![]() He remains instinctively arcane, building Death Stranding's script (he is credited, among other things, as creator, producer and writer) and its world out of acronyms, jargon, portentous nicknames, secret histories, hazy philosophising and oddball, comic-book characters. This might be Kojima's first time in 15 years working on a blank sheet of paper, but that hasn't held back the tide of lore that engulfed the Metal Gear series - especially in its premature swansong, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. As Sam Porter Bridges - a stolid deliveryman, played by Norman Reedus - you must reconnect a fragmented society by bringing bunker-like waystations, outposts and cities onto the "chiral network", a kind of ectoplasmic internet. Understandably, most people live underground. Rain accelerates the passage of time for anything it touches. ![]() After a catastrophic event known as the death stranding, America is a dangerous wasteland stalked by reckless bandits and frightening apparitions known as BTs. It really is a game about delivering packages in a desolate future where the veil between death and life has been torn. It turns out the PR wasn't being deliberately enigmatic - it just is that weird. Mystification at Death Stranding's content and storyline, which has persisted since it was announced, doesn't really end when you start playing it. If they had been, Death Stranding would be more like other games, and that would be a shame. Although perhaps we can be glad they weren't around. It's hilariously indulgent of its creator the production could certainly have used more people who were willing to tell Kojima no. Its preoccupations are nakedly displayed while its plot is borderline incoherent. It boldly strikes out for new territory even as it gets bogged in the mire of convention. It is grandiose and goofy, liberating and frustrating, thrilling and audaciously dull. It is at once unmistakable as his work and surpassingly strange. The first release from his new studio Kojima Productions and his first non-Metal Gear game since 2003's Boktai, Death Stranding is nothing if not an event. On time, surprisingly, but also 100 per cent on brand. If you are a Fumito Ueda, or a David Cage, or a Kazunori Yamauchi, and you have a weird idea for a game that cannot possibly be made on budget and will confuse the hell out of the marketing department, then Sony has a few million dollars with your name on them. Beyond that, Sony's commissioners have a helpless weakness for the most ambitious and bizarre visions of video gaming's great auteurs and obsessives. Kojima and PlayStation have a close relationship that dates back to Metal Gear Solid's debut in 1998. Small wonder that Sony moved to snap up console-exclusive rights to Hideo Kojima's first game after his acrimonious split with Konami. Hideo Kojma's first post-Metal Gear game is a messy, indulgent vanity project - but also a true original.
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