Latest news with #DeathStranding2
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Was Death Stranding 2 reworked because playtesters liked it too much? Composer Woodkid speaks out
Yoann 'Woodkid' Lemonine is a French composer who's worn many hats throughout his career. From being a CGI artist in video games to directing the music videos for Taylor Swift's Back To December and Katy Perry's Teenage Dream, the man already had a meaty Resume before being hired by Kojima Productions to work on the upcoming Death Stranding 2. When interviewed by the Rolling Stone magazine, Woodkid was promoting the soundtrack he'd produced for the game, titled Woodkid for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. He then proceeded to reveal many eye-catching details about the game's production, notably how director Hideo Kojima actually reworked the game because playtesters were too uniform in their praise. Kojima wanted the game to be more divisive When asked whether he had any insights to share about Death Stranding 2's development, Woodkid revealed that Kojima believed the uniform approval playtesters gave in their feedback was a problem. As Woodkid put it, Kojima had said: 'I'm going to be very honest, we have been testing the game with players and the results are too good. They like it too much. That means something is wrong; we have to change something.' According to Woodkid, Kojima was very concerned about the finished game having too much mainstream appeal. Worried that these positive reactions were actually indicators of an underlying blandness to the narrative, Kojima actively worked to make the game more polarizing in response. He believed that if players grew to appreciate the story over a prolonged period instead of immediately liking what they saw, the game would end up far more impactful. Woodkid considers Death Stranding 2 a balancing act Woodkid has called Death Stranding 2 both mainstream and radical at the same time, and he believes that is a tricky balance to achieve. As Woodkid put it, artists frequently compromise their creative vision to appeal to the masses, but Kojima's an exception. Woodkid admired his singular dedication to his creative vision, but he also considered Kojima to be receptive to feedback, and considered his collaboration with the game director to be a 'dialogue' rather than a one-sided relationship where he just did as he was told. Hideo Kojima has often worn his Hollywood influences on his sleeve, but Woodkid ended his interview by claiming that just like the Metal Gear franchise, Death Stranding would also prove to be massively impactful, both in gaming and in Hollywood.
Digital Trends
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
Death Stranding 2 preload guide: release date, file size, and more
We're on the cusp of seeing what Hideo Kojima has in store for us in Death Stranding 2. The trailers so far promise a grander and even more unpredictable experience with one-of-a-kind characters and gameplay like nothing else. Like any good porter, you need to make sure you're fully prepared before heading out on this trek. We're not talking about balancing your weight or putting on fresh shoes, but preloading the game so you can set out as soon as the game unlocks. Death Stranding 2 looks like it will have some of the best graphics on PS5, which means it is a chunky file to download. Here's all the preload information you need, including the release date, file size, and more. Death Stranding 2 release date Death Stranding 2 will come out on June 26, but those who preorder the Digital Deluxe or Collector's Edition can start two days early on June 24. I'll give you details on all the preorder options at the end if you haven't placed your order yet. Recommended Videos Death Stranding 2 file size A game as big and visually impressive as Death Stranding 2 is going to take up a good bit of hard drive space. According to PlayStation Game Size, which accurately reports game sizes prior to launch, Death Stranding 2 will take up 91.476 GB. If you don't have any expanded storage on your PS5, this could be more than you have available if you keep a handful of games downloaded. If you need to make room, now's the time. Death Stranding 2 preload options As of June 17, anyone who preordered Death Stranding 2 can start the preload process. It doesn't matter which edition of the game you have, so long as you preorder at all. Those who preordered an edition with early access don't get early preload times. Death Stranding 2 preorder details If you don't have your copy of Death Stranding 2 preordered yet and want to have preload access or play the game two days early, there's still time to preorder via the PlayStation Store. There are three versions you can pick from, ranging from the base $70 version all the way up to a $230 Collector's Edition. Here's a full breakdown of each addition. Digital Standard Edition – $70 Death Stranding 2 base game Quokka Hologram Battle Skeleton: Silver (LV1, LV2, LV3) Boost Skeleton: Silver (LV1, LV2, LV3) Bokka Skeleton: Silver (LV1, LV2, LV3) Digital Deluxe Edition – $80 Everything in the Standard Edition 48-hour Early Access to the game In-game items: Machine Gun (MP Bullets) LV1 early unlock Battle Skeleton: Gold (LV1, LV2, LV3) Boost Skeleton: Gold (LV1, LV2, LV3) Bokka Skeleton: Gold (LV1, LV2, LV3) Quokka Patch Chiral Feline Patch Why Me? Patch Collector's Edition – $230 (Physical only) Everything from the previous editions 15″ Magellan Man statue Art cards 3″ Dollman figurine Machine gun (MP bullets) early unlock Collector's Box Letter from Hideo Kojima
