Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam. blogger theme by Premiumblogtemplates.com
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam. blogger theme by Premiumblogtemplates.com
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam. blogger theme by Premiumblogtemplates.com
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam. blogger theme by Premiumblogtemplates.com
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam. blogger theme by Premiumblogtemplates.com
Sometimes it’s best to leave nostalgia buried in the past where it belongs, since you risk revisiting something you once considered sacred, only to discover it hasn’t exactly aged gracefully. Pandemic’s Destroy All Humans is one such relic.
For those who missed it back in 2005, this game is a long-awaited refresh of the PS2 and Xbox classic that comes with new visuals and a number of gameplay refinements by Black Forest Games.
Sadly, this makeover isn’t enough to detract from a painfully outdated third-person shooter that feels out of place in the modern landscape. Its humour is juvenile and offensive, while its shooting mechanics possess the clumsy obsolescence that plagued third-person games before the age of Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War.
An overly brief campaign and generally lifeless world prevent it from standing out, despite a number of enjoyably goofy moments resonating throughout the handful of hours I spent blasting through Crypto’s debut adventure. Unlike the recent remaster ofSpongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom, Destroy All Humans doesn’t possess the timelessness required to truly draw you in decades after its original release.
Destroy All Humans is surprisingly faithful to its PS2 and Xbox predecessor. Cutscenes have been recreated with the same camera techniques and visual directions, although every character and environment has been improved with modern sensibilities. However, I’m not a huge fan of the new direction. Humanoid characters look strangely ugly and eccentric, like they’ve been pulled out of a satirical newspaper sketch.
Gaudy facial features and harsh textures aren’t easy on the eyes, and having to stare at them during extensive cutscenes simply isn’t very enjoyable, and that’s without mentioning the rather tiresome dialogue. Performance and audio issues also surface in a number of cutscenes, which is unusual since the framerate during gameplay is relatively seamless. Black Forest Games may have been trying to emphasise the gross ignorance of humanity with such designs, but this doesn’t fly when the satire is weak and many major female characters are needlessly objectified.
The humour is equally as scattershot. Banter between Crypto and Pox is frequently hilarious, largely thanks to two excellent performances from J. Grant Albrecht and Richard Steven Horvitz. They’ll poke fun at strange human traditions, US politics and constantly present unorthodox ways of taking over the planet. It feels like a kooky mixture of Invader Zim and Mars Attacks, two things I genuinely adore.
Sadly, much of the dialogue gained from scanning humans while exploring the game’s many environments veers into unnecessary bouts of misogyny and homophobia. You could argue it’s period accurate, but it isn’t part of a wider cultural critique throughout the campaign, it simply feels like it comes from a place of prejudiced spite. Obviously, I didn’t notice such flaws when I was younger, but now it sticks out like a sore thumb.
These outdated principles are present through the entire game, and they’re a constant stain on what should be a quirky and charming adventure. In a lot of situations the enjoyable action would salvage things, but Destroy All Humans doesn’t quite have this privilege. But it’s still fun in short bursts as you jump from 1950’s suburbia to secret military bases, murdering humans and harvesting their brains for upgrade points.
Missions are normally pretty short, tasking you with simplistic objectives like tailing scientists without being spotted or defending specific locations from waves of enemies. In the modern landscape they’re incredibly short and underwhelming, and the open-world environments are fairly barren aside from a handful of collectibles and side activities. Beyond farming them for upgrades, I never had much of a reason to revisit older locations.
Crypto’s varied repertoire of weapons and abilities thankfully make Destroy All Humans’ brief missions more engaging. You can strike multiple enemies with lightning using the Zap-O-Matic or melt them to dust with the iconic Distintegrator Ray. Or, you can be an old-school invader and suck out their brains using the Anal Probe.
All of these weapons, alongside abilities such as mind reading and telekinesis have distinct upgrade paths, which you’ll be building on right until the credits roll. This sense of progression is appreciated, but it’s a shame that the only challenging moments in Destroy All Humans come from a handful of boss battles and horde sections, otherwise the entire campaign is trivial in its difficulty.
The remake’s new targeting system and streamlined movement only smoothen things further, with even the largest of adversaries going down in mere moments with even an inkling of consideration for strategy. Destroy All Humans certainly conveys the power fantasy of being an unstoppable invader from another world, but it’d be lovely if humanity put up a better fight.
Destroy All Humans’ narrative thrust simply revolves around Crypto seeking to overthrow the United States, infiltrating their government and military as you eliminate the highest figures of authority. I must admit there was a a big sense of satisfaction when melting down a President who looked suspiciously like a certain orange wotsit. But it soon becomes clear that the world is much larger than our little grey man first envisioned, which will likely be explored in any future remakes.
It’s a passable story, both propelled and held back by its charming characters and cringe-inducing dialogue. Sadly, nearly everything about Destroy All Humans is constrained by design conventions we’ve long since abandoned, leaving it to stew in a cauldron of boredom and frustration. Sadly, this isn’t something a new coat of paint can fix, no matter how stellar a job Black Forest Games has done here.
