Death Stranding Review - IGN

Death Stranding delivers a fascinating world of supernatural sci-fi, but its gameplay struggles to support its weight.

[generic-user-name]

Polarizing indeed.

[Ezio2048]

Indeed. 81 meta on 44 reviews but already 9 perfect scores(more than Gears 5 or The Outer Worlds for example). Kinda reminds me of The Last Guardian. It had the same meta but had a lot of perfect scores too.

Edit: Ign Italy and Ign Japan gave 9.8 and 9.5 respectively. Very polarizing indeed.

[UltraNova]

Oh IGN....so edgy, so strong, so stunning...

[naruga]

after playing countless console games i have developped a good sense of what it is good and what not......even from watching just their trailers , the same goes for Death Stranding ,never managed to capture me or hype me ....its like mGSV in future with more bland characters .......i hope when i play the game to find smthing interesting to finish it to the end but what i m seeing here is a waste of talent (Kojima) and money (Actors) ...Kojima literally with this engine could have developed a unique action game , investing much much more in mechanics , gameplay and artistic detail instead of paying celebrities to gold wrap the same mediocre game (MGS V)

[IamTylerDurden1]

84 open critic

[gravedigger]

Well, now it's on meta 84 after 71 reviews ( https://www.metacritic.com/... ) and 85 on opencritic after 68 reviews ( https://opencritic.com/game... )

[rtndeep9]

@naruga
MSGV has been one of the greatest stealth action games ever made which uniquely blends the open-world with in-depth game mechanics. The gameplay itself was pure fun even though the game did not have a proper ending. You calling MSGV mediocre shows how much of a good sense you have developed. I haven't played Death Stranding so I'm gonna reserve my judgment until I have seen proper walkthrough or by playing the game.

Calling MSGV crap made me lose my shit. Damned internet.

[Highlife]

Days Gone all over again. Doesn't matter I loved that game.

[Unspoken]

What's will all the perfect 💯's from no name sites? Can't take Metacritic scores seriously anymore when you have submissions by the likes of PlayStationLife or 6thaxis.

Alright Angry Joe, where is your review.

[Flewid638]

Did it drop? I'm seeing 84 on Meta, 13 perfect scores and over about 30 reviews at 9 and up.

[darthv72]

I'd take the scores of IGN Wakanda and Zamunda over IGN US. They are going to be more believable and honest.

[syphon32]

So I guess Italy and Japan offices are playing a different game, 🤪 jeepers

[Chaos_Order]

@naruga

Yeah, I've begun to feel the same way too about being able to judge whether to buy games, not just from review scores but having that "feel" when I come across something I think I'll enjoy.

With MGSV, I was really skeptical before going in. As someone who has loved every single MGS since the first on PS1, the idea of an open world Metal Gear rubbed me the wrong way, and I honestly thought the story could be given a rest at this point. My gut instinct was "don't buy this" but I did anyway because so many reviewers gave it high marks, praised the story, said it had the best gameplay of any Metal Gear... What I got was easily my most disappointing gaming experience ever, and I've been gaming since the Master System. The story was almost non-existant and the gameplay grew tiresome quickly. I should've trusted my gut.

As for Death Stranding, every new piece of info has made me more and more interested. After reading a few reviews, I've placed a pre-order. :)

@rtndeep

Sorry man, but there are many, many Metal Gear fans who thought Phantom Pain was mediocre. It's extremely divisive, moreso than any game in the series.

[bouzebbal]

IGN NA is a joke 🤣🤣😄

[DaDrunkenJester]

@Potato

Man they really sent out codes to A LOT of sites I've never even heard of before. Glad they found some small no name sites to score this game really well.

[P_Bomb]

@unspoken
TheSixthAxis is a multiplatform European site that’s been around at least 10yrs with over 2200 reviews on metacritic. You’re reading too much into it.

[skiggy34]

Thats because those sites rate over hype. IGN US is pretty fair and they arent the only ones giving this game a poor score. People hear Kojima and that automatically drives the score up which is BS in my opinion.. Gears 5 and The Outer Worlds are extremely fun, I havent played this yet but from what I am hearing its very boring.

[mikeslemonade]

MGSV is bland. If you think otherwise you don’t know video games.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Death Stranding is now an 86 Open Critic.

Higher than Gears 5 and Outer Worlds.

https://opencritic.com/game...

[fr0sty]

This is usually the case when a game steps outside of the norm and tries to innovate. Many with certain expectations don't know how to process it, and don't end up liking it as a result. However, it's these games that end up becoming the cult classics we're still talking about in 20 years.

[mikeslemonade]

^my friend has the same logic but this game is similar to MGS5 and mgs4 so it’s not ahead of its time.

[pwnmaster3000]

Anyone find it weird that gamespot and ign score is always so different
Gamespot 9
IGN 6.8

Gears 5
Gamespot 7
IGN 9

Idk who to trust

[Artemidorus]

You shouldn't be trusting any of them.

[Gazondaily]

Not surprised tbh. The backstage showing was utterly poor.

[Lore]

Easy Allies if anything

[mandingo]

I mean Gamespot has been anti xbox for years

[ShadowKing-]

idk if you can trust any reviews from anyone with this game. this seems to be a game you have to experience yourself and decide whether you enjoy it or not on your own. The story is so weird, but interesting that its like reading a book and deciding if you like the story or not. Kojima makes games around stories, not so much around gameplay.

But thats why i purchased it. It does look fun, the story look weird but interesting (going off the trailers i have seen) can't wait to play it.

