Summary
Kojima Productions and Jordan Peele’sODhad an eccentric announcement and it’s not likely that its marketing up until launch will be any more comprehensible or less baffling. In an industry where some games are predictably cookie-cutter imitations of others, Kojima’s games are certainly not andDeath Strandingdemonstrated precisely how emergent and eclectic the developer could become when given an opportunity.
ODsharing little to nothing was as brilliant as it was inadequate because it didn’t give any taste of what to expect, and whether gamers are allured or deterred by Kojima’s oddities will probably shape their anticipation for the game. Knowing thatODis a horror gamemay be enough reason to get excited about it, but Kojima might have a more difficult time peppering in the same absurdist motifs and gimmicks asDeath Strandingwas able to if he actually wants to maintain a sense of horror.
OD Has to Choose Right Away if It’s Going to Be Scary or Silly
Death Stranding’s Silliness is Hard to Overlook
There’s a lot to love aboutDeath Strandingthat’s sincere and dramatic. That said,Death Strandingwill probably be remembered for its hysterical andarduous courier traversal mechanicsand all the unbelievably absurd events and interactions between them.
Chief among these absurd moments is the fact that players can urinate for a variety of effects, including urinating in the same place as other players and growing mushrooms—whose spots are tiny thumbs-up emojis—that all players can see and ‘like.’ Urinating in a toilet, however, grants players an EX grenade no. 1, while otherEX grenades are composed of Sam Porter Bridges’ other bodily excretions.
This alone is enough to condemnDeath Strandingas a silly game, let alone the various leisurely activities players can enjoy in Sam’s bedchambers or its ludicrously explicit Monster Energy product placement. This may all still allow fordeep immersion inDeath Stranding’s UCAfor many players, and yet it can be quite difficult to take these moments seriously as mechanics in the grand scheme of what the game is trying to achieve.
Death Strandinglays a foundation where its silliness and existentialism pair decently well, butODmight not have that same luxury when it comes to telling a horror story.
OD Could Be Silly So Long as It Doesn’t Eclipse Its Horror
Horror games have surely been able to lean on weird nonsense before, but Kojima’s brand of weirdness could upset a crucial balance inOD.Alan Wake 2was the latest horror game to feature a large helping of surrealist humor, for example.
But, whileAlan Wake 2’s live-action dance number was one of the most popular moments of the sequel, it arguably diminished all the tension and dread that its phenomenal opening had laid out. It’s hard to say ifDeath Strandingever wanted to be a purely serious game with intentions of only leaving players feeling existentially dubious, though it gets away with all of its charming and ridiculous moments because its genre is never nailed down.
ODalready pigeonholes itself by being referred to as a horror game in this instance because players will be going into it with certain expectations, whereasDeath Strandingcould be blissfully and ignorantly experienced. It will be interesting to seehow much ofDeath Strandingtrickles intoOD, but with Peele on board it seems safe to assume that any bewildering bits of humor and levity thrown in should be met with extreme bouts of psychological horror.
Death Stranding
WHERE TO PLAY
From legendary game creator Hideo Kojima comes a genre-defying experience, now expanded in this definitive DIRECTOR’S CUT.In the future, a mysterious event known as the Death Stranding has opened a doorway between the living and the dead, leading to grotesque creatures from the afterlife roaming the fallen world marred by a desolate society.As Sam Bridges, your mission is to deliver hope to humanity by connecting the last survivors of a decimated America.Can you reunite the shattered world, one step at a time?DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT on PC includes HIGH FRAME RATE, PHOTO MODE and ULTRA-WIDE MONITOR SUPPORT. Also includes cross-over content from Valve Corporation’s HALF-LIFE series and CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077. Stay connected with players around the globe with the Social Strand System™.