Verdict
Black Forest Games’ remake of Destroy All Humans is a worthwhile adventure for fans of the series and those who grew up with Crypto’s antics on the PS2 and Xbox. However, you’ll need to make peace with its outdated gameplay mechanics alongside tired dialogue and story beats, many of which feature a number of offensive stereotypes.
It’s a crying shame, since there’s definitely space in the modern gaming landscape for a tongue-in-cheek alien caper like this. Perhaps if this remake proves successful, THQ Nordic will explore a new, more ambitious direction for the franchise that happily leaves the past behind, and likely be much better for it.
Microsoft’sXbox Elite Controllerimmediately established itself as an essential peripheral for hardcore players when it first launched back in 2015, its supreme build quality and extensive range of features more than justifying its monolithic price tag.
Now, Microsoft is expanding upon its vision for expert pads with Xbox Elite Controller 2, a direct successor to its hugely popular first entry completely with a vast selection of improvements and new features. Set to support Xbox Series X, Windows 10 and all other Xbox consoles moving forward, this is a must-have peripheral for those who can afford it.
Price-wise it sits between theAstro C40andRazer Raiju Tournament Edition which are two of the current top dogs in the gaming controller market. But even against its stiff competition theXbox Elite Controller 2 is an excellent device in almost every regard, with it only falling short in a few small areas.
Its premium quality, range of different customisation options and astounding battery life ensure it stands proudly among the competition, and in some regards, easily surpasses them. Even compared to the original Elite, this is a bold step forward.
Design – A bold yet familiar design that feels wonderful to hold
The overall design is largely similar to the first Elite Controller, albeit with a handful of changes to its colour scheme, attachments and a couple of other small touches. The strip of plastic which once dominated the home button and upper parts of the body are now a consistent shade of black, with shiny silver plastic relegated to the triggers and shoulder buttons. It’s far less jarring, and gives the device a more premium feel overall.
Button layout has also received a slight revision. You can now select from three bespoke profiles, now controlled with a single button instead of a switch, As result it takes up far less space, and is somewhat more graceful across the peripheral’s overall design. Beyond this, the Xbox Elite Controller 2 doesn’t change what doesn’t require fixing, instead opting to gradually refine aspects of its predecessor to craft something even greater.
The big difference comes in the customisable attachments that are stored in the carry case. Inside the robust storage unit you’ll find a selection of thumbsticks, d-pads and other accessories which are delightfully easy to attach and detach from the Elite 2. Unboxing the controller, I spent a few minutes simply toying with different options, finally settling on a configuration which worked for me. However, some changes have been made when compared to the previous model.
Elite 2 comes with six thumbsticks – 2 standard, 2 classic, 1 tall and 1 wide dome – with Microsoft foregoing the inclusion of two tall thumbsticks after finding that only a small number of players adopted that playstyle. So, you can opt for a setup similar to the traditional Xbox One controller or even harken back to the Xbox 360 days with the classic sticks. Alternatively, the option to mix and match is equally as welcome.
D-Pad options are somewhat less excessive. There are only two options available with this controller. You’ve got standard and faceted attachments, the latter becoming my regular driver thanks to its angular approach allowing for far more nuanced inputs. Classic platformers will likely benefit from the vanilla d-pad, since it can be easy to make the incorrect input when sporting its more complicated sibling.
Finally, we have the paddles. These unusual attachments are for players who are truly passionate about customised inputs and unique profiles matching to different genres. Paddles can be assigned to any command on the controller, acting as an additional way to access an existing button, or instead replace one. You can also use them as ad hoc grips or remove them entirely if they’re distracting or you don’t require extra inputs.
That’s all for fancy attachments, but the Xbox Elite Controller 2 still houses a couple of neat surprises. On the back you’ll find two switches which adjust the actuation points of the trigger buttons, meaning you can make it so guns fire faster in Apex Legends or Call of Duty. Each trigger has three different levels of actuation to choose from, although you can customise these further using the phone application and custom profiles feature.
Charging the controller is a breeze, largely thanks to a frankly stunning 40 hour battery life which truly lives up to such lofty claims. Switching from an older input to the more modern USB-C, Xbox Elite Controller 2 includes a lengthy cable alongside a chunky charging dock. It can be charged directly in the case, thanks to a convenient opening at the back where you can seamlessly slide in the charging cable.
Performance – The Elite 2 works beautifully across multiple genres and platforms
I’ve tested the Elite Controller 2 extensively across a number of genres and titles, ensuring I gave Microsoft’s flagship peripheral a genuine run for its money. It excels in virtually every scenario, only falling short in scenarios similar to its cheaper siblings. Platformers simply don’t shine on Xbox One controllers, largely due to the placement of the d-pad in relation to the face buttons.
Without a lot of practice, it doesn’t possess the accuracy of PlayStation or Nintendo pads in my experience. Titles such as Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Forza Horizon 4 are where the Elite 2 really shines. In Playground Games’ stunning racer the enhanced vibration motors come alive as you drift around rain-drenched roads, conveying a sense of feedback I’ve never felt in a controller before.
Combine this with the ability to customise the sensitivity of your thumbsticks and you’re left with a recipe for success. Each game or genre can be curated to match your own personal tastes. At first I found such flexibility to be overwhelming since I’m accustomed to regular pads, but I slowly but surely grew used to adjusting the Elite 2 when jumping from shooters to racers to platformers.