Metro
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
The six strangest games Hideo Kojima made before Death Stranding 2
Death Stranding 2 is out soon but Hideo Kojima's gameography is full of weird games, from Penguin Adventure to a stock market simulator. It would be reductive to describe Hideo Kojima's video games simply as weird, but it's the obvious place to start. He's very much aware of how they come across, and plays up to the commentary about them, to the point where he was worried the upcoming Death Stranding 2 wasn't divisive enough. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, the sequel to the original 2019 hit, promises to be another bizarre experience, with a stop-motion animated puppet as part of its main cast, a villain wielding an electric guitar as a weapon, and a very blatant stand-in for Solid Snake from the Metal Gear games. With the sequel's launch right around the corner, we wanted to look back through Kojima's gameography and highlight the ones that stand out as the weirdest of the lot. This one deserves recognition not so much for its content but for the fact that it was designed to be played outside. That's because this 2003 action role-player for the Game Boy Advance had a light sensor built into its cartridge, with certain mechanics requiring you to make use of real sunlight, since the gameplay was all about fighting vampires. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. It's certainly a novel idea, although anyone who owned a Game Boy Advance knows it's next to impossible to see what's on-screen when out in the sun. Also, it just flat out didn't work most of the time in the gloomy UK. Nevertheless, the game did well enough to justify three sequels, although the last one for the DS removed the light sensor. The first Metal Gear Ac!d game was already weird for being so far removed from the main series, as it merged stealth action with a turn-based collectible card game, while also setting up its own continuity. We have to give the point to its follow-up, though, since it's not even technically a sequel and is itself set in another separate continuity. If that's not quite nutty enough for you the PSP version came with a cardboard box called the *Solid Eye*, that you can look through to get a stereoscopic image. While he didn't direct this one, and instead served as producer, Kojima's influences are still all over this game, particularly in regards to its overly complex narrative. It was quite good, but unfortunately it's not available on any modern formats and the only other version was a Java ME port for non-smartphones. Penguin Adventure is only weird in retrospect, since it's Kojima's professional debut in the games industry and is so unlike anything else he's made since, being a platformer for MSX home computers, where you play as a cartoon penguin. A deeper dive unveils some humorously child unfriendly details, like one of the weapons being an actual gun and one of its multiple endings seeing the princess you're meant to save die. Despite its status as Kojima's first game, though, he downplayed his involvement in a 2014 social media post, saying he only worked on it for a short while and didn't contribute much beyond ideas for some of the boss fights and gimmicks. Even so, a penguin with a gun is still pretty weird. What makes Snatcher so strange is that there was truly little else like it when it came out. It's technically an adventure/visual novel, but Kojima's love of film meant it had a far more cinematic flair than its contemporaries. The influences it takes from sci-fi films like Blade Runner, Terminator, and Akira are laughably obvious, but this was many players' first real exposure to cyberpunk stories. Although it was a commercial flop, it's long since been vindicated as a cult classic. Perhaps the weirdest thing about it is that there's no modern re-release, although there was a radio play prequel that Kojima made with Suda51 and is, predictably, Japanese only. Although he didn't direct Zone Of The Enders or its sequel, Kojima is credited as the series' creator and certainly had a lot of influence over it, with a 2003 interview translated and archived by schmuplations stating he was responsible for its world and backstory. He also appeared to have enough creative control to be the one to scrap plans for a Zone Of The Enders 3, after the less than stellar HD collection botched remasters of the first two games. That's a shame as Zone Of The Enders is a fun giant robot sim, although its mechs are much zippier than you'd expect. More Trending Incredibly niche outside of dedicated fan circles, and growing obscurer by the day, Zone Of The Enders' story is perhaps even more impenetrable than Metal Gear's, with all the cut scenes and characters it throws at you; although the sequel wasn't quite so bad. Even some diehard Kojima fans may not have heard of this one and we wouldn't blame you, since it only ever released in Japan on the DS. You're not missing out, though, since this is no stealth action adventure but instead a stock market simulator. While Nintendo was busy with its blue sky strategy, of expanding gaming beyond the normal core audience, Kojima's response to games like Brain Training was what translates as Stock Transaction Trainer. It was a serious simulator, using real Tokyo Stock Exchange data, and successful enough to spawn two sequels. None of them were ever localised for the West though, probably because so much would need to be changed beyond just the dialogue. Or maybe Konami's US division just thought it was too weird. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima explains why he'll never retire MORE: Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear spiritual successor won't be out this decade MORE: Hideo Kojima put a secret stash of game ideas on a USB stick for when he dies
