What surprised me most about the Death Stranding novels, though, was how little of the actual game made it into the narrative. Its overarching story is still pretty out-there stuff, of course, but the vocab list made me feel much better equipped going in than I ever did playing the game.ĭeath Stranding is by no means a perfect game, of course, and so it's probably no surprise that the books share many of the same flaws. It definitely would have helped clear up a lot of the early confusion Death Stranding suffers from in its opening hours, and would have probably made those early, jargon-packed cutscenes a lot more palatable. The game has glossaries and what not hidden away in its various codex pages, sure, but having the key bits of info presented up front like this is something more games should start doing, I think. This explains exactly what everyone's deal is, as well as what the phrase Death Stranding actually means - which, I'm not gonna lie, took me several hours to figure out when I was playing the game. I like that each book starts with a little cast list and vocabulary section, a bit like a play. After his adopted sister Amelie goes missing, Sam must walk the length of America to save her, reconnecting the world's last remaining cities as he goes so he can "make the world whole again" and bring the last remnants of humanity back together.
DEATH STRANDING BACKGROUNDS SERIES
Only BBs (or Bridge Babies) can sense these deadly beings, making them valuable tools for porters like Sam who still operate topside while the rest of humanity hunkers down in a series of disparate, isolated bunkers. The titular Death Stranding event has made the world above an increasingly dangerous place, bringing with it invisible ghosts called BTs (or Beached Things) causing huge, cataclysmic explosions when they come into contact with the living. Death Stranding follows the footsteps of a courier named Sam Porter Bridges, who's tasked with rebuilding a kind of country-wide quasi-internet structure known as the Chiral Network, after a series of apocalyptic events have forced the remaining pockets of civilisation underground. In case you're unfamiliar with the game's story or never made it past its exposition-heavy opening, here's a very quick synopsis. Sam was never one for doing much reading on the road.
DEATH STRANDING BACKGROUNDS PC
If nothing else, both volumes are fascinating companion pieces to the PC version of Death Stranding, and if you enjoyed the game as much as I did then you'll probably get a kick out of how it's been turned into a book. They do, however, tease out some of the game's subtler themes and metaphors that might have got lost in its rather galaxy-brain storyline, and they also dive much deeper into the thoughts and feelings of the game's supporting cast members. As such, the books won't hold any surprises for those of you who have already played the game, and I doubt they'll convert many who haven't.
Dialogue from the game's cutscenes is lifted pretty much word for word, and it also borrows the same character-led chapter structure. Written by Hitori Nojima (the pen name of Kenji Yano, who was one of the co-writers on Death Stranding the game along with Hideo Kojima) and translated by Carley Radford, Death Stranding: The Official Novelisation Volumes 1 and 2 follow the game's plot almost to a tee. Available from: Forbidden Planet, Waterstones, Bookshop, Hive, Amazon UK, Amazon US.Release date: Out now (UK), February 23rd (US).
Death Stranding: The Official Novelisation specs Two whole books of it, and lemme tell ya, it's a real kettle of fish.
When I heard Titan Books were publishing an official novelisation of the game, I just had to check it out. It's a game I have a deep affection for, despite its bonkers plot about nuclear-explosion ghosts, ageing rainfall, and otherworldly jar babies - because why not, goddamnit? - and one that's firmly lodged itself into my brain ever since I saw the final (final final) credits roll at the end of last year. I spent many a happy hour delivering parcels across the post-apocalyptic hills and mountains of the United States of Icelandic America, and several more chronicling the road trip adventures of the game's main characters in my ten-part BB Boys photo diary. Death Stranding was one of my favourite PC games of last year.
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