All of its inputs, whether you’re talking about face buttons or the new and improved triggers, perform wonderfully. I’d honestly find it difficult returning to the vanilla Xbox One controller after this, although I will admit the Elite 2 requires a little more care and attention on behalf of the player to truly make the most of it. If you’re after a sweet and simple peripheral, the original controller is arguably an easier, and cheaper, sell for casual consumers.
The rubberised grip which wraps around the Elite 2 ensures it’s a comfortable controller to use during extended play sessions, even if your hands grow sweaty during a stressful boss battle. One of my only qualms is that compared to the rest of the design, the plastic which decorates the bumpers and triggers feels unusually cheap in comparison. Its a small qualm, but one worth surfacing given the hefty asking price.
Bluetooth connectivity means the Elite 2 is more flexible than ever, capable of connecting to your Xbox consoles and a range of other devices such as phones and tablets with ease. You’ll need a bespoke dongle or the included USB cable to make use of it on PC, the former I luckily had sitting around at the time of writing this review. I adore this flexibility, and it works in tandem with Microsoft’s vision of an Xbox ecosystem which spans a range of different devices and services.
Should you buy the Xbox Elite Controller 2?
If price is no object, the Elite Controller 2 is a non brainer purchase for any hardcore gamer. It’s an excellent peripheral, and given it will work on future platforms for years to come, you don’t need to worry about such an investment being wasted moving forward.
For more casual gamers, the hefty asking price is a bitter pill to swallow, but as a long-term investment I genuinely think it is worth thinking about, especially if you’re buying it alongisde a new console or the upcoming Xbox Series X. It’s honestly one of the best controllers I’ve used in recent memory, and Microsoft should be commended for it.
My journey towards the northern mountains of Tsushima Island is brought to a sudden halt as I stumble upon a gaggle of Mongols harassing villagers on the roadside. I disembark, drawing my sword while walking towards them. Within seconds they notice, confidently striding to meet me, ready and willing to duel.
In mere moments, three of them are struck down, and I hurl a smoke bomb at their fresh corpses before fleeing into the long grass beside me. Dizzy with paranoia, some of the remaining hostiles flee, not willing to accept the same fate as their comrades. I wipe out the stragglers from the shadows, before meeting the final assailant on equal terms.
Seconds after meeting my gaze, he drops to the floor, scampering away like a coward as he realises exactly who he’s up against. The Ghost, a fallen Samurai who has single-handedly brought down armies; a legend turned reality. His fear is silenced with a downward thrust of my blade, and with that, my adventure continues.
Ghost of Tsushima excels at placing you at the centre of an unparalleled power fantasy. Jin Sakai is a warrior meant to be feared, choosing to abandon the strict life of a Samurai in favour of a code that isn’t afraid to play dirty if it means protecting the people you love. It’s a fairly one-dimensional and achingly western take on such a setting, but that doesn’t take away from how truly stunning it can be.
Sucker Punch Productions couldn’t have ventured further from its previous works with Ghost of Tsushima, abandoning the world of tongue-in-cheek superheroes and platforming racoons for a historical epic of monolithic proportions. It’s triumphant, even if the storytelling failed to truly engage me beyond a few excellent stories off the beaten path. I also feel such dedication to the era’s picturesque nature and the filmic inspirations of Akira Kurosawa prevent Ghost of Tsushima from ever standing on its own two feet, constantly in the shadow of homage instead of carving its own legacy.
A few small qualms aside, I was smitten with Sucker Punch’s latest outing. It’s both a breath of fresh air for the open-world genre and an obvious imitator of this generation’s finest. The blood of The Witcher and Breath of the Wild runs proudly through Tsushima’s veins, with many of its best mechanics drawing from contemporaries and expanding upon them in unexpected ways.
Ghost of Tsushima does its best to abandon the conventional waypoint, an infamous hurdle of the open-world genre for almost a decade now. Players would just blindly follow a marker to their next objective instead of actively exploring on their own terms, robbing the world of any real agency.
Sucker Punch has surmounted this obstacle by making pathfinding a natural part of the world itself. With a flick of the touchpad, a gust of wind will move towards the direction of your objective, whether it be the next mission or a custom marker you’ve set. This means you’ll rarely need to check the map during missions. It works beautifully, and having to analyse the environment for subtle clues means you’re obligated to stop and stare, or in my case, spend hours in photo mode.
Environmental cues like this are all over the island of Tsushima. Yellow birds will lead you to random discoveries, while multicoloured trees and plumes of smoke will indicate nearby shrines and enemy encampments. Far too often I would find myself abandoning the story simply so I could explore, losing hours chasing my own little narratives as a flawed saviour of the people. It’s a shame that outside of such occasions, Jin’s pilgrimage oftentimes loses steam.
Taking place in 1274, the story follows Jin Sakai as he fights off the First Mongol Invasion of Japan. Opening with a stunning battle on Hanada Beach, things quickly take a turn for the worse as the opposing force occupy Tsushima Island and leave our hero for dead. The opening hours are a mediocre slog, forcing you through oodles of boring exposition and a few painfully slow missions before you’re outfitted with basic abilities like stealth, ranged combat and the ability to assassinate your adversaries.
