0 
0 Is the latest trailer for the highly anticipated sequel to Hideo Kojima’s Award Winning game hinting at Death Stranding 2 Co-op gameplay?
DEATH STRANDING 2 Co-Op?
The trailer features some very impressive visuals and Kojima’s usual unique brand of crazy. At over 9 minutes in length, it is par for the course as with trailers for its predecessor. Leaving fans with more questions than answers this trailer has certainly increased the hype for the PlayStation console exclusive. It’s easily one of the finest game trailers I have ever come across – check it out below.
Should We Have Connected?
In a tweet sharing the new trailer Hideo Kojima says:
“Some new characters are introduced, and there are many hints of the story and gameplay in this trailer. Watch it many times and please enjoy.”
Having watched the trailer multiple times one thing really stood out. It is one of the few pieces in the trailer that looks like actual gameplay rather than cutscene. Sam climbs into a four wheeled rover vehicle that features 2 seats. The shot seems to be framed to put the empty seat central.
Another area that may hint at the co-op gameplay is early in the trailer aboard the ship known as the DHV Magellan. Sam is chatting with Fragile in his room and she takes him on a tour around the ship to get his bearings.
She mentions that the other rooms in a section of the ship belong to the other members of the crew and that they are pretty much the same as Sams room. And what may seem like a throwaway comment that “the shower is down at the end” as she gestures down the hall, may be another clue.
The fact that the armory and the shower are now communal spaces in Death Stranding 2, whereas they were located in Sam’s room in the original game, gives further plausibility to possibly co-op.
The final tidbit on gameplay comes from the Drawbridge Logo and also a comment from antagonist Higgs. Its the Stick and Rope with the fact that there is some combat gameplay and that crazy fight scene (watch the trailer) featured that might suggest a more combat focused endeavor “this time around” – to steal a line from Troy Baker.
The Decima Engine
The 2017 NoClip documentary “The Making of Horizon Zero Dawn” explained how the original concept for Horizon Zero Dawn was to include Co-op gameplay. So why is this important to the possibility of Death Stranding 2 Co-op?
Well when Kojima went independent setting up his own studio, the team at Guerrilla games gave him their own in house Decima Engine to use on his upcoming project, giving him a head start on development. The original Death Stranding was developed using Decima in conjunction with the team at Guerilla acting in a consulting capacity, the very engine they used to create Horizon.
The initial concept for co-op in Horizon Zero Dawn was dropped due to it significantly impacting the level of detail possible in the game. The game was a PS4 game which Death Stranding was also but got a PS5 version after launch via the Director Cut which brought with it some visual enhancements. The credits info at the end of this new trailer specifically shows only PS5 so it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the extra power the PS5 has over the PS4 could handle the higher levels of detail along with featuring co-op gameplay.
I for one am stoked for release in 2025 and looking forward to what Kojima has cooked up for us this time around.
YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Discord | Podcast
About Author
