Death Stranding Director’s Cut Review – Take Me to Chvrch (PS5)

Hideo Kojima had a vision. It manifested itself as the story of a broken country struggling to survive and one man’s forced “decision” to help its people reconnect. We battled terrorists, faced nightmarish monstrosities, and formed life changing bonds. When Death Stranding launched almost two years ago it was beloved by critics and criticized by others. I bought into the hype. There’s a life-size BB pod hanging out with my Sam and Cliff Nendoroids. But Kojima felt this creation wasn’t the very best it could be. Which is why tomorrow fans can experience an enhanced version of Kojima Productions’ first game.

In order to feel like I could best cover Death Stranding Director’s Cut I decided against importing my original PS4 save and started fresh. New version, new missions, new trophies. Let’s dig in!

Death Stranding Director’s Cut Review – New Tools, Better Connections

First up, let’s talk about the PS5 enhancements. Holy forking shirtballs this game is stunning in 4K/HDR! We recently upgraded one of our televisions to a 70 inch UHD and whenever I have to go play on the smaller not high def TV I get a little sad. I spent some time playing in both full screen and wide screen modes. Either way you choose to experience Death Stranding Director’s Cut is going to be gorgeous. If you’re not stopping to take a spin around to take in the craggy mountains and snap a picture or two you have more restraint than I. One of my PS5s has over a gig of screencaps. I may have a problem…

But wait, there’s more! You can’t have a director’s cut on PS5 without Hideo Kojima taking full advantage of the DualSense controller. It started with the light rumble as I crossed rugged terrain. Then I noticed the subtle sound of scratching rocks emanating from the built in speaker. I’d bring the controller up toward my ear as I ran through amber waves of grain. As I trudged through snow that came up to my knees, the combination of the resistance I felt from the adaptive triggers and how the haptic feedback translated that familiar solid crunching of packed snow below Sam’s feet took me back to those Canadian winters where I bundled up in my snowsuit, toque, and mittens in minus 30 Celsius blizzards to get to school. (It was the late 80s. Blizzards didn’t close down schools.)

We also get two new construction options for the PCC Lv. 2. In my opinion, the Buddy Bot is the better of the two. Leggs, as I like to call my Buddies, has two big benefits. The first being that Sam can hop on and ride the bot either to a delivery destination or to the nearest building in the network. You can also load them up with those heavier delivery items. When Sam’s stamina got low and my canteen was dry or I had to check on our social media channels, Leggs was called up from the bench. Buddy Bots can only work within the chiral network; if you venture out of range they will head to the nearest BRIDGES outpost. If they are carrying cargo it will be waiting for you in your private locker. There is a downside though. If you use your Buddy Bot to carry either Sam or your delivery items the highest rank you can achieve is A rank.

The second cargo-centric item is the Cargo Catapult. This nifty PCC Lv. 2 item allows players to load packages into a capsule which can be launched to a new destination. It’s not so powerful that you can fly cargo from one hub building to another, but it is great for sending materials over MULE camps or up rocky hillside. Once it’s in the air you can choose when to deploy the parachute and maneuver it as best you can to a safe landing zone. If your parcels land in MULE territory be prepared to fight for them back. I tested this with a case of resins I wasn’t too worried about losing. Sure enough, landing them within the orange zone had them tagged and snagged within a few minutes.

Death Stranding Director’s Cut Review – Practice Makes Perfect

Whenever you find yourself at one of the BRIDGES hubs, you can hit up the newly fabricated Firing Range. This is a great way to get used to the various weaponry Sam has access to. You can choose from standard drills or take a shot at one of the ranked courses. If you place well in those ranked courses you can earn badges that will be displayed on your porter profile. Ranked drills appear to be on a rotating schedule. If you’re all about adding colorful bling to your porter rank, be sure to check those out on a regular basis.

Driving is not my strongest genre. Give me a nice stretch of auto-paved road and I can get Sam from Point A to Point B without driving off the edge. Death Stranding Director’s Cut adds a new race course just south of the Timefall Farm. I really wanted to try this out so I loaded up my floating delivery devices with everything I needed to complete the track and got it operational. Using the trike for my first attempt around the track was a smart choice. I was more familiar with its handling after cruising the the Central Region. The course I chose was three laps around the track. After the first lap was clocked a ghost vehicle joined me, showing me my position on the previous lap. This included every time I took a turn too hard and bumped into the invisible wall. While this will probably be the only time I hit up the track, this is a great addition for people who enjoy the driving aspect. I’ll stick to zipping through the sky as much as possible.

Practicing at the track did help me with the new Jumps added to the game. Somehow I kept hitting them ever so slightly “off” and tumbled down crevasses more often than not. With enough practice perhaps I will become more comfortable with them and start dabbling with tricks. I’m definitely more Duke Caboom than Evel Knievel.

Death Stranding Director’s Cut Review – What Lies Within

Just up the hill behind Ludens Fan’s (Geoff Keighley’s character) shelter are the ruins of an old factory. MULES infest the area but that can’t stop Sam from exploring this new area. To unlock this new section of the Eastern Central Region you’ll need to pick up Request No. 77. With your shiny new Maser gun clipped to your belt, its a relatively short trek uphill. I rode my Buddy Bot up there and took in the sights. We walked right up to the path leading down into the rubble and discovered the entrance. Once you’ve made this first journey, Die-Hardman sets the BRIDGES techs to work on hacking the locked doors in your way. As you progress through the story he’ll ping you with new missions to let you know when the next section is accessible.

Aside from the Buddy Bot, exploring the factory is one of the aspects that kept me coming back in this new version. Who is the mysterious person I see shimmering in echo? What was being produced here and for what purpose? I needed to know more about this facility! Is this where I find the orange boxes? So many questions and I was determined to get all the answers. You won’t be disappointed with this added chapter, accessible both once you’ve completed the full game and woven into the story if you choose to play it all over again.

Every new line of code written enhances the original experience, bringing new ways for existing players to enjoy Death Stranding again. Whether you’re here for exploring the factory and playing with the new toys like I am or want to challenge friends for top spot on the racing and firing range leaderboards, odds are there is a reason for you to come back. Reworked missions will aid new players into the world more smoothly than the original release, too. I definitely felt as though the difficulty spike wasn’t nearly as harsh thanks to this. Keep in mind that while the Director’s Cut expands and adds delicate touches here and there, this is still a game that requires patience and time for the best results.

Death Stranding Director’s Cut review code provided by publisher. Version 1.001 reviewed on PlayStation 5. For more information on scoring please see our Review Policy.