Death Stranding is an upcoming game from Metal Gear Solid mastermind Hideo Kojima — his
first since his dramatic breakup with Konami a couple years back.
If you've seen the trailers, you know it stars The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus, Rogue One's
Mads Mikkelsen, and visionary director Guillermo del Toro.
We know from interviews that the game takes place in an open-world setting, and will have
some kind of multiplayer component, in addition to a lengthy single-player campaign.
And yet, when it comes to specifics, Kojima plays things close to the vest.
Death Stranding looks like it's going to be an unusual experience, and Kojima is doing
everything he can to keep the mystery alive until the game's as-yet unknown release date.
Still, occasionally, a few details slip through.
For example ...
Whale tale?
Death Stranding is all about connections … and maybe a little bit about whales.
In a typically mysterious interview with Wired, Kojima says that "The story is about what
you call 'strands' in psychology — how people are connected."
Kojima says Death Stranding involves connecting players to one another via gameplay, and explores
Kojima's ideas about "trying to connect one character to another, or to connect life and
death."
The title also might have something to do with whales.
The first trailer opens on a beach full of dead wildlife, including dead whales.
When whales beach themselves, marine biologists call it "stranding."
Experts think the giant creatures may do it to escape predators, or they may just be lost
— but it rarely ends well.
The whales typically die of dehydration or die when the high tide comes in.
What all this has to do with the story of Death Stranding, however, remains a mystery.
Anime inspiration?
Clearly, Kojima has 1988 anime classic Akira on the brain.
When fans asked when Death Stranding is going to come out, Kojima Productions replied on
Twitter: "Before the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Before the new Akira."
The Tokyo Olympics are in 2020, but the Akira reference isn't as clear.
Warner Bros. has been trying to get a live-action Akira film off the ground for years, but the
movie isn't officially in production, and has no definite release date.
So it could just be a joke...but it might also be a clue.
"Yeah, yeah.
Don't make me laugh."
It's a bit of a stretch, but some fans think they've found Akira connections in Death Stranding's
two trailers, as well.
The chunky tank from the second trailer looks vaguely like the tanks in Akira.
And like Akira, Death Stranding looks like it's set in a world ravaged by nuclear war,
and clearly has something to do with human experimentation.
Gamechanger
We know, at a very basic level, that Death Stranding is going to be an "action" title,
and that it won't be a horror game like Kojima's cancelled collaboration with Reedus and del
Toro, Silent Hills.
Beyond that, what players actually do in the game is still unknown — but Kojima hints
that he's trying to create a new genre, or at least subgenre.
Talking to Digital Spy in June 2016, Kojima says people only called the original Metal
Gear a "stealth" game years later, once the industry realized it needed a name to describe
the games inspired by it.
Kojima says Death Stranding is a similar case, telling Digital Spy, "The player will be controlling
Norman, but by playing it, they will find something different, something that won't
fit in established terms."
Referencing a Japanese story, Kojima uses a rope and a stick as metaphor, saying early
humans used the stick to "keep away bad things," while the rope's purpose was "to keep good
things close."
Currently, most video games focus on the "stick" — punches, kicks, guns, and other forms
of aggression.
With Death Stranding, Kojima wants to make a game with a lot more rope, metaphorically
speaking.
But it's still unclear how that idea will translate to actual gameplay.
Baby boom
For some reason, Death Stranding's promotional materials are chock-full of babies and baby
dolls.
In the first trailer, Norman Reedus picks up a lost baby on a beach, cradling it to
his body before it disappears.
In the second, Guillermo del Toro cradles a womb-like capsule with a living baby inside
while a mangled doll floats at his feet.
Kojima Productions filmed both trailers using motion capture technology, and didn't use
real babies in the production of either video.
On set, dolls stood in for the infants.
In a series of tweets, Kojima revealed that the prop baby held by Norman Reedus is named
"Lu number two."
The other baby doll used is named "Lu number one 1."
It's unclear if the name "Lu" has any significance whatsoever, but when the details are this
scarce, we'll take what we can get.
Engine twins
2017's open world sci-fi smash Horizon Zero Dawn set a new, very high bar for video game
graphics, thanks largely to Guerrilla Games' proprietary Decima Engine.
So it's no surprise that Kojima wanted to use Decima to bring Death Stranding to life.
Instead of signing a contract or demanding a fee, however, Guerrilla gave Kojima access
to the engine for free.
So if you enjoyed the look and feel of Horizon Zero Dawn, expect Death Stranding to have
a similar feel, but with a Kojima twist.
There is one catch to this arrangement, but it's more like a bonus: any changes that Kojima
makes to the Decima engine's code has to be shared with Guerrilla, allowing both companies
to develop it together.
According to Kojima, it's a deal that's worked out beautifully.
After six months, he says the code "completely merged together" into something new and improved.
At Playstation Experience 2016, Kojima, through a translator, said Guerilla's ambition is
extraordinary:
"Making games, in a way, is like going to space."
"Guerilla came and was like, 'Let's go to Jupiter together.'
So that was a great feeling."
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