Director's edited version of "Death Stranded" Review: From this moment on, delivery becomes happier

Before playing the director's edited version of "Death Stranded" (hereinafter referred to as "DSDC"), I could only learn a little about the added content of this new version from a few trailers. Looking at a brand new storyline shot appearing in a trailer, I originally thought that DSDC could bring several hours of new main and side storylines, as well as a brand new large-scale map, just like the Director of the Horse.

The fact proves that I have completely overthought.

In fact, looking at the price, it can also be understood that players with PS4 "Death Stranded" can get the PS5 "DSDC Luxury Edition" for only $10, while players with PS4 "Soul of the Horse" need to pay $30 to upgrade to the PS5 "Soul of the Horse Director Editing Edition". In terms of the required amount alone, the difference in the scale of new content between the two is normal.

In August, Hideo Kojima expressed his thoughts on the term "director cut version". He said that the term "director cut version" was not his original intention, because there was not any content that was edited out in the game, but additional newly produced content was added. After the release of Death Stranded, the development team carefully studied user behavior data and survey questionnaires, and made improvements to them in order to allow more people to freely distribute and adventure in the game.

That's right, DSDC is based on the original content that is already sufficiently enriched, with a design that allows players to easily and comfortably deliver goods, and an additional plot. For those players who are new to Death Strand, DSDC is definitely the most suitable complete version for direct immersion.

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*This review is a media pre evaluation based on PS5 version (version number 1.001.000). Due to confidentiality agreement requirements, there is no discussion on the core plot. The director's edited version of Dead Stranded is provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment, and the descriptions and viewpoints included in the review only represent the subjective opinions of the reviewers. The actual game experience varies from person to person.

**This article only evaluates the relevant content of the guided cutting version. If you want to learn more about the gameplay system in the original version, you can read "Death Stranding" review: A Humanistic Express Simulator

More convenient delivery

If you want to know what new equipment and buildings have been added to DSDC, just watch a few official trailers. Excluding the previously exclusive PC owned equipment for Cyberpunk 2077 and Half Life, DSDC has added three new buildings -; Cargo catapults, Karol bridges, and jump platforms; Three new equipment - support skeleton, magneto electric shock gun, and companion robot; And a stabilizer that can be installed on the backpack.

If you were like me, if you were to directly import the PS4 version's clearance save into DSDC, you might be at a loss when entering the game: suddenly returning to a world where the plot has ended and you can freely explore (deliver), I spent some time to reorganize the game's more complicated system. Because the progress was inherited, the vast majority of the facilities I had built were successfully preserved, including the high-altitude sliding rope that required a lot of effort and time. Therefore, I used the sliding rope track and the highway to deliver several shipments.

Playing and playing, I realized that the situation was not quite right - I didn't use the newly added things. For the current situation, these new equipment and buildings have limited potential, and the Karol network bandwidth on the map has reached its limit, just enough to accommodate the sliding ropes that cover the entire map. The newly added design of "suspension machine can be hung on a slide" allows me to cross the map with the goods from two suspension machines on a slide when transporting large quantities of goods, greatly reducing repetitive work. I don't need to worry about climbing the snow capped mountains step by step to find spiritual practitioners, or going down the waterfall to the Time Rain Farm.

So I set a condition for myself: no need to use sliding ropes to deliver goods, and I dismantled several sliding ropes that passed through the robot experts from the mountainous node city and finally connected to the weather station. In DSDC, a section of highway has been added for players to build, spanning snow capped mountains from the mountainous node city to the distribution center south of the lakeside node city. Due to the limited number of online users during the early evaluation period, the material supply for the highway is not very high, and most of them have to provide it themselves. Therefore, I will use this section of road as a task to test new equipment and buildings.

Friends who have played "Death Stranded" should know that the snowy mountain environment crossing from the mountainous node city to the east is extremely dangerous. After crossing the mountain top, the road down is steep and very difficult to walk. Without the support of advanced skeletons, it is difficult to successfully transport a large amount of heavy materials to the paving machine.

At this point, the benefits of a cargo catapult are reflected. It allows players to load a certain amount of cargo into it, select a rough range on the map, and shoot it out. By using a parachute to reduce landing damage, the material can be bombarded to the destination range, avoiding damage to the cargo due to rain (snow) or the presence of BT.

Companion robots are also extremely useful auxiliary equipment. They place the materials needed to build highways on top of them. They can follow Sam on mountain and water journeys, or have Sam carry goods and sit on the robot's back, allowing it to carry them. The robot will automatically avoid areas with BT or Mile people, and we just need to enjoy the scenery. Companion robots can also help players transport the goods needed for orders. By selecting the robot icon on the map, it can automatically bring the goods to the private cabinet at the destination. Players can also complete the delivery when passing by. As long as there are no time limits or evaluation requirements, companion robots can help players complete the delivery of multiple orders at the same time. They will also automatically deliver orders nearby, greatly reducing the burden.

