Death Stranding Reviews Are a Mixed Bag, But Do You Really Care?

Death Stranding reviews are a mixed bag, but we don't think that players will drop their pre-orders because of it.

[-Foxtrot]

Not really, will try it anyway but it's nice to see different opinions rather then licking Kojima's ass like the majority did with MGSV

[Jon_Targaryen]

I used to be a Kojima fanboy through and through.. But this game does look kinda boring... I dunno maybe majority of us were expecting a type of MGS-esque kinda game..?

[Atom666]

MGSV really showed how review scores (and games media) can be so easily manipulated. Remember, initial reviewers were flown in to a week-long review event where they were welcomed, fed, and treated by staff while they "crtically" evaluated the game. The perfect scores then flowed.

As a result, I bought it day one. First 1/3 of the game was fantastic. Then the remainder began to sit in and I was given a reminder of how little I trust traditional outlets. Good game, but I encourage anyone to look at initial reviews compared to late reviews to see if you too see the trend.

I suspect you might see something similar here. I'll wait to hear from some of my go-to independent critics before judging this initial set of reviews though. I will say that their absence is conspicuous right now.

I'll inevitably try the game myself at some point and form my own opinion about it, but these discussions should remind people why review scores don't mean much anymore.

[Zarock]

The same thing happened with Breath of the wild easily manipulated reviews.

[NecrumOddBoy]

Every IGN site gave it a 9+ except IGN Canada. The US team didn't even play it.

Then Kallie from GS gave it a 9 so clearly Kojima just turned the earth upside down.

I will be buying this after I finish Outer Worlds.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Its very strange I've rarely seen IGN international here on N4G for any AAA game but there scores are all over the news sites now.

[yoshatabi]

Where have you been? Those reviews have always been there for all games

[rainslacker]

They don't usually show up on the main scroll of top articles, but I see them quite often for every major game. Especially the Italian site. Probably because we do have some prolific users on this site in Italy.

[-Ghost]

Actually, U.S and Canada for IGN is one site since their part of North America. If you're in Canada, the link changes to .ca but it's the same site as the U.S.

[Sophisticated_Chap]

Canadians are a different breed. The ones from Ontario and Quebec, just re-elected a 'Black Face' Prime Minister Trudeau for a second term. Pretty historic I'd say....

[ChrisW]

Blame the hype-train for the reviews.

If this game was kept under wraps and secretly released... The whole gaming industry would have been blown away.

[JKSimmons]

Nope. Going to pick it up for myself and play through it. Don't really care about review scores.

[Veneno]

You do care that's why you're here pretending like you don't.. I'm never in the Call of Duty stories because I actually don't care.

[ArchangelMike]

I pre-ordered this game weeks ago. Shows how much I care about basement game journalists.

Why do we even empower random strangers to tell us what we should or shouldn't like based on their arbitrary scores. It's not like there's even a consensus on what a score of 10/10 even means. Does it mean it's a perfect game? Does it mean everyone will like it?

When you have two people working for the same company and one person gives that game a 9, and the other gives the game a 6.8 and both scores get published - then you know it's all bullshit.

[King_Noctis]

“ Why do we even empower random strangers to tell us what we should or shouldn't like based on their arbitrary scores.”

So...don’t listen to them? Buy why you want to buy? The reviewers are paid to do their jobs, which is to give us their opinion on a product handed to them. U don’t have to trust their opinion if you don’t want to.

“ When you have two people working for the same company and one person gives that game a 9, and the other gives the game a 6.8 and both scores get published”

I know right? Its like different people have different opinions or something. Its like the company don’t want to force their reviewers to produce the same opinion or something. We’re living in a mad world I tell ya.

[porkChop]

"Why do we even empower random strangers to tell us what we should or shouldn't like based on their arbitrary scores."

Reviews don't tell you what to like. They're meant to inform you of what to expect, and tell you how the reviewer feels about the game. You're not supposed to take it as gospel. You read multiple reviews and use that knowledge to make your own informed decision, and understand any potential issues with the game. No one is telling you what to like or what to buy, that's entirely up to you.

