BENGALURU: It has been over two years since Death Stranding was released for the PlayStation, but only a few months since it was released for Windows. I finally played it only last month because it is now free with the Xbox-PC game pass. I am really enjoying it so far, and with the campaign now set to ‘very easy’ difficulty, it is rapidly becoming my relaxation go-to.
It is a game where you arrange your backpack in an aesthetic way, deliver items to people in far-off establishments (your last name is Porter Bridges in case you forget your job), read entire chapters on the dystopian cyberreliant society of Death Stranding, and experience long - drawn cinematic cutscenes. The game is created by Kojima Productions, headed by Hideo Kojima.
Prior to Death Stranding, he is best known for the Metal Gear Solid games. I respect that Death Stranding remains purely campaign and story-driven, with spectacular graphics and a very elaborate backstory for the universe in which it is set.
It features famous movie people including Mads Mikkelsen, and Guillermo Del Toro, not to mention the protagonist Norman Reedus, who many like me may recognise as ‘the dude from The Walking Dead’.
Death Stranding is not shy to throw jargon at you from the very beginning. Within the first one hour of gameplay, you are well acquainted with the concept of Time fall where the water makes you age, and Beached Things — or stranded souls who will consume you and everything around.
Once you understand this, you are suddenly pushed headfirst into an ocean of sci-fi knowledge that requires you to comprehend the illness/ superpower that is DOOMS, and the role of bridge babies, which are comparable to the medium in a séance.
I do think the game is best played in the ‘very easy’ setting as I did. The game has some amazing views, which are only tainted by the annoying BT visitors who chase us at the most inopportune moments.
It’s better that we rid of the challenge of having to deal with them, so we can better run through the story. Although, as opposed to playing it on the PC like me I believe the controller experience may be tangibly better, considering that a lot of the game involves balancing which isn’t satisfying on a keyboard mouse.
I found Death Stranding best played in bite-sized form, which would mean that it would take me a few months to hit a hundred per cent in campaign completion. Maybe I’ll write another review then.