State of Play News

I don't console game but do pay attention when announcements for series that have made the leap to PC come out.  In the PlayStation "State of Play" this week a whole slate of new games were featured.  If you're a console gamer, some of those probably sparked some excitement.  For me, the most exciting part was the announcement of Death Stranding 2!

Death Stranding is a game that I wouldn't have ever guessed that I would enjoy.  I got it for free in an Epic Games giveaway during the holidays a few years ago and found myself oddly engrossed in the bizarre world.  The story is absolutely bonkers and hard to completely parse, but the seemingly simple gameplay--you deliver packages from point A to point B--winds up having a ton of depth and complexity, and is highly enjoyable.  I wound up spending nearly 100 hours as Sam "Porter" Bridges as he navigates the shattered, post-apocalyptic world.  (You can read my full review here)

The new trailer is pretty epic (and, of course, it's also a bit on the long side).  Have a looksy:

It looks like our favorite characters will be back--Sam, Fragile, and BB (although...that's weird).  The general gameplay also looks like it will be largely the same--a big, beautiful shattered world filled with obstacles--invisible and visible--that Sam will need to navigate to forge connections.  I'm completely fine with that--for me, the gameplay was the best part of Death Stranding.  The challenge of distributing the weight of Sam's packages, navigating the difficult terrain, avoiding baddies, and interacting with the co-op world state all turned out to be more fun than I would have imagined.

The story looks to be just as strange and semi-incomprehensible as the first game (although, the trailer doesn't delve into that too much).  It has been quite awhile since I played it and I can't totally remember all the characters and connections.  The big baddie, Higgs, looks like he's making a comeback along with an army of what appears to be various robots.  Interestingly, they didn't feature any scenes with the invisible BT's who are the main source of pulse-pounding action in the first game.  Since Sam is still carrying his detection equipment and possibly a BB, it does look like they'll still figure into things (and they're one of the best parts of the gameplay).

The one thing the trailer doesn't say...will it release on PC right away?  I think Death Stranding did come out simultaneously with the console version, but I can't remember.  Any way you shape it, 2025 is looking like it'll be a big year in gaming.  Maybe it's time to start thinking about building that new PC!