Death Stranding and the Connection to the Outside World
Death Stranding at its core is all about connection, not just inside the game itself but the themes it carries about everyday life.
Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions released Death Stranding in 2019. The first title released by Kojima for his own production company put gamers into a post apocalyptic setting where human connection is a core theme.
The game performed well from a sales standpoint but did receive some criticism for the gameplay and has been referred to as “a walking simulator”. Now I am a bit late to the party here, but the release of the sequel, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, influenced me to pick up the original game. I quickly realized just how deep the games themes are. As a life long fan of the Metal Gear Solid series, I expected nothing less from Kojima. A recurring theme in the game that stuck out to me is the different types of connections made. Let’s dig into the connections made by Death Stranding.
*** SPOILERS BELOW FOR DEATH STRANDING - READ AT YOUR OWN RISK****
Death Stranding’s Connections to Real Life
Human Connection
Gamers step into the boots of Sam Porter Bridges who is a courier in a world where a catastrophic event has caused the down fall of the United States. Independent cities now make up the United Cities of America and Sam delivers cargo from city to city.
The main story revolves around Sam as he is tasked with traveling from the east coast to the west coast to rescue his adopted sister who has been taken hostage by terrorists. Her goal was to reconnect the Cities of America into a Chiral network where data and supplies can be shared.
As Sam makes his way east he is adding each city, as well as surrounding facilities such as distribution centers, energy plants, farms, and more to the network. As the network gets stronger, more data is able to be shared between the cities.
Sam’s entire mission is to connect humanity back together. His goal is to make communication and sharing resources easier for all of mankind after a near extinction level tragic event. No matter what the cargo he is carrying or where he is carrying it to, the mission adds to the overall goal of giving humanity a network they can communicate on and share news and resources with. This is something we do daily that we can sometimes take for granted with how easy it is to connect via smart phones at any time and any place.
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Players Helping Each Other
Beyond the main story of the game, gamers also assist each other as they make their way through the game. As some terrain is not easily navigable by foot or vehicle tools such as ladders and grapple hooks are used navigate the terrain.
The equipment left behind can be used by other couriers to navigate the difficult terrain, making deliveries easier. This expands as gamers get further into the storyline of the game. More structures can be built like shelters that other gamers can use to rest and deposit items while making their way to the next delivery point.
Roads can also be constructed that make it much easier to make deliveries, especially if a vehicle is being used.
By connecting with other gamers and pooling resources together, the game can become much easier for all involved. The flip side of that also shows the principle of the tragedy of the commons. In theory gamers can benefit from the structures built by others without ever contributing back to the common good. It still ties back to the theme of human connection but shows the downside of it as well.
Technology Connection
Although Death Stranding takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, the technology portrayed in the game is still advanced. Gamers are able to build recharging structures, safe rooms, and vehicles using resources found in the open world. After reaching a certain point in the campaign, gamers can also have autonomous bots do smaller deliveries on their behalf.
Couriers connect with technology through fabricating tools and tech to make their jobs easier. After completing about the first third of the campaign, a floating cargo carrier can be fabricated to take weight off the back of Sam (quite literally). As more of the campaign is played out, more tools are made available for gamers to make orders easier.
The way in game corriers really on technology and the connections made with it, isn’t that far removed from how we use techonology in our daily lives. We are constantly innovating technology to make our lives and jobs easier. Death Stranding couriers using autoamted bots for deliveries isn’t all that different from Amazon utlizing drones to make simple deliveries. The connection we make with technology daily is in attempt to make our lives easier, similar to how the couriers of Death Stranding do.
Information Connection
The goal the campaign of Death Stranding is to get as many cities conected to the Chiral Network as possible. This helps the cities and facilites connect with each other and share information and resourses.
Beyond that, connecting more facilties to the network gives gamers a better map of the surrounding area. This helps gamers see what structures and equipment other couriers have put together to make planning their routes and deliveres easier.
Gamers can also drop stickers on the map for other gamers to interact with. Some are helpful warnings for what lays ahead while others are designed to improve stamina and other in game attributes. These can be used to help other gamers prepare and take on their routes to make their deliveries.
The game also has a built in “like system” that works a couple of different functions. As couriers complete jobs at differnt facilites they earn “likes” for how effectivly the job was done. The more social and technological connection is that gamers can send a “like” to other gamers after using their structures, stickers, and more.
The concept should be very familiar to most gamers. Social media outlest like Instagram, Facebook, X (formelly known as Twitter), YouTube, TikTok, and other social media platforms have a built in “Like” system for when users want to interact with conent posted by others. The same concept and technology is used to connect gamers in the world of Death Stranding.
Are You Connected to the Chiral Network?
There are many social themes that can be dervied from Kojima’s Death Stranding. The human connection of couriers helping each other with resources, technology connection by making jobs easier, and information connection through an in game social network all connects gamers both inside and outside of the game.
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Have you played Death Stranding? What are your thoughts about how the game connects people?
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