One criticism leveled against Death Stranding is that it’s a walking simulator in the most literal sense of the term. YouTuber Allen Pan decided to take that notion several steps further using some mechanical know-how, a DualShock 4, and a treadmill. Yes, a treadmill. Pan was able to pair a treadmill with a third-party PlayStation 4 controller. In doing so, he quite literally transformed the Norman Reedus-starring adventure into a walking simulator.
Check out Pan’s incredibly impressive handiwork in the following video:
Pan spends the first five minutes or so of the video explaining how he paired the treadmill and PS4 controller, and it’s honestly fascinating. Removing the left analog stick allows the treadmill to work in its stead. By either walking or running on the treadmill, Pan is able to get Reedus’ character to either walk or run in-game.
This does not undercut the importance of the controller, however. The trigger buttons are still integral to maintain the character’s balance, for example. Pan learns this the hard way around the 6:45 timestamp in the video.
The back half of the video features Pan and his friends putting his experiment to the test, all while wearing a backpack, of course. Even scaling a steep incline and climbing a ladder is possible with the treadmill controller. One drawback appears to be that combat is much more difficult this way, as seen around the 12:40 mark. Still, this looks like a pretty solid workout, not to mention one of the most immersive ways to play Death Stranding.
Death Stranding is in stores now for the PlayStation 4. It will become available to PC players on an unspecified date this summer.
[Source: Allen Pan on YouTube via Dexerto]
