Hideo Kojima was at Tokyo Game Show today showing off almost an hour of new Death Stranding gameplay footage.
The footage on display appears to begin right at the start of the game, with Norman Reedus’ Sam Bridges gearing up under the supervision of the masked Die-Hardman. Once he’s dressed, Sam interfaces with a terminal to get loaded up with parcels and equipment for his journey, his sadistic player loading him up with a comically massive, spine-shattering payload to carry.
Once Sam has been laden with packages, he sets out into the overcast United Cities of America. Along the way he falls into a river, plays the harmonica, takes a bath in a hot spring, and singlehandedly kills a doglike supernatural entity.
A few new features were alluded to in the Death Stranding footage. We’ve previously seen Sam use tools like ropes and extendable ladders to traverse difficult terrain, but in the new video, he is able to use equipment left behind by other players. He can even “thank” the players who left the gear behind in some way, leaving an approving thumbs up on their stuff. It’s a passive multiplayer system reminiscent of Dark Souls‘ messaging system.
Managing Sam’s unwieldy payload also seems like it will be a major concern throughout the game. At several points in the new video Sam is forced to reorganize himself to make traversal safer or more comfortable. At one point he stacks his packages on a hovering wagon of sorts that he pulls behind him with a rope, which is surely easier on his back than carrying them all.
Death Stranding comes to PlayStation 4 on Nov. 8.
