Death Stranding — Martin Stellinga
Death Stranding is a video game about delivering cargo in a post-apocalyptic future, carrying a fetus in a transparent canister. No, I’m not kidding.
Hideo Kojima
You can’t say ‘death stranding’ without saying ‘Hideo Kojima’. Kojima is a video game designer who used to work with Konami, and is known mostly for the Metal Gear video game series (I actually played the original in the late eighties on the NES).
When Metal Gear Solid V was released in 2015, Konami was restructuring its company, focusing more on mobile games and pachinko machines, and away from expensive cinematic games. They also centralized control of game development. Kojima was not a part of that centralized control, and shortly after, he left the company. There may have been some bad blood as Konami apparently barred Kojima from accepting a Game Award for Metal Gear Solid V.
Kojima resurfaced with a new independent studio, partnered up with Sony, and started working on a new game: Death Stranding. The game turned into a 2019 PS4 exclusive (which I didn’t own), so despite the hype at the time, I couldn’t play it. I only recently decided to get the PC port (from 2020) on Steam and start playing. So I’m a bit late the hype.
The stranded dead
The game starts out with the main character, Sam (played by Norman Reedus), driving along on his bike, when he almost runs into a woman with an umbrella. He crashes his bike, but the woman is nowhere to be found. He quickly gathers his cargo and hides in a cave, where the woman re-appears and it turns out she and Sam are ‘porters’, people who transport cargo.
You quickly learn that the world is f*cked. People have to hide from the rain, because this ‘timefall’ causes everything it touches to deteriorate rapidly.
It’s a result of the dead having stranded. Instead of vanishing, they return as ghostlike figures that most people cannot see, called BTs. So, when you see dark hand prints approaching, you hold your breath or risk being taken.
But no worries, Sam can handle it. He’s a porter, carrying cargo between the now nearly-empty cities that once dotted the US landscape. He also acquires a baby in a canister that helps detect the BTs. And… well, a lot more things that I won’t spoil (seriously, I barely covered the beginning of the prologue).
Hauling cargo
The game is about hauling cargo. Well, not just hauling cargo, but carrying cargo between the cities of the United Cities of America, and trying to link more cities into the UCA’s network.
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And carrying cargo is not as simple as walking or driving from A to B. No, you have to physically carry the cargo on your back or on your ride. If the cargo is too heavy, you can and will fall over, and that will damage the cargo. You use your controls to walk, climb, drive, but also lean to the side to prevent toppling over.
You have to distribute your cargo carefully and not overload yourself or your vehicle. Then there’s the timefall. And the BT’s. And raiders trying to steal your stuff. Despite what certain detractors claim, this is not a walking simulator. It’s a game, and not a simple one.
Verdict
First, this game is wild. Kojima is known for weird stories, but he’s really outdone himself. If you’re a fan of Japanese Anime, you probably know the Japanese have a flair for insane stories that somehow work. And this is one of them: Death Stranding’s story is weird, but somehow it works. Story-wise, I love it.
Okay, so hauling cargo is kind of unique when it comes to games. This is not an RPG, although it has some skill-tree-like mechanics. It’s not an action game or a shooter, although it has some hand-to-hand combat and shooting. It’s not a driving game, although it has some driving. Death Stranding is… a story-drive cargo hauling game.
Do I like the gameplay? Yes, I do. That said, it has its flaws.
Remember the Mako in Mass Effect? Well, the vehicles in Death Stranding reminded me a lot of that monstrosity. Like in Mass Effect, driving the vehicles work well enough, but they are also extremely frustrating. And like in Mass Effect, you can be bumping yourself through a canyon inch by inch, only to find yourself under attack and ending up killed.
That drives my frustration level up the wall, especially since such encounters are accompanied by several slo-mo animations of your scanner activating, the rain starting up, or you hitting somebody. Those slo-mo animations complete break the flow of the game and can take up to fifteen seconds. I only learned you can turn them off when I was halfway through.
So, if you hate this as much as I do, pro tip: you can turn some of the bloody slomo crap off.
My other gripe is that the controls are not always intuitive, and the UI is often very confusion. It’s not a deal breaker, but it’s annoying when I accidentally punch a delivery terminal instead of accessing it.
Conclusion
This is one of those games that you should play if you like weird stories and unique gameplay. If you just want to shoot things, or really only like RPGs, then no, this is not for you. Otherwise, go for it.
Originally published at https://martinstellinga.com on May 15, 2026.
