Death Stranding Director's Cut Is Worth Another Trek Across America

Admittedly, it'd take very little for me to be on board with a Death Stranding Director's Cut. It only needed to be more Death Stranding for me to be sold on revisiting Hideo Kojima's latest vanity project. Luckily for me, that's exactly what the Director's Cut is. I love the original release, and this is a perfect excuse to dive back in. I think you should play it, too. But maybe not for the reasons you think. 


Death Stranding Director's Cut is pitched as an expanded version of the base game that came out in 2019, the definitive version of Kojima's vision. After 26 hours – and much, much more still to go – my knee-jerk impression is that the Director's Cut moniker is marketing spiel more than anything. Still, there are some fun and creative new additions that enhance the overall experience.


For new players, all the bells and whistles you've come to expect from PlayStation re-releases are present in Director's Cut – performance/resolution modes, unbelievably fast load times, 60 frames per second, and all that good stuff. More interestingly, new missions and deliveries have been added into the game somewhat seamlessly; they appear within the primary campaign itself rather than offset as the "New Content." 





eturning or revisiting players are likely to get more out of these additions solely based on prior experience with the game. And to be fair, some of the additions are really good. I especially liked the cross-over with Valve's Half-Life Alyx, which puts the Gravity Glove into Director's Cut (this was in the PC version of Death Stranding, but this is the first time it's been on console), allowing you to grab items in the world without actually walking over to them. The Maser Gun, which quickly incapacitates human enemies with a bolt of electricity, is also a great touch – though the game's wonky aiming makes the weapon better for stealth than combat.


The new racetrack makes for a fun diversion to the main path, but the game's poor car controls mean it can be frustrating when you're constantly crashing against walls. A Jump Ramp for motorcycles is fantastic because you can do sick stunts. Lastly, new songs included within new porter missions are all consistently solid. And as an aside, the way the game – both Director's Cut and the original release – implements licensed music into its mission structure is so good; I wish all games were as clever in their use of music as Death Stranding. 


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