It’s clear Sucker Punch Productions wants to introduce techniques such as stealth and ranged combat so they coincide with Jin’s growth as a character. Upon performing his first dishonourable kill, he realises that the sacred path of a Samurai must be abandoned if he hopes to survive and save his people. It’s a compelling concept and is explored throughout the core narrative, but is held back by a fairly one-dimensional main character.
Watching Jin grow increasingly conflicted as he’s forced to abandon his heritage and sacrifice everything dear to him purely so his homeland stands a chance at survival is heartbreaking, but we never catch a sufficient glimpse at his past or personality to really care about this thematic deconstruction. Instead, Jin is a bland protagonist with a few occasional bright spots, most of which surface during side quests where he interacts with an excellent supporting cast.
Ghost of Tsushima has you embark on a selection of missions (aka Tales) dedicated to each character, normally culminating in a satisfying narrative crescendo. My personal favourite centred on Masako, an elderly woman who is determined to find the ones responsible for her family’s murder. It’s filled with unexpected twists and turns ranging from forbidden romances to familial betrayals that constantly kept me guessing.
Such side quests are filled with excellent moments like this, with characters given far more personality and room to shine without the distractions of the main conflict. It’s a shame that some haphazard animations and similar rough edges can hinder emotional investment at times – technical issues that feel strangely out of place in a first-party exclusive.
These miniature narratives are also intended to flesh out a motley crew of resistance members who accompany you throughout the campaign, but since you can’t lose any of them, much of the investment feels mute. While it has a number of wonderful moments, much of the storytelling in Ghost of Tsushima gives way to cliches and predictable contrivances, so much so that I’d guess the outcomes of certain scenes as they were happening.
Fortunately, everything else about the game is so fun that I could easily forgive its narrative shortcomings. Jin Sakai moves with a level of unparalleled grace as he leaps up cliffs and rolls under the savage strikes of enemies. You truly feel like an unstoppable warrior, striking fear into anyone foolish enough to challenge you.
Jin’s primary weapon is a sword which is capable of both light and heavy attacks. One is purely for dealing damage, while the other serves to stagger Mongols and leave them vulnerable.
You can switch between four different stances, each of which is effective against a specific enemy type. One is perfect for dealing with rival swordsmen, while another is necessary for taking on sizeable brutes twice your size. Having to constantly switch strategies in the midst of combat keeps things fresh, especially when you combine swordplay with the act of dodging, using items and maintaining environmental awareness. It’s the best of its kind, even givingSekiro: Shadows Die Twicea run for its money in terms of mechanical satisfaction.
Jin is capable of hurling out kunai, bombs and even firecrackers to damage and distract his enemies, proving invaluable in a scrape where it’s very easy to become overwhelmed. I’d normally be able to manage a maximum of four foes at any given time, but any more than that would force me to retreat and reconsider my options. Even though you’re The Ghost, the majority of battles are still formidable obstacles. At times like these, stealth is your best friend.
The majority of missions, unless you’re told otherwise, can be tackled through the medium of stealth. Jin can infiltrate fortresses and slaughter everyone in sight without raising a single alarm, leaving a mountain of corpses behind alongside his fractured honour. Being able to murder anyone – with the exception of leaders – with a single strike makes you feel like a ruthless assassin, although doing so without consideration for your actions will quickly result in you getting caught.
Ghost of Tsushima allows you to seamlessly switch between stealth and full-frontal assault. I loved this flexibility, and Tsushima’s robust upgrade and customisation system only furthers the number of ways you can approach each encounter.
While it has a few notable shortcomings, Ghost of Tsushima is an excellent open-world adventure from Sucker Punch Productions which adds some innovative ideas to a fairly stagnant genre. Its depiction of the time period is generic and inoffensive, but that doesn’t prevent it from being a stunning visual showcase and a worthwhile swan song for the PlayStation 4.
The game’s stellar combination of exploration and combat are only brought down by an underwhelming narrative, which is far too obsessed with being an homage to classic cinema than carving out a unique identity for itself. It’s a curated slice of virtual tourism that rarely wants to delve into the deeper societal elements of the era, and I can’t help but feel this could have been far more than a tried-and-true tale of one Samurai’s morality.
Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding made a polarizing impact on PS4 back in November of last year, and now it’s abandoning its roots as console exclusive with a stellar version of the game on PC.
Developed internally at Kojima Productions, the Japanese studio has gone above and beyond to ensure this is the definitive version of the unusual epic for those with the gaming machines to keep up with it. That being said, my PC is far from top of the range, but still managed to run things at a consistent performance at resolutions beyond the PS4 original.
The core premise of Death Stranding is oddly more fitting now than when it first released. It depicts a world overcome by a deadly invisible force which has sent the world’s entire populace indoors out of survival, while couriers such as Sam Porter Bridges are chosen as valuable transporters of resources across major settlements.
This is your role in Hideo Kojima’s post-apocalyptic world, an experience that is both thrilling and boring in a weird, subversive way when compared to other modern platformers. There’s simply nothing else like it, and for that very reason I adore it. Returning to it with this new and improved port after stewing on its world and themes for a number of months is wonderfully sobering, and a nice break from some of this year’s blockbusters.
