If you were hoping that Death Stranding‘s appearance at The Game Awards last night would clear up a few questions you had about the game, then tough luck. The few trailers that have thus far emerged for the game have each been confusing, and this one was perhaps even more head-scratching than the others.
If you’re anything like me, then you probably spent your time watching the new Death Stranding trailer thinking: “Wait, what the hell was that?” As a result I thought I’d compile a list of the moments that resonated with/confused the shit out of me, and you can feel free to offer your thoughts on the meaning behind these moments, because y’know what? I’m not even going to try to make sense of what goes on in Hideo Kojima’s mind. Remember that time he said there was a reason for Quiet dressing in a bikini, but it transpired that she was essentially a plant who breathed through her skin? I remember. Fool me once, Kojima.
What’s on this boy’s face?
What’s on this boy’s face? It looks a bit orange-y, a stark contrast to the relentless gray of everything else we’ve seen from Death Stranding thus far. Perhaps he was eating a tangerine but then stopped for a nap midway through? Oh, hang on, it turns out that he’s dead. Did the tangerine kill him? It’s probably not a tangerine. In fact, I think that’s acid. This man has had his face burned off, yet Norman Reedus crouches down beside him like he’s checking for signs of life. Imagine if burnt face man over here actually was alive? Imagine if he stood up like “hi, guys! Everyone doing okay here? Bit dark out tonight, isn’t it?” then carried on with his day-to-day life? This man’s dead, Norm. He doesn’t have a face. There’s nothing you can do.
Also: Death Stranding Trailer Shown at The Game Awards 2017
What’s this whirlygig?
What’s that little whirlygig on this man’s back? Why does it start spinning around when shit’s kicking off? Is it a Shit’s-Kicking-Off-O-Meter? Some might suggest that a helmet with a torch on it might do the same job as this thing, but who am I to make suggestions to Kojima? This guy created Metal Gear Solid; he knows what he’s doing. If he wants to create what appears to be a near-sentient robot capable of determining danger just for the sake of making it provide its wearer with a light source, then he can. I personally think that’s a little OTT, but having a little robot arm friend would be kinda cool, I guess.
What’s happening to this guy?
Weird way of killing someone, this. The sludge that tries to murder this man attempts to do so by making him age dramatically, graying his hair and wrinkling his face rather than, y’know, drowning him or something. It seems a bit counterproductive — it’s clear that this sludge is very much in control of this situation, so why not just choke this man to death? Give him a good ol’ Death Strangling? Why go through the bother of speeding up the aging process? At this point it’s clear that Kojima absolutely loves stories where guys randomly get older, but I can’t help but feel that there’s probably a swifter and more efficient method of killing a man.
Whose is this baby?
One of the guys in the Death Stranding trailer spends his time carrying around a baby in a bottle, like a darker version of that Christina Aguilera song, and then it seems like Norman somehow becomes pregnant with it. It seems pretty cool with the whole thing, though, giving a little thumbs up when the camera zooms into Norm’s intestines. This is a pretty chill baby, all things considered. The baby seems to be a big deal, what with it having appeared in another Death Stranding trailer. There’s no telling who it belongs to at this point, but my money’s on Norm. He seems like he’d be a good mom. He has kind eyes.
Who are these lads?
Bloody hell, lads, look at the mess you’ve made here! I don’t know who these boys are, but I tell you what, if I had the ability to fly I’d be doing far more useful things than making big crates in the Earth. Now admittedly I’ve never really put much thought into being able to fly, but I’m almost certain that making this hole would definitely be the last thing on my list. Not these lads, though — they loved making this hole. Look at them proudly floating above it, while pregnant Norm stands across the other side presumably wondering why, if they are capable of making such a large hole, they don’t just decimate him. He’ll probably kill them later. That’s how these things usually go.
