Death Stranding’s Multiplayer Is Asynchronous and It Won’t Have ‘Traditional’ Game Overs

Despite the newly released nine-minute gameplay trailer, questions still abound about Death Stranding‘s core aspects. Multiplayer has long been teased and recently confirmed. However, onlookers are left pondering what exactly such a feature will entail. Thankfully, the game’s page on the PlayStation website offers a few intriguing hints. The page also briefly discusses what players should anticipate with regards to Death Stranding’s “game over state.”

According to PlayStation.com, Death Stranding will allow players to “assist” one another. What this amounts to is an asynchronous multiplayer experience, which receives a succinct outline in the following description: “Help other travellers without ever crossing paths via asynchronous online gameplay. Send supplies, share safe houses and walk in the footsteps of fellow couriers to reunite civilization.”

Because the game mechanics remain somewhat of a mystery, dissecting how the multiplayer features will function is no simple task. Still, sending supplies and sharing safe houses sounds compelling. How integral will this be to the overall experience? Will such features merely enhance Death Stranding’s premise, or will the use of multiplayer put players who don’t participate at a disadvantage? We can only hope this become clearer as the release date draws near.

Another noteworthy tidbit offered on Death Stranding’s PlayStation page concerns the “game over state.” Apparently, this won’t exist in the “traditional” sense. Instead of dying and starting over from a previous checkpoint, players will land in an “upside-down realm.” Jury’s out on whether the Demogorgon from Stranger Things will be present. However, the following blurb does tease how death becomes an active part of the experience:

There is no traditional ‘game over’ state in Death Stranding. Lose your life during combat and you’ll find yourself in an upside-down realm, searching for a way back to the living. Choose your combat methods carefully, as killing your foe is almost never the solution–and every death carries a consequence.

Death Stranding will exclusively land on the PlayStation 4 later this year on November 8th. Preorders for the game and its special editions have already gone live online and at retailers.

[Source: PlayStation.com]