Death Stranding Review - GameSpot

Death Stranding is dense, complex, and powerful, steadfast in its belief in the power of love and hope when faced with overwhelming adversity.

[lukasmain]

Divisive game it seeeeems. Can't wait

[akurtz]

Same here, deep dive!

[Gazondaily]

Polarising reviews but for the most part positive.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Septic

"For the most part positive"

Death Stranding has a higher Open Critic than Gears 5 and Outer Worlds.

86 https://opencritic.com/game...

[darthv72]

@tyler, I dont really know why the comparison but 90% of critics recommend outer Worlds while only 83% recommend DS. Even though DS is 1 point higher than OW in terms of OC score. And 91% recommend Gears 5.... What's that about?

[djplonker]

@septic

Metacritic scores at time of posting:

57 positive (82%)
15 mixed
1 negative

"for the most part positive"

You cant help yourself can you?

[Ezio2048]

It's 11 mixed. Currently 84 meta with 13 perfect scores (more than any game this year except RE2 remake perhaps)

[S2Killinit]

Most irrational comment of the week goes to pornflakes.

[darthv72]

@plonker... the scores are not ALL positive nor are they ALL negative. they are mostly positive. so what exactly is wrong with septic making that factual comment?

Are you upset he did not use a different descriptive word like "majority"?

YOU can't help yourself... can you?

[Unspoken]

Seriously, who submits reviews to MetaCritic?

[Flewid638]

Its at 84 now....and yes its mostly positive. How is that not what you posted?

[SyntheticForm]

Does this mean Kallie Plagge is off the hook for past transgressions? Joking, but it's good to see that there are so many positive reviews.

Gives me hope.

[TheGoodestBoi]

Pre-ordered mine already can't wait!

[Gatsu]

I cant wait to play this! Yong Yea said this surely isnt for everyone, but hope people play it to the end before giving their opinion.

[UltraNova]

Love the fact that this aint another "for everyone" game. I f***** love rare games like these and I love complex and engaging stories/themes in my games.

[Gatsu]

I 100% agree with you!

[Sophisticated_Chap]

"Death Stranding is dense, complex, and powerful, steadfast in its belief in the power of love and hope when faced with overwhelming adversity"

But it doesn't look fun, which is something a video game should be.

[IamTylerDurden1]

It's getting great reviews. Scoring mid 80's even with all the hate. Push Square said it's a masterpiece and one of the best PS4 games. Another publication said it's one of the greatest games ever. Glitched said it was generation defining.

IDK what you consider fun, but great gaming experiences are fun to me. Unless every game should be Smash or Fortnite?

[UltraNova]

Dont sweat it man, its not for everyone. Some people prefer traditional gameplay over everything else, there's no changing their mind and to be frank they have every right to feel like that. The problem is that they simply cant accept the fact that this isn't a traditional game and it never was advertised as one...but still to some it must be shit and then there are those with an agenda.

This cant be won, either way.

[JackBNimble]

You guy's who keep saying it's not for everyone sound like you're trying to convince yourself that you'll enjoy this game.

[zackeroniii]

it's all rubbish and i'll tell you why...

people are for some odd reason fascinated with this facade of kojima being a god that they will rate anything he puts out with a high rating just because his name is plastered on it...

even if the game isn't good people will pick the most minute detail and use that singular point to inflate the rating of the game...

as a fan of sony...this game looks completely dull.

[Kribwalker]

Playstation Lifestyle says this in their review
“Death Stranding is not a “fun” game, but it’s an important and meaningful experience that earns its payoff through every bit of frustration and slog. Its a look at life and death, connection and solitude; a game about building up what matters most and supporting each other selflessly. You’ll be bored at times and downright frustrated at others, but it comes with a great reward at the end that is made sweeter by the trials that precede it.”

and then give it a 95.

How does that deserve a 95?

[Sophisticated_Chap]

@ Kribwalker

Review:

Pros: Game made by Kojima
Cons: Game Not Fun

Verdict: Editor's Choice 9.5/10

[Gatsu]

We all think differently what fun is and how a game makes us feel.

[BizarroUltraman]

you need to play it. To me it was never about was it fun or not. I just didn't know what the game was about trailer after trailer I was more confused hahaha.... and there was some who said maybe theyre just trolling us not giving us too much. Now the games out and the reviews are just as confusing haha. But you cant deny its appeal. Maybe the ones giving it bad reviews just never gave it a chance.

