The PlayStation 4 had no shortage of critically acclaimed exclusives. These ranged from new IPs like Horizon: Zero Dawn to games based on established franchises like Marvel's Spider-Man. Death Stranding, after its initial reveal in 2016, was poised to rank among these heavy hitters as it was helmed by famous game director Hideo Kojima. While the game was a success, it is more divisive among Sony's illustrious first-party offerings, something the recent Death Stranding: Director's Cut has attempted to remedy.
This updated version of the game hits the scene two years after the original, and with it comes a series of changes to the core experience. Many of these include graphical improvements to take advantage of the PS5's impressive hardware, as well as bonus content for players to enjoy. But many of these new features in Death Stranding: Director's Cut seem to be directly addressing many of the common criticisms aimed at the original release, namely improvements to navigation and traversal.
New Buildable Structures
Death Stranding is a game about navigating dangerous and rough terrain in the most efficient way. While patient players slowly acquire the tools to build roadways and other structures to assist with getting over these obstacles, others may not have been as willing to put up with the grind. It can take some time to obtain said structures, with the often gruesome treks across harsh terrain proving to be a large undertaking. Because of this, many may have given up just a few hours into Death Stranding.
While Death Stranding: Director's Cut still retains that challenge and demands players be patient, it has included more options for ways to make these trips easier. Most notable is the ability to build what is essentially a giant cannon that will launch players across miles of terrain. This, among other things, is a welcome change to help ease some of the uphill difficulty curve present in the original release.
Buddy Bots
Buddy Bots (or Delivery Bots) aren't technically a new feature, as they were a feature in the 2019 release of Death Stranding. Basically helpful robot assistants no different than Pixar's Wall-E, Buddy Bots will help carry different goods to--and-from locations across the game map. The main difference in Death Stranding: Director's Cut is that these Buddy Bots now have a new mode to make travelling across endless terrain more simplified.
For those who don't feel like making the trip themselves, walking across barren wastelands in Death Stranding's vast open world, Buddy Bot can now help. The player can transform Buddy Bot so it turns into a pair of robotic legs, and from there, sit atop the legs and set it to autopilot. The legs will then carry the player to a destination, freeing them to make a snack or take a bathroom break.
Changes to Gear and Equipment
Much of the success in Death Stranding is predicated on how strategic players can be with resource management. This is in relation to both how many delivery items they bring along, as will as choosing the most appropriate gear for each mission. This can sometimes be a big ordeal, with it not always being clear exactly what would have been the best loadout. While this is inherently part of the challenge, it may be enough to deter some players.
Added tweaks have been made to this that will assist players before they make mistakes in Death Stranding: Director's Cut. Perhaps the most helpful new addition is a stabilizer function, which can be added to the backpack so players keep their balance better, saving them from falling as frequently. On top of this, the stabilizer can allow players to glide across great distances or down steep cliffs and mountains.
Death Stranding: Director's Cut is now available on PS5.