Death Stranding: Director’s Cut Review

I’ve been a Hideo Kojima fanboy since I was seven. My dad, having spotted the Metal Gear Solid trilogy at Walmart and thinking it looked cool brought it home for me, assuming I would enjoy it. And enjoy it I did, as I lost countless summers in front of that Playstation 2 just sneaking around Shadow Moses, Big Shell, and the Russian jungle. 

There was a time when I thought Hideo Kojima could do no wrong, and that time persisted until very recently. Metal Gear Solid V was a huge hit, and though Kojima wasn’t solely responsible for that game’s success, it just reinforced the idea that he had nowhere to go but up, and I was excited for what would come from him after leaving Konami. 

Then came Death Stranding, and.. my opinion changed. Look, I know there are many a fan of Death Stranding who would jump at my throat for this take, but I and many others simply found the game.. Boring. It’s a game about walking from point A to point B, and it can be frustratingly slow and difficult to do so. 

I didn’t like Death Stranding, and that’s all there is to say about it. Fortunately, this isn’t a review of Death Stranding, this is a review of Death Stranding: Director’s Cut. Even after my lackluster opinion of the original, I thought that a re-release of the game designed specifically to expand on the problems of the original was worth giving a chance.

Two years after Death Stranding’s original release, a slew of new quality-of-life improvements and features have been added specifically to make the game easier to approach. Some may say that this goes against Kojima’s vision of a game purposefully designed to be a struggle to play, but I’m personally not too torn up about it. 

An example of these quality of life changes include replayable boss battles, fast travel locations that you can now select from the map, a route planned tutorial in episode one and adjusted guides and tips that you can customize the frequency of in the pause menu.

The new buildable structures, the Jump Ramps, Cargo Catapult, and Chiral Bridges make the game’s most grueling aspect – transporting cargo over long distances – a lot easier. Fighting the terrain is one of the most intentionally frustrating parts of the game, and I get that it’s supposed to be that way, but more options for making your deliveries easier seems like an obvious addition that was missing from the original game.

Roads can now also be built in mountains, which helps with a super frustrating piece of terrain.

And let’s talk about the Buddy Bot. I love the Buddy Bot. This piece of essential equipment, which was originally exclusive to cutscenes for some reason, can now be used in several incredibly helpful ways. You can load it with cargo so you don’t have to carry anything yourself, you can have it complete deliveries for you by sending it towards a location, or you can even just ride it for automated travel. This thing is a life saver, and after using it I can’t imagine playing the game without it.

These additions to the game certainly make it easier, but it doesn’t really make it any more fun. My problem with the game is still the fact that you are walking a box from one spot to another. Making the most boring mechanic in the game less frustrating doesn’t make me more excited to do it.

So let’s talk about some exciting new mechanics. New combat mechanics include an upgraded melee system with some cool new moves. Mules will now use mounted machine guns against the player, adding a little extra challenge. Said mounted machine guns can also be used by the player, so you can shoot back at them with as much as they give you.

There is also a new firing range, which makes learning the game’s weapons much easier. Available at any distribution center, the firing range not only lets you practice with paper targets, but there are also 30 different VR drills that run you against the clock in multiple challenges. This is a fun way to get used to the combat in Death Stranding, which you don’t get to do enough of to really learn anything at a convenient pace.

Don’t come into Death Stranding: Director’s Cut expecting a refreshed and improved version of Death Stranding. Enough new content has been added and enough old content has been improved for me to say it is definitely improved over the original, but don’t expect a completely different game. At the end of the day, the aspects you found hard to get around in Death Stranding will only be less so in this version, but that just might be enough for some people.

Our Death Stranding: Director’s Cut review was written based on the PC version of the game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website!