If there’s one game I genuinely didn’t think would exist as a sequel, it was Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Not only was it a fairly divisive game when it first released, but its story was both incredibly strange and pretty succinct that you honestly wouldn’t think it would have needed to keep going.
I was one of the few people who really liked Death Stranding when it first came out. After seeing so many positive and negative opinions about the game, I knew it was something I needed to try for myself. And much like when No Man’s Sky first launched, I really gelled with its surreal and somewhat chill experience. I wasn’t totally sure what to expect with Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, but it continuously impressed me in almost every moment I was playing it.
I think the best way I can describe Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is that it feels a lot like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to Death Stranding’s Breath of the Wild. It takes the same basic foundation of its predecessor and not only expands on many of the ideas it had, but streamlines and enhances them in a way that makes the game much more approachable and enjoyable.
If you’re familiar with my writing, then you’ll know I follow a pretty consistent structure. Usually, when I talk about a game’s story, I like to give readers a basic introduction to the plot by describing, usually, the opening hours of the game. However, I’m going to do something I never really do and forgo this style, because I truly feel like talking about any one moment of Death Stranding 2: On The Beach’s plot risks spoiling it.
Genuinely, from moment one, the game goes hard, immersing the player in an incredibly emotional and impactful journey that continuously twists and keeps the player guessing. What I will say, as I’m sure has been revealed through trailers, is that this new journey sees Sam Porter Bridges now trying to connect the continent of Australia to the Chiral Network. But what interests me more about Death Stranding 2: On The Beach’s narrative is its structure, delivery as well as its themes.
“I wasn’t totally sure what to expect with Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, but it continuously impressed me in almost every moment I was playing it.”
In the broad sense, the story feels much more optimistic than its predecessor. While Sam’s journey across America was one of personal growth and the importance of connection, his journey across Australia is one of healing in both the broad and personal sense. Even though Australia is fragmented, there’s a much deeper sense of community. There’s a kind of warmth that runs through every new link-up, and the atmosphere feels a lot less bleak.
Even Sam feels like a much different character this time around. Unlike the first game, where he spent a lot of the game alone, this time around, he’s joined by Dollman, who acts somewhat like Mimir in God of War. While they don’t actively converse, Sam is always receptive to Dollman’s advice and suggestions about events in the moment. Furthermore, while Sam was also seemingly uninterested in the plights of the people around him, here he actually leans on his team a little bit more and actually fosters a sense of family that permeates through the entire experience.
The world of Death Stranding 2: On The Beach feels much more alive than its predecessor, which works for both the narrative and the gameplay. Throughout his journey, Sam will report and depart from the DHV Magellan—a massive ship that serves as the base of operations for Fragile’s new delivery service, “Drawbridge.” Players can utilize the Magellan for storage, fabrication, and fast-travel across Australia, but it also provides Sam with multiple opportunities to interact with the various members who will join the crew throughout the game.
Not only that, but as Sam slowly connects Australia to the Chiral Network, NPC Porters can be found traversing the world, and can provide players with Lost Cargo or helpful tools and weapons. On top of the all-important Meta Game where players share structures, and slowly bring the world to life, it creates such a stark contrast in atmosphere—Death Stranding’s world felt so isolated and alone, but here, you slowly start to see the threads of life reconnecting and rebuilding the world.
“The world of Death Stranding 2: On The Beach feels much more alive than its predecessor…”
But what really surprised me about Death Stranding 2: On The Beach was how well its story is delivered. It certainly became something of a running joke with Hideo Kojima games that you press a button and watch a 20-minute cutscene. Death Stranding certainly had a bit of cutscene bloat in between gameplay, which made its story feel a bit unbalanced. This time around, it is much more digestible—story cutscenes are tight and to-the-point and happen after every main objective, which are paced much better as well.
And this is where Dollman helps a little as well. When players are in Sam’s Private Room, they have the opportunity to talk with Dollman, and while sometimes he’ll offer small bits of flavour dialogue, he’ll often shed some insight into certain plot points and even game mechanics they might have missed. It feels a lot to me like Kojima Productions took some of the criticisms from the first game and worked really hard to make Death Stranding 2: On The Beach more understandable without sacrificing any of its unique identity, which makes it so much more enjoyable.
But the highlight of Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, in my opinion, is its gameplay. One of the biggest complaints I remember hearing about the first game was that it was an amazing piece of art, but a pretty frustrating game. And while I personally always really liked the methodical nature of Death Stranding, I definitely understood why some people didn’t. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach takes the same solid foundation of the first and fleshes it out in a way that makes it much more approachable and far more enjoyable.
“…everything about Death Stranding 2: On The Beach’s delivery-based gameplay feels tighter and more player-friendly.”
It works in both the micro and macro sense of the game’s design. It was something I noticed as soon as the game gave me my first mission, and before going to the Cargo Management screen, the game prompted me to create a route to my destination. Right away, I thought it was great! The game was explicitly teaching the player to consider the way they would travel—whether they would take the fastest route, or the safest. After that, players pack their cargo and are explicitly told to fabricate any tools they might need to complete their delivery.
It was such a small thing, but it made such a world of difference to me. Death Stranding was very casual in its explanation of its systems, to the point that most players could easily miss it, or misunderstand it and have a worse time playing it. Here, the instructions are clear and concise, and they prime the player to have a better time. But on top of that, everything about Death Stranding 2: On The Beach’s delivery-based gameplay feels tighter and more player-friendly.