This port is an accurate adaptation of the PS4 original, albeit with a welcome assortment of bells and whistles not seen in the vanilla release – provided you meet the system requirements. It’s easy to rise above the console version with superior visuals, improved performance and wider field of view to really bring Death Stranding’s world to life.
I played the game on two setups, both of which came outfitted with RTX cards, and found it trivial to surpass 60 frames per second at both 1080p and 1440p resolutions on ‘Very High’ settings. You can adjust graphical presets and more intricate options whenever you like, the majority of which don’t require a restart to implement. This means you’re free to find a balance between visual splendour and reliable performance before setting out on your deliveries.
Given the first iteration ran at a locked but incredibly steady 30 frames per second, the difference is honestly transformative here. Ensuring you don’t collapse while navigating the world’s tricky terrain, the upgrade means that accurately targeting foes is far easier now, and feels more satisfying as a result. An equal amount of patience and skill is required to see most missions through, but the added performance certainly doesn’t hurt.
Kojima Production has ensured that all the additional features and updates added to the console version are included here from the outset. This includes a fully-featured photo mode that I struggled to pull myself away from in the opening hours. It’s one of the best I’ve ever seen, allowing you to customise endless options such as character poses, colour tint, borders, depth of field and more. Many photo modes are basic to a fault, but this one is anything but.
This is also the first time we’ve seen the Decima Engine run on anything outside of a PlayStation console. Used to power both Death Stranding andHorizon Zero Dawn, this is an exciting glimpse into what this technology will be capable of on more powerful hardware such as high-end gaming rigs and the upcomingPS5. Of course, this is an older version of the engine, but it’s capable of more than ever before, and perhaps opens a case for why console exclusives should be relegated to the past.
PC gamers have some fun cosmetic goodies and exclusive missions based on Half-Life to look forward to, which have all been developed in collaboration with Valve itself. It’s excellent to see those on this platform receiving a few extra bonuses after waiting so long. Kojima Productions has taken this port very seriously, which is honestly a breath of fresh air when many PC ports are just lazy adaptations of their console cousins.
Verdict
Death Stranding is still essential now it’s arrived on PC, offering the best version of Kojima Production’s weird and wonderful masterpiece. It’s unconventional gameplay and wacky narrative remains polarizing, but it’s certainly more relevant than ever before in how it depicts a society broken apart by an invisible threat they sadly have no control over. If you have a machine capable of powering this epic adventure, it’s more than worth jumping into.
Original review follows:
Death Stranding is honestly unlike anything I’ve ever played before. From the minds behind Metal Gear Solid comes a courageous, strange and masterful experience which asks some important questions with all the subtlety of a nuclear explosion.
Kojima Productions has created a sprawling narrative adventure which serves as a purposeful commentary on division in modern society, citing the political divide and complacent attitude of our current climate as the reason for its worlds’ descent, albeit with a harrowing supernatural twist.
A cataclysmic event has left America segregated, with small bastions of civilisation held up in gated communities, kept away from the outside world which is filled with paranormal creatures known as BTs. Reality in the outside world constantly teeters between life and death. The only souls courageous – or foolish – enough to venture out are Porters, people responsible for delivering precious resources across the continent.
Sam Bridges is one such Porter. Portrayed by Norman Reedus, he hides away a horrid past and plenty of emotional baggage that is explored to tremendous effect throughout the campaign. In the opening hours, a routine delivery develops into a pilgrimage, with the entire world left hanging in the balance. Sam is tasked with piecing the country back together, visiting different outposts and encouraging them to join the ‘United Cities of America’ – a coalition of sorts that can share knowledge and resources across a vast, futuristic network.
You’ll need to use everything in your power to navigate this world – no matter how absurd the means might be
You’re hammered over the head with “bringing the world back together” and how it’s the only way of saving humanity from extinction, while faced with a civilisation which has descended into a shell of its former self, with people too afraid to even communicate, scared that their loved ones will simply be lost to the supernatural horrors that await outside.
In the opening chapters it’s made clear that the ‘Death Stranding’ was an apocalyptic event that left the world in tatters. If you pass away and your body isn’t cremated, it will cause a devastating explosion known as a ‘Void Out,’ an event of nuclear proportions that infects the surrounding area, making it practically uninhabitable.
Death Stranding is positively drenched in mythology, obsessed with piling details on the player regarding its history, characters and ensuring there’s a solid context for all of its frankly ludicrous developments. Hideo Kojima is a not subtle storyteller. This is the man who made Metal Gear, and this legacy shines through in every aspect of his new creation. Here, a heavy-handed approach arguably helps, making otherwise eclectic ideas simple to understand with deftly placed points of exposition.
I’ll try not to delve too further into the nitty-gritty of it all, partly because of spoilers, and also I run the risk of driving myself insane with all the inevitable convolution. There’s talk of multiple universes, teleportation and goodness knows what else that you’ll discover for yourself, and if you’ve a penchant for the bizarre like I do, you’ll adore every unusual minute of it. But how does Death Stranding play? This is a question that has alluded fans since its reveal, and now the answer is finally out there. In short – it’s unlike anything else.
