- Does "Death Stranding" live up to all of the hype?
Every since it's first teaser revealed a naked
Norman Reedus holding a sweet, sweet baby at 2016's E3
"Death Stranding" has easily been one of
the most anticipated titles in modern gaming.
And as more and more bizarre trailers drop,
featuring the forever handsome Mads Mikkelson
along with director Guillermo Del Toro
as well as some truly strange and baffling imagery
hype has only continued to grow to a fever pitch.
Especially when you add to all of this
the very public divorce between the game's creator
Hideo Kojima and video game publisher Konami in 2015.
"Death Stranding" would be the chance to see
this gaming auteur completely off the leash
without any corporate oversight
and let him dive into the gooey deep end
of all the contemplative, off the wall weirdness
that he's known for in a game packed
with Triple-A talent across the board.
So with the game hitting store shelves next week,
reviews are finally hitting the web
and there's one big question on gamers' minds.
Does "Death Stranding" live up to all the hype?
And the answer is maybe.
I mean, honestly while yes the reviews are in
they are all over the place.
Kind of like Norman Reedus in this game.
They literally range from brilliant masterpiece
to bloated convoluted mess.
So to save you some trouble,
we're breaking down the good, the bad
and the what the entire hell did I just play of all of it.
Now first off for those of you not in the know,
"Death Stranding" takes place after a global cataclysm
pretty much destroys everything.
And you take on the role of Sam Porter Bridges.
A delivery man who travels between settlements
trying to rebuild the United States of America,
or as they call it in the game,
the United Cities of America.
Make America America again.
Whatever.
Simple enough on the surface but obviously
there is so much more than that lying beneath.
For instance, the worlds of the living and the dead
have collided in a spooky and decidedly sticky way.
That's not ectoplasm.
It's your own poop in a grenade.
You have an unborn purgatory baby strapped
to your chest that lets you sense enemies
and ghosts like some sort of GPS.
And speaking of ghosts, well guess what?
If you're asking yourself,
"Hey can I use my own piss and
to make weapons to attack these ghosts?"
You're in luck.
If that's what you consider luck.
Now overall, none of the reviews seem to fall
into the camp of 100% good or 100% bad.
Opinions seem to be as layered
and complex as the game itself.
Which seems to be universal across the reviews though
is that this game is definitely crafted down
to the most minute of details.
There is nothing in the game that's left to chance
and everyone seems to agree at how powerful
and introspective taking these lonely treks
across this beautiful, haunting landscape can be.
Heather Alexandra at Kotaku loved the game
and started her review with
"Every inch of 'Death Stranding' teems
with meaning or implication.
Even the stupidest and most pretentious developments
build to create a multi-layered game,
one with numerous potential points of attack to analyze."
Now many of the reviews also praise the scope of the story.
Gamespot put it this way:
"'Death Stranding' is unrelenting in
its earnestness and optimism.
Certainly not without its critiques of America,
nor without its challenges and setbacks,
but inherently hopeful nonetheless.
It's a dense, complex, slow game
with a plot that really goes places,
but at its core, it never stops being about the sheer power
and purpose we can find in human connection,
and that is its most remarkable achievement."
The A.V. Club Sam Barsanti said,
"'Death Stranding' is a game that demands
to be argued over and analyzed for years.
It starts rough, and then gets better and better
as it goes along, culminating in an ending
that's both hugely important to its universe,
and also very small and personal to Sam."
In general the game's most glowing reviews
seem to make the argument that this is a game
to really sit down and contemplate,
to take thoughtful and measured actions in,
rather than being some sort of run and gun experience
like you might have in another Triple-A game.
However not all of the reviews
were full of happiness and handholding.
There were quite a few online critics
that voiced their frustrations with the game.
Tristan Ogilvie over at IGN gave the game
a 6.8 out of 10 writing:
"It's also a cross-country crawl
that frequently finds itself mired
in an exhausting amount of inventory management,
backtracking, one-note mission design
and unprecedentedly arduous travel."
Adding "If 'Death Stranding' sounds
like a series of glorified fetch quests,
it's because that's exactly what it is."
One of the most common criticisms was the game's ending.
Polygon's Russ Frushtick had this to say about it:
"The final 10 hours of 'Death Stranding' are a slog,
just like the first 10 hours,
as my leash is tugged from emotional monologue
to ridiculous boss fight to emotional monologue.
While a few of these narrative threads
make sense and land with some gravitas,
others sound like the ramblings
of someone on speed who thinks
they've figured out how the universe works."
No you just don't get it man.
Now Kyle Orland with Ars Technica
dug even deeper on this criticism.
"There's a strong sense the writers
are making this up as they go,
forming a patchwork quilt
of scientific-sounding magic that holds together
only if you don't look at it too closely.
Even in the run-up to the game's conclusion,
characters are still introducing
entirely new theoretical concepts
that seem to come completely out of nowhere."
He then goes on to say,
"Without spoiling anything,
I'll note that 'Death Stranding's ending
is more or less a two hour cut scene
that tries to explain how the preceding 30 plus hours
are actually supposed to fit together.
Yet I still came away scratching my head
about what the hell happened."
However one thing all of these reviews can agree on
is that it's definitely a weird game.
Which is to say, it's a Hideo Kojima game.
That's his promise.
Or as the Kotaku review points out:
"'Death Stranding' is also about throwing grenades
made from your own piss and at ghosts."
Your move Ivan Reitman.
(laughs)
As to whether it's worth the hype,
well ultimately the answer seems to depend
on your opinion of Kojima and his games.
If a detailed, meditative, philosophy 101 course
with spooky, supernatural creatures
and a ton of Norman Reedus is your thing.
Then you're gonna love it.
The A.V. Club's review puts it like this:
"It's hard to say if it's fun,
and it's hard to say if it's a good game,
but it is undeniably interesting
in a way that not enough games try to be.
If you buy in to what it's trying to do.
If you allow it to make that connection.
'Death Stranding' will stick with you,
one way or another."
So what about the Nerdist of it all?
Well I had the chance to play the game for a few hours.
My review is forthcoming.
But here are my impressions thus far.
I kind of agree with people.
It's extremely weird.
It's extremely Hideo Kojima.
And it can be extremely arduous.
Some of the mechanics like having
to balance your character and just carry
so many packages around can feel a little like,
"Is this how I wanna spend my free time?
Really?
Do I really wanna make him chug Monster energy drink
after hiking miles and miles
and then just eating like weird ghost beetles
to replenish my blood?"
The answer is, yeah I do.
Even when I find myself frustrated,
I kinda wanna keep playing.
It has that delightful blend
of signature Hideo Kojima weirdness
and thoughtful gameplay design
that have all the makings of a great game.
But whether or not I want to proceed
with the remaining 70 plus hours, which is--
It's a long game.
I dunno, remains to be seen.
But tell me, what do you folks think?
Is "Death Stranding" a day one purchase for you?
What project would you like to see from Kojima next?
And seriously, did you ever think
that you'd play a game where you can fight ghosts
with your own piss grenades?
Because...
If you did...
You got some problems.
Anyway let's discuss.
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