Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is fast approaching its launch, and as its release draws closer, the excitement surrounding it continues to build. Kojima Productions and PlayStations are promising a bevy of improvements over the original game’s unique premise that have caught the eye, and as we continue to count the days down to the sequel’s release, here, we are going to discuss all of that and more.
Note: All information in this article is through official sources.
STORY DETAILS
As is ever the case with Hideo Kojima games, Death Stranding 2 has kept its cards pretty close to its chest where its story is concerned, even with decent amounts of footage we have seen of the game in the lead up to its release. Some details, however, are clear- set some time after the events of the first game, Death Stranding 2 will see protagonist Sam Porter Bridges being pulled back into action to continue making crucial deliveries, this time outside of the UCA, in order to stave off humanity’s end once again. From BTs to returning antagonists and new ones, expect to face off against a variety of threats once again.
RETURNING AND NEW CHARACTERS
Death Stranding 2 is promising a vast and varied cast of characters, and though many are going to be new introductions (more on them in a bit), several of the core cast will be familiar faces. The aforementioned Sam Porter Bridges returns, of course, once again portrayed by Norman Reedus, while Lea Seydoux and Troy Baker’s Fragile and Higgs also return for the sequel, as does Nicolas Winding Refn, who provides his likeness for Heartman once again, with Darren Jacobs also returning to perform the character. Lou, the infant who served as Sam’s BB throughout Death Stranding 1, before ending the game as his adopted daughter, will also return.
NEW CHARACTERS
A host of new characters are being introduced in Death Stranding 2, many of whom are played by (or bear the likeness of) well-known celebrities. Elle Fanning plays tomorrow, while Shioli Kutsuna plays Rainy. Luca Martinelli plays Neil, who seems like a Solid Snake-esque covert soldier, while Alistair Duncan plays the new President of the UCA. There’s also Debra Wilson’s character, a doctor, as well as Tarman, the resident doctor and captain of the ship DHV Magellan, which will play an important role in Death Stranding 2. Legendary film director George Miller has provided his likeness for Tarman, while Marty Rhone plays him. Meanwhile, the puppet known as Dollman is played by Jonathan Roumie, with a likeness based on Turkish film director Fatih Akin.
MAPS
As we touched on earlier, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach won’t be set in the United Cities of America, as its predecessor was. No, this time we’re moving on to entirely new locations outside of the country- and event the continent. It’s been confirmed that Death Stranding 2 will feature two open world maps in Mexico and Australia, with the latter serving as the primary setting for the sequel. With two entirely new maps, the game is also promising much greater environmental diversity, which should be exciting to experience.
OPEN WORLD DETAILS
There’s plenty more to talk about where Death Stranding 2’s open world is concerned beyond its new locations and the diversity they are promising. Kojima Productions is also promising an open world experience that will feel much more dynamic than the first game. That will come through not only a new day and night cycle, but also extreme weather mechanics and disasters that players will have to deal with while traversing the world, including forest firest, avalanches, sandstorms, earthquakes, and more. That, of course, will be in addition to other threats like Timefall, BTs, and a variety of other enemies scattered throughout the world, both supernatural and otherwise.
SOCIAL STRAND SYSTEM
The asynchronous multiplayer system known as the Social Strand System served as a central part of the gameplay loop in the original Death Stranding, and it is, of course, returning in full capacity in the sequel. The Social Strand System will once again see players asynchronously collaborating with each other, leaving behind tools and traversal equipment that can be used and rated by other players, which in turn will help you unlock more and better tools to use.
COMBAT AND STEALTH IMPROVEMENTS
Traversal gameplay and social strand multiplayer are obviously Death Stranding’s bread and butter, but the upcoming sequel is also expanding on some of the first game’s more glaring gameplay flaws to hopefully deliver a more well rounded experience. Specifically, combat and stealth have seen significant improvements, as per not only Kojima Productions, but also the extensive hands-on previews that have been published for the game by various outlets. That means greater enemy variety, better enemy AI, more weapons, and a greater degree of freedom in how to approach situations. That means stealth has received a glowup, with the aforementioned enemy AI improvements being paired with a wider and more varied pool of stealth to use in stealth scenarios.