[nyu1]

Fun is subjective.

It looks fun to me. Ofcourse not everyone likes the same thing.

[Elda]

Don't play it.

[Knushwood Butt]

Nintendo has exclusivity on fun.

Anything else can only be a 'game' at best, and certainly not, 'fun'.

[WillyC009]

This does look fun to me. Interests me much more then say Gears of War. But everyone likes different things, right?

[Hungryalpaca]

Your hate boner is showing.

[rainslacker]

A lot of the reviews for rdr2 said it wasbt fun too, yet still gave it high scores. When I say that rdr2 is kind of boring, I get people arguing with me. I still think rdr2 is a good game, and the definition of fun can vary between games depending on the experience they're trying to deliver.

I'm willing to give the game a chance because of the experience, whereas your using highlights of reviews to diminish what it may have that's good in it to serve your own predetermined view of the game.

[bluefox755]

Really looking forward to this.

[elazz]

What it does different it does really well. All Dutch media including IGN Netherlands are giving scores around a 9 so it seems that the few outliers like IGN US had reviewers who just didn't prefer this direction. I guess that's fine. Score overall is still good and I'll get it in a couple weeks. I need something different with high production values.

[--bienio--]

Mixed reviews especially from ign compare to gamespot🤔

[djplonker]

You are only seeing the negative ones on here because thats where the salty competition who's console has been getting destroyed 3 gens in a row, go to make themselves feel better.

Reviews are mostly positive.

https://www.metacritic.com/...

[mandingo]

naturally gamespot must give ps games 9's

[phoenixwing]

Naturally. I mean its almost like ps games are good or something. Oh wait they are. If you want to confirm your minority opinion on ps games go to the ign review and ignore metacritic.

[mandingo]

Well here is a review from metacritic. I quote "Full of repetitive and lengthy chores," yet its given a 90. What? I have no problem with ps games getting 9's when deserved but I can tell you this game aint better than gears 5 which some how got a 7 from gamespot nor is it close to outer worlds which got the same score

[phoenixwing]

@dingo
Wouldnt that mean its good in spite of something one review didnt like. Maybe to the point of being a good game? And mandingo have you even played the game to say otherwise? Sounds like you are biased against it for being on a sony platform.

[mandingo]

Don’t have to play it to know that I don’t like walking from destination to destination delivering packages. I have a ps4 and I agree most of the games they come out with are superb. I.E. god of war Spider-Man bloodborne etc.but stop giving great scores to games aren’t great

[WillyC009]

@mandingo

How do you know it’s not good? Have you played? What makes your opinion on something you haven’t tried as ‘fact’?

[Elda]

It's evident that it bothers you.

[trouble_bubble]

Except when they give Days Gone 5/10 amirite muh man? https://www.gamespot.com/re...

-I can tell you this game aint better than gears 5-

You can’t even tell the time. It’s lulz o’ clock!

[mandingo]

Yea cuz it was a bad game

[mandingo]

Ah yes here’s another review. Death Stranding is not a “fun” game, but it’s an important and meaningful experience that earns its payoff through every bit of frustration and slog. Its a look at life and death, connection and solitude; a game about building up what matters most and supporting each other selflessly. You’ll be bored at times and downright frustrated at others, but it comes with a great reward at the end that is made sweeter by the trials that precede it.

Boring frustration slog does not equal 9/10

[SolidGamerX]

You think? Guess you weren't around for the Days Gone review or have conveniently forgotten, try again bud.

[Inzo]

This game is getting a lot of big scores with a few that really dislike it but I cant say I am surprised. I will judge for myself.

[SolidGamerX]

Those "really dislike" reviews are common for things like this, they only exist to bring down the overall meta

[BizarroUltraman]

This is one of the crazier reviewed games Ive ever seen. Everyone is looking at the meta but look at how many top scores it got. Obviously this game is gonna come down to if you're a Kojima fan and want to play his game. Definitely a buy at some point, dont have much time to play with Outer Worlds anf CoD taking most of my free time.

[RememberThe357]

I've only play one Kojima game so I think taste in this game is a bit more nuanced than whether you're a fan of Kojima or not.

[tontontam0]

With an 80+ average review scores due to budget constraint I would easily skip buying this day one.

but unlike other games with average review scores this game scores has a large variance.
it has been getting 100 to below 50 scores.

[CuVe]

I hope you skipped every single xbox games this gen then...

[WillyC009]

Lol, perfect response!