[victorMaje]

Personally I don't trust either, so what I usually do when in doubt is wait for YouTube reviewers:
AngryJoe
EasyAllies
JimSterling
SkillUp

In the case of Death Stranding I meant to go in as blind as possible so my only uncertainty at this point is whether to wait for the YouTube reviews or not :)

[Ricegum]

Septic

You completely missed his point. Your reply was not really a reply.

[LoveSpuds]

Try and find reviewers who have a track record of enjoying similar games to you, that's the best thing you can do in my opinion.

For example, I generally find my tastes align really well with a lot of the Easy Allies so they are reviews I pay most attention too.

[Sevir]

What this says if that everyone has an opinion and the game hits people differently.

Kojima expected it to be polarizing. As it definitely is different from the MGS experience.

I'm definitely interested in this

[sprinterboy]

You trust none of them, by now with about 8 trailers you should know if you want to play it or not.

[Poopmist]

Some people have different tastes. Read the review and look for what you like in a game. Don't just focus on scores

[Giblet_Head]

Almost as if the people doing reviews for these companies aren't the same people playing the games every time.

[S2Killinit]

IGN is an anti-sony partisan site. Im not familiar with gamespot’s history. IGN ive learned first hand over the years.

[fiveby9]

I'll trust my past history with Kojima games. I'll definitely be playing. I don't recall the last game which a site like IGN or any 'major' game site influenced my purchase decision.

[Idree]

IGN is definitely untrustworthy...Review was like asking a CoD fanboy to review MGS4. And the reviewer complaining about slow respawns lol xD

[skiggy34]

Everyone has different tastes in games so all reviews will be different. Honestly and unfortunately you have to trust your own review. Too bad PS doesnt have Gamepass it would have been practically free and if you didnt like it, uninstall it..

[rainslacker]

None of then are consistent as none of them have any kind of editorial standard on how to review a game.

[IamTylerDurden1]

All the way up to 86 now.

[SyntheticForm]

Very.

I'm going to see what a close friend says, then make a decision based on his feedback.

[Sitdown]

@spinterboy
You ever thought that people use reviews because they care not to waste resources.

[SyntheticForm]

@sprinterboy

I've been doing that all my life. You got uppity over my cautiousness over a video game. That's odd. How does my caution affect you?

You've never asked someone if a movie was worth seeing or a book worth reading? Start growing up now.

[syphon32]

@sprinterboy 😂😂😂 what a dumb way to start the weekend....

[babadivad]

What did he say?

[rtndeep9]

@naruga

[ABizzel1]

Polarizing indeed, but it also seems like a game that would have been much better if it had another year of development under its belt.

1. Gameplay needed needed a bit more of an overhaul, with a reduced punishment from traversal (specifically inventory management walking.... as weird as that sounds), and a bit diversity and overworld combat.

2. Mission structure needs much more diversity besides being a huge fetch quest, and another year could have helped that. There also could have been more camps / factions in the overworld that were seeking different things which could have added more diversity and story elements.

3. Better traversal and fast travel system needed. Again a more balance inventory system for fun, instead of punishment, more traversal equipment / vehicles (running across a huge map is never fun, so having like fast climbing mountain gear, or faster vehicles, and power-ups like in the video where he's outrunning a truck would have been cool). And finally The umbrella should have more fast spawn points in a 2019 game, fast travel is a must.

Overall it seems like a good game / good idea, that just needed more time, and should have been a PS4 / PS5 launch title. Another year and in development to focus on these things, and I don't think we would be seeing these 3 - 6 scores, and the 8 - 10 would be much more plentiful.

[generic-user-name]

The reviews I'm seeing make it sound like a lot of the stuff you think needed another year was done intentionally. That it's supposed to feel like 'work' so that when you do come across a ladder or something left by another person that helps you out, it has a much bigger impact on you.

I haven't played yet myself of course so it remains to be seen if that tradeoff is worth it for me, it certainly wasn't for some reviewers.

[rainslacker]

That sounds like 3 of my 4 complaints about rdr2. I'm still going to play the game though.

[Muzikguy]

I can't wait to play this game in a week. I know it'll be out Friday but I'll have to wait until Monday.

[butterknuckles]

Everyone knew this was coming. Extreme backpacking simulator was bound to fail. Its gonna be the next the order. Watch as the apologists move the goal posts again on this tire fire.

[blaziliuz12]

Defo a polarising title. Gamespot gave it a 9 while IGN gave it a 6.5. Some will truly love it and some will tear it to pieces. Still can’t wait to get my hands on this game!

[J-DARKnes]

Ign gives it a low score?? Its a guarantee buy from me.

[Knushwood Butt]

Yup.

Got my copy on order and looking forward to it.

[Si-Fly]

What other 6.5/10 games from IGN have been worth buying?

[NnOric]

@Si-Fly: Alien Isolation for me.

[Chocoburger]

https://www.ign.com/article...

[stupidusername]

You must really love bad games. (Not saying that Death Stranding is bad, but games that have gotten a low score from IGN are truly crap. They usually rate games between 7-10 and the stuff below is usually horrible.

[King_Noctis]

I don’t think DS is bad (cos clearly it isn’t) but this is gonna be the same situation as Days Gone where people got their hands on the game and praise the game and lambast the reviewers for giving the game low scores.

