The key to enjoying “Death Stranding” is to believe in what it is selling. That sounds callous, but after all of the drama surrounding its creation and the claims of its director (Hideo Kojima, “Metal Gear Solid”) that this game would create a new genre, it is hard to not feel pressured by its commercial scale. This does amount to something of an illusion. The moment one truly zooms out and realizes that the core of the 50-hour campaign is mostly spent holding the forward button and watching for rocks, the viewer might never truly get sucked back in. It is a game one has to meet halfway, to accept all of the mundanity in order to fully enjoy it. 

The game follows a delivery man named Sam Porter Bridges (Norman Reedus, “The Walking Dead”) as he acts as a messenger to reconnect the U.S. after an unspecified destructive event simply known as the “Death Stranding.” Describing the plot past this point depends on both one’s patience and ability to guess at what an acronyms meaning is. “DOOMS,” “BTs,” “BBs,” the Beach and Death Stranding are all terms the player will have to figure out for themselves. Whether or not that is a part of the fun or a confusing mess that ruins the stories context is up to them.  

Most of Sam’s activities, and the players, revolve around the delivery of packages. A somewhat dull experience is at first only made exciting by the terrain. Getting from point A to B could be marred by a variety of things. A simple river that might be easy to wade through, might not be so easy once Sam straps 200 pounds of cargo on his back and risks getting swept away, along with all the precious items he was ferrying. 

Combat starts off a somewhat clunky affair, as Sam spends most of the game carrying his personal freight train. Being mobile is out of the question, leaving players to use a clunky melee attack that only sometimes works. This does get remedied later on as newer weapons get included. but human enemies only make up a small portion of threats. 

Extradimensional beings known simply as “BTs,” or Beached Things, will roam in packs. Sam cannot see these by conventional means, however the same applies to them and BTs will only be a threat once Sam makes enough noise to be noticed. These are by far the most exciting moments of “Death Stranding,” as the mixture of tension and uncertainty will put anyone on their toes.

The story is also a highpoint, with lengthy cutscenes that are brilliantly acted though not necessarily brilliantly written. Reedus does a great job as Sam, playing the character flat enough to allow any player to project onto him while also being quirky enough to inject humor throughout his various hikes. It is clear Kojima wanted to give “Death Stranding” a “wow factor,” especially when Reedus meets up with his other cast members. The side characters consist of Deadman (Guilermo Del Toro, “Pans Labryinth”), Cliff (Mads Mikkelsen, “Polar”), Fragile (Lea Seydoux, “The Lobster”) and Higgs (Troy Baker, “The Last of Us Part II”) to bring what is likely the biggest A-team of actors in gaming.

As a final product “Death Stranding” is an anomaly. It is packed with detail, even after 30 hours’ players will go, “Oh, I didn’t know I could do that,” but this is only provided that they work with the other nuisances that seem to want to break players out of the illusion. It is not for everyone, but that is probably what makes it special for the people it is for.

Image from PlayStation via YouTube