Death Stranding

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This article is about the video game titled

Death Stranding. For other uses of the term "death stranding", see

Tomorrow Is In Your Hands
– Tagline

Death Stranding is a video game developed by Kojima Productions, and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4 and 505 Games for Microsoft Windows. It is directed by Hideo Kojima – the first game he and his reformed studio have worked on since the disbandment of Kojima Productions as a Konami subsidiary in July 2015. The game was officially announced during Sony's E3 2016 press conference. It was released on November 8, 2019 for PlayStation 4 and on July 14, 2020 for Microsoft Windows.

Story[edit | edit source]

Characters and cast[edit | edit source]

Death Stranding stars Sam (Norman Reedus), a reputed deliveryman on an expedition across the continental United Cities, following in the footsteps of UCA president-to-be Amelie (Emily O'Brien). He works for an organization named Bridges, headed by Die-Hardman (Tommie Earl Jenkins), which also employs several allies he encounters throughout his journey. These allies include Deadman (Guillermo Del Toro); Heartman (Nicolas Winding Refn), an AED-reliant man whose heart stops every 21 minutes; and Mama (Margaret Qualley), a young woman tethered to her beached infant daughter and confined to a Bridges compound.

On his journey west, Sam befriends a young woman named Fragile (Léa Seydoux). Conversely, he is antagonized by Homo Demens figurehead Higgs (Troy Baker) along the way, and finds himself engaged in something of an arch-rivalry with the enigmatic Cliff (Mads Mikkelsen).

Synopsis[edit | edit source]

In the near future, mysterious explosions have rocked the planet, setting off a series of supernatural events known as the Death Stranding. With spectral creatures plaguing the landscape, and the planet on the verge of a mass extinction, it's up to Sam to journey across the ravaged wasteland and save mankind from extinction.[2]

Gameplay[edit | edit source]

Death Stranding takes place in an open world with a third-person and occasionally first-person perspective. As the Porter Sam, the player is tasked with making their way through the world carrying cargo, while overcoming various environmental obstacles with equipment, dealing with various enemies, and progressing through the main story or undertaking side missions. Predominantly taking place in the continental United States of the future, Death Stranding's vast open world includes biomes such as lush grasslands and forests, cold tundra and snow-covered mountain ranges, and reddish dusty drylands, all of which can be fully explored.[3]

Before embarking on deliveries, players can select an amount of cargo to carry, personal protective equipment, traversal equipment, and weapons. Traversal is a core element of the gameplay, demanding topographical route planning and environmental scanning, consideration of carried cargo, and active balancing of Sam as his center of gravity and stability shift. A powered exoskeleton can be worn to enable Sam to carry heavy loads of cargo more easily, or run much faster and jump significantly farther than normal. Heavy loads can be divided between Sam and up to two floating carriers. While in combat, cargo may be dropped to allow for easier movement and picked up again after enemies are dealt with. Additionally, players must manage systems such as health, stamina, cargo integrity, equipment durability and power consumption, and their bridge baby's mental state. Sam can rest in-place and recover lost health and stamina, or soothe his bridge baby and increase his relationship with the infant. Locations in the world such as safe houses, generators, and hot springs function as means of replenishing varying attributes associated with maintaining Sam.

Though players have melee combat and firearms at their disposal to deal with enemies, lethal violence against living enemies is not encouraged. Players are able to incapacitate or restrain enemies, or attempt to circumvent them entirely, and may run, jump, crouch walk, or use vehicles to navigate the world. While under threat from enemies, crouch walking may be used to move stealthily and hide in various cover. When the player dies, they aren't presented with a conventional "Game Over", but instead transported to an "upside-down realm" analogous to a "Continue?" prompt, where they can explore and recover lost items. Player-determined changes to the game world – particularly triggered voidouts – are persistent, remaining in the player's game world even after death.[4]

Multiplayer[edit | edit source]

The game's asynchronous multiplayer, named the Social Strand System, enables online players across the world to indirectly help one another. Roads, bridges, and safe houses can be built across the Social Strand System, and players may contribute to the construction of such structures. The paths walked by other players across the Social Strand System may be observed and traversed to reach destinations. Well-trodden paths will smooth over in time, allowing for faster travel down them. Helpful structures, vehicles, equipment, and signs of other Sams may be used by players in their travels. Players making use of the helpful aids of other Sams may express their gratitude by giving them likes. A PlayStation Plus subscription is not required to access the Social Strand System's features, and said features are optional.

Presentation[edit | edit source]

Hideo Kojima formally revealed Death Stranding at Sony's E3 2016 conference, through a reveal trailer featuring the then-unidentified lead character Sam. At TGA 2016, Kojima Productions revealed a teaser trailer featuring Cliff and Deadman. At TGA 2017, Kojima revealed a second teaser trailer, which provided a more expansive look at the game's unique world and story.

In February 2018, it was revealed that Emily O'Brien and Troy Baker had joined the cast of the game. In May, Shawn Layden of Sony Worldwide Studios revealed that Death Stranding would be part of a group of four games (along with Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel's Spider-Man, and The Last of Us Part II) which PlayStation would focus on at E3 2018.[5] At E3 2018, an extensive teaser trailer premiering gameplay and incorporating "Asylums for the Feeling" by Silent Poets (feat. Leila Adu) was presented, showing Fragile and Amelie for the first time; it was revealed that Léa Seydoux and Lindsay Wagner would be part of the game's cast. Later that year at TGS 2018, it was revealed that Tommie Earl Jenkins would portray a key character in the game, and that Akio Ōtsuka, Kikuko Inoue, Nana Mizuki and Satoshi Mikami – Metal Gear series veterans – along with Kenjiro Tsuda, had joined the game's Japanese voice cast.[6]

In May 2019, the names of several of the game's main characters were revealed in the release date reveal trailer. In July 2019, after previewing it to attendees of the San Diego Comic Con, Kojima released a trailer spotlighting Heartman. For Gamescon 2019, Kojima revealed showcased introducing Deadman and Sam's bridge baby, Mama, and the Ludens Fan. The following month, Kojima announced that production of the Japanese voice over of the game had finished.