MULES are a nightmare to deal with, proving to be a worthy test of your survival skills
Sam Porter is a courier, so by nature a lot of his time will be spent delivering packages across the broken plains of America. Without mechanical context this probably sounds incredibly boring, but Kojima Productions has done a stellar job ensuring every little system informs and enhances a rather pedestrian activity into something truly special. Imagine if Solid Snake took up a part-time job at Royal Mail and you’re about halfway there, although even that is selling Death Stranding spectacularly short.
In order to reconnect the United Cities of America you must visit a variety of cities and outposts spread across the continent, completing missions to convince oftentimes stubborn individuals to join your alliance. This normally involves quests that require the delivery of vital resources, or venturing into an area undoubtedly filled with spooky monsters to retrieve an important item. During all of this the overarching narrative moves along, characters portrayed by the likes of Guillermo Del Toro and Lea Seydoux popping up in some utterly gorgeous cutscenes to fill you in on vital details.
The transportation of packages is often defined by two things – the route you’re taking across the open-world, and the overall weight of materials – two factors which will transform each approach. Too many items will weight Sam down, slowing movement and his reactions to oncoming enemies or obstacles. This can be remedied by holding the shoulder buttons to restore balance, making it easier to hop over jagged rocks or up steep inclines. In theory, no two players will experience missions in the same way, because Death Stranding’s world is so vast and malleable that split-second decisions are being made constantly.
Do I venture up this precarious mountain and shorten my journey or go around, taking a little longer but risking the chance of encountering BTs? The objective of each quest and exactly what you’re carrying constantly shift priorities, twisting an otherwise boring premise into one that I found infinitely engaging. It’s excellent, and only grew better as I opened each new mechanical gate that stood before me.
You won’t unlock the ability to craft vehicles for a number of hours, but once you do, it’s pretty transformative
Sam’s misadventures in the gig economy are just scratching the surface of Death Stranding, and there’s so much more to delve into. Timefall is the world’s form of rain, which rapidly ages anything it touches. Get caught in the rain without protective clothing and you’ll become dust in a matter of minutes, and the same applies to your equipment. Packages will degrade in timefall, meaning there’s an incentive to complete deliveries quickly, or take shelter in the crevices of mountains or makeshift facilities spread across each region.
The constantly shifting weather is a sight to behold as it bounces against Sam’s back and the glistening terrain, dynamically transforming the landscape in some fascinating ways. As a result, you’re forced to adjust how the world is approached, either through navigation or the threats that await therein. It’s a shame there’s no concrete day/night cycle in place, since this could have made things all the more terrifying.
Timefall is often a calling card for the BTs, the supernatural creatures fighting between this world and the afterlife, stranded in an ethereal place known as ‘The Beach.’ It’s all a bit confusing, but Death Stranding does a stunning job of justifying all of its nonsense. Encounters with these things are genuinely horrifying, punctuated by subtle sound cues and a claustrophobic sense of dread, a significant feat given you’re in the middle of a sprawling open world. However, you aren’t completely defenseless, largely thanks to BB.
BB – short for Bridge Baby – is a newborn trapped inside a pod which is strapped to your chest. It has a connection with the afterlife, meaning it is capable of detecting the presence of monsters nearby. This is made clear by small cries coming from the Dualshock 4 speaker, indicating how close you are to the invisible nasties. Even after 30 hours, these moments are still nail-biting, since I knew a single mistake would awaken a threat of deadly proportions.
Troy Baker’s performance as Higgs is excellent. He’s dark, devious and chews the scenery every moment he’s on screen
This crafty infant isn’t your only means of defense, though. Sam also has a scanner which can be activated at the touch of a button, scanning the surrounding area for locations and resources while also revealing the outlining of nearby threats. You’ll come across rogue terrorists on your travels alongside MULES – mercenaries who purposely target couriers like Sam to steal his packages. They’re a nuisance, but easy enough to sneak past or deal with in one-on-one confrontations.
Much like Sam, they aren’t trained for combat, and don’t want to kill you. Oftentimes it’s easy to hurl a rogue suitcase their way or a few punches, knocking them unconscious before sprinting in the other direction. I didn’t pick up a firerarm for roughly 12 hours, and experiencing a dark, foreboding world like this that doesn’t drive you to kill is refreshing. Death has consequences, untouched corpses only adding to the hellish landscape Sam and friends are forced to call home – so I never added to it, knocking foes out and moving on with my day whenever possible.
Unfortunately, this means when combat does become a focus it can feel finicky and unpolished, particularly in a handful of later boss battles. I won’t spoil anything, but having to deal with massive beasts with a limited number of weapons while also battling with the camera isn’t the most fun. Fortunately, these encounters are so few and far between it’s hardly a dealbreaker. The narrative context surrounding them more than make up for any shortcomings in my eyes. That, and firing a gun filled with your own blood to take out supernatural spectres is very, very badass.