"When you have two people working for the same company and one person gives that game a 9, and the other gives the game a 6.8 and both scores get published - then you know it's all bullshit."

No it isn't bullshit. IGN has multiple regional outlets/sites, and they all act independently. Two reviewers having different opinions is perfectly normal, regardless of whether they work for the same company. They don't have to think the same way, just as the general public are allowed to have their own opinions.

[tontontam0]

"I think it's just denial,
a lot of it,
when so many different sites are citing the same thing,"

Lol maybe those site are also in denial,
a lot of it,
when so many different sites are citing that this game is a masterpiece.

[Rimeskeem]

Mixed bag?

Apparently averaging a 85ish is now considered mixed

[GaboonViper]

You know todays lot, anything under 89 is a flop, rubbish and should be buried with ET, idiots, back in my day if a game got a 7 that would be a must buy LOL.

[rainslacker]

85 is only a flop if the people saying it's a flop wanted it to be bad to begin with. Same thing happened with Days gone. The few lower scores were used to ignore the overwhelming number of positive or average scores. It really happens with all exclusives, and is nothing new. Just this time, they're finding other ways to discredit high scores by ignoring major sites and trying to say that it's only small unknown sites giving it good scores, and that the content of the reviews still say it has problems. They ignore any positive aspect of those same reviews, which explain why it's still a high score.

I do think the content of the reviews themselves, not the scores, are kind of mixed. They say it's a great experience, but find faults with the game as well. But nowadays, a ten doesn't mean a perfect game, and instead, just means a game that is something worth playing for whatever reason. Or it's just bias rearing it's ugly head. Given the criticisms of the game, I'll probably not consider it a 10, but I doubt I'll consider it a terrible game. I'll find out when I play it.

[SolidGamerX]

lol, right? Yeah there's no agenda here at all.

[Veneno]

You're missing the point completely. The point is that it's Kojima. His games have been highly regarded in the past by most and his first independent game is divisive.

[GaboonViper]

Couldn't care less, review scores have never meant anything to me and never will, whatever medium, whether it Film, Music, Books you name it.

[masterfox]

The only thing I care, is that soon a game created by one of the best game designers/directors of the whole game industry is about to be released and I will be playing that game. :)

[TGGJustin]

I'm so tired of this narrative already. The game has an 84 on MC and an 86 on OC. How is that a mixed bag? Outer Worlds has like the same score. It's only a couple points lower than games like Spider-Man and Horizon that were nothing but praised. So what is up with this mixed bag talk? You'd think the game had a low 70 like Concrete Genie or Days Gone. Those are mixed bags. Death Stranding has been mostly praise.

[EmperorDalek]

The Outer Worlds was pretty consistently getting scores of 7-9, whereas Death Stranding just got plenty of 10s and a fair share of 6 and 7s. They both got a similar score, but one had a wider variety than the other.

Two games can get a 5/10. One can get all 5s, one can get scores all over the place. A mixed bag has nothing to do with the final score.

[isarai]

I only use reviews as a way to see if theres any aspects of the game i haven't pieced together myself based on pre-release info and videos. Couldn't really care less whether they like it or not, or what their review score is. I've made my own decision based on the info ive gathered, dont need a review to tell me to love it or hate it.

[Thundercat77]

I applaud you fellow gamer.

[yoshatabi]

Same. Been doing this for years

[CanadianTurtle]

Even reviewers who liked the game admit that it's boring to play. That's when you know it's a problem. When you have guys like YongYea say things like "the gameplay is not for everyone," that's code for "the gameplay sucks, but I'm too much of a coward to say so because I got a free review-copy, so I'll just continue to suck the game's dick." Even hardcore Kojima fans are saying." Just by watching his review, you can tell he's trying way too hard to hold back on how he REALLY feels about the gameplay. Boring gameplay should NEVER be rewarded with 9/10 reviews no matter how great the story/narrative is. This is a video game, not a movie.

