I’ve spoken a lot about how Death Stranding 2 should not be compared to Metal Gear Solid in my main preview, but it’s hard to deny that the franchise that put Hideo Kojima on the map has, in some parts, influenced the way Death Stranding 2 has been designed.
He compared the jump from Death Stranding 1 to Death Stranding 2 in a similar vein to the jump from the first Metal Gear Solid to it’s sequel, Sons of Liberty. We spoke to Kojima himself at Kojima Production in Tokyo and he spoke about how he sees the jump between games:
I would like you to remember back to the first Metal Gear Solid when you had to really (focus on) stealth, otherwise it was game over. Before you get to the elevator, you had no weapons at all, but once you got on it and went up, you had access to some weapons. The reason I did that was because if I put a weapon there, people would use that to take down the enemy. It would not have been like a hide and seek game. That’s why I deliberately took that out, but a lot of people hated that, and many didn’t even make it to the elevator. (In MGS1) We put in a lot of mechanics to teach people stealth. So in MGS2, I knew that people now understood stealth more, so I made weapons more accessible. You could even aim at specific areas of the body in first person perspective. It was the same for DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH.
I see the vision. In Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, combat is a lot more viable now. Given the unique premise of the original game, one that essentially discouraged violence, this might seem like a bit of a surprise. Speaking about how this focus came about and how it influenced the game design overall, Kojima said:
Well, I’m not recommending people to fight more or anything like that. But there are so many people all over the world asking me to make another Metal Gear, so I added more options for combat. But this is a game focused mainly on deliveries. You can avoid the enemy by taking the long way around, you could drive by quickly using a vehicle or bike, or you could fight the enemies; I wanted to leave that choice up to the players. In that case, we needed to tweak the designs of the weapons so they’re easier to use. When I was working out those mechanics, I was a little worried because many of the staff that worked with me on Metal Gear still work here, and we kept saying to each other, “Does this feel too much like Metal Gear?” It wasn’t on purpose.
During my time with the game it was obvious that weapons are a lot easier to use in Death Stranding 2. As a result, I had so much more choice in how I approached my deliveries. But I hadn’t considered that so many people asking for a new Metal Gear game might have influenced the decision to include more combat in Death Stranding 2. I thought that type of design would be reserved for PHYSINT, whenever that comes out.
While there are definitely echoes of Metal Gear Solid in Death Stranding 2, I can’t emphasise enough that Death Stranding 2 still feels like Death Stranding at it’s core, though it’s encouraging that whoever you are, you’ll find a way to play Death Stranding 2 that suits your playstyle.
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach launches on June 26th 2025 for PlayStation 5. The cheapest copy is available for $99 with free shipping from Amazon.
The author travelled to Tokyo, Japan, as a guest of Kojima Productions.
