A Death Stranding Sequel Could Learn From New Director’s Cut Location

With the release of Death Stranding Director’s Cut, the entire run through the game has been padded with additional content, including a new space called the Ruined Factory that brings variety to Death Stranding‘s gameplay even as it calls attention to deficiencies where a potential sequel could likely improve. Death Stranding star Norman Reedus has hinted at a sequel, saying he’s in talks to reprise his role as Sam. While it’s entirely unknown where the story might go following Death Stranding‘s conclusion, the Ruined Factory points toward some gameplay elements that could be built upon.

In the Director’s Cut, which is (at least thus far) exclusive to the PlayStation 5, porters have more tools than ever when reconnecting the United Cities of America. Additions like Cargo Catapults and the new Support Skeleton will help players get their cargo where it needs to go, but a new weapon called the Maser Gun will help players combat the threat of MULEs and their cargo theft. The order for which the Maser Gun is supplied to Sam is where players will first travel to the Ruined Factory.

The Ruined Factory can first be accessed fairly early in the game, located in the easternmost region of Death Stranding‘s America, but the first order which takes players there only lets them explore the exterior. It’s designed to be a recurring location, with players delving further into the Ruined Factory as the game progresses. The second time players visit the new location, however, they are allowed inside. While it’s neat to actually explore the inside of a building complex – something that wasn’t featured in the base game – the new Death Stranding missions into the Ruined Factory highlight the game’s shortcomings in stealth and combat mechanics.

A Death Stranding Sequel Could Improve Combat

There’s nothing glaringly wrong with Death Stranding‘s combat, it’s just clearly not the focus of the game. Players are provided tall grass to hide in just like any other game with stealth, and the large stack of cargo on Sam’s back provides an interesting twist to sneaking. Players are discouraged from killing enemies, with the looming threat of a Voidout, but knocking out every enemy in the vicinity never really poses much of a challenge. The Maser Gun, which uses Sam’s suit battery to launch Tesla Coil-like arcs of electricity, is a fun addition to the game, but it’s essentially just a more effective Bola Gun with a shorter range.

The Ruined Factory is an interesting aside to the main game, delving incrementally deeper into a subterranean complex and ridding it of MULEs making for something that feels different. The missions are almost solely based around stealth and combat, and without the fully realized traversal of Death Stranding‘s open world, it’s plainly apparent that the combat mechanics themselves aren’t particularly deep. Kojima has previously stated that any sequel to Death Stranding would have to start from zero, and while a Death Stranding 2 would likely move forward with its predecessor’s strand-type gameplay, it would also do well to refine the combat into something more fulfilling.

The Ruined Factory provides a glimpse at what exploring more of Death Stranding‘s underground structures could be like, but there’s not much substance beyond crouch-walking through each room, pointing the Maser Gun at unaware enemies, and pulling the trigger when the reticle turns red. Death Stranding Director’s Cut doesn’t make any sweeping changes to the base game, instead providing more content on top of what was already on offer (with the notable removal of Monster Energy drinks), but in doing so highlights some areas of improvement a successor could capitalize on.

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