A gaming auteur’s vision realised.
It’s been close to two years since our minds were blown by Hideo Kojima’s sprawling – and incredibly prescient – game launched onto consoles, sending millions of gamers trudging across vast wastelands as apocalyptic postmen.
A game in which an unknown virus has ravaged the world, kept millions indoors and leaves the responsibility of delivering much-needed supplies to a scant few brave people?
Well, much like his accurate portrayal of social media eventually filling the world with ‘junk data’ in Metal Gear Solid 2, Kojima got his crystal ball out and foresaw the way of our COVID-challenged planet, making Death Stranding a magnificently affecting – if somewhat divisive – experience.
Now, thanks to the power of Playstation 5, Kojima Productions has delivered the definitive version – adding a litany of quality-of-life features and tweaks, making for a revised and revamped experience for gamers new and old alike.
Our original Death Stranding review explored the game’s premise in great detail – a fractured America being slowly reformed as protagonist Sam Bridges connects disparate towns and cities to the digital Chiral Network, enabling the transportation of goods instantaneously.
Attempting to thwart his mission are ‘BTs’, echoes of the dead which roam the land and attempt to drag him into the afterlife at every opportunity.
Sam’s only defence is a defenceless baby – somehow linked to these invisible creatures and tethered to him via an incubator in order to sense enemies before they appear.
So far, so high concept, but the actual moment-to-moment gameplay builds on the responsive traversal of Metal Gear Solid V, enabling Sam to nimbly tackle the brutally unforgiving landscape with increasingly creative technological solutions – from zip lines to Boston Dynamics-inspired robo-sherpas.
Slowly, your journey becomes less challenging and the true premise – and true threat – slowly reveals itself over multiple hours of gameplay.
It is this core experience that has been so deftly elevated – crisp 4K visuals make the landscapes truly indistinguishable from real-world vistas at times, and novel additions taking advantage of the PS5 at every opportunity.
From haptic feedback from the Dual Sense controller making you feel every arduous step to 3D audio which whips the crisp and unforgiving air around you as you navigate through the wilderness, Death Stranding: Director’s Cut seeks to improve the overall experience throughout.
Changes also extend to the game doling out early some new weapons and navigation equipment, making those first steps out into the world a little more forgiving but also rounding off those sharp (cliff) edges which made the original journey so impenetrable to some.
There is an argument that the game’s excellence came from the steady improvements – Sam’s exoskeleton and eventually vehicles making light work of once insurmountable obstacles – was part of the relief and wonder of progress in Death Stranding. These changes don’t entirely flatten the initial difficulty spikes, but it certainly makes for a less imposing title than its 2019 release.
Other frills such as racing circuits and bonus equipment previously locked to the PC version make this upgrade feel a lot more like a ‘Game of the Year’ edition, wrapping all of the improvements and add-ons neatly into a single package.
One aspect that can’t be overlooked is the addition of a widescreen mode, enabling many of these sprawling vistas to look both more imposing and amazing in equal measure – and combined with the smoother running PS5 version at 60 fps, a joy to explore.
Death Stranding remains breathtaking and entirely unique, and this Director’s Cut is undoubtedly the best way to experience Kojima’s unfettered creativity writ large.
At times overblown and overwrought, it’s nevertheless a breath of fresh air at a time of identikit open-world sequels and overly safe titles.
Given that this upgrade to Director’s Cut is just £5 for those migrating from PS4 to PS5 – it’s a no-brainer.
Sony truly swung for the fences, and Death Stranding has certainly delivered videogames’ equivalent of a sprawling epic, and one that will leave a bigger long term impact on the industry than an explosive annihilation voidout.
