Death Stranding

Death Stranding

Teaser poster
Developer(s) Kojima Productions
Publisher(s) Sony Interactive Entertainment
Director(s) Hideo Kojima
Producer(s)
  • Hideo Kojima
  • Kenichiro Imaizumi
Designer(s) Hideo Kojima
Artist(s) Yoji Shinkawa
Writer(s)
  • Hideo Kojima
  • Hitori Nojima
Engine Decima
Platform(s) PlayStation 4
Release date(s) TBA[lower-alpha 1]
Genre(s) Action
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Death Stranding is an upcoming open world action video game developed by Kojima Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. It is game director Hideo Kojima and his company's first game following the 2015 disbandment and termination of their contract from Konami, and was officially announced at Sony's E3 2016 conference. Kojima stated that the game would be released prior to 2019.

The game features actors Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen, as well as director Guillermo del Toro, who are portrayed in-game via motion capture. The game's title is a reference to the cetacean stranding phenomenon.

Development

Norman Reedus (top) and Mads Mikkelsen (bottom) portray the main protagonist and antagonist respectively, through voice acting and motion tracking

After a lengthy corporate conflict with Konami as a restricted subsidiary,[2][3] Kojima Productions subsequently closed in July 2015, and reformed as an independent video game developer and studio in December.[4][5] Game director and producer Hideo Kojima announced the game at Sony's conference during the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2016 with a trailer, featuring the song "I'll Keep Coming" by the Icelandic band Low Roar.[6] The trailer was made possible with the technology of photogrammetry and performance capture.[7] It featured American actor Norman Reedus, who will serve as the basis for the main protagonist. This marks the second collaboration between Kojima and Reedus since the cancelled Silent Hills.[8] The title refers to when whales are washed up on the seashore.[9] The possibility of a Microsoft Windows version was mentioned in a deleted Q&A session published on Medium months before its unveiling at E3 2016.[8]

According to Kojima, one of the key aspects of the announcement trailer was the idea of a connection between life and death.[10] The Schwarzschild radius and Dirac equation – relating to the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics – appeared on dog tags worn by Reedus's character.[7] A female protagonist will be accompanying his character.[11] Kojima explained one of the game's main themes through a short story by Kōbō Abe, in which Abe says that the first tool created by humans was a stick, meant as protection by putting a distance between oneself and "bad things", and that the second tool was a rope, which is used to secure things one finds important. Kojima compared the main "tools" in action games – punching, shooting and kicking – to sticks, and said that in Death Stranding he wants people to communicate through the game equivalent of ropes.[10] Kojima described its genre as a quasi-action game, but with new and different elements. He compared this to how his earlier game Metal Gear – now considered a stealth game – was called an action game during its release because the stealth genre was not considered to exist at the time.[10][12]

During Sony's press conference at the Tokyo Game Show 2016, Kojima announced that the game would feature an open world environment, along with multiplayer functions.[13] In June 2016, he was preparing for full production by inspecting options to find an engine with which to develop the game.[14] One of the two remaining candidates had been used to create the teaser trailer.[6] It was later announced that Guerrilla Games would collaborate with Kojima Productions on the development of the game as it would run on the same engine as Guerrilla's Horizon Zero Dawn, Decima.[15] It will be compatible with 4K resolution and HDR imaging at release.[16] A teaser at The Game Awards 2016 revealed that Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen would be joining the cast as the game's antagonist.[15] It also featured a character resembling film director Guillermo del Toro, who had previously collaborated with Kojima and Reedus on Silent Hills.[17][18] An alternate cut of the second teaser, as with the first one, included a song from the band Low Roar; Kojima Productions and Mondo partnered to release a vinyl single of the two songs under the Death Stranding brand.[19]

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Kojima revealed that the game would be released prior to the year the film Akira was set, 2019[1]
Citations
  1. ↑ Robson, Daniel (September 17, 2016). "Death Stranding Will Be Out Before 2019, May Feature Heroine". IGN. Ziff Davis.
  2. ↑ Brown, Peter; Crossley, Rob (March 20, 2015). "Kojima Expected to Leave Konami After MGS5, Inside Source Confirms". GameSpot. CBS Interactive.
  3. ↑ Farokhmanesh, Megan (March 19, 2015). "Metal Gear Solid creator's involvement in series questioned, Konami removes branding". Polygon. Vox Media.
  4. ↑ Hussain, Tamoor (July 12, 2015). "Kojima Productions Has Disbanded, Says Metal Gear Solid Voice Actor". GameSpot. CBS Interactive.
  5. ↑ Dyer, Mitch; Otero, Jose (December 16, 2015). "Hideo Kojima Talks New Studio, 'Edgy' PlayStation Game, and the Future". IGN. Ziff Davis.
  6. 1 2 McWhertor, Michael (June 15, 2016). "Death Stranding's teaser probably won't be playable, Hideo Kojima says". Polygon. Vox Media.
  7. 1 2 Hernandez, Patricia (June 14, 2016). "Hideo Kojima's New Game, Death Stranding, Already Has Conspiracy Theories". Kotaku. Univision Communications.
  8. 1 2 Hussain, Tamoor (December 16, 2015). "Kojima's PS4 Console Exclusive Will Come to PC". GameSpot. CBS Interactive.
  9. ↑ Kamen, Matt (September 13, 2016). "Hideo Kojima reveals more about his mysterious Death Stranding game". Wired. Condé Nast.
  10. 1 2 3 Rad, Chloi (June 15, 2016). "E3 2016: More Cryptic Death Stranding Details From Kojima". IGN. Ziff Davis.
  11. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (September 18, 2016). "Death Stranding Possibly Coming in 2018, May Feature Female Hero". GameSpot. CBS Interactive.
  12. ↑ Davenport, James (June 16, 2016). "Kojima's Death Stranding will be an action game, sort of". PC Gamer. Future plc.
  13. ↑ Sykes, Tom (September 13, 2016). "Kojima's Death Stranding is an action game in an open world". PC Gamer. Future plc.
  14. ↑ Reiner, Andrew (June 15, 2016). "An Interview With Hideo Kojima". Game Informer. GameSpot.
  15. 1 2 Pereira, Chris (December 3, 2016). "Kojima Partnering With Killzone, Horizon Dev Guerrilla for Death Stranding". GameSpot. CBS Interactive.
  16. ↑ Te, Zorine (September 13, 2016). "Hideo Kojima Reveals New Death Stranding Details". GameSpot. CBS Interactive.
  17. ↑ D'Anastasio, Cecilia (December 1, 2016). "Death Stranding Goes Full Kojima With Mysterious New Trailer". Kotaku. Univision Communications.
  18. ↑ Hussain, Tamoor (December 1, 2016). "New Death Stranding Trailer Is Very Weird, Features Hannibal Actor Mads Mikkelsen". GameSpot. CBS Interactive.
  19. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (December 3, 2016). "Death Stranding's trailer music is coming to vinyl from Mondo". Polygon. Vox Media.
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