Death Stranding 2 Review — Kojima at the Peak of His Powers

Score: 9/10

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach launched on PS5 in June 2025 and arrives on PC March 19, 2026. After spending months with it, here's our full take.

The Setup

Eleven months after the events of the first game, the United Cities of America is connected. BRIDGES is defunct, replaced by an automated delivery system called APAS that uses unmanned bots — putting human porters out of work. Sam lives in seclusion with Lou until Fragile, now running a private company called Drawbridge, recruits him for one more mission: extend the chiral network to Mexico.

Then transcontinental portals called "plate gates" start manifesting, linking Mexico to Australia, and everything gets much stranger.

Two Open Worlds

The biggest structural change from the first game is having two distinct open worlds. Mexico features arctic mountains, marshy jungles, and massive deserts. Australia is overrun with "ghost mechs" and bandits in a more hostile, combat-heavy environment.

Both worlds are fully explorable and interconnected through the plate gate system. The contrast between them keeps the game feeling fresh across its runtime — just when you've mastered Mexico's terrain challenges, Australia throws completely different threats at you.

The Route Simulator

The new Route Simulator is the smartest addition to the gameplay loop. Before accepting a delivery, you can preview expected obstacles — terrain hazards, BT presence, environmental threats. It turns every delivery into a puzzle: do you take the safe route that's twice as long, or risk the short path through BT territory?

This might sound like it removes challenge, but it does the opposite. Knowing what's ahead makes your choices more deliberate. And the game loves subverting your plans with real-time terrain changes — floods, forest fires, and earthquakes can alter routes during active deliveries and destroy player-built structures.

Combat Actually Works Now

The first Death Stranding's combat was functional at best. DS2's combat is genuinely good. It's faster, more fluid, and includes vehicle-based shooting sequences that feel like they belong in a different (also good) game.

New weapons like the Electric Rod — usable in melee or thrown to electrocute enemies and disable vehicles — and BT holographic grenades that project BT holograms to make human enemies panic, add creative tactical options. You're still a porter first, but when fights happen, they're satisfying.

The Cast

The performances are extraordinary. Norman Reedus has never been better as Sam — quieter, more weathered, carrying the weight of being needed again after thinking he was done. Lea Seydoux's Fragile has genuine presence and authority. Elle Fanning as Tomorrow brings something unpredictable to every scene.

The director cameos — George Miller, Guillermo del Toro, Nicolas Winding Refn — are Kojima being Kojima, and honestly, they work. This is a game that knows exactly what it is.

The Soundtrack

Low Roar, Caroline Polachek, CHVRCHES, Gen Hoshino — the licensed soundtrack is phenomenal. Ludvig Forssell's original score matches and sometimes exceeds his work on the first game. The music integration during gameplay moments remains one of Kojima Productions' greatest strengths.

What Doesn't Work

The game assumes familiarity with the first Death Stranding. Newcomers will be lost during early story beats. The increased accessibility and Route Simulator can also make some plot developments more predictable — when you can see threats coming, narrative surprises lose some impact.

Some deliveries in the mid-game drag, particularly in Mexico's desert regions where the terrain is flat and uneventful. And the game's length — easily 40-50 hours for the main story — means those slow stretches feel longer than they should.

The Verdict

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is the best game Kojima Productions has ever made. It takes everything that worked about the original — the meditative traversal, the asynchronous online community, the emotional weight — and pairs it with genuinely improved combat, a brilliant Route Simulator, and two worlds worth exploring.

The 90 on Metacritic is earned. If you bounced off the first game, DS2 might still not be for you — it's still a strand game at heart. But if you connected with what Kojima was trying to do, this is the version that fully delivers on that vision.

9/10 — A masterwork of intentional game design that rewards patience and connection.