[rainslacker]

They've also given high scores to bad games, so to me, their scores are completely useless. Sometimes the actual content of their reviews is written well, but often isnt reflected in the score

[Tedakin]

Sad to think we got this instead of the Kojima, Del Toro, Reedus Silent Hill game. Konami did this. YOU DID THIS KONAMI!

[Kribwalker]

yeah i’d much rather play that then this game, which i don’t think i’m gonna play. Maybe later i’ll give it a rental, but i don’t think i could do 45hrs of deliveries

[Bootyholetickler69]

I’ve listened to and read a few reviews now and and my worst fear (that the game is essentially a package delivery sim) turned out to be completely true, even the reviewers who are praising the game are saying that it has a repetitive gameplay loop of walking or driving to one location dropping off a delivery then rinsing and repeating but that the story is pretty good.

[djplonker]

"repetitive gameplay loop"

Meanwhile there are 15 - 20+ games out every year where the gameplay loop is goto a place and shoot some lads.

[Bootyholetickler69]

Don’t get me wrong I’m still intrigued and do plan on trying it, it’s just I wish there was more to it than just that and I’m sure you do too I feel like this game is going to be an experience rather than a game with much fun factor. Time will tell if it was money well spent.

[djplonker]

Yeah I totally understand, that was just me venting as someone who is starting to get really sick of shooters.

I am dying for something a bit different and as long as a game works the review score means very little to me, especially ign's.

[JackBNimble]

Question is , is there any replay value?
Is anyone really going to sit through this game again after beating it ?

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Shoot some lads? Is that a quote from a Zero Punctuation video? 😂

[DaDrunkenJester]

Yeah you know there is bias when even the 10/10 scores are still saying the gameplay can be repetitive and tedious. SkillUp even straight out calls it a FedEx sim and most of the time you're just walking to destinations having to tediously watch your step or you can fall... How do systems like that, where players are calling tedious... still get a 10/10? Its crazy.

[Hungryalpaca]

Because of everything in between? Isn’t shooting the same baddie 1000 times also tedious?

[Christopher]

We should ask the people who said the same thing about RDR2, BotW, and other games where they had major complaints but felt they weren't enough to ruin the experience of being a 10/10 game.

It's opinions, man. That's all. Trying to figure it out isn't possible because it changes from one second to the next.

Just feel secure in your own and be open minded to the opinion of others.

[rainslacker]

I asked the same question of rdr2, where some if the glowing reviews actually said it was boring. The reason for the higher scores was due to the effort put into the game, and the overall experience it delivered. Generally speaking of course.

While it isnt always true, sometimes a game is more than the sum of its parts. I've been harsh on BOTW, but still consider it a good game despite its flaws. I consider rdr2 a good game as well. My contention comes from those who try to hard to make them out to be the best games ever. I recall SOT also had similar criticisms of its game play loop in reviews, yet there are those that found it to be a good game

I havent played DS yet, so I cant sat where it falls, but I imagine based on the few reviews I've read, I'm going to have a lot of the same criticisms that I've had for rdr2 and BOTW

[Christopher]

By that logic, so is The Outer Worlds. It really matters what you do between points A and B to define a game, not just those points.

I'm not saying DS is a good game or even okay game, but your explanation of the gameplay isn't really true to what it is.

The Witness, for example, was a $60 at release puzzle game. It is higher rated than Death Stranding right now. But, the entirety of that game was to go around and solve puzzles of a similar nature. Does that mean it was rated poorly? No. Does that mean Death Stranding being a deliver item from Point A to Point B and ignore the survivor/puzzle elements between that deserves to be clarified just as a delivery game and not the parts inbetween?

I'm always very confused as to how people present their opinion on topics, how they chose to ignore things to solidify a hyperbolic point rather than the subtlety of what is really there.

[mkis007]

Masterclass rebuttal.

At their core games are very repetitive. 90% of Red Dead 2 is horse riding from shootout to shootout. You can fish and hunt, but these are just distractions, just as some exist in DS.

Im just hoping the exploration has enough juice.

[ANIALATOR136]

I knew the gameplay would be too much of a slog

[Limitedtimestruggle]

If the gameplay does not pan out...I know this is only one review. But I hope I se better scores than this. If it continues to float around 80/100 I might jump on board. But to be honest, what I have seen out of gameplay so far It looks...well maybe not too FUN.

But IGN being IGN again I guess lol.

[TheTony316]

it has an 84 on metacritic right now. Far from a bad game.

[Limitedtimestruggle]

Yeah I checked shortly after typing my last comment. Sounds more than promising :)

[Veneno]

84 is not bad at all but not what was being hyped up. You would have expected 95 or above.

[akurtz]

So it’s on par with Mario Kart Tour? Gotcha.

[Italiano1234567]

I knew reviews would be all over the place. I dont think its for everyone. Anyways ign japan gave it a 95 lol

[Sophisticated_Chap]

This review is pretty much what I was expecting from everything that was shown to date. This game is a pass.

[Hungryalpaca]

Nice. Go find the reviews that reinforce your bias and ignore all the others. The game as an over all very positive reception but you’ll latch on the to the nagative ones because it suits the bias you set for yourself.

How sophisticated. I have no interest in the game but I’m not going to latch onto the negatives and say “told you so”. It’s so lame.

[knight_drives]

Even the positive reviews state many negatives the game has which everyone was criticizing it from the trailers anyway. The whole game being a repetitive delivery mission, clunky gameplay inferior to MGS, easy boss fights, extremely slow. We just see positive reviews looking past these things and praising the game for it's ambition and grand scale.