Much like Metal Gear Solid 5 or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Death Stranding feels defined by player choice. Every quest is an exercise in unpredictability, taking you on a rollercoaster of sudden twist and turns dictated by an innumrable number of factors. Each delivery is a triumph in its own right, whether it takes 10 minutes or several hours. When played offline its wonderful, but once incorporated with the game’s online elements, it’s something else entirely.
Norman Reedus is great as Sam Bridges, his performance distant in a way that really works for the character
Ever since its reveal, Kojima Productions has stressed the theme of connecting with others and how integral it is to Death Stranding. From a distance it sounded like pretentious nonsense, but in practice it’s an innovative, fully-realised system I absolutely adore. Much like Dark Souls and countless other games this generation, you can leave messages for other players in the form of signs scattered across the world. You might convey the distance of nearby threats or simply leave a wholesome message of ‘good luck’ to other couriers.
It’s so well done, with each region coming alive with new signs the second you’re connecting to the Chiral Network. You can also build structures in the form of postboxes, generators or timefall shelters for players to utilise in their own worlds, all for the hope of receiving ‘Likes’ – a virtual currency which brings players together. These can be applied to signs, structures and individual actions performed by couriers, resulting in a growing level which provides you with greater attributes and other talents.
Popping your scanner and seeing a flurry of markers appear on the horizon diversifies your strategy, opening up countless directions for moving forward. If you happen to lose any vital resources or cargo while on a mission, it can be picked up by other players and delivered back to you. This sense of co-operation is echoed throughout all of Death Stranding, whether it’s through using another porter’s ladder to climb a mountain or them hurling precious weapons at you during a battle. It enhances everything while intertwining perfectly with the narrative themes.
You’re bringing this world together, and to achieve this you need to work alongside other players to achieve such lofty goals. It’s preachy and unsubtle to the point of hilarity, but given how averse blockbusters are to discussing politics nowadays, Hideo Kojima is already sitting atop the mountain. Speaking of, you’ll be climbing a lot of those in Death Stranding.
This is a game by Hideo Kojima, so expect plenty of cutscenes throughout the long campaign (some even take place in The White House)
One of the most unusual elements is the private room, a hub area of sorts you’ll return to for resting after a mission or experience story sequences throughout the campaign. It’s bright, futuristic space that fills with trinkets and equipment, and by the end it’s absolutely crawling with items.
While here, you can make Norman Reedus shower, use the bathroom and even stare into a mirror to make an absurd number of weird impressions. It feels like a humanoid tamagotchi, and your decision on if that’s a good thing depends on your tolerance for Hideo Kojima’s special brand of bizarre.
You can find private rooms crafted by other players across the open-world, offering a temporary shelter in the face of danger for recharging all your precious resources. Venturing through Timefall and BTs is a dangerous game, and finding a place to call home amidst all of the chaos is a blessing I learned to appreciate again and again throughout Death Stranding. Cooperation feels wonderful, whether you’re returning packages to their owner or saving other porters from certain death.
Verdict
Death Stranding is unlike anything else out there in the gaming landscape right now. It’s huge, innovative and utterly unashamed in what it wants to be. Kojima Productions is heavy-handed in its implementation of modern political themes, but they tie into the narrative and involve the player in ways that feel beautifully compelling- resulting in one of the strongest final acts I’ve seen in some time.
It’s going to be polarizing, glacial in its pacing during the opening hours as it expects players to delve into its mechanics, finding out what makes it tick while bonding with other couriers through a personal network of massive significance. I laughed, I cried and I grinned like a stupid idiot at the absurdity of it all. But by the end, I was left wanting more. Death Stranding is one of a kind, cementing itself as a weird, wonderful masterpiece.
Watch Dogs Legion presents the exciting possibility of playing as absolutely anyone. Every citizen you encounter in its stunning recreation of England’s capital can be recruited to the resistance, fighting for a righteous cause with their own unique skills and abilities. It’s a compelling premise, so much so that it failed to really shine the last time I sat down with Ubisoft’s hacking adventure.
But after an extensive delay, extra development time has allowed Ubisoft to make Watch Dogs Legion shine, ensuring all its core elements combine to make a genuinely satisfying whole. After spending three hours with the cockney caper, I’m fairly smitten with it, even if I’m rather cautious about some of the sociopolitical themes it seems to tackle, delving into the subjects of police brutality and racial conflicts with a fairly tone deaf perspective.
Legion opens with you stepping into the shoes of Dalton Wolfe, an MI5 agent turned rebellious member of DedSec. A mysterious organisation has planted a bomb in the heart of parliament, threatening to hurl London into disarray with a single act. Your job is to disarm it and save the city, working your way into the building from underground. It should be a simple mission, but darker forces are at work you’ll soon come to discover.
This introductory section is also a perfect way for Ubisoft to introduce how each character has differing attributes determined by their occupation. As an agent, our current hero is equipped with a silenced pistol and a few other tools which prioritise a stealthy approach. He’s a force to be reckoned with, and one I was sad to lose as this mission came to a close.
Upon discovering the bomb, you scramble to disarm it with the help of Bagley, a sentient AI program with an attitude. He’s oftentimes hilarious, and honestly a highlight of the game’s writing thus far. After a tense firefight in the Commons Chamber it becomes clear that bombs have been planted across London, and stopping them is virtually impossible. You rush to the roof, taking out enemies on your way in a desperate attempt to escape.
