Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is often about dealing with the unexpected. On one mission, tar suddenly pools at my feet, and I'm suddenly introduced to 'ghost mechs' oozing their way towards me out of the ground. Moving oddly, and wielding blades ready to strike me and my precious cargo down, I unload the last of my shotgun pellets into them, time-slowing to highlight their animalistic death throes. Out of ammo, I scoop up one of their own blades. Steel sings as we make one final clash. Victorious, protagonist Sam Bridges piles his rewards onto his backpack, turns, trips over a small rock, and all of his inventory scatters everywhere as he tumbles into the mud.
It's a laugh out loud bit of slapstick – the kind of bizarre and tactile mundanity that's made all the more funny in how it clashes against the extremely extra aspects of the Death Stranding 2 universe, full of paranormal babies in jars, ethereal mechs, and goopy, supernatural tar. It's this physicality that really made the first Death Stranding shine, my memories of honing tricky delivery routes between waystations sticking in my memory far more than its bonkers sci-fi plot.