"Full of repetition and lengthy chores" from a 9/10 review.

[DaDrunkenJester]

The problem I see even in the 10/10 reviews is that players still have issues with the gameplay and pacing. The tediousness of having to balance the weight and constantly watching your step or you could slip. The fact that 90% of the game IS in fact a FedEx sim... I just can't see how its being justified with a 10 when even those outlets mention these same things.

I personally find that gameplay loop to seem exhaustively annoying.

[Christopher]

@knight_drives: Okay, then why not make a similar statement on those higher scored reviews with the same criticisms? Are people attached to the criticism or the score?

[rainslacker]

It's what people do. Even if only one review was below 8, that would be the only unbiased review among hundreds.

Game seems polarizing, but the reviews seem generally pretty good. Story will probably make this game worth playing for me

[--bienio--]

Ejjjj???🤔

[Gatsu]

I cant wait to play this! Yong Yea said this surely isnt for everyone, but hope people play it to the end before giving their opinion. I guess this guy isn't familiar with Kojima's games.

[Veneno]

"This game isn't for everyone" is a nice way of saying the game is not great. You will see many reviewers use this to not upset high profile people like Kojima that they don't want to openly criticize.

It's quite a clever thing. But doesn't fool me.

[DaDrunkenJester]

Yep, when I see that as a qualifier and then see that the review continues to praise Kojima and his work no matter what... you know that is a fanboy score and are just protecting Kojima's credibility.

[Christopher]

Top mind here. He knows what others mean in only five words. It's not possible they meant exactly what they posted.

Kind of like when I say "sport and racing games aren't for me" what I really mean is "I'm locked up in my basement being held hostage by my cat."

[rainslacker]

So any game that isnt a casual game made for everyone is not a great game? I can think of many games or genres I wouldn't be into, but I wouldn't go around calling them bad games. At least no one would take me seriously if I did.

There's a difference between a game that wouldn't interest a lot of people, and a bad game.

@chris

That's what happens when you buy the cheap kitty litter

[Xnx_gaming]

People actually still "trust" IGN as a reliable source??? I never understand how an IGN review somehow holds more value than a combination of 5 other sites. IGN has not been reliable since Greg Miller, Chris Roper, Ryan Clements, and Geoff Haynes departed 10 years ago.

[Hungryalpaca]

They trust IGN when it gives a game a score they want it to have.

[SyntheticForm]

It's one person's review. Relax. This person is just a regular Joe who reviewed the game and thought it was okay, and that's OK.

I'm going to read his review, then read GameSpot's, and the latter seemed to love it.

[Artemidorus]

Money transfer didn't go through and bounced so it gets a lower score.

I personally don't see the amazement of this game but the graphics and different storyline look OK.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

For some reference, this reviewer has over 50 reviews (32 listed on OpenCritic) and has never reviewed a game above an 8.5. His average is an 72.7 and the median is 75, only recommended 40.6% of the games reviewed.

Here is his list on OpenCritic: https://opencritic.com/crit...

This is certainly his biggest review yet. Most of his other titles are sports related like Golf (four reviews) and Cricket (three reviews), games like Guitar Hero Live, Lego City Undercover, and Disney Infinity 3.0.

I don't think this is the type of game he is qualified to review for something as big as IGN.

[ElementX]

So you want a Kojima fanboy to review it? Who are you to say who is qualified?

[Sgt_Slaughter]

Just my opinion, you don't have to go that far into it, I'm just providing my opinion and the evidence as to why I think so. No, I'm a "Kojima fanboy" nor do I want someone like that to review it, I just want IGN to realize they should have a more capable reviewer who has experience with games on this scale and that's not ridiculously critical to the point where they don't enjoy any game ever.

[Christopher]

Seems like a diverse set of games he's reviewed. Seems he might be good at reviewing based on not just playing Kojima games or AAA games that typically get a lot of focus by those who tend to only review the big games.

[franwex]

Qualify to review? Get out of here. The score was lower than what you were hoping.
Every one is qualified to review the game, even if they had never reviewed a game before. As long as they can communicate the good and the bad as to what the experience was for them is sufficient while staying objective.

[FyBy]

It looks like another hit or miss game like Days Gone. With that difference, that DS got also full marks. Probably not for everyone, but for some it may be masterpiece.

[FyBy]

@Veneno But its exactly like that! Days Gone got very nonconsistent reviews and also very mediocre reviews. For me it was one of the best games of this gen. So thats the fact. Its not for everyone. Its not meant like some general bullshit, but if you play some almost mediocre game (by game critics) and you absolutely love it, you will then know what I mean with "not for everyone".

I expect the same for Death Stranding. If some game gets very high and also very mediocre reviews, its probably that type of game.

[Blu3_Berry]

Having read this full review, I can see myself possibly feeling the same way regarding the inventory management and traversing everywhere while trying to balance yourself so you don't fall over. That's something I can see myself getting annoyed with very quickly. Thankfully there seems to be an auto sorting so it may not cause too many problems. However one of the journey for the reviewer took 51 minutes? That is a bit too much when you are literally just traveling from point A to point B.

I'm getting some vibes from which RDR2 suffered; it had amazing graphics, story, writing, characters and soundtrack with the gameplay being the weak part that felt tedious and mundane at times (mainly the horse traveling). I'm getting very similar problems in that is leans too much on realism which I'm not the biggest fan of.

I'm still very much looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds though and the kind of world this is. That is what excites me the most. The world and the history of it is so unique and interesting and unlike anything else. That's my main reason for playing this game next week.

