Well where to begin with this review. It took me a bit longer than usual to sit down and complete this game. Having originally owned it since it came out in 2019, and put it down around chapter 5. This time though I made sure to just stick with it and I’m so glad I did. I haven’t enjoyed a game as much as this since Ghost of Tsushima back in July 2020. Initially it does come off as a UPS simulator game but it’s so much more than that. Especially as the game progresses and the story opens up. With BB – The baby in the Jar. All the side character’s back stories, and the terrorist/Mules that are out to hinder your progress.
For the seventh generation consoles it easily boasts some of the best graphics it has to offer, and being upped to the PS5 it looks even better. The world is highly detailed and even so on the graphically rendered characters who are predominantly based on really people. Sam Porter Bridges is played be Norman Reedus, Fragile by Lea Seydoux, Cliff by Mads Mikkelsen to name a few. With the biggest change coming from the dual sense additions, with all the haptic feedback coming through, so every step on all the different types of terrain you’ll traverse all individually feel unique. What adds to this is the speaker on the controller as well, from the crunching of the snow, or the sound of running water in the streams you can cross.
The game takes place in a sort of post apocalyptic style world. The world is riddled with voidouts where a giant BT appears and basically nukes an area killing everyone on site. You as Sam have the task of crossing the country linking everywhere up via the chiral network to rebuild the nation of America. Without going into too much detail and ruining the story for those who have yet to play it, BT’s are Beached things and are creatures that come from the Beaches that everyone get’s when they die which opened up with the first death stranding. Which bought along with it the timefall, which is a rain storm that ages everything it touches. So Sam as a porter is tasked in delivering parcels to those that need it whilst reconnecting the broken world.
The second area and the main base of the game initially seems huge due to all the walking, but as you head up to the mountains you get into a snowy setting complete with snow storms. With the gorgeous landscapes with the mountains in the distance, they’ll you will eventually have to tackle and the finer details of ruined highways and desolate buildings in a rusted grassland.The game online functionality means that any thing other players have built will pop up in your world which once connected everywhere up to the chiral network become available to you, making your life easier. Which is great as with the timefall degenerates everything it touches, including the cargo you carry on your back.
All the upgrades and unlocks in this game are designed to help you and make your life easier. Everything works off likes, any building/centre that can be connected to the chiral network awards likes on deliveries they recieve, with them having a max of a 5 star connections with Sam, as they increase it unlocks new blueprints which could be better boots, new weapons, vehicles or even exo-skeleton type legs which make you run faster. Or even interviews, new music. And as you go on about your day you get mail which along with the interviews fills in more details of the world. The best thing to build and invest early on as soon as you can at chapter three though is roads. With certain terrains being a nightmare to drive over having a near direct route to use can be nothing short of a life saver. This goes along with timefall shelters as naturally there isn’t many areas to get out of the rain and it does constantly get worse as the game progresses. The only thing worse than the rain is the snow which is worse in every way.
In an odd sense this is one of the only games I’ve played that comes off peaceful as you play. This is due mainly to the excellent music score and in game music player thats available to you. Which is strange as at any time the BT’s could drag you into a tar pit and make you fight a catcher with is basically a giant tar/liquid Squid or lion like creature. Not to mention the mule areas which are basically weaponized theives after your cargo, and they will mercilessly track you down if you ping in their territory.
In terms of story it doesn’t start to get too spicy until chapter 9, this is the point where everything you’ve done and unlocked starts to all interlink and make sense. As BB (the bridge baby you have which is a baby in a jar which is connected to the beach so they can allow you to see the BT’s which are otherwise invisible to you.) gives you intermittent flashbacks which all tie into the main story of it all which is rescuing Amelie (Sam’s sort of step sister) at Edge Knot city the furthest away Bridge station in America. The main story is highlighted by the Mo-capped and acted performances for most of the main characters, which in my opinion is what really carries the flow of the game as it is a rich story driven experience, and at times can plod along a tad, as it isn’t the most action filled game in existence, this doesn’t mean it lacks action though. This is exemplified by chapter 3 which is by far the longest chapter and the game doesn’t really get going until you’ve completed the final delivery for that chapter. Even still you can still get into shootouts, boss fights and the war sections are super impressive, and the stealth mechanics to try and avoid the BT’s all add for a varied game across the board.
Ultimately this game was designed to make everything you do help later on in game. As on the chiral network to aid in your deliveries as everything is connected to the same grid, everyhting is battery powered. So for easier traversal you can make; bridges, genertors to charge up on the go, timefall shelters, pop up safe houses,ziplines and even parcel catapults. These all stay where they’ve been built but can corrode over time so resources will have to be used to fix them again. You can even leave little signs up which affect you as well, from likes, restoring stamina even a boost when driving. But the most helpful would be the little warnings to show your in BT territory or it’s a place of heavy timefall.
I would write up about the negatives but from how much I enjoyed my play through I hardly found any massive ones to mention. Theres a few small iffy things, shooting isn’t as crisp as it could be, driving can be a bit off especially in the trucks and occasionally some tedious deliveries. But I found the story so engrossing that it didn’t bother me enough to stop wanting to play. With the ever expanding improvements on all your equipment and new equipment you could build, the game never stumbled or got harder as such just smoother.
Honestly I’d certify this game nothing short of a 10/10, real fuckin’ Tasty.
This game in my opinion is just shy of a masterpiece of gaming up there with the likes of the Witcher 3 and God of War 2018, it’s visually impressive with a rich interesting story which could’ve only come from Hideo Kojima. A really unique and fun game to play and get accustomed to all of the interesting mechanics, which over time only add to the overall experince. It’s also fairly hard to write a review on this game without spoiling any of the story as everything is so interwoven that culminates perfectly in the last two chapters that any small detail could give too much away. I can’t recommend this game enough though if you haven’t played it yet.
P.S – I forgot to record any game play for pics as I was too busy playing it, so if you Google it I’m sure you’ll be able to see a lot of what I was on about.
Sony Playstation 5 24th September 2021.
TastyRetroGaming 