Death Stranding
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 7:50 am
This PS4 exclusive, now playable on PC, was released a couple of years ago to much acclaim and I was pleased to pick up a copy recently for a few quid in a second hand store.
The game, made by respected game designer Hideo Kojima (also responsible for the Metal Gear series) is a strange and unearthly telling, reminiscent of the type of atmosphere encountered in the works of H P Lovecraft.
It's a third person survival game, open world I suppose you'd describe it, in which you play the role of Sam Porter Bridges, a so-called 'porter' whose job it is to deliver technical parts and other supplies to isolated surviving communities across a desolated United States. With the help of a pre-birth foetus that is able to see otherwise invisible creatures that feed upon the remaining people with hideous effects. When in contact with these other dimensional beings, and if unable to avoid or hide from them via stealth, very weird things start to happen indeed (think inter-dimensional sea-slugs bursting out of oil-spills in a landscape that twists and sinks like Krakatoa on cocaine) and one has to wade and jump and bolt for all one is worth in order to survive.
The game is playable in the offline mode, but really comes into its own when utilising an online connection, due to the ability of players to help eachother by leaving bridges, roaps and even roads to facilitate travel across the otherwise difficult and dangerous terrain. The interaction between players is limited to these structures and aids, but it is possible to leave nods of thanks and little messages which are scattered around and discovered as you play.
Sam is often on foot with an excessive amount of cargo strapped to his body, and just as one would in real life, he must adjust and balance his gear to best effect if he is not going to fall down or indeed collapse with exhaustion as he makes his rounds. Things are not helped by the frequent squalls of highly corrosive rain which has the property of rapidly aging any surface it lands upon (except apparently the plants and trees of the world), consequently ruining his gear. The recipients of his deliveries are not best pleased if their orders are in poor shape upon receiving them, and the system of 'likes' upon which progress is made is not thereby optimised.
It's a strange desolate game with a beautiful sound-track (really beautiful) and is story driven to a much higher degree than most other games. There are long and involved cut-scenes which gradually unfold into Sam's story (though open world, this is no RPG in the sense that you have control over the character you build - a bit like the Witcher really on this score (Geralt is Geralt really, choose what you do with him) - but these are engaging and solid and make the entire thing hang together in a way that might not otherwise work.
I'm not sure that Death Stranding is going to be everyone's cup of tea. I'm a few days into it and am really still very much at sea with the whole thing (my eyes are not good and with a game that has lots of small fine print in terms of the details given, this is proving a bit of a problem), but will certainly persevere for a while yet. I like the feel of the terrain and where some have complained about the lack of 'exploration' capabilities (in that there is nothing really to discover in the way of treasure or hidden tombs etc) for me the beauty and grandeur of the landscape is enough. You can fast travel later in the game (I read), but this would really defeat the purpose of the exercise. There are vehicles to play around in (yesterday I got my first motor trike and promptly bashed it to scrap, or near-abouts) and how much time you spend in these remains to be seen. There is a bizzare product placement of green Monster energy drink in Sam's private rooms - the cans are identical to the ones we sell in our shop - and you can drink them to refill your energy stats at will.
So far I'm about seven or eight hours into the play and am having fun, despite being totally confused most of the time and hopelessly out of my depth. My games nearly always start this way - I'm constantly having to go to YouTube to search out how to do this, or make that - but I gradually get there and Death Stranding is proving no different. But all in all, for the ten quid it cost me, the sound track alone has been worth the bung.
The game, made by respected game designer Hideo Kojima (also responsible for the Metal Gear series) is a strange and unearthly telling, reminiscent of the type of atmosphere encountered in the works of H P Lovecraft.
It's a third person survival game, open world I suppose you'd describe it, in which you play the role of Sam Porter Bridges, a so-called 'porter' whose job it is to deliver technical parts and other supplies to isolated surviving communities across a desolated United States. With the help of a pre-birth foetus that is able to see otherwise invisible creatures that feed upon the remaining people with hideous effects. When in contact with these other dimensional beings, and if unable to avoid or hide from them via stealth, very weird things start to happen indeed (think inter-dimensional sea-slugs bursting out of oil-spills in a landscape that twists and sinks like Krakatoa on cocaine) and one has to wade and jump and bolt for all one is worth in order to survive.
The game is playable in the offline mode, but really comes into its own when utilising an online connection, due to the ability of players to help eachother by leaving bridges, roaps and even roads to facilitate travel across the otherwise difficult and dangerous terrain. The interaction between players is limited to these structures and aids, but it is possible to leave nods of thanks and little messages which are scattered around and discovered as you play.
Sam is often on foot with an excessive amount of cargo strapped to his body, and just as one would in real life, he must adjust and balance his gear to best effect if he is not going to fall down or indeed collapse with exhaustion as he makes his rounds. Things are not helped by the frequent squalls of highly corrosive rain which has the property of rapidly aging any surface it lands upon (except apparently the plants and trees of the world), consequently ruining his gear. The recipients of his deliveries are not best pleased if their orders are in poor shape upon receiving them, and the system of 'likes' upon which progress is made is not thereby optimised.
It's a strange desolate game with a beautiful sound-track (really beautiful) and is story driven to a much higher degree than most other games. There are long and involved cut-scenes which gradually unfold into Sam's story (though open world, this is no RPG in the sense that you have control over the character you build - a bit like the Witcher really on this score (Geralt is Geralt really, choose what you do with him) - but these are engaging and solid and make the entire thing hang together in a way that might not otherwise work.
I'm not sure that Death Stranding is going to be everyone's cup of tea. I'm a few days into it and am really still very much at sea with the whole thing (my eyes are not good and with a game that has lots of small fine print in terms of the details given, this is proving a bit of a problem), but will certainly persevere for a while yet. I like the feel of the terrain and where some have complained about the lack of 'exploration' capabilities (in that there is nothing really to discover in the way of treasure or hidden tombs etc) for me the beauty and grandeur of the landscape is enough. You can fast travel later in the game (I read), but this would really defeat the purpose of the exercise. There are vehicles to play around in (yesterday I got my first motor trike and promptly bashed it to scrap, or near-abouts) and how much time you spend in these remains to be seen. There is a bizzare product placement of green Monster energy drink in Sam's private rooms - the cans are identical to the ones we sell in our shop - and you can drink them to refill your energy stats at will.
So far I'm about seven or eight hours into the play and am having fun, despite being totally confused most of the time and hopelessly out of my depth. My games nearly always start this way - I'm constantly having to go to YouTube to search out how to do this, or make that - but I gradually get there and Death Stranding is proving no different. But all in all, for the ten quid it cost me, the sound track alone has been worth the bung.