[Kostche]

51 minutes? LMAO... for delivery? what was the reward?

[Knushwood Butt]

51.

Did they have the stopwatch out?

[DaDrunkenJester]

That's some Amazon Prime same day delivery status.

[Hungryalpaca]

Why is everyone using the end goal and ignoring everything in between?

Lol halo. Blow up ring?

Lol cod. Kill Russian?

Lol forza. Drive in circles?

There’s more to it than that.

The gameplay is figuring out how to traverse the terrain to get to the destination yet you all are focusing on the destination.

[EmperorDalek]

It sounds like it has some of the best moments in gaming, but the gameplay itself could be tedious. I'm still interested in it, but I'll wait until I'm done with The Outer Worlds and Modern Warfare.

[Xnx_gaming]

Kojima AFTER Review Scores - "Kept you debating, huh?"

[JEECE]

Hm. This game is getting 9s and 10s, sub 5s, and a few in the middle. That almost makes me want to get it immediately, but I'll probably wait and see what users think about it. Which to the me of 10 years ago, not buying a Kojima game day one would have been unheard of, but here we are.

[leejohnson222]

Reviews are all subjective some won't have a word said against the broken of all games fallout it's just what ever floats your boat.
Game spot say 9/10 other say 10/10.
I say I'll try it and if I like it keep it, if I don't I'll sell it. No issue really. The game will be successful regardless of any review. I'm just happy to see new IPs rather than the same boring crap that gets churned out to the zombie gaming world every year

[Zeke68]

Edit. weird the post I was replying to was gone when I posted mine.

[gold_drake]

one should never trust IGNs scoring.

[phoenixwing]

Again ign shows they are bad at reviews. To all the people who think this score validates their negativity leading up to ds release please have a look at the overwhelmingly positive scores from other sites.

[Kostche]

sorry to break it to you this game IS dhl / postman pat delivery game, with some delivery missions being 51 mins long

[phoenixwing]

Yet its worthy of 10s from other sites. If you wanna break a game down to simple form call of duty and outer worlds are pull the trigger games. The main fact is its a good game regardless.

[generic-user-name]

You say that like you walk in a straight line for 51 mins. There's bt encounters, mule encounters, time fall and the terrain itself is almost puzzle-like in terms of figuring out how to get places or find shortcuts.

[Sm00thNinja]

Oh WOW

[TheHateTheyGive]

Not surprising to me mgs v sucked and this game looked more of the same.

[MWH]

I'm not surprised, but disappointed.

[Tankbusta40]

Game is going to be pretentious garbage that a few weird neckbeards will love

[generic-user-name]

Game is going to be a classic that a few neckbeards will call pretentious garbage.

[rainslacker]

Is that your pretentious hipster opinion?

[windblowsagain]

The game isn't for me. Some parts look interesting and the game looks stunning in places, but plodding along at a snails pace puts me off.

I'm sure it'll get a following.

[greywolf39]

Why kojima made such a big mistake and went to pc, I dont know. He was the best when he made exclusives. Money money money

[Tankbusta40]

So he can pay for all these unneeded actors/actresses because he wanted to play movie director

[ElementX]

What does PC gaming have to do with it? It's the game he wanted to make regardless of the system it's on. It wouldn't magically turn into a better game if it were a PS4 exclusive

[greywolf39]

Sony payed for game making, paid for marketing, gave him the engine. What happens next?

[MWH]

You sound like a wise little guy.

[pornflakes]

lol, fanboy... Post ur psn Account and show us that u bought this game 😂😂

[Pedantic91]

Website gives a high score for a game you were looking forward to: Great !

Website gives a low score for a game you were looking forward to: Fu** you ! unreliable piece of sh** website !

*sigh*

[SegaGamer]

That is the life of a fanboy, it's full of hypocrisy.

[rainslacker]

Yeah. That's the console war for you. But, you also see people who were predisposed to believe the game was going to get a low score cling onto the low scores as gospel, while not ever saying a word in more numerous high score reciew articles.

That's what happens, and I'd think everyone was used to it by now. Every big game, especially exclusives gets this kind of treatment

[Gordoncordon]

ok IGN, now give me that beer

[eddvdm]

I stopped caring about reviews for some time now, but sometimes they tell me something.

That's when sellout websites - and/or filled by pepega game "journalists" - all agree hating on a game. That's my call.

[Emme]

I wait for PS5, grab this for a tenner, play it three hours and delete it from my SSD.

[Father__Merrin]

seems like a love it or hate it game. im fine with titles like that

[Nerdmaster]

Since Eternity's Child (and confirmed by games like No Man's Sky and Anthem), I learned that if the developer doesn't show much of the gameplay, it's because it sucks. This mechanic of having to keep balance seems like a torture.

[Android]

Kojima has a cult following that I'd imagine would review the game in his favour. Which COULD explain the polarisation. Maybe some people are brave enough to say it how it is. The ign review had some interesting concerns some of us previously had when watching the 50min gameplay footage.

[generic-user-name]

Kojima also has a cult of doubters, eager to label him a pretentious narcissist at every opportunity. You'll even find the word 'pretentious' used in the reviews of Death Stranding by those people.

Maybe not all overwhelming majority of positive reviews this game is getting is because 'people are afraid to tell it how it is', maybe its just good.

[Android]

I hope you're right. I've pre ordered this game. By the way, upon writing my previous comment, the only review I read was igns.

