclusion, reflections on the first independent project of Kojima Productions

That of Death Stranding is a big bet, a bet that I admit I didn't believe 100%. But then I changed my mind. Kojima, orphan of his Metal Gear for reasons that we all know, has arbitrarily decided to bet on a game with atypical gameplay, almost indie which cannot be appreciated by everyone. He could do the usual tps, the usual easy game. But no.

For me and many it works, for others it doesn't. In any case, the impression of being confronted is common to something huge (and I'm not talking about Oznerol) realized, I want to remember, in just three and a half years.

You will also tell me what you think of Death Stranding in the Facebook comments.

One thing is sure, I'm sure: in ten years we will talk about this game again, we will be able to see if it will actually be a masterpiece (it's too early to tell) and how it has changed the gaming market.

Credits

Hideo Kojima Game
Bla bla bla

Ok, now comes the final reflective part, the one with the big spoilers. If like me you have played the game and until now you have read only to compare my vision I was pleased and I would be happy if you continue. Alternatively, stop. Don't spoil the experience, please!

Death Stranding: what are its messages and why I believe it represents the maturity of the videogame medium

As I mentioned before, Death Stranding has several interpretations. It would take me ages to explain them all by making parallels with many other videogame and non-videogame works.

First of all I just want to emphasize one thing. Death Stranding is not a political game in a concrete sense.

No, it is not an Anti Trump and Anti Brexit game, I have not seen this. And whoever says it forces the message of the Kojima team. The game designer took those examples in his interview but his speech is much more abstract and general. The same scenario, the UCA is just one example valid for each country. I would also see our Italy well.

Death Stranding is a game about loneliness and human relationships. It reminded me a lot of Evangelion and in my opinion there are also some references wanted in the final part.

A game that criticizes the incorrect use of social networks, its addiction (what are donkeys if a clear example of how some subjects desperately seek approval with the likes of other people?)

In reverse pushes to collaborate with others, to be selfless in a disinterested way for the sole purpose of pushing us to improve ourselves. This aspect struck me a lot: it is very simple but also very effective.

Death Stranding is a game in which the protagonist who suffers from haptophobia manages to reintegrate into the human and family relationship. The maternal figure, a bipartite entity which is capable of causing a mass extinction, the Last Stranding, but who can sacrifice himself and cancel everything with a gesture of love, a hug.

Then there is the father, Cliff, a reckless man of war who redeems himself at the point of death, the moment his son is born. A moment that reminded me a lot of the reconciliation between Big Boss and Solid Snake at the end of Metal Gear Solid 4, but in a different way.

In line with MGS, here too we speak of heredity as a species, of collective memory, but also of the individual, as a gene but with stronger images.

The final moment, the birth of BB-28, Louise, a child who was initially considered an instrument destined to be replaced,  it's the most positive message I've ever seen in a video game. I felt it with unprecedented strength after all those hours of gameplay.

At this point I challenge anyone to say that Death Stranding is a walking simulator or that the videogame medium is not as expressive as cinema and once again I invite you to get closer to this work. If you are here reading my lines, you probably did. Congratulations!