[rainslacker]

I saw that constantly with RDR2. Game wasn't fun, slap a 10 on it. I questioned that idea, but I played RDR2, and I enjoyed it. It had it's flaws, and I didn't consider it a 10, but it certainly wasn't a bad game. I don't see why DS would be any different if it provides a good experience.

"The gameplay is not for everyone" is not code for "the gameplay sucks". Gameplay sucks means that it's hard to play, and more often than not you're fighting the game to play it. Not being for everyone means that it may not have the same pace as other games, which may turn some people off. A person into COD may not like The Witness because the pacing and what you do are different, hence, The Witness is a game that isn't for everyone. But, it isn't a bad game, with bad game play.

[Sm00thNinja]

I think both sides are delusional af. The game is scoring well and should be a unique amazing experience for those willing to venture into it. At the same time... it's a Hideo Kojima game so I'm sure EVERYONE expected like 10s across the board and a 90+ meta score. I feel bad for the side that doesnt even have an option to try it out

[TheGoodestBoi]

I was on the fence about getting it until I saw the Rick and Morty ad. That convinced me to buy it

[Elda]

Majority of the reviews are positive with scores of 80 to a 100,the low scores are in the minority.

[Iltapalanyymi]

no, absolutely not
review scores are completely worthless to me, i just pick up a game and form my own opinions

[agent13]

apparently it has a tedious 50h gameplay with a good story, most of us have jobs, school, family, etc we can't waste our time just walking and delivering packages in a game. a video game should have a good gameplay for example quantic dream games don't have a complex gameplay but your choices impact the story and they are short and they never get boring. if kojima likes to make movies he could make a nice interactive game like quantic dream or telltale games.

[Superdooper]

Not so sure. I was able to pick up a collector's edition immediately after the few review bombs hit. I'm thankful for that. They were sold out so fast and I've never been able to catch one on the few occasions they were available. I'm still psyched despite the walking simulator meme that is turning out to be more accurate than first thought. In fact, I'm actually looking forward to that, too. Can't wait to play with you all on 8th and possibly see some of you today on London. :)

[Sevir]

Is it really mixed? It's on Meta Critic with the same aggregate score as both Gears 5 and The Outer World's, both games were raved as fantastic end of year releases.... Is it mixed because It was Hyped in mystery and only managed to be an 86+ reviewed game?

[Veneno]

It's mixed because they're saying that while the narrative is Kojima at his best the gameplay is Kojima at his worst. It's not so much about the scores it's getting but that is a part of it.

[Sevir]

Kojima at his worst? Is it bad gameplay because you're not breaking necks and shooting guns and mowing down people in stealth? We're people really expecting MSG gameplay with an emphasis on deliveries, because if it's tended to be just that I can't see it to be gameplay at it's worst. Maybe the problem is everyone's expectations as to what good gameplay is versus what Kojima designed it to be?... I'll be the first to admit, I've never finished a Kojima game from start to finish. couldn't get into MGS. Bought MGS4 out of PS3 hype and barely got passed the first chapter. I'm not a Kojima fanboy. I full on skipped MGS5 Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain... I've got my reservations about this considering that this is a slow burn, every review has said it's about 10 hours in where the story picks up ... MGS games are far more action heavy from the the get go. And I still couldn't get into it. I'm willing to dive into this game and see for myself if it's worth it.

[BizarroUltraman]

Open Critic, what happened to Metacritic?

[l33t_haxx0r]

I may buy one day. It is hard for me because games like red dead 2 and breath of the wild that got perfect scores most places, I play them and find them really boring and struggled to stay interested playing them. but then again God of war got a perfect scores and that is awesome. I think games should be reviewed by multiple people at the same time.by the same company and they all have a meeting for there final score, this hopefully would eliminate fanboy reviews and bias reviews and hopefully stop feminism from giving a low score due to lack of solid female.leads..

[GamingSinceForever]

100% agree.

[Veneno]

That's funny I bought into the God of War 2018 hype and was really disappointed by the game. And I'm a big fan of God of War 3.

[l33t_haxx0r]

God of war 3 was amazing! I admit that new god of war got a bit boring towards the end though.

