When Death Stranding was first unveiled in 2016, its unusual design left us all with questions that would persist and multiply with the arrival of each new trailer. As Kojima Productions’ first independent release, it’s clear from its marketing cycle that the team was focused on upending traditional AAA expectations. With most games, you know what you’re in for before you even pick up the controller. By contrast, Death Stranding is an enigma – but some of the mystery lifts today, and certainly from a technological perspective, it’s a stunning achievement.
In many respects, showing is far more effective than telling, so I would suggest watching the video embedded on this page for some idea of how Death Stranding delivers a truly unique experience. Going into this one, I thought I was done with open world games – the genre has evolved and homogenised into the kind of experience I just don’t particularly enjoy any more. However, Death Stranding is different and stands apart, bringing back the magic of discovery in a way I haven’t experienced in years. It is, perhaps, one of the most visually striking games of the generation – a new benchmark for the medium – and this dark, isolated world adopts a style that leaves a mark long after you’ve finished playing.
There’s a singular vision here but also a strong technological foundation. When Kojima Productions started work on the title, the team had the opportunity to select from Sony’s stable of tools and technology, eventually settling upon Guerrilla Games’ superb Decima Engine – the same technology that delivered the brilliant Horizon Zero Dawn. As an open world game with a focus on the cinematic, Decima feels like a perfect fit for Death Stranding. Many of the key technical and visual features supported by Decima are utilised to great effect while the few shortcomings found in Horizon, such as water rendering, are greatly improved.
Like Horizon, Death Stranding delivers excellent image quality using Guerrilla’s bespoke interpretation of checkerboard rendering. Pixel counts suggest the same 2160p resolution as Horizon Zero Dawn, with the checkerboarding remaining one of the best in the business, with clean edges and minimal artefacting. This combines with excellent texture filtering and temporal stability to produce a very filmic image that looks almost pre-rendered at times. Rest assured though, nearly everything is generated in real-time, augmented greatly by a top tier HDR implementation. What impresses most with Death Stranding is the blend between small details and a vast sense of scale. It doesn’t feel as if the minutiae has been sacrificed in pursuit of its environments – and while this world is little more than a deserted husk, there is certainly plenty of life to find in its characters – and how they are realised is one of the game’s standout technological triumphs.
Since its inception, Kojima Productions has focused heavily on its star-studded cast, including Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen and Léa Seydoux among others so it’s no surprise that character rendering is a huge focus. The first thing that stands out is the quality of the eyes – this is where virtual models often fall flat but the eye material and way in which light penetrates the outer layer feels remarkably realistic. The area around the eye is just as impressive, with superbly detailed eye lashes and skin. We’ve seen a lot of progress in this area from many games this generation, but this is one of those rare moments where you almost feel as if you’re looking at a real human face during cutscenes. Seriously, take a look at the video above and see what you think.