[SixEye]

Not surprise, ppl hyping a full cutscreen/walking simulator game, was to be expected.

[Phantom68]

Some people seem to have an issue if games do not score 85% on metacritic.
The truth of the matter is that 84% is a good score if you need external reassurances about games.

When it comes to me I'll rather try games myself than trusting reviews, especially in those cases where you have polarizing scores (e.g. Days Gone was polarizing yet I loved it).
However, when it comes to this game, as much as I have enjoyed the MGS series I am still puzzled by it and not convinced.
Graphically it looks spectacular but I am not sure about the storyline and the game mechanics.
Maybe it is one of those games that we got to try in order to make up our mind so a demo would have been ideal.
It will be interesting to see also the user scores or how people feel once they play the game or how well it sells.

[PaleMoonDeath]

I'm loving how passionate some of the reviews are! and how reviews like this show it just didn't click with some people, kinda like Metal Gear. Day one man!

[IAreBeMrLee]

But a 6.7 for Mario Kart World Tour...
Alright then lol

[potatoseal]

They rated this game a 6.8. There is a mistake in the posting

[gamer7804]

I think we could all tell it was going to be a game that got mixed reviews, the game looked so strange to me. That said, I really liked crackdown 3, it was alot of fun imo, but it had very mixed reviews. So there is no reason some might enjoy this game as well.

[LordJamar]

This will be a decisive game just like the joker movie some will like it some will not but I think most can appreciate the artistic value and vision and story it has if nothing else.

[Elda]

A day one buy!!

[pinkyxyz]

umm this is IGN!!!!. IGN SPAIN gave it an 87/100 and IGN Italy gave it a 98/100. Meaning? theirs multiple IGN REVIEWS!!!! Calm down with the overreaction will ya?

[Master of Unlocking]

How are the scores overall? From what I've caught a glimpse of til now the IGN review is hardly representative, is it?

[TheTony316]

84 on metacritic.

[timotim]

I knew he was a Door Dash delivery person!!! I mean we all heard the jokes but that's exactly what you do! Deliver packages from point A to point B. IDK...like Door Dash, this seems more like work, less like an entertaining game.

[Ratchet75]

6.5 ???
Ign smh.

[FunAndGun]

Wow.....that carry and inventory management systems looks tedious and kill me now....Hard Pass!

[Neonridr]

meh, I'm still going to play it and judge for myself. I have no doubt this game is going to be one giant WTF is going on, but I will still give it a fair shot before I judge it.

[TrueRican]

Buy Friday don't leave them rudeing it for u.

[Neonridr]

I have the collector's edition coming, so I will definitely play it as soon as I can.

[TrueRican]

Don't hate cuz every PS4 pro own will have this with them games.

[AK91]

Uh oh that’s a high score coming from IGN now I’m worried they have horrible taste in gaming but if it’s a positive score then I’m worried.

[S2Killinit]

IGN is a partisan joke of a site.

[pornflakes]

So the 10/10 for god of war is also a joke, correct??

[S2Killinit]

Sometimes there is no way around it. Even for IGN.

Have you been posting this same comment on all my comments? Lol you have a lot of time.

[Donnie81]

Maybe I’ll try it when it’s on a deep sale

[Donnie81]

today I actually took the time to see what this game was about and I can say I’ll be buying it day one. I don’t care if ign likes it or not

[Petebloodyonion]

Will just remind ppl that MGS 5 was praised the same way with lots of perfect scores.
It was far from a perfect game.
Now I will pass judgement for when I will play the game, but IGN is usually one of the site that hands 10 left and right so ether A) they didn’t get that exclusives or paycheck.
B) they didn’t fall for the .... Its Kojima and the game is actually average.

[lodossrage]

ok let me just say this. I will be buying this game. I never use reviews to tell me whether I'll play a game or not. But there are lessons to be learned here.

1- Stop putting developers on pedestals like they're gods. I told people numerous times, outside of Metal Gear, most of Kojimas products have fell flat. Case in point, where is Snatcher these days? Where is Policenauts these days? I bet a good portion of you won't even know what those games are without Wiki and the internet to help you.. This situation sort of feels like Dyack, the way he too was idolized until "Too Human" came out of the xbox 360.

2- For the love of god people, stop hyping up things before you even play and/or see theme. People were touting this game just because they knew the name Kojima was attached to it before they saw a single picture or video. That is something that needs to stop. But who am I kidding, people never learn their lesson about that.

Again, I'm still buying the game. But unlike most, I don't need reviewers or "hype" to give me a reason or a purchase.

[Christopher]

I put Dyack up on a pedestal because of Too Human, thank you very much!

[lodossrage]

then you're in the minority. And it shows because the man has been floundering in the industry ever since.

[jeffcoleII]

There’s a whole lot of people whining about something that doesn’t matter. So they gave it a 6.8? Big deal. Buy it. Don’t buy it. Move on.

[Veneno]

It turns out the gameplay is no good like the cynics, myself included, were afraid of. That truly is a shame because this only makes the image of Kojima as a filmmaker and not a game maker worse. It solidifies it. There is no getting out of that hole now.

But on the bright side it seems the story and presentation are as amazing as was previewed. It seems reviewers overall are leaning hard into that therefore giving it a more positive score. I'm going to have to wait for a reviewer that balances game play and story and gives the proper score. Angry Joe.

[frank_a]

This guy trying to run with all that cargo and tripping everywhere just seems like he should have been reviewing Modern Warfare and not Death Stranding.

