Death Stranding may be the most interesting game to watch out for heading into E3 2018. Here is everything you need to know about Hideo Kojima’s first title since his departure from Konami.
Kojima’s New Studio
Hideo Kojima, one of the most highly respected game designers of all time, was fired from Konami in 2015. Kojima is best known for his work on the classic Metal Gear franchise and was set to direct the new Silent Hills game with Guillermo del Toro as director and Norman Reedus as the main protagonist.
Kojima left the company and not long after, so did Silent Hills. Konami canceled the project despite a strong positive reaction from gamers after the success of the P.T. Demo. Kojima then created a new independent studio called Kojima Productions and with that, Death Stranding was born.
Its Strange Reveal at E3 2016
Guillermo del Toro and Norman Reedus have both stated numerous times that although Silent Hills was dead, they would still love to work with Kojima on future projects. At E3 2016, Kojima Productions released the reveal trailer for their first title independent from Konami that would star Reedus, del Toro, and Mads Mikkelsen (Doctor Strange and Hannibal). That title was Death Stranding.
The reveal of Death Stranding was…interesting to say the least. Norman Reedus (who voiced our protagonist, Sam) was the star of this short trailer. Sam wakes up on a lifeless beach with a baby attached to him and what appears to be a c-section scar on his stomach. Later on in the reveal, the baby spontaneously disappears from Sam’s hands. We close out on our first look at Death Stranding with Sam looking on as five mysterious figures float above him.
Even though we were left in the dark on any details of the project, many gamers were just happy to see the Kojima name back where it belonged.
Death Stranding at The Game Awards
We received our second look at Death Stranding at The Game Awards 2016. This trailer was much like the first. It was strange, intriguing, and left us all wanting more. It also put a focus on del Toro and Mikkelson’s characters. You can watch this trailer below:
From this, we can predict that Mikkelson will be playing the part of the game’s primary antagonist. We can also confidently say that Death Stranding will be a very unique experience (you know with the rainbows, undead soldiers, and tentacles coming out fighter planes). Unfortunately, del Toro’s role and his significance to the story are still unknown.
Kojima and Reedus returned to The Game Awards in 2017 to release the game’s third and final trailer before E3 2018. Featured in the trailer was Reedus’ Sam, who appears to be a scientist of some sort, attempting to survive an attack from an invisible creature that is attracted to sound. There is no way to coherently describe this trailer to you so its best to just see it for yourself:
Possible Gameplay Details Revealed?
Marty Sliva of IGN spoke to Kojima at The Game Awards 2017. During this interview, the long-time video game developer hinted at a few gameplay details for Death Stranding:
“One of the themes of this game is life and death. So I want people to realize that when they die in the game, that isn’t the end.”
“So as you saw in the trailer, you saw the crater, and when you come back, it’s still there. Most games would’ve taken you back to before the crater was made. So depending on the player, you might have a lot of craters all over the place — depends on each player.”
Along with those details, Kojima also talked about some of the lore in the game:
“Most people in the game are aware of the rain — and well, Norman is quite unique in this regard… I think I should stop there. I’m spilling the beans.”
What he’s talking about here is the rain present in Death Stranding’s third trailer that appeared to rapidly age the injured scientist. This could also explain the lifeless landscape in the game’s reveal trailer. According to IGN, this rain is called Timefall and it is crucial to the game’s story and lore.
What Will We See at E3?
Hideo Kojima has been teasing a new Death Stranding trailer for weeks now. It has been confirmed that the game will be featured during Sony’s E3 2018 conference; which takes place Monday, June 11th at 9:00 PM EST.
Some are expecting to see a live gameplay demonstration to go along with the cinematic trailer at the conference. This hasn’t been denied by Sony or Kojima Productions yet but hopefully, this is one rumor that ends up being true.
What are you hoping to see at Sony’s E3 conference? What are you expecting for Death Stranding? Let us know in the comments and be sure to follow us here at The Nerd Stash for all of your nerdy news and needs!
