One More Go

Much like Sam Bridges himself, I’ve trudged, slipped, stumbled, and finally collapsed at the end of Death Stranding. I wrote a few months back about how much I had been enjoying the game, and promised to come back with some extra thoughts when I reached its final conclusion.

In that initial article, I touched a little on its wackiness, and spoke about how the game feels moment to moment, but not really on its narrative. Death Stranding is not a subtle game. Character names, terminology, and having all of its thinly veiled metaphors explained over and over does eventually feel like a bludgeoning. The narrative itself is so convoluted that I would struggle to even begin summarising it. But, despite that, the game offers twists and reveals throughout that will keep you plodding through, delivery after delivery. Even in its dying moments (of which there are many, Death Stranding feels like it could end at any scene for the final hour or so), the game continues to surprise. For all of its faults, I grew to care about its characters and its world, making it one of the most compelling narratives of any AAA game that I’ve played in recent memory.

The balance of upgrading the network, making deliveries, and advancing the story all work to create an experience like few others, and the more I played, the more I liked. Towards the end of the game new regions and areas become ever more difficult to traverse, while Sam’s arsenal becomes so expanded that, eventually the game becomes less of a delivery simulator, and more about creating a crisscross network of zip lines from depot to depot. Flying over heavy snow drifts and vehicles long abandoned only help to reinforce how much of a struggle deliveries used to be. A fleeting thought as you bounce between outposts to support Death Stranding’s isolated denizens.

If I’m forced to consider where I think the game is at its weakest, it would be its boss encounters. Kojima’s games are synonymous with memorable showdowns. Psycho Mantis in Metal Gear Solid, or The End in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater are probably some of the most iconic, but there are boss battles throughout his games that are packed with invention. Not so in Death Stranding. Bar one encounter in the jungle, and one shoreside brawl, most encounters boil down to spraying an enormous enemy with as many bullets as possible. In one of the penultimate battles you’re expected to win by endlessly firing a rocket launcher at a skyscraper sized goo man, something so at odds with a game that otherwise doesn’t ask you to fire a gun. It’s bizarre. Fortunately they’re usually short affairs, and Death Stranding’s final task is more in keeping with the rest of the game.

Curiously, I reached Death Stranding’s conclusion almost exactly as news of an expanded Death Stranding universe landed. Kojima Productions have announced that they are teaming up with A24 to create a prequel movie. I know Kojima announcing a movie will make most roll their eyes, how many Metal Gear movies have we been promised so far? But this already seems to be a more concrete proposition, though it’s unclear whether any of Death Stranding’s star studded cast (Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, and more) will return. Regardless, I’ll be looking forward to it. Kojima’s games always pay homage to movies and cinema, while also being very self aware. Characters will talk directly to the player (Psycho Mantis, Heartman, etc.), so it’ll be interesting to see whether any of that playfulness makes its way back into a movie based on his work.

In my earlier article, I wasn’t sure what I thought about Death Stranding, but now, having reached the end, I would wholeheartedly recommend it. Death Stranding has wriggled its way into my brain in such a way that I’m looking forward to the sequel, a potential movie, and to go back and re-examine Kojima’s other works.