To quote a post on the r/patientgamers Subreddit by user u/HeyUsernameImDad: "Death Stranding is a masterpiece that I cannot recommend". This sentence perfectly encompasses my experience with the game. Don't be fooled; I'm still going to buy DS2 once it comes out, but if I am to recommend the game or the series to anyone, it would be to a very narrow slither of the population. I'll try to outline why. (Note: For the purposes of this review, I will not be distinguishing between the base game and the Director's Cut edition)

To start with, let's go over the basic premise of the game... which is easier said than done. In a post-apocalyptic USA, you play Sam Porter Bridges, himself played by actor Norman Reedus. Sam, as his aptonym would suggest, is a "porter", a deliveryman in the UCA, or United Cities of America. After the titular and apocalyptic "Death Stranding" event not long in the game’s past, the world became a hostile place, with most people disconnected and unable to contact one another, physically or otherwise. The ones who do the job of connecting people - transferring messages or goods or even people - is that of a porter; vaguely similar to a courier or deliveryperson. As a notoriously good porter, known as "The Great Deliverer", DS sees you guiding Sam across America to reconnect it, delivering goods, facing various threats, and learning how he can himself connect with others along the way. There is far, FAR more to it, but that’s the basic story.

The game’s creator, Hideo Kojima, has notoriously described it as "the first 'strand-type' game". While quite obfuscatory, this has been interpreted as meaning, basically, "the first game of a new genre, characterised by incorporation of social connectivity". We could argue what this means, or whether multiplayer games are "strand-like", but there IS something to be said about the relatively novel aspects of the game. Specifically, DS implements asymmetric multiplayer interaction: your actions can affect the game world of other players, items you build can be sent to players with whom you otherwise have no other interaction. Every player plays Sam Porter Bridges, and you can help each other across the gap between universes, as it were.

But, if we're blunt, this says little about what the game actually is or how it plays in any pragmatic way. So, down to the brass tacks: what genre is DS, really? I would say it's a third-person exploration game with vague action and horror elements, with a mostly sci-fi storyline. A common joke is that it's a "walking simulator", but there's a lot more to it than JUST walking, and the walking you do is actually so involved it prevents the game from being an effective walking simulator most of the time... but it’s true there’s a hell of a lot of walking. In a world where most technology is destroyed, how else are you meant to deliver all those packages? You travel between cities and shelters, carrying packages on your back, avoiding ghost-like threats and humans who will try to kill you or steal your cargo, while eventually unlocking means by which to make your deliveries easier. Sometimes you have guns or grenades, sometimes you use "stealth" to avoid detection or capture or loss of deliveries, sometimes you drive vehicles to get to your destination faster. But, in essence, it's a third-person exploration game.

And the exploration is great! No matter what else, remember the quote at the start: DS IS a masterpiece. The world is gorgeous, the music is beautiful, the characters look great... it's just a shame there feels to be so little of each of these elements, all considered. The game was somehow enough to compel me to play for over 100 hours, yes, but how much of that time was spent on "unique" activities? I'd argue not much. DS is almost undeniably unique as a whole, but if you want to get all achievements? Or if you even just want to beat the main game? You'll be doing a lot of nothing; nothing much other than walking, anyway. Unique walking though it may be.

Regardless of your videogame preferences, it’s likely you’ve heard of the creator whom I mentioned earlier; Hideo Kojima. Kojima is perhaps most well-known for the Metal Gear series, of which I am a huge fan. DS is Kojima’s first game after his departure from Metal Gear publisher Konami. DS is the first and thus far only game of Kojima’s eponymous studio, Kojima Productions. Nonetheless, he has very much brought the same charm from Metal Gear to this new venture. Just as with Metal Gear, DS is a dizzying combination of highly polished gameplay and absolutely buck-wild, oddly America-centric storytelling. But, quite unlike Metal Gear Solid V for instance, I would say DS ironically feels quite disconnected, not like a cohesive whole. While this could just be the full creative prowess of Kojima unleashed, DS feels like it’s a lot of ideas packed into not a lot of product. This can be seen in various ways, including the raw foundations of the game, its story, and its broader world.

DS’s game engine, Decima, is shared with the Horizon games, among others, which I’ve also seen praised for polished gameplay and excellent visuals; DS is evidently coming from solid foundations, reflected in what is generally a very smooth gameplay experience. As I’ve mentioned, it is a beautiful game to play, seeing you traversing snowy mountains, desolate wastelands, verdant fields, and beyond. The oddly incorporated combat elements work well enough, with novel mechanics that may owe their execution to the engine. Despite the good Decima brings, the mechanics are all over the place design-wise; travel, while a core element of the game, is a complete pain, for instance. While the basic premise of this “strand game” is connection, none of it feels “active”; it’s all quite passive. You never engage with other players directly, only indirectly. Even from a story perspective, Sam is reluctant to connect with anyone, and even after his quest to “reconnect America” is complete, he states a desire to remain unconnected.

This disconnect comes across in the game’s raw construction as well; a game is not an engine alone. While it was actually the first Metal Gear after Kojima’s departure, without his involvement, I said in my review of Metal Gear Survive that it did not stand up beyond its foundations in the Fox Engine. Both Survive and DS are bizarre worlds built upon good mechanical foundations. But while both games feel like they operate a lot off of some appeal to “rule of cool”, there are vastly different interpretations of what this might look like; while Survive is bizarre yet boring, DS is bizarre in a way that will, admittedly, leave you hooked and wanting more.

I’ve seen many say DS can be a calming, meditative, and almost addictive experience. I can certainly attest to that. Coming out in late 2019, the game was almost prophetic in its reflection of the real world during the Covid-19 pandemic; the game reflected that feeling of disconnection, but its relatively slow-pace, long-form gameplay made the experience feel like just the kind of mind-numbing that was needed when the world seemed to be falling apart. But would we have loved it in the same way if Covid had not happened? I’m honestly not sure.

All-in-all, Death Stranding is a wholly strange game. The story is so convoluted and so “Kojima” so as to be compelling, at least to me; the gameplay is so unique but so frustrating as to unintentionally be a challenge in frustration; and the artistic direction is so beautiful as to somehow hold this whole mess together. In its entirety, I think I would only recommend DS to those who are patient, those who want to try something new, or those who are already fans of Kojima. Otherwise - if you’re looking for something quick and easy, something predictable, or just another typical AAA experience - you’re likely to be disappointed.

7/10, looking forward to the next instalment, although I’m not really sure why.