ASH PLAYS: Death Stranding
Two weeks ago, we launched our Ash Plays series where Ash Gray, guitarist of VENOM PRISON, pens his thoughts and feelings towards gaming. We kicked off our new column with his most anticipated games of 2020, and now, in our next entry, Ash gives his thoughts towards one of last year’s heavy hitters; Death Stranding. Over to you Ash!
A lot of people have an opinion on this game regardless if they have played it or not, the bottomline is yes you’re entitled to that opinion but let me talk about my experience of this possible “Masterpiece?”
I think firstly it needs to be mentioned who is behind this game and it’s the incredible Kojima with his own production after parting ways with Konami, Kojima known for his iconic work in Metal Gear Solid not Metal Gear Survive. Please make a note of that, let’s not get that awful train wreck of a game mixed up with the glorious MGS series.
Before the release of Death Stranding what were we expecting? A new MGS? Probably, I was. Now we have Death Stranding in our hands and… “IT’S A WALKING SIMULATOR”, let me correct you there, yes there is a lot of walking but admire the world you’re in, immerse yourself into a dystopia America, learn about the human errors, bond with characters who truly connect with you throughout the game and understand why this may only look like a walking simulator from the outside. When the world is torn apart what do you have? Nothing, you start again, you build and bring people together. I really don’t want to give too much of the story away here as the game relies on this heavily to keep players immersed.
Gameplay can take a short while to get use to, I felt myself forgetting to control Sam (the main character, which I should of mentioned by this point) and completely crashing down a side of a mountain losing all my cargo and then running around like an idiot looking for it but they’re the consequences you have to deal with in this game and I’m fine with that. The world… well it’s so beautiful, I found myself staring into space so many times, on top of a mountain or listening to the water crash down by waterfalls feeling like I was truly enjoying nature through a game… is that possible? Well it is in Death Stranding.
Some familiar faces in this face, of course it’s Norman Reedus playing Sam Bridges and I can’t really say much other than what an incredible job he did making Sam Bridges feel like his own person and not feel like you’re just looking at a guy from Boondock Saints or The Walking Dead, the characteristics were spot on for the game and props to Kojima for picking Norman Reedus. Another face you might recognise is Mads Mikkelsen – Hannibal (up there with favourite TV Series), Polar, Valhalla Rising and many more, now his character in this is incredible but I want to leave that there as I feel like I’m going to spoil what this game is heavily based on. Deadman, Die-Hardman, MAMA, Fragile, Heartman, Higgs and so on, not one of these characters are neglected and all come into their own which is something you don’t see being done so well that often. That deserves praise purely on that.
So, yes please expect a lot of travelling in this game, yes it is very slow paced but enjoy what is around you and dig deep into the story, the messages behind this game are incredible and not for one moment do I regret putting so much time into this game.
It’s a beautiful game, I even put it in my Best Games of The Decade list I just honestly feel like this is a special game and really made me feel like I was reliving my Metal Gear Solid 1 days by being blown away by such an incredible story. The humour and nods in this game are great and still maintains the aesthetic of how truly FUCKED the world is or can be.
Rating: 9/10
And that rounds off our next guest column from Ash! Stay tuned to Distorted Sound next as we bring our next column in our Ash Plays series!
