This long-awaited new IP by Hideo Kojima, the genius behind the Metal Gear Solid franchise, finally released on November 8th and has proven divisive to critics and fans alike. Many elements of the game have been universally praised including the graphics, optimisation and characters. Other elements have been a bit more hit and miss. While many have given praise to the storyline, environments, and gameplay others have criticised those same elements. So, who do you believe? Well, there seems to be no right or wrong opinion. Similar to Marmite, people seem to either love or hate it so, it would seem to me, that you need to judge which camp you may fall into before you make the purchase, to avoid disappointment.
Anyone who has played any of the Metal Gear Solid games will know that Kojima’s cutscenes rarely get straight to the point and do have a tendency to meander. The cutscenes in Death Stranding are reported to be similarly indirect and rambling. The storyline is weird and for some may be hard to follow, again this was true to some extent in the Metal Gear Solid games. Death Stranding is quite slow to start with 10 hours of cutscenes and slow gameplay before it really kicks off. Anyone who wants a fast paced, immediate sense of fun or gratification, may be left wanting. The game is very exploration heavy with a lot of the gameplay based around traversing from A to B.
Based on the feedback, despite some of the rage reviews and posts, Death Stranding is not a bad game. However, it is important for players to go into it with their eyes wide open. Death Stranding is not an action game or fast paced FPS. It is heavily story and exploration based which is where the enjoyment of the title is to be found, along with the open world collaboration.
If you enjoyed the Metal Gear Solid games and are already used to the Kojima style of narrative, then you’ll likely enjoy this title. If you have never played any of his games before then you might want to be more cautious about investing and perhaps read some review or watch some twitch gameplay first. For those who need some help deciding, the trailer is posted above, so feel free to check it out.