[Vithar]

seems like an honest review, the guy didn't like the mundane stuff, what's wrong with that?

[mrmikew2018]

I don’t see the problem, the game is scoring extremely well. Why are you guys just focusing one guy’s opinion?

Especially if it’s coming from IGN.....

[Germaximus]

Not surprised. Exactly what it looked like. IGN still sucks.

[REDGUM]

That sounds like a pretty honest review to me. Obviously judge it for yourselves but this did look like a fetch quest game from the start.
Its not for me but might be for you?

[2pacalypsenow]

IGN Brazil gave it a 9.0 and IGN Italy gave it a 9.8, who reviewed this for the NA IGN?

[Kumakai]

I hate being right. Btw comment I made about truly objective sites giving it 6-7s had 4 agreed and 60 disagrees. And here we are.

Kojima got too full of himself. I’d even say Konami prob kept him on the rails and that’s what caused friction

[lodossrage]

I agree and disagree at the same time.

Kojima was getting idolized like a deity. That much is indisputable. But Konami keeping him grounded like you imply is where I disagree. Kojima isn't the first deve they treated dirty. Remember Koji Igarashi? They did the same to him. The only difference is he didn't have the "god" status Kojima does so the media didn't have the uproar they did when Konami did the same to Kojima. Konami can't even keep themselves on the rails let alone their developers.

Just look at that farce they call a Contra game they just put out and the fact they only care about pachinko now. That tells the story.

[MasterCornholio]

Only truly objective in your opinion. Because in the end reviews are subjective as well.

I mean the meta is around an 85 last time I looked. So the sites that gave it around that must be objective according to you since they are close to the meta.

I said that it would land around an 8-9 on metacritic and looks like I was right.

[GamingInFrames]

This is obviously turning out to be a polarizing game, which also happens with movies. Example: 'Hereditary' horror film. Some thought it was a masterpiece, while others disliked it, and in some cases, a lot. While Death Stranding is just not my type of game, it should probably be given a try for those who are interested in it, and then pass judgement.

[ActualWhiteMan]

Kojima blinders are on industry wide. I'm playing devils advocate. I personally love Kojima and would easily give this game a 10 because of it. I dont discount the opinions of others, to each their own. IGN is usually regarded as in the pockets of all AAA publishers, so this one was definitely a surprise.

Games are like paintings. You might love it, and have utmost respect for the artist. But someone else could just see splatter on a canvas, and assume the artist is a drunk.

[DafunkyRebel]

All Kojima had to do was make an action game with good story and consistent pace. Nope he decides to experiment and do something stupid, what he doesn’t realize is that the rest of us aren’t geniuses we don’t appreciate the thought we just wanna play the game so he should’ve made it like metal gear and be done with it. That’s what his fans wanted and have always asked for. That’s why I fear the outcome when I saw gameplay

[P_Bomb]

I could see the encumbrance becoming an issue. Hated the inventory micromanagement in Witcher 2 and this looks like it doubles down on it. Not only affecting space and speed (therefore time) but balance, which can result in damage to the delivery and potentially failing to meet score criteria (which may or may not be tied to some completion %).

[Orionsangel]

I've read and watched several poor reviews of this game now. Most call it redundant in the game play. While having a chaotic story line that makes no sense. Some are also saying that the game is over produced.

[brando008]

ACG, gameranx, and Easy Allies are better reviewers to trust imo

[theeldergod]

i wasnt expected to defend ign but this is more accurate review than 9/10 scored ones..

[contra157]

Let the gamers who have played it speak!

[DrDeath]

The gameplay looks so boring. Th story looks Interesting and probably extremely convoluted

I was crazy for saying it wasn't going to be a masterpiece lol

[Tross]

IGN...why am I not surprised? At least you kept your score above the troll range, so I’ll give you credit for that.

[pornflakes]

Were u also surprised with 10/10 for god of war?

[skiggy34]

Ouch!!

[Deceiver_Of_The_Gods]

Why do kids today need ultra fast paced games? Just immense your selves in these gorgeus games that are being released. If it has a good story and good gameplay, why the hell should it be fast?

[Christopher]

Why the focus on kids? Adults like fast-paced games as well.

[Cmoney007]

I agree with other people that this game will bring interesting conversations. These games won’t be for everybody, but I think many people will enjoy it. I’m glad to always see another game that makes a player think about situations.

[Deceiver_Of_The_Gods]

Since IGN is such a big site, I'm sure that Konami had nothing to do with this review, especially knowing their past as a company and with Kojima.

[TechnoGoat]

Every other branch of IGN disagrees with This lol... oh well, that's why you should never trust reviews and play games for yourself.

[FadedWolf13]

IGN: 6.8
" too many packages and it's not Nintendo"

[SCW1982]

Not enough pew pew bang bang explosions for IGN.

[execution17]

Weren't they mocking the game for a while and probably dead set on giving the game a low score

[savedsynner]

This is what happens when the eccentric genius has no boundaries. That said, Kojima has produced 4 of my favorite games of all time(MGS 1, 3, 4, 5) so his track record was very good. It feels like he really wants to direct movies but no one will fund him, but people will fund his games so he turns those into movies. The difference was we care about Snake/Big Boss and the gameplay was good for its time(not amazing, but good enough) where the story carried you thru. This game looks like everything that was tedious about motherbase management in MGS5 was turned up to 11. I look forward to Kojima's next game. Hopefully someone keeps telling him "This is a game first".

