Traditionally when I’m knee-deep in a vast, confounding open world game like Crimson Desert I’ll be playing something much easier to parse in my downtime. Maybe a Balatro or even a Diablo 4. Something mindless and immediate and cathartic. But recently I instead found myself juggling one complex behemoth of a game for another as I also dove headlong into Death Stranding 2: On the Beach on PC.
I missed it when it was released onto console last year. I played a few hours but not enough to get into it and dropped off it in favour of a dozen other things. Going back in now, alongside something like Crimson Desert, was probably not the best idea, and yet the experience allowed me to appreciate both games that little bit more. Mainly because, if you want a staggeringly huge and wilfully beguiling open world adventure, there’s few options better than Kojima’s emotional rollercoaster of a sequel. Both games helped put each other in perspective, is what I mean.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach wastes little time in establishing the tonal shifts for which its creator is well known, plunging you into the depths of despair before sending you out on your way to the accompaniment of a melancholic soundtrack and a whole new world to connect. As Norman Reedus’ Sam Porter Bridges, you’ll leave the post-apocalyptic US of A that you spent so many hours reconnecting in the first game and take what you know over to Australia, building a new choral network down-under.
There are some incredible vistas on offer here too, which is something we’ve come to expect from this series, but while the rugged landscape is a star in its own right, there’s once again something undeniably captivating about Norman Reedus in this role. Those who know him as Daryl Dixon in The Walking Dead and its associated spin-offs will see a different side of him here. Oh, sure, he’s brooding and perplexed half the time, but he’s carrying the emotional weight of this opening hours with him for much of the game and Reedus gives a wonderfully vulnerable performance. Sam is a man set on saving a world he doesn’t really understand any more than we do, and the assorted cast of characters are little help.
As in the first game, Kojima tells his story with the subtlety of a Volvo through the front wall of a house, his seeming ability to simultaneously show everything and tell everything while also explaining almost nothing makes for a story that keeps you guessing throughout and then drops reveals on you that make you question if you were even paying attention. It’s a gift Kojima has, and one that makes games like On the Beach feel unique and ever interesting.
It’s this dedication to telling a story, though, that leads to some uneven ground where gameplay is concerned. Combat is much easier here than in the first game, though it’s arguably more common given that you’re encouraged to deal with bandits and scavengers now whereas before you were very much encouraged to avoid them. There are also certain elements that make the journey – unarguably the core mechanic here – seem a little trivialised. When you can load up a truck and just drive across the Outback it’s a lot less stressful than controlling Sam and his ridiculous tower of packages.
Yet obviously that element isn’t absent. You will still spend a lot of time trying to keep your balance and stay upright, building bridges and setting ladders, or erecting structures that other players may stumble across in the game world’s meta-universe and hit Like on. This still feels like a weird, disconnected concept to me, ironically, which suggests that either A, there are dozens of other apocalyptic postmen running around asynchronously, or B, everyone is aware – and meant to be aware – that this is a video game. Of course, you’re not really meant to analyse this part. Analyse the rest by all means, you’re invited to, but trying to make sense of this franchise is a bit of a lost cause really.
But that’s also missing the point. Yes, this is a fairly frictionless experience outside of the walking part, but that’s so that you can bury yourself in the story and characters. And, boy howdy, does this game have some characters. From Dollman, who is, yes, a doll, to Troy Baker’s exceptionally unhinged villain, Higgs, or Elle Fanning’s incredible turn as the mysterious Tomorrow, the cast here is as batshit as it is talented. Even if the story takes turns that you’ll never see coming, the cast manages to make it feel grounded in ways that should be impossible when Sam is blasting through hordes of machines with a weaponised electric guitar.
Combat in general is pretty solid. While every effort has been made to make every delivery feel different to the last, there are only so many ways to achieve that. But adding in more combat with a vast array of guns is one way to give you more options to vary your approach.
Playing this on PC with the settings dialled up, I was blown away by how good some of this looks. I’m a sucker for a landscape vista, and there are moments here when you’re at a high enough altitude and you stop to take it all in and, well, holy shit. When the weather kicks in, blowing in rain or great dust storms, or you’re just watching the clouds scud by in a twilight sky, it’s breathtaking. I tend to play this game with music on, something light and melancholic, and it’s the perfect game for that. It’s also not afraid to go to some very weird places with its dreamlike imagery, peppering otherwise grey and intentionally soulless moments with sudden shocks of vibrant colour.
As in the previous title, some of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach feels like necessary busywork. There are times when the hiking will feel like a slog, especially if like me you’re easily lost. But few sequels can pull off just the right balance of “more of the same” and “well, this is new” the way this game does. It’s as hard to recommend to newcomers as the original, but those who feel in love with the first game should jump into this without hesitation. It’s a sometimes frustrating yet always impressive adventure that expands on its predecessor in every way, and is another must-play experience for any fan of Hideo Kojima.