DIFFERENT GAMEPLAY APPROACHES
Interestingly enough, the difference to choose between different gameplay approaches when faced when roadblocks seems to be one of Death Stranding 2’s core gameplay pillars. Speaking with Edge, lead level designer Hiroaki Yoshiike explained that combat, stealth, and traversal will serve as the three key gameplay components, with each providing viable routes through challenges. Yoshiike said, “Kojima-san wanted a clearer focus on combat, so we wanted to provide players with a range of approaches to every situation they’re faced with.
“There are three main approaches: stealth, direct combat, or avoiding encounters entirely by navigating rougher terrains and taking the road less travelled. Players can choose which route they want to take, and we ensured all three approaches were viable throughout the game. We then designed the enemy AI to respond to these different player actions, so there are many more responses beyond just giving chase.”
SIMILAR TO METAL GEAR SOLID 5
Interestingly, Hideo Kojima himself has likened Death Stranding 2 to his 2015 flawed masterpiece Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain– though that doesn’t mean you should go in expecting a hardcore tactical stealth experience. No, that’s more in reference to the game’s structure, which, as Kojima explained in an interview with Edge, sees players frequently returning to the ship HMV Magellan, which serves as a hub and base of operations throughout the experience, similar to Mother Base in Metal Gear Solid 5.
PROGRESSION DETAILS
Death Stranding 2 is also looking to add further depth to its gameplay experience with completely new progression mechanics. Dubbed the Automated Porter Assistant System (or APAS), Death Stranding 2’s skill tree will see player investing points across three categories, featuring skills and upgrades related to combat, stealth, and what’s referred to as serviceship, and essentially dictates your ability to effectively and successfully deliver packages. Meanwhile, in addition to actively unlocking skills through APAS, Death Stranding 2 will also see your attributes passively increasing in the background as you do that activity more during gameplay, adding another layer to the progression.
PHOTO MODE
Death Stranding 2 is not only confirmed to feature a photo mode, but perhaps one of the most full featured photo modes that we’ve seen in a game, maybe ever. In addition to showing off the game’s impressive facial scans, animations, and performance capture, the photo mode will also let players populate frames with different characters, featuring different poses, animations, actions, and high levels of interactivity, rather than simply sticking with static stills and snaps (though you can do that as well, if you want).
COULD BE ROUGHLY 75 HOURS LONG
At anywhere between 40-60 hours long, the original Death Stranding was quite a beefy experience, but by the looks of it, its upcoming sequel is going to be an even bigger game. That’s based on a Eurogamer preview that said that it played 30 hours of Death Stranding 2, which, according to Kojima Productions, is roughly 40 percent of the game. Quick math would suggest that the upcoming title is about 75 hours long or thereabouts, though with optional content taken into account, there’s obviously every chance that that number goes even higher.
QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE MODES
Death Stranding 2 is looking like an absolutely gorgeous game, and as you’d expect, the open world title will let players choose between different graphics options. Specifically, the game should feature two modes- a Quality Mode that will focus on fidelity at the cost of frame rates, and Performance, which will take a small hit where resolution and picture quality are concerned, but will instead deliver consistent 60 FPS gameplay.
PS5 PRO DETAILS
Kojima Productions and Sony have confirmed on Death Stranding 2: On the Beach’s official product pages that the game will be enhanced for the PlayStation 5 Pro, though exactly how we can expect it to be technically and graphically upgraded hasn’t yet been specified. Hopefully, performances boosts are incoming, and hopefully, that information will be made available sooner rather than later.
NO DLC PLANS
Death Stranding 2’s launch is around the corner, but when it’s done, it doesn’t seem like Kojima Productions has any immediate plans to keep working on new content for the game. Speaking on his radio show, Kojima said that there are no plans for post launch DLC for Death Stranding 2. Though he didn’t give a concrete no either, he did express pretty strong reluctance at going down the DLC path for the game. Kojima said, “As for DLC – right now, there aren’t any plans. That kind of thing isn’t really the trend anymore, is it? I’m not sure though. Before, we used to add stuff post-launch pretty regularly. But now – maybe there will be something like that. After the release at the end of June, if any bug pops up – we’ll fix them. We’ll keep improving the game. We might even create something that didn’t exist at all in the first game. Who knows. I can’t say for sure right now.”
