Okay, the good news is that we finally know when to expect Death Stranding. The bad news is that even after getting our best look at gameplay yet from the Kojima-developed PS4 exclusive, I still couldn’t tell you what the hell kind of game it is.
The official trailer finally dropped after an entirely confusing livestream that revealed little, and it seems Death Stranding will indeed be dropping on November 8 this year, just as various sources had claimed hours before the news was formally announced.
Check out the nine minute trailer below. I have to say, this is the longest trailer that I have learned absolutely nothing from.
Okay, so absolutely nothing might be an understatement. We know that you’ll be exploring a really rather gorgeous world on foot and by motorbike. It also looks like we’ll have a variety of tools to help us traverse the world, such as a ladder that allows us to reach new areas.
There are also stealth segments in which we have to avoid or fight what I assume are other humans, and some genuinely terrifying looking moments in which we have to outright avoid some things that look… less human.
Then there’s a moment in the trailer in which the character seems to be transported back to WWII and you have to run around shooting soliders? Okay, yeah, I really am going to have to watch it a few times before I can really get to grips with what I’ve just seen.
All in all, I still don’t know what to think of Death Stranding. That trailer was essentially a lot of… stuff. Just random bits one after the other. I’ve no doubt it’ll all make sense when we finally get to go hands-on with the game of course, but for now I’m more confused than intrigued.
Here’s the game’s official description on the PlayStation Store:
Sam Bridges (Norman Reedus) must brave a world transformed by the Death Stranding. Carrying the remnants of our future in his hands, he embarks on a journey to reunite the shattered world.
Remember, if you’re confused by what you’ve seen of Death Stranding so far, you aren’t alone. It’s also important to remember that Kojima probably doesn’t actually care, so we just have to strap in and hope for the best.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.