In a move no one was expecting, Kojima Productions has abruptly dropped Death Stranding: Director’s Cut on Xbox Series X/S to mark the idiosyncratic sci-fi game’s fifth anniversary.
Players can grab the expanded edition of the game right now on the Microsoft Store for just £17.49 (half the usual price) for a limited time.
For the unfamiliar, Death Stranding is a visually stunning RPG about a courier trying to restore connectivity to a post-apocalyptic America.
With a backpack loaded with tech, players set about rebuilding a communications system for isolated communities, with just a baby in a jar for company, while dodging spectral beings and sheltering from corrosive rain.
Yes, it’s as unhinged as it sounds – but what else would you expect from the splendidly twisted mind of Hideo Kojima, a true video game auteur who also gave the world Metal Gear Solid?
There’s a lot of walking, but you’ll probably be too busy gawking at the stunning scenery to complain. With its stark rolling hills, you would be forgiven for thinking you’re in Iceland instead of the USA.
Death Stranding’s aesthetic can best be described as future Gorpcore, full of high-tech, utilitarian outerwear and an intricate cargo-management system.
The Director’s Cut, meanwhile, adds a dose of mayhem to the game. You can launch your cargo over long distances, create jump ramps for vehicles and test them out on a race track. When you’re not trying out your new bikes, you can complete several new story missions centred around The Factory, a new location unlocked in the second chapter.
Alongside Xbox, the game is also available on Amazon Luna, the game-streaming service that launched in the UK last year. As a result, the game is now available to play on a bunch of platforms, following its release on iOS and Mac in January.
With Kojima hard at work on the sequel, Death Stranding 2, which is expected in 2025, now’s the perfect time to experience the mind-bending original.
Then again, who knows if the follow-up will ever make it to Xbox. While Microsoft is selectively expanding its games to PlayStation, Sony has been a lot more guarded with its exclusives.