In September 2019, Kojima announced that he was open to developing a sequel to further solidify the "strand game" as a genre.[7] At TGS 2019, Kojima showcased extensive gameplay in the open world of episode 2 ("Amelie") of the game, as well as an in-depth tour of Sam's private room. On September 24, during PlayStation's State of Play presentation, it was confirmed that along with the premiere of Death Stranding a special limited edition PlayStation 4 Pro bundle would also be released.

Development[edit | edit source]

Death Stranding marks the second collaboration between Hideo Kojima, Guillermo del Toro, and Norman Reedus

The development of Death Stranding began following Kojima Productions' reformation in December 2015. The game entered full development in 2017.[8] Kojima revealed that in previous games he has worked on, he had to make compromises to bring them to fruition. With Death Stranding, however, he stated that the need for compromise is no longer present, and is confident that the game will be "something completely new that no-one has seen so far", as well as his best creative work yet.[9] Kojima was aware of the belief that he was deliberately proceeding too slowly in the game's development, and revealed that was not the case.[4]

Kojima suggested that Death Stranding does not fall solely into one specific gaming genre,[10] but rather is largely a new genre of gaming entirely: a "strand game".[1] Its genre-defying nature has been described in a similar vein to that of Metal Gear: In its infancy, Metal Gear was initially considered to be merely an action game, as the stealth genre was not thought to exist at the time; it would go on to be perceived as something more specific and unique due to its novel stealth elements, ultimately ushering in the stealth genre of video games.[11]

Concept[edit | edit source]

A rope connecting, from left to right, Guillermo del Toro, Norman Reedus, Hideo Kojima and Mads Mikkelsen

All elements of the game, from its story to gameplay, are bound by a unifying idea – that of the "strand", or connection. Kojima believes that humans have constructed "walls" between themselves, and have grown accustomed to isolation. He hopes that in playing Death Stranding, players come to form new bonds with other players around the globe, and that they come to understand the importance of forging new connections with others.[12]

According to Kojima, most action games consist of players communicating with the equivalents of "sticks" – swords, guns, punches, kicks and other avenues of physical communication – with the "stick" metaphorically being humanity's first invention. Kojima aims to "tie people together" by utilizing humanity's second invention: the "rope".[11][13] Despite there being an increased emphasis on "ropes", "sticks" will still be utilized in the game as well, in conjunction with "ropes".[14]

Engine[edit | edit source]

Further information: Decima

Guerrilla Games gifted Kojima Decima's source code, sparking their collaborative development of the engine

After a worldwide tour of video game studios, and with the technical advisement of Mark Cerny, Kojima narrowed down two game engines for Death Stranding, one of which was used to create the game's E3 2016 teaser trailer.[15] Kojima ultimately chose Guerrilla Games' in-house Decima engine after being sent a box containing the engine's source code, which "made [him] very happy". Additionally, Kojima set up a small satellite studio at Guerrilla Games, in order to work in close liaison with the Dutch studio to improve the engine.[16]

Music[edit | edit source]

The official soundtrack of Death Stranding is composed by Ludvig Forssell, who previously worked with Kojima on Metal Gear Solid V. Death Stranding: Timefall is an original album inspired by the game, featuring music created by artists such as CHVRCHES, Khalid, Major Lazer, and more.

The first two trailers for Death Stranding used songs produced by the Icelandic band Low Roar: "I'll Keep Coming" in the reveal trailer and "Easy Way Out" in the TGA 2016 teaser trailer. In February 2017, a limited edition 12" single containing the aforementioned two songs was published by Mondo Records, in conjunction with Kojima Productions. This was the first piece of merchandise released for Death Stranding. At E3 2018, the revealed teaser trailer used Silent Poets' "Asylum for the Feeling" as a background song. The official release date trailer would later use the song "Path" by the band Apocalyptica.[17]

Release[edit | edit source]

Promotional image preceding PlayStation's Twitch live stream of the 2019 release date trailer

Several release windows were given throughout Death Stranding's development. Kojima stated that, "[Death Stranding] will be out before the Olympics", referencing the Tokyo 2020 Games. Additionally, in 2016, he stated that "there is a movie called Akira, and [Death Stranding] will be out before the year in which Akira is set", with that year being 2019.[18] During the TGS 2018 stage panel, Kojima mentioned that the game is still on track to release when planned, which is the year 2019 in which Akira is set. In a podcast with Dan Fogler, Norman Reedus corroborated a 2019 release.[19] In March 2019, Kojima revealed that "Death Stranding is very slightly behind our initial plan, but not behind by much."[20]

On May 29, 2019, on a co-branded PlayStation Twitch stream, the release date trailer was shown for the first time. It announced that Death Stranding will be released on November 8, 2019. The game will be offered in Standard, Special, Digital Deluxe, and Collector's editions.

On October 28, 2019, a Kojima Productions tweet revealed that Death Stranding would release on Microsoft Windows in early summer of 2020, published by 505 Games.[21]