What we know about Death Stranding

As of right now, information is limited on Hideo Kojima's next project, Death Stranding, which can be very well due to the simple fact that the game is still only in the script and design phrase. Although the process appears to be going very slowly, the game is still highly anticipated, especially by fans of Hideo Kojima and the Silent Hill franchise. Hideo Kojima recently departed from Konami, a company he had been working for since 1986, leaving behind the Metal Gear Solid series and the now cancelled Silent Hills game.

Following this departure, he started Kojima Productions and has partnered with Sony to work on the video game company's first project, Death Stranding. Death Stranding's announcement took place during Sony's E3 Conference last year, and left several people with lots of questions due to the puzzling visuals in the trailer. What was shown clearly, at least, was that Norman Reedus is returning to work on the project with Hideo Kojima, as he was originally signed to play the protagonist role in Silent Hills. According to Hideo Kojima, the game will show Norman Reedus playing a totally different character than what we are used to seeing in AMC's The Walking Dead.

In the second trailer that was released after the announcement, we see two more familiar faces from the movies and television, Mads Mikkaelson and Guillemo Del Toro. Mads Mikkaelson has been confirmed to play the game's antagonist, something the actor has experience with as he played NBC's Hannibal Lector in the show Hannibal. Guillemo Del Toro is said to not be creatively involved, as he was with Silent Hills, but will still play an acting role.

Another protagonist is sure to make their way into the game, as Kojima announced at Toyko Game Show, that there will be a female protagonist. Whoever will be playing this character is still unknown, but thanks to hints and deleted tweets from Mads Mikkaelson, it's likely that this character will be played by Stefani Joosten, the same actress that portrayed Quiet in Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain.

With regards to story, not much is known at all. A main concept that was portrayed in both trailers is the idea of life and death being connected to each other, something that we are sure to see more of as the game unfolds. The title, Death Stranding, comes from the term 'Cetacean Stranding' (a term synonymous with bleaching) which is when whales and other creatures are washed up to shore.

In terms of gameplay and development, it's said to be an action game with an open-world environment, that will appeal to fans of games such as Uncharted and The Division. Death Stranding makes use of motion capture, and uses the same engine that Guerilla Games' used for Horizon: Zero Dawn. Hideo Kojima has also teased the concept of ropes, saying that as most games use sticks to fight off enemies and other players, this game will be using ropes to bring players together. Which also tells us that there will be a multi-player component, it just might not be similar to any multi-player that we are use to.

E3 is coming up quickly and it's already been confirmed that Death Stranding is on the list to be featured at Sony's Conference. Hopefully, we will learn more about the game and not just gain more puzzle pieces that we have to put together. All we know right now about the release date is that it's to be released prior to 2019 but nothing has been made official.