Should we have connected?
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 a big departure from Hideo Kojima. Not as much a stealth game as one where you make deliveries in a post-apocalyptic world. It divided opinion but I personally loved it and have been waiting to see where Sam’s journey takes him next…
The sequel begins in Mexico with Sam being contacted by Fragile to connect the rest of Mexico to the chiral network like he did with America. Lou is alive out of the pod and Sam is raising her alone in his own shelter. The journey takes a tragic turn before Sam leaves to connect Australia to the network. I won’t ruin much more of the story, but it’s superior to the original in every way. It raises the stakes, puts you through an emotional rollercoaster and has plenty of the random Kojima moments that you would expect.
The core gameplay of delivering is still at the front of the sequel, but there’s also orders that involve taking out enemy supplies or clearing a BT area and so on. You also have a vehicle called the DHV Magellan which acts as your base of operations, it can transport you and your cargo to most areas connected by the network to make deliveries faster and easier.
There are also mines to repair for materials that you can use to fix up a monorail system, as well as a handful of new or upgraded gizmos to help you complete your deliveries. After beating the game, you can enable something to make the game a little easier but getting each Shelter to a 5-Star level will take considerable time. It took me over 100 hours to get the elusive Platinum trophy, the main game itself took me 20-30 hours, so you can see how much grinding will be needed if you plan to take this challenge head on.
The open world areas of Mexico and Australia are simply stunning. With areas that can have earthquakes, flooding and wildfires at any given moment, the world itself feels alive and ever changing. There’s also wildlife that you can capture and give to an animal shelter.
The visuals are the best of this generation with some truly incredible set piece moments, alongside highly detailed character models that have great animation. Kojima has a knack for getting great performances out of his actors and has once again delivered here. The soundtrack is also great with new tracks from Woodkid, Elle Fanning and even Troy Baker.
The Verdict
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is bigger and better than the original game in every conceivable way. It will be tough for Kojima to top this if a Death Stranding 3 is to emerge, but I look forward to seeing him try and probably succeed.