A Review of “Death Stranding” by Will Benitez

“Death Stranding” Review, written by Will Benitez (Photo: Engadget)

Together, you can help us reconnect. You can make America whole.

I was driving through Farmingdale, listening to Low Roar’s album, “Once in a Long, Long While”, and I found myself focusing a lot more on nature. Focusing on the people around me. On all the lives that currently exist, both human and non-human, and how in the blink of an eye, that could all be gone. I sat there, in my car, thinking of the world of Death Stranding, and pictured the disconnected America that Hideo Kojima envisioned. Kojima himself stated that the idea of this game stemmed from his opinion of President Donald Trump, Brexit, global warming and just all around discontent found in America. With this in mind, Kojima crafted a world with incredible meaning. A story with incredible substance, but a game with lackluster focus on what makes it a game. As much as I enjoy this game, I find it hard to recommend because of the fact that it’s very difficult to enjoy like most games.

After I got home from class, I sat down to play some more. The world had changed slightly since I had played it the day before, and that’s the art of Death Stranding, an ever changing world. But the world changes not due to coding on the engines part, but from others playing Death Stranding at the same time who are putting down ladders, ropes, building bridges and generators, and it’s affecting your world, your experience. The game itself would be borderline unplayable, enjoyable, if not for these invisible others alongside you. The scope of it all, joining together with fellow players to bring together a make believe America while holding hands and walking alongside you throughout the way, figuratively.

Over the weekend, I couldn’t make heads or tails if I enjoyed this game or not. I enjoyed the story and world, but the gameplay left me wanting more. But as time progressed and I began to see the changes in the world, that’s when it all clicked. When I realized that my fellow players and I had begun to form entire highway systems in a once roadless world. I saw how powerful the connections, the bridges we had made were.

No, Death Stranding isn’t for everyone. But it’s only made defined by how you choose to
define it. Only you can make a decision on if it’s worth your time or not, not me or anyone else. Just you. In some ways, that’s how all media should be enjoyed really. Just buy it or rent it, try it out for
yourself.

(Note: Low Roar’s album might’ve been a weird detail, but it’s basically the soundtrack for the game).

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