Every since it's first teaser revealed a naked

Norman Reedus holding a sweet, sweet baby at 2016's E3

"Death Stranding" has easily been one of

the most anticipated titles in modern gaming.

And as more and more bizarre trailers drop,

featuring the forever handsome Mads Mikkelson

along with director Guillermo Del Toro

as well as some truly strange and baffling imagery

hype has only continued to grow to a fever pitch.

Especially when you add to all of this

the very public divorce between the game's creator

Hideo Kojima and video game publisher Konami in 2015.

"Death Stranding" would be the chance to see

this gaming auteur completely off the leash

without any corporate oversight

and let him dive into the gooey deep end

of all the contemplative, off the wall weirdness

that he's known for in a game packed

with Triple-A talent across the board.

So with the game hitting store shelves next week,

reviews are finally hitting the web

and there's one big question on gamers' minds.

Does "Death Stranding" live up to all the hype?

And the answer is maybe.

I mean, honestly while yes the reviews are in

they are all over the place.

Kind of like Norman Reedus in this game.

They literally range from brilliant masterpiece

to bloated convoluted mess.

So to save you some trouble,

we're breaking down the good, the bad

and the what the entire hell did I just play of all of it.

Now first off for those of you not in the know,

"Death Stranding" takes place after a global cataclysm

pretty much destroys everything.

And you take on the role of Sam Porter Bridges.

A delivery man who travels between settlements

trying to rebuild the United States of America,

or as they call it in the game,

the United Cities of America.

Make America America again.

Whatever.

Simple enough on the surface but obviously

there is so much more than that lying beneath.

For instance, the worlds of the living and the dead

have collided in a spooky and decidedly sticky way.

That's not ectoplasm.

It's your own poop in a grenade.

You have an unborn purgatory baby strapped

to your chest that lets you sense enemies

and ghosts like some sort of GPS.

And speaking of ghosts, well guess what?

If you're asking yourself,

"Hey can I use my own piss and

to make weapons to attack these ghosts?"

You're in luck.

If that's what you consider luck.

Now overall, none of the reviews seem to fall

into the camp of 100% good or 100% bad.

Opinions seem to be as layered

and complex as the game itself.

Which seems to be universal across the reviews though

is that this game is definitely crafted down

to the most minute of details.

There is nothing in the game that's left to chance

and everyone seems to agree at how powerful

and introspective taking these lonely treks

across this beautiful, haunting landscape can be.

Heather Alexandra at Kotaku loved the game

and started her review with

"Every inch of 'Death Stranding' teems

with meaning or implication.

Even the stupidest and most pretentious developments

build to create a multi-layered game,

one with numerous potential points of attack to analyze."

Now many of the reviews also praise the scope of the story.

Gamespot put it this way:

"'Death Stranding' is unrelenting in

its earnestness and optimism.

Certainly not without its critiques of America,

nor without its challenges and setbacks,

but inherently hopeful nonetheless.

It's a dense, complex, slow game

with a plot that really goes places,

but at its core, it never stops being about the sheer power

and purpose we can find in human connection,

and that is its most remarkable achievement."

The A.V. Club Sam Barsanti said,

"'Death Stranding' is a game that demands

to be argued over and analyzed for years.

It starts rough, and then gets better and better

as it goes along, culminating in an ending

that's both hugely important to its universe,

and also very small and personal to Sam."

In general the game's most glowing reviews

seem to make the argument that this is a game

to really sit down and contemplate,

to take thoughtful and measured actions in,

rather than being some sort of run and gun experience

like you might have in another Triple-A game.

However not all of the reviews

were full of happiness and handholding.

There were quite a few online critics

that voiced their frustrations with the game.

Tristan Ogilvie over at IGN gave the game

a 6.8 out of 10 writing:

"It's also a cross-country crawl

that frequently finds itself mired

in an exhausting amount of inventory management,

backtracking, one-note mission design

and unprecedentedly arduous travel."

Adding "If 'Death Stranding' sounds

like a series of glorified fetch quests,

it's because that's exactly what it is."

One of the most common criticisms was the game's ending.

Polygon's Russ Frushtick had this to say about it:

"The final 10 hours of 'Death Stranding' are a slog,

just like the first 10 hours,

as my leash is tugged from emotional monologue

to ridiculous boss fight to emotional monologue.

While a few of these narrative threads

make sense and land with some gravitas,

others sound like the ramblings

of someone on speed who thinks

they've figured out how the universe works."

No you just don't get it man.

Now Kyle Orland with Ars Technica

dug even deeper on this criticism.

"There's a strong sense the writers

are making this up as they go,

forming a patchwork quilt

of scientific-sounding magic that holds together

only if you don't look at it too closely.

Even in the run-up to the game's conclusion,

characters are still introducing

entirely new theoretical concepts

that seem to come completely out of nowhere."

He then goes on to say,

"Without spoiling anything,

I'll note that 'Death Stranding's ending

is more or less a two hour cut scene

that tries to explain how the preceding 30 plus hours

are actually supposed to fit together.

Yet I still came away scratching my head

about what the hell happened."

However one thing all of these reviews can agree on

is that it's definitely a weird game.

Which is to say, it's a Hideo Kojima game.

That's his promise.

Or as the Kotaku review points out:

"'Death Stranding' is also about throwing grenades

made from your own piss and at ghosts."

Your move Ivan Reitman.

(laughs)

As to whether it's worth the hype,

well ultimately the answer seems to depend

on your opinion of Kojima and his games.

If a detailed, meditative, philosophy 101 course

with spooky, supernatural creatures

and a ton of Norman Reedus is your thing.

Then you're gonna love it.

The A.V. Club's review puts it like this:

"It's hard to say if it's fun,

and it's hard to say if it's a good game,

but it is undeniably interesting

in a way that not enough games try to be.

If you buy in to what it's trying to do.

If you allow it to make that connection.

'Death Stranding' will stick with you,

one way or another."

So what about the Nerdist of it all?

Well I had the chance to play the game for a few hours.

My review is forthcoming.

But here are my impressions thus far.

I kind of agree with people.

It's extremely weird.

It's extremely Hideo Kojima.

And it can be extremely arduous.

Some of the mechanics like having

to balance your character and just carry

so many packages around can feel a little like,

"Is this how I wanna spend my free time?

Really?

Do I really wanna make him chug Monster energy drink

after hiking miles and miles

and then just eating like weird ghost beetles

to replenish my blood?"

The answer is, yeah I do.

Even when I find myself frustrated,

I kinda wanna keep playing.

It has that delightful blend

of signature Hideo Kojima weirdness

and thoughtful gameplay design

that have all the makings of a great game.

But whether or not I want to proceed

with the remaining 70 plus hours, which is--

It's a long game.

I dunno, remains to be seen.

But tell me, what do you folks think?

Is "Death Stranding" a day one purchase for you?

What project would you like to see from Kojima next?

And seriously, did you ever think

that you'd play a game where you can fight ghosts

with your own piss grenades?

Because...

If you did...

You got some problems.

Anyway let's discuss.

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