[NeoGamer232]

I just laugh at these types of reviews.

Sure the game might not be the reviewer's favourite, but this is a AAA game. It deserves way better than 6.8.

[Christopher]

Wut? AAA deserve higher for being AAA? What type of billionaire elitist logic is this?

[CaptainCook]

"Fanboy logic"

[SaveFerris]

Death Stranding sounds like a game version of an arthouse movie. Kojima may not be a movie director, but he is making a 'movie-like' video game.

[Passerotto]

ahahahah Ign, really?

[jwillj2k4]

Wow, said it all along. It’s just a walking simulator. Nothing wrong with that if you enjoy them. Don’t waste your money if you don’t.

[aftershock]

Jesus this looks awful in my opinion. This does not look fun in the slightest, which idk is the point of playing video games?

[Wotbot]

Great idea and concept but boring missions from this video review, I was hoping for more tbh.

[Specter229]

Lmao so many flagged comments.

[MetalGearAlex]

Youre an idiot ign.

[franwex]

Oh dang!

I’ll play for myself- I am glad it’s not getting the free pass that I expected from a Kojima, or Sony 1st party exclusive.

[mixelon]

Read description of gameplay loops and general theme.

Does this appeal to you?
If so, you will like the game.
If that doesn’t appeal, you will not like the game.

It’s NMS all over again with a bunch of people saying it’s great and a different bunch saying it’s lacking. It can be both those things to different people depending on what you’re looking for.

If you wanted an epic story experience but Kojima (for example) wanted to deliver it in the form of a fishing game, then some people would hate it. Wouldn’t objectively make it a worse game - just a different one.

Same deal but with delivering parcels. That’s.. an interesting angle! I’d take weird concepts that don’t land for everyone over generic please-everyone game designs, at least this is interesting.

[rainslacker]

Your first few sentences are why reviews need to discuss what the criticisms are.

A score is a brief summary of the authors own rating of the game, which really should be based on objective criteria which they rate on their subjective view.

But, ti's the content of the review itself which really matters. When one reads a review, it's easy to tell a good review from a bad one. A good review says what they don't like, then often cites examples to illustrate the point. They then extrapolate that in a way that makes it meaningful to the reviewer, at which point, the reader can use it to relate to themselves, and decide if what the reviewer found lacking, is something they are worried about.

A bad review will be all over the place and use a lot of generalities, or just state something is bad with no explanation. In some cases they'll go off on tangents to soap box their opinions of other games, devs, or some other political nonsense.

So, say for instance, the reviewer doesn't like the lack of fast travel and he feels that brings the game experience down. Well, the reader can read that and say they aren't opposed to lack of fast travel, so that critique isn't relevant to them, and instead look at the other criticisms, as well as what the author felt is good about the game.

By taking all those points, the reader should then be able to decide if the game is something they'd enjoy or not.

The score is just there as a quick capture to give an idea about how the tone of the review will be. The scores nowadays have no weight to them and are all over the place when it comes to how meaningful they are due to lack of any kind of editorial standard, so it's not really worth looking at it from an individual point of view. Taken together, on something like Metacritic, then yeah, it can generally give a good idea of how most games would rate. It's not infallable there, but usually I find they come pretty close for how I'd rate a game.

[mixelon]

I don’t like using review aggregation sites and sometimes my tastes are in tune with singular, odd viewpoints. Also don’t like their affect on the industry and the pressure it puts on some devs.

I guess the really subjective part is how entertaining the product is to the reviewer. If they legitimately hate playing something I can see it making sense to give a low score. Conversely something that is seemingly objectively “bad” technically but is actually really compelling and enjoyable could get a high score from a few reviewers, because we’re here for enjoyment not technical box ticking. I like to think of horror/genre movies in particular where there’s a whole scene of great but kind of bad from a certain point of view material.

I wish people would accept reviewers differing opinions of games in the same way they largely do of films and music. Imagining a film rated like some people want games reviewed is hilarious. “Well the costumes are 7/10 and cinematography is 6/10..” etc. There’s a place for that, obviously but not mainstream reviews imo.

I’m kind of anti 10-100 score. A good summary, a 5 star scale maaaaybe.. But more complex numbers seem really arbitrary and you end up with people comparing things that can’t be compared as they’re totally different. 5* gives a simple scale for “excels in its goals, incredible”, “great” “fine if you’re into it/middling” “flawed/not recommended” “freaking terrible/broken.” Which is what I want to hear.

[LucidIllusion]

This game may not be for the dumb.

[franwex]

Or maybe they are the only ones that will like it

[LucidIllusion]

Thank you for participating in my study.

[2ndhandcorn]

Everyone seems happy.

[cell989]

This is why I only trust you tube gamer reviews. Non of this “journalists” are ever legit. They’re too clinched in deep pockets.

[Wontime1]

That, is not whatsup......

Edit, I can't write my original thought bc it's getting a spam trigger. Weird

[pornflakes]

IGN God of War 10/10 - fanboys: wow a Perfect Score from IGN means a must buy! Goty confirmed!!!

IGN Death Stranding 6.8 - fanboys: well its IGN, pro Nintendo. Dont trust them!

U guys are ridiculous just like Kojima 😂

[gleepot]

this is the right score

[nismo370]

... for a nintendo fanboy like you.
Enjoy your low spec console for babies.

[amiside]

Boo... These kind of reviewers didn't like games like Shenmue, which was gener defining at the time of its release and a lot of games including GTA followed its footsteps...