For starters—although this could just be me—movement feels much smoother and more responsive. It certainly helps that the Australian landscape is a bit more forgiving in terms of massive hills and unstable terrain, but it’s not without its own challenges that we’ll get into in a moment. The second, and possibly most crucial thing, is just how much better vehicles handle in this game.
It was a bit of a running joke that Death Stranding gave you a cool motorcycle at the start of the game, only to place you in an environment that made riding impossible. In Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, from almost the start of the game, players are given a speedy delivery bike, and I cannot begin to tell you how much better it handles on the rocky terrain, and how maneuverable it is. But it isn’t just vehicles to help you on your journeys. Much like the first game, taking on orders for various preppers will increase your delivery rating with them and with every increase, will reward players with new or upgraded equipment to aid in deliveries.
But Death Stranding 2: On The Beach takes this a step further by giving players APAS Upgrades, which essentially act as a Perk Tree for players to select upgrades that can assist them based on their play style. Players can give themselves a suite of advantages, ranging from silent footsteps to increased scanner range to increased structures shared through the Chiral network. Not only does this give players increased flexibility in how they approach deliveries, but it also provides added incentive to carry out more missions, as increasing your Porter ranking with Preppers affords you additional “bandwidth” to apply more upgrades.
One other massive gameplay innovation in Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is the game’s day-to-night cycle, which provides its own unique challenges. Travelling in the dark can be a bit more perilous, especially if you’re on foot, since the reduction in vision can cause Sam to trip and lose his balance. Players are able to use the odradek as a flashlight; however, this risks Sam giving himself away to enemies.
But what really sets Death Stranding 2: On The Beach apart from its predecessor is both how unique deliveries are, and the distinctiveness of its setting. I played a lot of Death Stranding, but at a certain point, every delivery felt more or less the same. Here, there are a whole host of new Cargo conditions that make deliveries far more engaging. Packages that need to be kept cold and can only be delivered at night or in the back of a truck; packages that can’t be submerged in water, or need to be kept flat, just to name a few, add an extra layer of consideration to the optimal route for delivery.
Then there’s the landscape itself that feels much more dynamic and wild. As players traverse Australia, they’ll be confronted with rivers that can flood as a result of heavy Timefall, bush fires that can spread quickly and trap them in flames, and raging sandstorms across desert areas that not only restrict vision but also whip Sam around and put him off balance. Not only that, but now there are several new types of BT, as well Chiral Creatures that travel in massive packs, which can do massive damage to Sam and his packages if you happen to be caught by them, making the world feel much more dangerous if you go in unprepared.
On top of this are the MULEs as well as Armed Survivalists who have set up camps across Australia and attempt to kill anyone who comes near. However, something that I really enjoy about Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is how much more it seems to want players to engage both with combat and stealth. So many missions have Sam confront these camps, and while players have the ability to try and avoid them, it’s more rewarding—and usually more optimal—to go through them.
Players are given many more weapons, tools and tactical enhancements—quite early on, I should mention—to fight or sneak their way through camps and getting through them became a consideration that made deliveries so much more enjoyable. More often than not, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach felt a lot like I was playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain as I used holo-grenades that simulated BTs to scare opponents as I sniped them with Tranquillizer darts from 100 meters away.
And I think one of the things I love most about Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is how it feels like the first game I’ve played that was specifically designed for the PlayStation 5. I was genuinely floored the first time I selected “Continue” from the Main Menu, and instantaneously, I was in the game. I am not hyperbolizing when I say there is almost ZERO load time between menus, cutscenes and gameplay. The whole thing feels seamless.
On top of that, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach utilizes the DualSense 5 to its fullest potential. Every texture Sam walks on, raindrop or subtle detail like Skeleton’s powering down or Chiral crystals entering your container is brought to life in your hands through the controller’s haptic feedback. Sound is enhanced through a combination of in-game SFX and additional sounds coming through the controller, and the way the adaptive triggers work to provide resistance when shifting weight or added heft when firing a gun brings the whole thing to life in an incredible way.
“Death Stranding 2: On The Beach utilizes the DualSense 5 to its fullest potential.”
Although it does lose some points from me for not including Gyroscoping aiming, especially with how much it seems like the game wants you to utilize ranged weapons, going so far as to specifically force you into shootouts at key plot points, much like the first game. It’s such a small thing, and it goes so far to make aiming a more fluid and precise action. I don’t know why so many developers ignore it.
Of course, the added power of the PlayStation 5 goes a long way to enhancing Death Stranding 2: On The Beach’s audio/visual experience as well. As well as its sheer size compared to the first game, the game’s depiction of Australia has so many distinct biomes, incredibly detailed landscapes and just an incredible amount of visual fidelity in character models that the whole game feels so believable.
This is all enhanced by an absolutely incredible cast who bring each character to life in a unique and compelling way—but none as much as Troy Baker, who steals every scene he’s in. Even more so than the first game, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach punctuates so many scenes with an unbelievable procedural soundtrack developed by Woodkid, as well as featuring recorded songs by Daichi Miura, Low Roar, and so many more. Also, I absolutely want to kiss whoever thought of letting players create playlists and listen to the soundtrack while on deliveries.
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach consumed me. Not simply because I can easily get absorbed in slow, methodical gameplay, but because it is so well-developed as a game that it makes getting sucked into it incredibly effortless. It genuinely feels like the current best version of whatever these “Strand-type” games are meant to be, and if Kojima has hit his stride this early, I can’t wait to see what else is in store. If you weren’t the biggest fan of the first game, I almost guarantee Death Stranding 2: On The Beach will turn you into one.
