There were a lot of speculations and talks after developer Hideo Kojima left Konami in 2015, people wondered if he would go small and develop an indie game, or get out of the industry entirely! Well, it turns out that Kojima had other plans. When Kojima’s at E3 2016 unveiled the trailer for his new game titled Death Stranding, it left people wondering if the game is going to be any good.
Well, we can’t say much but it sure looks like it won’t be your typical action-packed open world game. And after all the trailers and news we have seen and heard here’s everything we know about the game so far :
The Gameplay
In February, during an interview with official PlayStation Blog Kojima said: “I can’t really speak on that right now but in one word, it’s an action game — an open world game with a lot of freedom”. When asked about his repeated mention of “strands” all he said was that it will be an important and distinguishing part of the game. “In action games, generally, the player has a gun and plays against enemies in a single player environment — or they take it online and play against other players in a competitive environment. They join in together with guns — it’s almost always with guns — to take down a stronger opponent. In this game, you can do that but I wanted to go a little deeper beyond that with something that doesn’t focus on a weapon like a gun and that’s what has a connection to the strand concept,” he further added.
While talking about the engine his studio is using Kojima said “Usually when you go to use, buy, or borrow an engine, someone will say, ‘Lend us your name,’ or of course ask for payment. We had no contract with Guerrilla Games, but when we met them, they suddenly gave us a box — a very pretty box. When we opened the box, there was a USB dongle inside that had the source code for the engine. They simply said, ‘Mr. Kojima, please use this engine,’ and we thought these people are incredible.”
So what can we expect from the gameplay? Not much. Death Stranding will probably be an open-world action game, it will involve combat, and it will give players the opportunity to connect in some way.
Last year in September, Kojima Productions tweeted:
Straight from the event: Death Stranding will feature a new form of co-op play but will of course be fully playable in single player.
— Kojima Productions (@KojiPro2015_EN) September 18, 2016
Although we don’t have any gameplay footage so far, all we know is that players will be able to play the game in 4K when it’s out.
The Characters
At the 2016 Game Awards, Kojima unvieled to his audience a new trailer of Death Stranding. We don’t see any actual gameplay but the trailer confirms two of its characters will be played by director and ex-Silent Hills collaborator Guillermo del Toro and Mads Mikkelsen.
At a PSX panel on December 3, 2016, Kojima confirmed that Mikkelsen will be voicing his character, who will be Death Stranding’s antagonist. Kojima Productions twitter handle teased about the potential of a female lead to star alongside Norman and Mads.
Death Stranding's casting is still under way… Will there be a heroine? Who should play her?
— Kojima Productions (@KojiPro2015_EN) September 18, 2016
What is the game actually going to be about?
Norman Reedus on his Instagram account might have hinted at the game being about black hole as we can see in the video is a model of a naked man being sucked into a tiny hole in the wall with a caption “Yep”.
Before the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Before the new Akira. https://t.co/PEuuP8FRfL— Kojima Productions (@KojiPro2015_EN) September 18, 2016
There’s no official date on the release of the game as of yet but if we are to believe Kojima Productions it’ll definitely be before the Tokyo Olympics which means the game should be out in under two years.