Geek Tyrant
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
New Trailer for DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH - "The Story So Far" — GeekTyrant
Kojima Productions has dropped another trailer for Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding 2: On The Beach . This is 'The Story So Far' trailer, and it's a little over six minutes long. It offers more insight into the story and show off some more stunning visuals. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach sees the return of Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Guillermo del Toro, and they are joined by newcomers Elle Fanning, George Miller, Fatih Akin, Luca Marinelli, and Shioli Kutsuna. This is an open-world action-adventure walking simulation 'Strand' game and players will 'become reacquainted with the story of 2019's original Death Stranding, as Sam Porter Bridges embarks on his journey to reconnect the isolated Cities of America to form the United Cities of America by traversing to and connecting all of them to the Chiral Network.' The logline reads: 'Eleven months after the birth of the UCA servers line the beach. Deliveries have been automated. A Plate gate connects the continents. A new ship ride the tar currents. Currents the shake the Earth. A mysterious faction spreads. Chiralium warps the environment. The unending sixth extinction. A final journey with the dead.' There's no doubt that this is going to be another great, hard, and unique gaming experience for fans. The game is set to be released on June 26, 2025 on PlayStation 5.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘007 First Light' Ditches Franchise Lore for a Whole New James Bond
There's a great moment in 2012's Skyfall where Daniel Craig's superspy, James Bond, is being (very sensually) interrogated by agent-turned-villain Silva (Javier Bardem). Asked what his hobby is, Bond sternly replies, 'Resurrection.' It's a dry, self-aware bit of dialogue that encapsulates the core strength of the Bond franchise that's kept the spy series going for over 70 years: James Bond always comes back, in one form or another. Whether it's being dragged out of retirement or bouncing back from a bout of amnesia in author Ian Fleming's original serial novels, or the generational reboots that allowed Bond to be acceptably recast over 25 feature films, there's always a way for 007 to start anew. In gaming, the same has been true, with multiple versions of Bond appearing across different eras and genres of titles, totaling over two dozen entries. More from Rolling Stone Woodkid Says Hideo Kojima Changed 'Death Stranding 2' Because It Wasn't 'Polarizing' 10 Years of 'Critical Role': 'We Are Never Going Away' With the Release of the Switch 2, the Original Nintendo Switch Is Marked Down Online And just like the films, Bond games have had their peaks and valleys. At their best (like 1997's Goldeneye), Bond games can perfectly embody spy fantasy action; at their worst (like 2008's 007: Quantum of Solace), they end up as run-of-the-mill copycats of other popular games wearing a 007 mask. And while most developers have opted to lean into the star power of the on-screen actors to recreate their Bond or mostly hide behind a first-person perspective to dodge the issue entirely, few studios have taken the leap to fully make their own version of the iconic agent. That's what gives IO Interactive's upcoming 007 First Light (due out in 2026) such alluring potential. Initially announced back in 2020 under the working title Project 007, First Light was fully revealed this year with a trailer during Sony's State of Play on June 4. Developed by Danish studio IO Interactive — famous for the Hitman series — it's a third person, narratively driven action game that doesn't just go back to the origins of Bond but fully creates its own version of the character and his mythos, unbound to any existing written or cinematic canon. Following a younger Bond who has yet to obtain his 00 status, First Light treads new ground for the franchise, going even farther back than the opening scene of 2006's Casino Royale where Craig's iteration earned his call sign. With a new M, Q, and entirely original supporting cast, the Hitman devs are taking a bold swing, introducing the world to the first fresh take on Bond in gaming since 2012's 007 Legends — and well before Amazon's own cinematic reboot emerges. Rolling Stone recently spoke with IO Interactive's CEO, Hakan Abrak, to understand how the studio is working to create their own vision of Bond, how it compares to their previous work on the stealth series Hitman, and why it can't all just be 'bang bang, vroom.' Those who know the work of IO Interactive are well aware of their reputation the premiere developers in stealth gameplay. The Hitman series, which began 