When I jumped down from a snowy mountain and wanted to quickly reach the paver at the foot of the mountain, the stabilizer of my backpack worked wonders - it could consume electricity to spray buffering gas, allowing Sam to land at a steady speed without getting hurt. Even the dangerous operation of jumping over a waterfall could be easily completed, making it a great medicine for traveling and delivering goods to avoid combat.

When the new highway in the mountainous area is built, you will find that there is no longer a need to drive a large circle from the northern highway to reach the distribution center south of the lakeside node city. The new mountain road along the snowy mountains saves a lot of effort. Thanks to the subtle adjustments made to the driving feel in DSDC, the steering has become slightly smoother, and some air walls have been added on both sides of the road to prevent players from accidentally falling out while driving.

The other newly added equipment and buildings also have their own uses for martial arts. In addition to allowing Sam to take off and pose on a motorcycle, the platform can also jump over cliffs and reach the other side without a bridge; The Kailuo'er Bridge is a building that allows players to easily cross small rivers and uneven rocky terrain. Although it spans a limited length, it occupies a low bandwidth and does not require as many bridges as the terrain, with obvious advantages.

The support skeleton is equivalent to an improved version of the combination of strength skeleton and acceleration skeleton. After equipping, goods can be placed at the waist (not allowed by strength skeleton), which can carry heavier goods and run faster. It is very practical.

To be honest, the best way to experience these new equipment and buildings is to start playing from scratch. New buildings and companion robots can be unlocked by mid game, at which point most people may only be preparing to lay highways and sliding towers. With their help, the delivery life from scratch will become more convenient and comfortable.

A little plot completion

The additional plot of DSDC can be divided into three main categories: Cyberpunk 2077 linked missions, Half Life linked missions, and exclusive additional missions for DSDC.

The collaborative tasks of Cyberpunk 2077 and Half Life were originally exclusive to the PC version, but this time they have been added as new content to DSDC, which is equivalent to allowing PS5 players to fully experience all the content of Death Strand. For PS4 original players like me who have never played the PC version, it is quite generous. These two linked contents will take about two to three hours to add up, but the relevant plot is only presented in the email text without adding any cutscenes.

The most important content still needs to be the additional tasks of DSDC. Sam will arrive at the new area of the "abandoned factory" in the eastern region, with the internal structure consistent with what was shown in the trailer at the time. A group of terrorists and Mils are entrenched in the ruins, and the enemy distribution and scene atmosphere make players involuntarily want to choose to infiltrate.

As an aid to infiltration, the additional mission provides the magneto electric shock gun, a weapon that can fire electric current to corona enemies. Due to the time required for the enemy to be electrocuted, and the fact that they are still standing and being electrocuted, the scene is often filled with half waist high tables and test benches. The enemy is still patrolling around, and as soon as they turn around, they can see the unlucky guy convulsing from being electrocuted... Therefore, it is better to use this weapon to infiltrate than to quickly tie people from behind with a rope.

When a group of terrorists appeared in the trailer playing in a scene with abandoned mother's coffins, I could feel that the game was really trying to make me sneak in, and even the music had a bit of the flavor of "Dragon Spy". But in terms of the inconvenient squatting, moving, and attacking methods of "Death Stranded", as well as the wonderful enemy's field of vision exploration, it is almost impossible to infiltrate. The enemy's Aurodke detector can be detected immediately when Sam approaches from behind, and the enemy's distribution density is not as comfortable as in small island infiltrating games like Phantom Pain. In small scenes, there are nearly ten enemies lurking around, patrolling and moving while taking care of each other's views. The mission also requires players to eliminate all enemies. Rather than trying to sneak and kill enemy soldiers under such harsh conditions, it is better to directly take out guns and fight.

As for the plot, I originally thought I would explore the origin of Jingmu and BB when watching the trailer. In fact, the additional task was just a two minute monologue and a few written interviews, which added some connections between some of the main characters in the game and solved my small doubts about a certain main plot. The main characters, including Sam, did not even have new lines.

This is not difficult to understand. According to Xiaodao's plan, the story of "Death Stranded" is already very complete and self consistent. Even if this new plot is not added, it will not have much impact. This may be because Xiaodao added it based on feedback from players after the original version was released.

Give you the motivation to repeatedly challenge yourself

In addition to new equipment, new missions, and new storylines, the new elements of DSDC that have appeared multiple times in the trailer include racing and shooting ranges.