[BizarroUltraman]

not every single xbox game got below a 80!

[Emme]

See, my problem with this Kojima crap is that japanese devs have this childish, one dimensional,anime-funny-or-die perception of the world. Its great, dense atmospheric, then he goes and adds nonsense like balloons picking up enemies, cardboard boxes thst move, a totally whacky balance-or-topple movement system, or "Likes" for delivering cargo successfully. Totally breaks immersion and atmosphere for me.

[USMC_POLICE]

I’m a huge metal gear fan, but I’m sorry this game just looks dumb, your a delivery guy walking everywhere. Occasionally avoiding and fighting monsters. I think it’s scoring high only because it’s kojima with some popular actors also in the mix.

[jukins]

Guess you couldnt bother to actually read the full review to see why some people thinks it's a high rated game.

[USMC_POLICE]

Guess I read the review hence how I knew your were basically a delivery guy walking from point A to point B. Sorry I didn’t mention the emotional connections and how people can compare it to modern day issues. I also forgot to mention how online players can leave things to help you traverse to you destination. But nope I didn’t read the review you’re right.

[jukins]

Ok maybe you read it but obviously didn't comprehend it if all you got was you're a deliver guy. . . And you still cant understand why people want it or why its hyped it's different. What you're saying is basically like saying you're just a builder in minecraft when there so much more

[badz149]

"game just looks dumb"

”I think it’s scoring high only because it’s kojima with some popular actors also in the mix"

What a dumb comment.

[RememberThe357]

A lot of "I don't know why I don't like this!" comments today. Thoughtful folks here at N4G.

[Hungryalpaca]

Oh no. A game not about pew pew pew. Must be bad.

[SolidGamerX]

Or maybe its scoring high becasue its actually a good game with many cool aspects but its easier to just denounce that and make excuses so you can belittle it instead.

[S2Killinit]

Pre-ordered.

[leoms]

Why isn't as many trolls on this article as the IGN article?

[Veneno]

I agree that people give IGN way too much credit that it doesn't deserve. Back in the day IGN did live up to it's rep but those days are long long gone. Gamespot to me never had credibility or a good rep and I think that's why they don't get the flood of commentors like IGN.

[P_Bomb]

Watching the video review atm. Well done with attention to detail on mechanics such as the Soulsborne-esque online social network and delivery navigation (balance, hazards), to the audio and emphasis on non-lethal combat.

[FanboyPolice]

I will play it. Something tells me I will hate it though. I guess I don't feel identified with the things people who have played it are loving about it.

[Father__Merrin]

I would rather buy Recore on xbox one that's a brilliant exclusive. And I recommend Thomas was alone as its in 4k 60fps

Thomas was alone = 60fps
Death stranding = 30fps

60 is better than 30

[dekke]

but recore isnt xbox exclusive..and have ps2 graphics like SoD2 so 60fps is easy with those games even with nintendo :P

[Traecy]

Besides PC you can only play Recore on a XBO gaming console.

[SolidGamerX]

Ok so go buy Recore then instead of trolling the comments section for this game.

[Ascalon94]

Without spoiling please does anyone know if this game will still have that crazy gameplay where Sam gets sucked into the WW1 reality like they showed in one of the earlier trailers? Or was that scrapped? That interested me a lot

[franwex]

If it interests you, why don’t you simply play it? Even if it was scrapped, you are obviously interested in the game.

[Ascalon94]

I have the game pre-ordered and will play it. Just noticed in the reviews I listened they never mentioned any of that gameplay/sequences so I was wondering if it made it in the game. Maybe they were told to stay hush on it

[mandingo]

Cuz he’s not paying 60 bucks for a walking simulator

[Hardiman]

Death Stranding Baaabyyy(in my best Adam Cole voice) really cannot wait till next Friday! I need to traverse this world!

Also this really seems to be a different kind of animal, which to me should really be getting people excited. The reason being is that the word "innovative" is thrown around here like a hot cake! That was a knock against Days Gone(not innovative enough) and here we have a game that looks pretty innovative but now the criticism for some has flipped. Why is that I wonder?!?!

[BenRC01]

Kojima fanboy hipster too scared of the backlash. Don't believe it.

[nyckrazy]

This reviewer (kallie plague) is a san francisco pronoun hipster. Its no surprise she loves this glorified Walking Simulator. I'm sure the sequel will be a huge improvement over this vapid console exclusive. : )

[amiside]

Gr8...