But it’s too late. You’re held at gunpoint after reaching the roof, an ethereal adversary revealing himself as explosions rock the capital city. He has plans for London, ones that can only be spun into motion by enslaving its populace under the pretense of protection, when his organisation is the very cabal responsible for such misery. Once all hope is lost, your light is snuffed out by a quick bullet to the head. With that, Watch Dogs Legion truly begins.
It’s a striking introduction, possessing a tone reminiscent of the greatest modern spy thrillers, but this atmosphere sadly isn’t maintained as I take my first true steps in the city of London. Watch Dogs Legion is extraordinarily campy, revelling in British stereotypes such as pubs, bobbies and black taxi cabs. This doesn’t sit well at all alongside police brutality and racial disputes which have very distinct real-world parallels, which Ubisoft is more than happy to lean into with its wider thematic storytelling.
London has been transformed into a futuristic authoritarian state, with its populace being forced into compliance by a paramilitary force known as Albion who patrol the streets with ruthless aggression. It isn’t uncommon to see citizens being held at gunpoint on the street, on their knees begging for mercy as these objects of law are given unlimited power to reign, regardless of potential casualties. It’s uncomfortable in the wake of real-world political movements, even if it’s likely little more than an unhappy coincidence.
I spent three hours in Watch Dogs Legion with relative freedom, balancing a handful of story missions with dynamic exploration across the city of London. It’s a beautiful recreation as I immediately drove around trying to spot familiar landmarks and places I had a personal connection to. It was weirdly satisfying to pull up to The Shard, which has been rebranded as the ominous Nexus Tower. Similar iconic locations such as Big Ben and Nelson’s Column are recreated with the utmost accuracy, and they’re honestly a sight to behold.
Despite my misgivings with Legion’s political clumsiness, the act of existing in its world is beautifully immersive. Your basic hacking repertoire from previous games remains largely untouched. With a touch of a button it’s possible to scan any individual in the world, pulling up a database containing their name, skills and interests if you choose to recruit them to DedSec. Now each NPC has an established routine, concrete windows of time they’ll dedicate to specific locations and activities.
You’ll find football hooligans swinging by the pub in the early evening, or construction workers commuting to the site as the sun rises. Some missions will require you to recruit a certain profession to your ranks to take advantage of their skills, so knowing where exactly such people can be found is essential. If you don’t fancy diving into such granular details, roaming the world for a few minutes with a bit of common sense normally gets the job done. I will admit that having to have my wits about me instead of blindly chasing an icon is a nice change of pace for Ubisoft’s open worlds.
In the previous demo I played, class archetypes felt ill-defined, an issue which has been remedied by giving each character a small but definitive set of skills and abilities. A hacker will normally be outfitted with a remote drone and a spider bot for infiltrating outposts and bypassing foes without being detected. Rebellious graffiti artists are somewhat less subtle, capable of blinding enemies with spray paint and a devastating melee attack before pulling out a long-range stun gun.
I haven’t played nearly enough of Watch Dogs Legion to determine when and if the act of recruiting random characters will grow repetitive, or if I’ll find a small selection of resistance members who fit my playstyle and never touch the mechanic again. It stands a chance of falling into such a trap, since players aren’t likely to gravitate towards weapons and gadgets they don’t enjoy using, regardless of how cool or quirky the fellow you’ve found happens to be.
Outside of the main missions I played, which involved sneaking into a stronghold disguised as a member of Albion (spoilers; you end up getting caught), I explored the surrounding area taking on activities until I was free to liberate the borough of Southwark. Just like in reality, London is split in several distinct boroughs, all of which can be liberated from the tyrannical grip of Albion.
You’ll eventually be tasked with an ultimatum which often involves an epic showdown in a named location. This demo had me sneaking into The Shard undetected to disable the servers on its highest floors. It’s a fun escapade, starting with me sneaking through the lower sections of the building before ascending to an autonomous server room. From here, I hacked my way in, which involved manually controlling a drone through all manner of ducts and offices before finally arriving at my destination.
There, I drop a deadly package into the central mainframe and bring Albion’s control over this region to an end. A cutscene shows the population cheering with triumph, defeating their overseers and firmly planting their feet in the resistance. I imagine you’ll systematically bring Albion to its knees throughout the campaign, and this will hopefully reflect in the atmosphere aross the open-world, which without any interference is fairly dystopian and miserable.
Watch Dogs Legion is a refreshing twist on Ubisoft’s open-world formula, and a bizarre new direction for the franchise which draws from the best parts of London’s culture to make it feel remarkably alive. It remains to be seen how extensive its “play as anyone” mechanic will be in practice, but it has the potential to add a neverending sense of variety to proceedings. This could be one of the blockbusters to watch in the months to come.
Sadly, its haphazard handling of sensitive themes such as racial division and police brutality feel far too ingrained in its setting to be properly revised, especially in the wake of a society that will scrutinise such things more than ever. Ubisoft has a habit of claiming its games are apolitical, whereas Watch Dogs Legion is taking the very real division caused by Brexit and twisting it into a dystopian future which at times feels far too real.