Racing is a process of creating an area on the south side of Time Rain Farm, where players can supplement materials and build a race track. Two tracks were designed using a fork in the middle of the field, and then two more tracks were created in reverse. Motorcycles, trucks, and newly added sports cars can all run, forming a total of 12 races.

These 12 games are all pure time trials, and the best player record in each game will appear as a ghost car, without any interference from other players, just running laps. The basic operation of motorcycles and trucks remains unchanged, and there is no need to try again. After fine-tuning the feel, driving on both the track and on the road is more comfortable.

As a newly added vehicle, sports cars not only have a retro and eye-catching design, but also have a driving feel that leans towards traditional racing games. They perform quite well in tailgating on the track and are faster than motorcycles. After receiving full S reviews for 4 sports car races, you can unlock the manufacturing drawings of two sports cars. It's really cool to drive a stylish sports car to deliver goods.

Due to the addition of drift function as a vehicle, it is not difficult to get a full race S rating. Basically, each race only requires one to two attempts to obtain the highest rating, and the replayability is not too high.

The shooting range has a lot of rich content, and after obtaining new weapons, corresponding training can be unlocked, totaling nearly 30. The design of the training map also took some effort, as if returning to the irresistible VR challenge of Dragon Quest 2.

In addition to the basic elimination of all enemies, all training levels have additional reward conditions, such as saving ammunition, perfect stealth, and intact goods. Only by meeting these rewards can one obtain an S rating. In the later stages, there were several levels that required perfect stealth, and the enemy soldiers were densely distributed. I tried many times but couldn't find the optimal solution for stealth; To save bullets, you need to frequently use one bullet to eliminate multiple enemies, so if you want to get a full S rating for these dozens of tasks, be prepared to spend a lot of time repeatedly challenging them.

As a means of extending game time, DSDC's racing and shooting ranges have added online ranking elements. The system provides corresponding challenge tasks for players to try every week, and personal best data will be transmitted online for comparison with other players. Although it is not possible to compete with others, it is still a way to increase the player's motivation to repeatedly challenge.

PS5 is indeed the best experience platform

From the added content, DSDC is the most complete version, and it's not a problem to call it the ultimate or full version. In addition to these contents, the game's adaptation to PS5 is also full of sincerity. The game offers two options: performance first and image quality first. I originally thought that performance first would ensure 60 frames of operation, but I didn't expect that image quality first could also run at a stable 60 frames most of the time. Therefore, I recommend choosing image quality first to play directly.

It goes without saying that fast loading takes about 10 seconds from clicking on game icons to entering actual operations, and Vladimir's fast teleportation only takes two to three seconds. However, due to the large number of script animations in the game (such as the tedious small animations when entering a private suite), the basic time required for each teleportation is still a bit long.

In terms of the controller, rotating left and right vibrations during running is already a standard feature of the PS5. DSDC also achieves fine-tuning of the controller's vibration in different terrains, allowing for the sensation of the impact and resistance of water flow on the legs when wading. The most obvious thing is that when climbing snow capped mountains, every step into the snow can feel the subtle feedback of "creaking" from the vibration - if you have walked out on a snowstorm day, you will definitely understand this feeling.

Although there are not many places where shooting is used in the game, adaptive trigger adaptation is still done. Weapons such as howitzers and rocket launchers will make players feel the resistance in the middle of R2, and they need to exert a little force to pull them down; Assault rifles and pistols can continuously rebound R2 during continuous firing; The longer the Paula grabs the power, the more obvious the rebound vibration of R2.

What surprised me the most (and was even more shocking) was the game's adaptation of the vibration and adaptive trigger for the small element of "urination": when the pant chain is opened, the handle will have corresponding vibration feedback from top to bottom → the more urine reserves, the more powerful R2 rebound will be when urinating out → longer urination time, less urine volume, and gradually weaker rebound → after urination, pull up the pant chain, and the handle will vibrate from bottom to top.

Undoubtedly a true gaming enthusiast, Hideo Kojima, was greatly shocked...

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For friends who have already played PS4 or PC versions, the new experience that DSDC can bring may not be much, after all, not everyone can go through the process again to slowly experience the new mechanisms and delivery changes brought by new props. If you simply want to see the brand new story revealed in the trailer, I estimate most people will be disappointed, it is indeed very short.

However, the $10 required for an upgrade is not a significant amount of money. From this perspective, DSDC is also considered to be of good quality and reasonable price. After all, most PS4 players probably have not played the combination of Cyberpunk 2077 and Half Life, and can also receive a set of trophies as a bonus.

If you are a PS5 player who has never played the PS4/PC version, let's get started with DSDC! Don't hesitate, this is the most perfect version you can experience.