25 years ago with Hitman: Codename 47 and continues presently with the standalone trilogy-turned-live service platform Himan: World of Assassination, is essentially the ultimate sneaking simulator. Taking on the role of the shadowy, silent assassin Agent 47, players are tasked with killing specific targets using everything from elaborate disguises to manipulating their environment like a Rube Golberg machine to create cascading emergent incidents that execute their victims in true Final Destination fashion. But while the Hitman games have closed ecosystems for each level where players are essentially solving a socially-driven murder puzzle, the world of Bond demands something very different — more theatrical and over-the-top in terms of its action and emotions. To do so, the team at IO needed to set some important ground rules and methods to follow. 'When we were thinking about how to approach this, we tried to create some pillars to be our North Star,' Abrak says. 'One of the pillars was high-octane action — you know, cinematic experience, kinetic combat, exotic vehicles.' 'There are certain things that are very strong [points] for the Hitman experience: the simulator, the open world, the freedom, right? But not vehicles, and not necessarily action,' Abrak explains. 'So, one of the pillars was [that] we really need to push more freeform, dynamic hand-to-hand combat. Seamless, going into ranged combat, aware of your environments. Everything is a weapon and opportunity. Creativity and dynamism [are] a part of this. Obviously, upping our capabilities with the cinematics and [what] we call the spectacle moments, because there's larger than life action pieces in Bond — to be able to depict that sweaty palm experience as well.' For Abrak, the second pillar was a more familiar one: globetrotting. Agent 47 may have done dirty work, but each level of a Hitman game affords a look inside a high-stakes and luxurious world. Whether it's walking the runway in a Parisian fashion show or slipping through the crowd at an F1 race in Miami, the titular Hitman is always blending into high society, but rarely ever engaging with it. But Bond? He's always going to be the center of attention, for better or worse. 'It's [coming] to the exotic places, these extreme VIP places where mere mortals like you and me maybe don't get to [go] every day and have gameplay there,' he says. 'I think this is what we do differently from many other studios. It's not only about the bang bang and the vroom, but it's also about having gameplay in social spaces and trespassing spaces where you can use your gadgets in a different way, and you can use your charm, use your wits in solving these puzzles — or solving people, really.' Delineating Bond, and differentiating him from their previous protagonist, is important. The team's final pillar of design was understanding how to approach the 'daunting' task of creating their own version of a character known around the world. 'I don't think there's a formula for it,' Abrak says. 'I don't think the movie people had a formula for it, right? It's feeling in your guts and your heart on what is the story you want to tell, [and] who is he?' When it comes to Bond, everyone has their favorite version. For some, it's Sean Connery's roguish and smarmy charmer; for others, it's Roger Moore's campy huckster. Like many who prefer a more grounded take, Abrak is partial to Daniel Craig's more recent era ('I personally think [it] was extremely strong'). But while the character itself can be malleable, there's many preconceptions on the core elements that define him. Regardless of the interpretation, he's a man of contradictions: charming but ruthless, practical yet reckless. As seen in Craig's movies, some of the polish comes with age, but the core tenets remain — and will be present in 007 First Light. 'This Bond is not a super polished diamond. He's not well-versed with his [tuxedos]; definitely not well-versed with the martinis yet,' Abrak says. 'He's a rough diamond. And it's this young man with his inner ethos. It's a young man that sometimes is maybe reckless, and it's a young man that maybe doesn't know yet when to push too much or when to stand back a bit. So, he's learning these things the hard way being introduced to the shady, dark world of espionage.' And when Abrak refers to Bond as a 'young man,' he isn't exaggerating. While Fleming's early works place Bond at being somewhere between his late twenties and early thirties, First Light's version is 26, but looks downright baby-faced. Although, as many diehard readers will notice, he also adorns the large facial scar Bond has in the novels that was mostly omitted from his MGM movie outings. Yet despite his age, the developers don't want their Bond to feel juvenile or amateur. If they're going to do justice to the character — as well as live up to power fantasy previously provided by Hitman — this 007 needs to have impact. 'I think it's a huge challenge to [be] courageous, to take on this challenge is it's not our own IP,' Abrak says. 'This is the first IP we're working on that's not our own. So, I think for us, it needed to be with a nerve. It needed to be, not doing Robin, but doing Batman.' But whether it's Bond or Batman, part of the origin story has to deal with learning the ropes, which is going to lead to missteps — especially in the harsh world of global espionage. 