Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Kojima Productions
Embark on an inspiring mission of human connection beyond the UCA. Sam with companions by his side sets out on a new journey to save humanity from extinction. Join them as they traverse a world beset by otherworldly enemies, obstacles and a haunting question: should we have connected? Step by step, legendary game creator Hideo Kojima changes the world once again!
The original Death Stranding was considered to be almost a masterpiece by critics and a bit more mixed by fans, becoming labelled as a “walking simulator” by some but when creator Hideo Kojima announced the 2nd game, we all knew it would be special. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach follows on from the 1st game with the story and the classic Kojima weirdness we love. Building on the experimental foundation of the first game and refines it into something beautifully horrific and fun. On The Beach hits all the marks we wanted from the first game.
Set eleven months after the events of the 1st game, the United Cities of America is now fully connected, and deliveries are handled by an automated system called APAS that uses delivery bots. The ongoing extinction event continues to wreak havoc, with natural disasters being supercharged by increased chiralium levels, which warp the environment.
The new game follows Sam from the 1st game, who is now a retired porter. He lives a secluded life with his adopted daughter, Lou, and after an incident, Sam ends up on a ship to Australia set on a mission to link Australia to the chiral network and quickly finds out that the Australian continent is populated by hostile supernatural robots called “ghost mechs”.
Dead Stranding 2’s plot is full of twists and turns that you probably won’t see coming. There are a lot of themes woven into the game, and all kinds of ideas working to shape it into something special!
Pros
Story full of twists
Unique core gameplay
Improved combat and stealth
Incredible world creation
Stunning photo-realistic graphics
Cons
Combat still a weak
NPC glitches
Some questionable tropes around women
Boss fights are bland
Still walking sim (haha)
On the Beach puts more focus on combat than the 1st game, with options to use stealth tactics, avoid enemy encounters or engage in direct combat with enemies. The dynamic day-night cycle affects enemy behaviours for combat and patrols; however, they avoid the rougher terrain altogether. Players can also unlock skills to support combat, stealth and delivering packages, but there are also attributes that increase while completing actions.
While the stealth gameplay initially feels pretty typical with crouching in tall grass or performing silent takedowns, it quickly expands. There’s a game-changing tranquiliser sniper rifle that wouldn’t feel out of place in the Metal Gear Solid series. Death Stranding 2 has a lot of approach flexibility and offers a lot more compared to the original game. As a result, combat feels much more engaging and rewarding. Enemy AI might not be the best, but it doesn’t take away from the game overall.
Death Stranding 2 has improved massively from the 1st game, which is incredibly impressive considering the 1st game was already amazing. It’s still focused on taking packages to different delivery points, which makes the construction of a monorail important. There are a lot of vehicles to unlock, which makes it easier to get around. Managing cargo can still be a pain, but the systems have been streamlined a bit to make it easier. The missions are still straightforward, but they have that “just one more” vibe to them.
However, it’s still fundamentally a cargo delivery game aka “Walking Sim”. Its not for everyone’s taste. If you’re looking for a shooter blast them all Doom style this isn’t your game but if you just want to vibe the night away and enjoy a cinematic story but the strong story, great actors and strong pace makes this another hit to play. Personally the only down side for Queenie and I is that we need more time in the week to play this game. By the time you’ve returned to the PS5 its hard you have to get sunk in all over again but then again I just tend to stare at the incredible photo-realistic graphics!!!
Overall Rating
