Whether we like it or not, Death Stranding is a tremendously bold game. We recognized her as one of the best of 2019 and critic Kallie Plagge spoke of her qualities in last year’s full review. But why talk about the game in 2020? On the one hand, she’s quite, uh, timely with her theme of being an essential worker during a catastrophic event leading to quarantine nationwide. It’s also one of the few PS4 exclusives to get a suitable PC port. I’ve been playing the PC version before July 14 release day and I’m here to report that so far in the first few hours, it’s still an excellent game enhanced by the fact that it looks and works much better than on PS4 Pro , if you have the correct PC specifications.
For those who live under a rock (and not to avoid Timefall), here is the recap: Death Stranding is the latest from Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima. You are a delivery boy played by actor Norman Reedus in the midst of a deadly paranormal phenomenon called the grounding of death that forces the surviving population to seek refuge in underground bunkers. While the game has a fair amount of stealth and third-person action, it is also literally a walk and hike simulator where balancing your load and touring difficult terrain are central elements. Everything is wrapped in a very cinematic and somewhat strange story about the human connection.
I know, messing around with the occasional action sequence may not sound appealing, but trust me and my friends when we said last year that it’s an awesome experience, if you have the time and patience. Its broader message of human connection manifests itself in the asynchronous multiplayer component in which the actions of others, such as placing stairs, bridges, and highways, will affect their own game world. They are all helping each other make their deliveries, stay alive on a hostile surface, and sip their Monster energy drinks found in strange places to continue. Although you never see your fellow players, liking them for their work and getting some in return is encouraging.
Death Stranding can be quite a stressful experience, especially when you encounter the deadly and ghostly BTs who often occupy hostile areas on the way to your target, or encounter rebellious MULE bandits. But at the same time, Death Stranding is incredibly therapeutic. You have plenty of time to reflect on your actions and the story beats as you immerse yourself in the beautiful views and mountain ranges on your way to finish delivery orders while a relaxing Low Roar song plays.
Since Death Stranding is a largely visually captivating experience, this is where the PC version specifically shines: Enhanced images and much higher frame rates further elevate those impressive moments. The PS4 version was by no means a slack when it came to stunning images – the cut scenes starring character models and finely detailed environments are a testament to that. But when you run native resolutions with better quality anti-aliasing and textures and effects, the natural world you explore in Death Stranding is even more amazing.
The enhanced experience is, of course, subject to the specifications of your own PC and performance will vary. I’m running a high-end build using an Intel Core i7-7700K, 16GB of RAM, a Samsung 970 Pro NVMe SSD, and the Nvidia RTX 2080 video card. I have all the settings to the max, using a resolution of 2560×1080 (21: 9 ultra wide), and with Nvidia’s exclusive RTX DLSS 2.0 antialiasing enabled.
Please note that anisotropic filtering is not a native menu option and will have to be forced manually through the Nvidia (or AMD equivalent) control panel. This is important because Death Stranding features long stretches of ground and anisotropic filtering does the job of cleaning up the image quality of surfaces in the distance.
I can maintain over 100 FPS during deliveries in the open world of the first main area, regardless of weather effects. The initial load time after boot seems a bit longer compared to other recent PC games, especially considering I’m running a high-end NVMe SSD, but each loading screen that follows passes quickly. It’s a general improvement over what I remember from the PS4 version.
I won’t say that frame rate is critical to your success or overall enjoyment, but it certainly reinforces the Death Stranding experience. The game works like a dream with smooth, silky performance, which is jarring (in a good way) considering how many hours I spent on the PS4 version. This makes the action sequences more manageable and the walks across vast plains more enjoyable, and so far I have had no noticeable decrease in frame rate.
(If you’re not running a high-end setup, you can check the recommended official spec sheet to get an idea of which setups to run and the expected performance.)
Death Stranding looks great and works well, and can even beat that of the PS4 Pro, given that it has the right PC hardware. Often it goes without saying, but this is good news: The broader conclusion here is that the quality of Death Stranding’s PC port can speak to how Sony exclusives can get another lease on life on a new platform for a different audience. Death Stranding uses the Decima engine from Guerilla Games, the same engine and developer from Horizon Zero Dawn, which will also have a PC port launch this summer. So I think it’s fair to expect Horizon to be of this caliber as well.
To reiterate, I am still in the early days of Death Stranding for PC. I will continue to play to ensure its performance stability and visual consistency while also seeing the cross-content from Half-Life and PC Exclusive Portal shake off. The game is officially released on July 14 through the Steam and Epic Games Store.
