San Diego Comic-Con just wrapped up a few days ago, and while it’s a place for movies, tv shows, and comics … it’s also a place for video games. One of the most anticipated PS4 exclusives is Death Stranding, and it had a bit of a presence at the annual convention with game director Hideo Kojima, film director Nicolas Winding Refn, and The Game Awards’ Geoff Keighley on Saturday evening. The trio showed-off brand new footage for the game to the crowd.
Refn talked about the process of bringing his character to the game. “I make movies and when I work with actors, it’s flamboyant and colorful and warm, and then I come here and it’s like, ‘Take your clothes off. We’re going to paint your face with dots.’”
One of the surprising moments to come from the panel was when Kojima contacted Nicolas about setting up a meeting with Mads Mikkelsen to discuss the role of Cliff and see if he would be interested in playing the character. Nicolas surprisingly suggested that he should contact Keanu Reeves about the character, but ultimately Kojima wanted to go with Mads.
The footage that was shared gave us a bit of info on Nicolas Winding Refn’s character, Heartman, who lives in a 21-minute loop. The character dies every 21 minutes and remains dead for three minutes … during which he looks for his family on the other side. Kojima didn’t dive into too much detail on the character, but when you think about how often Heartman dies, that’s 60 times a day! As to what the character does, he is apparently hooked up to an AED (auto external defibrillator) which takes care of reviving him. While the character waits, he watches movies and listens to music. Not much info there but it’s a cool bit of insight to see how that aspect ties into the overall narrative of the game.
Last but not least, Hideo Kojima showcased the box art for the standard version of the game as well as the deluxe edition’s steel book (which you can see below). I know the “Only On PlayStation” logo is missing from the standard edition, but the game is available in the “Only On PlayStation” section of PlayStation Store … so it will probably be added afterward before the November 8th release. Perhaps there’s an unannounced PC version in the works, but I’m just speculating on that.
As the days go by from here on out, I suspect that we will be seeing a little more news on Death Stranding as the game gets ready to “go gold” — but I could be wrong since this game is still a mystery to so many people online. The trailers have confused, baffled, and even dumbfounded viewers as to what the game actually is, even with the tidbits of story that have been revealed in the release date trailer. Only time will tell if I am right. Either way, I know I will be getting Death Stranding on the day of its release! For those who are a PlayStation 4 owner, what about you?
Stay tuned here at GamingLyfe for more news!