[Thundercat77]

Mixed bag? That's pretty innacurate.

Days Gone (71 metacritic) had mixed reviews and it turned out to be a huge commercial success.

Death Stranding is at a solid 84 metacritic. That's far from "mixed bag".

Kojima have my respects for having the courage to make a game outside of the ordinary, a new genre.

[Veneno]

The reviews themselves are what's mixed. They are saying awesome story but bad gameplay.

[bluefox755]

No, why would anyone trust game reviewers. They've proven to be wrong more often than right in recent years.

[FunAndGun]

Putting trust in something that has been wrong more often than right in recent years......That is an interesting comment coming from you. ....you are right, why would anyone? quite perplexing...

[Veneno]

more than anything reviewers are just trying to justify their jobs. They want to present what will generate traffic and throw a balanced review out the window. There are reviewers that are balanced like Angry Joe. I don't agree with everything but his observations are always spot on. He knows what will be divisive in a game but is never afraid to give his opinion on it. His reviews are informative and give an opinion which is great. Too bad we won't see the Death Stranding review until release but it will be worth the wait.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

Nope - you like blue - I like red, we are all different. I want more out of gaming than I'm getting currently, I need/want AAA studios to take risks.

It's a hard ask as games cost so much to make, but there's room for all game types.

And not everything has to be everything to every man. We can disagree - it's ok.

Thank fuck for Stanley Kubrik, Martin Scorsese, Alfred Hitchcock and David Lean - where would movies be wothout those blokes?

And - shocker not all of their films are for everyone. See how things work? Boundaries get pushed - things evolve.

[Smokehouse]

About reviews? No I couldn’t care less. There is even an article from a website about a different website NOT making a review lmao! How
bored can you be?

[Lon3wolf]

Nope I do not, regardless of scores or who even makes the game if it is something I want to play I will, always have done and always will do.

[Inzo]

"But Do You Really Care?"

No. GO BOKKE!!!!!!

[TheGoodestBoi]

Bokke are top of the world!
Ons het hulle op gevok!

[Inzo]

Die feit dat dit teen die Engelse is maak die wen so veel beter.

[GamingSinceForever]

I didn’t think Breath of the Wild was that great and I liked Days Gone more than the critics did.

Point is form your own opinion by giving these games a spin. If money is an issue watch on Twitch before deciding or rent a copy.

[AK91]

Well first of all no reviews and the game journalists who write them have been irrelevant for about a decade second a majority of the reviews have been very positive.

[CrimsonWing69]

Real mixed when the average score is an 84, welcome to games journalism, folks!

[Larrysweet]

Lot 8 9s 10s

[leoms]

darthv72
darth why are you being a hypocrite? Gears 5: 84 with 91% recommended? Why are you lying my guy? Why? Don't tell me you're lying for a corporation now because your ''facts'' can easily be verified.

[Rude-ro]

I just find it funny that since the first time we saw game play... articles have been concerned about its reviews being divisive...
Then you keep seeing the words being thrown around in almost every review posted on here.

We get how many bad games a year?
We get how many AAA franchise that just move sideways with a little more make up and a lot more micro transactions?...
But this game... this game is “divisive”... yet how many website are obvious shill in this market?

Just is curious seeing how this all played out.

[BrainSyphoned]

Pre ordering when I get paid Tuesday. Relaxation of Euro Truck Simulator 2 filtered through Kojima’s mind.

[Lexreborn2]

I could care less, I don’t get the need for a reviewers validation anyways. All it ever does is get strangers over the internet fighting over another strangers opinion.

It’s literally a redundant process that gamers feed into. I would much rather have articles for previews of varying games. Interviews with people in the industry and open dialog with developers in what it took for them to make older games then if someone liked a game or not.

But, everyone still wants to argue to dismantle or protect someone else’s view.

[Blu3_Berry]

I think big gaming sites like IGN, Polygon, Gamepot, etc. needs to have multiple people review the games so that way it's not just one person's opinion. The current problem is that it gives the illusion whoever scores that said game reflects the company as a whole, when in reality it's just one person's opinion and not multiple people.

