Death Stranding 2 Might Deliver the Metal Gear Feel I’ve Been Waiting for All These Years
Visionary auteur Hideo Kojima is shaping up to release what may just be his magnum opus. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach encapsulates the entirety of Kojima-san’s decades-long genre defiance into a career defining whole, a legacy of reimagining gameplay mechanics and pushing narrative boundaries; sci-fi cop drama Policenauts, interstellar mech-battler Zone of the Enders, the Game Boy Advance’s Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand with its novel cartridge-mounted light sensor that transforms real-life sunlight into in-game bolts of fire, Kojima’s titles consistently imbue one-or-more ground-breaking elements, narratively, mechanically, or both.
The Metal Gear series – as we all know by now – is how Kojima rose to prominence. Reinventing, and arguably popularising, stealth-action gameplay, Metal Gear is further notable for tackling highly conceptual and philosophical subject matter and examining the morality of war and humanity’s complicity, all explored through the eyes of emotionally complex characters.
Death Stranding came in 2019 – Kojima’s first effort since acrimoniously splitting from Konami and forming his own production company – with ambitious storytelling and genre-bending – if arguably divisive – gameplay, adding to Kojima’s legacy exponentially. If Death Stranding is Kojima’s Alien – Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror, that is – then upcoming sequel Death Stranding 2 is his Aliens (a comparison made by the man himself in a recent interview with Edge magazine).
In that interview, Hideo postulates the origin of 1979 Alien’s scares are through its mystery. Then, James Cameron’s follow-up re-injects unfamiliarity by switching genres to action. As stated by Kojima, this is the blueprint inspiring Death Stranding and its sequel’s trajectory. Gone is the intrigue and fear factor; BTs are now a known quantity, and their mystery has evaporated. Instead, to re-establish unfamiliarity Death Stranding 2 is expanding the range of combat options available to players, much like Aliens expanded its roster of targets for angry Xenomorphs to hunt.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach sees the return of Sam Porter Bridges and Fragile, alongside new characters with decidedly over-literal names like Rainy and Dollman. Said to continue its forbearer’s ‘strand-type’ gameplay, whereby the overarching focus is on connection rather than hostility and division, Sam travels to Mexico and then Australia to cross arid continents to extend the Chiral Network. However, ominously appearing in the sequel’s marketing is the question of where we should have connected at all, hinting at a follow-up darker in tone and mystery, an evolution of the social strand system and broader possibility for multiplayer infrastructure.
Another key element: freedom. Freedom is at the forefront of Kojima’s mind for this sequel; freedom on how to approach encounters, autonomy to use the game’s mechanics to concoct creative solutions to problems. According to Kojima Productions’ Lead Level Designer Hiroaki Yoshiike, Death Stranding 2 applies a three-pronged approach in its options provided to players: they can directly engage in guns blazing combat, they can utilise stealth and subterfuge, or they can avoid encounters entirely, oftentimes requiring a detour over harsh terrain to uncover new paths.
As Yoshiike confirms, all options chosen by the players are viable, and enemies will react accordingly depending on player choice and the environment in which encounters occur. In other words, opponents won’t always give chase; they’ll react to surroundings as much as the player. An enemy’s role in Death Stranding, according to Yoshiike, was to disrupt the overarching goal of delivering packages from one point to another. In Death Stranding 2, Kojima and his team are crafting a more nuanced and emergent experience to enemy encounters akin to Metal Gear Solid V’s stealth sandbox, and for anyone waiting for Metal Gear Solid 3’s impending remake this is fantastic.
Much like Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, in Death Stranding 2 returning protagonist Sam can adorn different camouflage types, although given the phantasmagorical boss battles promoted thus far it’s unlikely new camouflage outfits will be obtained via defeating bosses without lethal force as per Naked Snake’s Cold War-era escapades.
Utilising surroundings to mask his approach – shadows and long grass included – are of course options for Sam, although players will need to leave his loaded backpack out of sight or make sure it isn’t visible through grass. Tiny expedition companion, and new character for the sequel, Dollman can prove useful during stealthy sections too with him having ability to scan surroundings, tag enemies, and watch over Sam in open spaces. Whether the suite of approaches, tools, and gadgets on offer rivals Metal Gear’s Snake remains to be seen, but mechanically both Death Stranding 2 and Metal Gear Solid share a lot of common ground.
Mechanical comparisons continue in Death Stranding 2’s open world exploration, taking Sam as aforesaid to Mexico and Australia, with each location harbouring dust-hewn deserts and lush jungles. These environments are pocketed by enemy bases which Sam can infiltrate via stealth or opt to wield firearms from an extensive arsenal to eliminate guards en masse.
So, backtracking slightly, whilst Hiroaki Yoshiike confirms any approach to encounters is viable to seeing the game through to completion, avoiding these enemy camps altogether risks missing out on opportunities to test out weapon combinations, conjure ideas, and push the game mechanically. Of course, facing enemies gives Sam opportunity to wield Death Stranding 2’s new weaponry, such as the electrified pole which can be lobbed at enemies to shock them from the shadows or, most interesting, holographic grenades which project a visage of a BT to unsuspecting humans causing them to, hopefully, run like startled rabbits.
The Metal Gear aesthetic features heavily in Death Stranding 2’s 10-minute pre-order video too. Now, before we point out two of the most obvious Metal Gear homages in the trailer there’s the notion that Kojima is re-treading ground already covered, or – more cynically – that he’s obsessed with an ex and can’t let their split go. But frankly, the visual aesthetic applied here is a part of Kojima’s creative DNA, it’d be remiss to argue otherwise. Furthermore, what we’re seeing is Kojima free from Konami’s shackles. It seems with Death Stranding 2 he has the team and the budget to bring the entirety of his creative vision to reality. Maybe some of the ideas present in Death Stranding 2 represent unfinished business? Or maybe, like we said, Kojima is still obsessed with Metal Gear, and wants to continue the series’ legacy on his own terms.
Either way, new character Neil is as on the nose a Metal Gear reference as imaginably possible. This smuggler, whom Kojima confirms is a replacement for Death Stranding 1’s Cliff, is a man scorn by love and by past regrets, morphing into a BT-alike antagonist. Not only does the actor behind Neil’s appearance Luca Marinelli bear a stunning resemblance to Snake, but him also donning a bandana before leading a quartet of creepy soldiers at the culmination of the 10-minute trailer makes him seem like he’ll fulfil a role akin to Solid Snake.
Another on the nose reference is the DHV Megallan – Sam’s mech for traversing tar portals in-game. This ship is Metal Gear, through and through. More so, when the DHV Megallan fuses atop the neck of the colossal Megallan Man the resemblance to Metal Gear Rex is uncanny. If you’ve been lamenting the lack of Metal Gear Solid VI, knowing full well it’ll never happen then Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is as close as you’re going to get. It’s the perfect tonic to Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater’s wait, although given what we know so far don’t be surprised to rank Death Stranding 2 higher once you’ve played both.
Note: All information in this article is based on officially revealed sources. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
