Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Review- A Techno-Artistic Powerhouse

Back in 2019, when Kojima Productions released Death Stranding on the PlayStation 4, it became the most polarizing title Hideo Kojima had ever worked on. While some of the masses just labelled it ‘a Fed-Ex delivery walking simulator’, there were many, like me, who dove into its world and experienced one of the most unique games ever made. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, more people connected with it as its isolated world closely resembled our world, where everyone remained in isolation for almost 2 years. After 6 years, with the release of Death Stranding 2, the team at Kojima Productions has gone even beyond, presenting an uncompromised and original vision of Hideo himself, the likes of which we have not seen since 2004’s MGS3: Snake Eater.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is an action-adventure game by Hideo Kojima, continuing the story of Sam Porter Bridges in a post-apocalyptic world. Set in Mexico and Australia, it explores and enhances the same themes of connection, survival, and rebuilding society as its predecessor. It was released on 26th June 2025, as a PlayStation 5 timed exclusive.

Absolute Cinema

Death Stranding 2 begins 11 months after Sam and Lou’s journey across America, connecting cities and expanding the UCA’s Chiral network. The game opens with surreal environmental imagery, cutting to Sam holding his baby, Lou, on a mountain cliff in Mexico. As the music builds, Woodkid’s “Minus Sixty-One” starts playing, and Sam slowly stands. The choir enhances the score as Sam kisses Lou on the forehead, secures her to his chest, and begins walking along the precarious cliff ridges, where one wrong step means certain death. Its stunning art direction and cinematics make it one of the most memorable openings in gaming history.

When Sam reaches his Shelter, he encounters Fragile, the former head of Fragile Express and now a member of a new private organization called Drawbridge. Sam is tasked with expanding the Chiral Network beyond America, reaching Mexico and Australia. This is accomplished through a plate gate that links Mexico to Australia. The DHV Magellan, a submarine capable of navigating through tar and Beaches, serves as Sam’s hideout, where he also meets key members of Drawbridge.

This game boasts one of the most unique narratives with exceptional art direction, reminiscent of Remedy’s Alan Wake 2. The campaign features a stellar cast, including Norman Reedus, Lea Seydoux, Elle Fanning, Troy Baker, and George Miller (as Tarman). The characters Sam, Fragile, Tomorrow, Rainy, Tarman, and Dollman are brought to life brilliantly, supported by a top-notch screenplay and cinematography, arguably the best of this generation. Troy Baker’s return as Higgs is particularly outstanding, delivering a critical and exceptional performance during the game’s most intense moments.

Something Akin to a Phantom Pain

In any typical video game, the emphasis is put upon the objective of reaching a destination. Death Stranding changed that, emphasizing the journey itself that is the path. But finding and fabricating vehicles remains locked for a large portion of the game, making it somewhat slow and frustrating in its early hours. Death Stranding 2 fixes that and improves it in every aspect possible.

Vehicles are much easier to find this time and can often be collected from the online garage at key destinations. The Path is also filled with way more action, thanks to the abundance of enemy brigands and BTs, the beached things derived from the world of the dead, who never passed on to their beach. The stealth combat is much deeper and bears the fluidity of the combat system featured in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

The terrain of Australia is way more suited for combat compared to the Icelandic landscapes of Death Stranding’s America. Canyons, deserts, snowy mountains, rocky volcanic terrains, and tropical rainforests, pretty much every type of environment is present within the game, featuring a dynamic weather system featuring calamities like ‘gate quakes’, bushfires, thunderstorms, and more. Rainy, one of your allies, can predict these climate changes thanks to her rain-like abilities.

To make things more convenient, structures like monorails and roads greatly make travel less troublesome. I spent much of my playthrough collecting materials for restoring these structures. As it relies on the contribution model, other players will contribute materials to these structures for building, upgrading, and maintaining them. Players can issue supply requests to get the required materials or collect them from a nearby facility.

While the shift toward more action-heavy segments reduces the moments of solitude found in the first game, it makes the overall experience far more engaging and dynamic. The numerous easter eggs, references, and soundtracks are a curated showcase of Kojima’s visionary brilliance. Much like Naked Snake’s missing arm, Metal Gear feels like Kojima’s severed limb—a phantom pain that resonates deeply, especially through this entry’s abundant reflections, notably in the boss fights, which can now be entirely skipped if they become too daunting.

Decima – the Ultimate Princess Beach

Death Stranding 2 delivers a remarkable leap in visual fidelity, reminiscent of the impact Uncharted 4 had on the PlayStation 4. Even without ray tracing, the game achieves photorealistic visuals in many scenes, making it a true next-gen experience on the PS5 that fans have been anticipating for the past four years. It boasts lightning-fast load times and runs smoothly at 60 fps, maintaining a sharp and stable 1440p resolution in performance mode.

A lot of credit goes to Decima, Sony’s in-house game engine developed by Guerrilla Games, the creators of Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West. No UE5 title matches the visual quality of this game, even when running on the base PS5 in performance mode. Alan Wake 2 comes close as a technical marvel, but its console ports had to compromise on visuals to perform well. Death Stranding 2 achieves the same level of stunning visuals without any compromises in performance, much like Forbidden West did when it debuted on the PS5.

The best parts of Death Stranding 2 aren’t just its stunning visuals, engaging gameplay loop, or impressive cinematics. It’s the small details, the over-the-top weirdness reminiscent of Like A Dragon games, and the surprise celebrity cameos, personally selected by Kojima himself, with each meticulously scanned from head to the bottom of their feet. There are so many of them that it would probably take months to uncover them all.

Real Talk

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is a true masterpiece, showcasing uncompromising art direction and stunning cinematics. It takes everything from the first game and elevates it, making the original feel like just a tech demo. With breathtaking visuals and an incredible soundtrack, it stands out as the definitive next-gen experience we’ve been eagerly anticipating for the PlayStation 5.

FINAL SCORE: 100/100