'There's always a twist. There's a lot of twists and surprising elements in a Bond story,' Abrak notes. 'And I think this young man having to find himself, having to find something that he can believe in, that he can be part of something that makes sense to him — it's all a part of his journey.' 'The other thing is, who can you trust? [Who] can't you trust?,' he continues. 'I think calling him naïve is completely wrong. He's not naïve, He's super smart and has his wits with him. But it is a very complex world out there. It is a very geopolitical, difficult world out there.' That world looks to be populated by a cast of both new and old characters. The first trailer for the game begins with a conversation between M, Bond's classic superior and occasional foil, and Greenway, an original character described by IO Interactive' website as a mentor figure (although no voice actors for the roles have been announced). Shortly after, there's a look at Q, Moneypenny, and more fan favorites, but one specific name is particularly exciting: 009. In the pantheon of Bond villains, turncoats from MI6 have often served as some of the best baddies. From Sean Bean's 006, Alec Trevelyan, in Goldeneye (1995) to Javier Bardem's Silva in Skyfall, former agents have a history of turning up as formidable (and deliciously played) mirror images of Bond. The trailer's narration seems to imply that, this time around, an unseen agent with the callsign 009 will play an antagonistic role, referring to them (with nongendered language!) as 'a master manipulator.' The voiceover concludes, 'Whatever the endgame is, we won't see it coming.' Although Abrak won't divulge about the nature of 009 or the game's villains ('I want to tell you so much, but I can't!'), there's plenty to glean from what he does say. In a similar way to how Craig's era as Bond dealt with the debate about the need for human field agents in a modern period of digital surveillance, First Light looks to be exploring the value of having agents the government can trust. 'I think that's interesting in itself, betrayal in the world of spies is a thing. [Also] in the real world that we hear about, double agents and all that. Without going too much into the story and revealing anything, I think 009 is a very important part of the story,' Abrak says. 'The interesting part here is that the 00 [Double O] program has been laying dormant for quite a while, and the M we meet is actually believing in the human church and believing in resurrecting the 00 program.' 'It's very exciting,' he adds. 'Why was it dormant? Why was it being restricted? What was 009's role in that?' Regardless of which Bond is your favorite, the fact that the argument persists is telling. While the books and movies always offered a feeling of escapism in exotic locations, what truly resonates with fans is the character of James Bond. There's a certain charm and heroism, sure, but the character himself is very human and vulnerable — all those traits combined have left audiences attached to who he is (sometimes literally, in terms of casting). For Abrak, that connection runs deep. The developer, who's of Turkish descent, has felt that attachment to the franchise since his childhood. 'I was born in Denmark, [but] my father came here in [1969], and there's not a lot of international movies and things that my father would watch,' he says. 'He would watch those old Turkish TV soap operas and stuff like that. But Bond was one of those things that captured so many people, and also captured my father's attention. It's one of the few things that's not Turkish [that] he would watch, and I'd watch those things growing up together with him. Some special memories there.' That personal tie is something that the creators of First Light want to instill in their players when they experience the game. While their previous experience with Hitman was more about crafting localized pockets of storytelling centering on individual missions and marks, telling a Bond story requires greater cohesion and scope. 'There is an overarching story in Hitman, but the locations themselves almost have a whole game or substory to [them] as well. So, we have this overarching [story], but really, it's the locations themselves where things are evolving and the stories are going on,' Abrak says. 'Whereas, with Bond, it's a journey. It's an evolution of a young man, and the things that happen along the way not only should be impactful, but they should have lingering effect that connect to things later in the story.' Part of that connection stems from Bond himself, who is a much more animated character than Agent 47, who's conversely a mostly emotionless fixture that's juxtaposed (to comedic effect) with the outlandish luxury and violence around him. For Bond, there needs to be more deeply explored. 'One thing that was so exciting — because Hitman doesn't speak to you, to the player — [was] that you could convey a lot of [Bond's] personality through the things he says,' Abrak explains. '[It] kind of channels that through the controller to you; that you get to feel him; that you get to understand him; that you get to laugh with him and [hopefully] get sad with him and feeling lost throughout this journey.' 007 First Light launches in 2026 for Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Best of Rolling Stone Every Super Bowl Halftime Show, Ranked From Worst to Best The United States of Weed Gaming Levels Up