Besides, I don't really care for critic reviews these days and what they score. I'll still read/watch their video, but nowadays too many critics often insert their own biased political agenda into the reviews. We saw this especially with Days Gone, a game critics panned with stupid negatives such as bland white-male lead (what does race have to do with anything) while alot of users quite enjoyed the game.

[BizarroUltraman]

Take out the obvious troll reviews and I bet this game like a 90+ Although I won't be playing it cause I don't have a PS anymore. This game got alot of perfect scores and Yeah I make fun of it because its a package delivery game when all said and done😂 but its a new IP trying new things. Playstation as always taking risk a d pays off. It got more 10s than any MS game this gen and how the hell only 80s meta🤔

[cell989]

YouTubers had a very positive reaction to it and that’s who I’m gonna listen to. I’m tired of gaming journalism politics and conflicts of interest.

[ScoreBunnie]

I think when it comes down to it, no matter a game's flaws, there's something there that no reviewer can explain. Death Stranding had that for me, and I'm not really a Sony stan, looking forward to playing it!

[ScoreBunnie]

I think the problem is that we live in a culture that is so obsessed with some people's success and other people's failures. 6 and 7's have never been bad review scores. What kind of piss logic is it to say an 8 is just ok, a 9 is good, and 10 is great and everything below it is bad? To me, the open critic score is more representative of how Death Stranding is being received anyways it's at an 83.

[Silly gameAr]

Nope.

I think some people had their minds made up about this game before it even came out. Everyone has their own opinion, and everyone is free to disagree with those opinions, and do their own thing. Someone else's opinion shouldn't stop you from experiencing something for yourself so you can form your own opinion. That's how it's always been for me, and how it will always be.

[Tross]

I will say it sure as heck landed well on the positive side of mixed reception. In any case, there are plenty of ways to gauge whether a game is worth playing in this day and age with reviews being just one of them. Also, gamers knew that the critical reception of this one would be mixed anyways. That it scored as high as it did may have actually encouraged more sales.

[neomahi]

I love Metal Gear, LOVE IT! But after I played Metal Gear Solid V I was seriously disappointed. I came to a solid (no pun intended) conclusion just how much I appreciate Naughty Dog's way of doing things. So many are so jazzed for The Last of Us Part II and stand as hardcore Naughty Dog fans but, is it still just the zombie craze people have been on for almost 12 years, or do they realize there's something much more to what Naughty Dog knows and how they operate? And that's just my point. When Death Stranding was announced I was leery of it having just come off of Metal Gear Solid V. It was an open world game with a slew of missions but it seemed like it took forever to get to various missions and the missions only varried slightly. I learned you could fast travel and then asked myself, then what's the point of an open world game? And that's just it. They're all walking Sims with the addition of the grinding aspects of JRPG's. It's what the developer of The Witness referred to at one time as "filler". It's stuffing to make the consumer feel like their getting their money's worth spending 60 to 100 plus hours on a game but you're spending majority of that time walking. "Well, I play it for the story." Really? Then why was everyone complaining so much about Metal Gear Solid 4? So that's pretty much my point. Death Stranding turned out how it did because Kojima figured gamers wanted expanded areas to explore, an open world game. What Naughty Dog learned and have had the guts to stand by is that when you pull out all the filler and stick to a linear story based driven game, what you end up with is a top selling game and fans that worship you but you get the substance concentrated, not watered down that doesn't really fill you. The more condensed and concentrated, the more filling it is, the more watered down to fill space, the more you have to have to make up for it. Death Stranding is walking everywhere over a huge map that looks much the same performing meaningless tasks and the fact Kojima wanted to include a very easy mode for people that just want to view says something. Maybe Konami weren't the bad guys at all, maybe they were the checks and balances keeping Kojima level, maybe he really needed them to keep his ego in check.

[quenomamen]

Yea we need less creative games and more CODs every effin year

[babadivad]

Hearing what I've heard about the gameplay this doesn't seem for me. Maybe I'll buy it cheap when PS5 launches.

[Ethereal]

Nope.

[Hardiman]

But is it really?!?! I mean the positive reviews out number the mixed and negative reviews combined quite handily. To me it's not so much a mixed bag as lots of folks seem to like it bag!

With that said if a person needs reviews to validate their choice in games they are really missing the point.

Some of my fav games that I love could be torn apart if I wanted to be a dick. I mean you could find fault in Citizen Kane but again you're missing the point. Enjoy what you enjoy and if others enjoy it then that's great if they don't then at least you have something that you enjoy!

[william_cade]

Most of the time reviewers are bought and paid for, and some times they even hate gamers. Unfortunately today, reading a review is for entertainment purposes. Those scores don't usually reflect the game as much as they reflect personal politics and boot licking.

[UnHoly_One]

This is all I can think of in regards to this game.

https://www.ladbible.com/fu...

[thexmanone]

Well if it was siting at a 85 for a Xbox game it would be considered a flop. So i`m going too say its a flop, Wait for a sale price then pick it up.

[BABI-PANGPANG]

Also keep in mind that some reviewers might give it an extra point or two just because it's a Kojima game. If the gameplay is actually as shallow as it looks it's easier for him to get away with it than let's say a company like EA who doesn't have the best reputation atm.

I'll just wait for the 'Worth a Buy' review.

[Villain528]

Don’t care the slightest. People think it’s great. People think it’s horrible. People think it’s ok. It’s not for everyone. That’s kinda what I was expecting so I’m still with it

[tombfan]

I wouldn't say they're a mixed bag... Mixed is when a game is 65-75 and has some 10/10 out there, this game's a pretty good/excellent game but we always love some controversy.

[Hungryalpaca]

I find it funny how people just say “delivery simulator” but leave out everything in between.

I mean we can boil any game down to the end goal.

Halo is just about exploding a ring.

Cod is just about killing Russians.

Racing games are just driving in circles.

Flight simulator is just flying in a straight line.

They leave out that DS is a game that makes the landscape a puzzle you need to figure out how to navigate to get to your destination. Choosing what tools you’ll need to help the journey. Building infrastructure to assist other players. Managing your loadout and equipment. Discovering the landscape. But it it’s not about killing so it’s just go from point A to point B. That’s EVERY game. All games are get from point A to B.

People are acting like because it’s not about killing things it’s bad.

You can take any subject and make it fun.

I don’t have an interest in DS but I’ll eventually give it a shot. The game isn’t broken, it’s beautiful, apparently the story is really good.

[smashman98]

I literally never care about reviews. Why would this time be any different?

[_LarZen_]

17% reviewers don’t recommend the game. Why is it that people always focus of the negative? It’s clear that the game is not for everyone (like most games). But the wast majority are recommending the game...

[ritchi45]

I've never cared for reviews. Too many have underlying bias or agendas against the dev/publisher.

[Sophisticated_Chap]

For me, it usually comes down to the gameplay that gets teased or released in bits here and there before the game launches. I can usually tell whether it's a game I'm interested in fairly quick after watching some gameplay, and it shouldn't need to be any more complicated than that. With Death Stranding, it has been clear to me that I would not enjoy this game, and the negative reviews, which I believe are being more honest about this game, are basically confirming everything I've seen to date. So, reviews can be good as a secondary take, but I don't base my decisions entirely on them.

[Realms]

Some people want Death Stranding to fail so hard, did they not learn anything from Days Gone? Reviews these days are often motivated by their own agendas so I don't care for them specially from big sites. If a game is interesting to me I buy it I don't need anyone to validate my purchase I can make my own decisions and form my own opinion.

[Profchaos]

Put simply it's a game that you will love it hate and a review is just someone's opinion

[BehindTheRows]

It shares the same Meta as Gears 5. Are those reviews a ‘mixed bag’ as well? I mean, we’re talking an 84 here (an incredibly good score).

I don’t get the meaningless hyperbole.

[tulholdren]

Still going to be a day 1 for just like Days Gone got mixed reviews and i liked that game too. All games are not for all people just buy and play what you like.