Death Stranding: Why Bridge Babies Can’t Leave Their Pods

Death Stranding is an incredibly weird game, to say the least. The worlds of the living and of the dead have collided, and the only way for people to successfully avoid ghosts – aka Beached Things, or BTs – is to strap a prenatal fetus to their chest which then detects the BTs through a device known as an Odradek Scanner. These fetuses, confined to a pod which is mounted on the front of Bridges operatives’ uniforms, are known as Bridge Babies, or BBs.

This pod keeps the BB alive until it is decommissioned, which usually happens after about a year of service. The pod is designed to replicate the environment from which the BB was taken: its mother’s womb. Bridge Babies are the result of a pregnant woman becoming brain dead, which facilitates the unborn child’s connection with the Beach where BTs reside. The stillmothers, as they’re called, are kept in an ICU at Bridges headquarters in Capital Knot City, where data taken from their wombs are used to periodically update the conditions of the pod that the BB resides in.

The Bridge Baby has become a kind of video game icon associated with Death Stranding. It even appears along with a Hideo Kojima cameo in Cyberpunk 2077. The BBs aren’t just for Kojima’s unconventional narrative though; they are integral to Death Stranding‘s strange gameplay as well.

Bridge Babies and Death Stranding’s Odd Stealth Gameplay

The world Kojima created for Death Stranding may be obtuse and at times confusing, but it is intricately designed, as evidenced by the fact that unborn fetuses carried around in pods aren’t merely for narrative flair. The Bridge Babies make compelling set pieces, but are almost immediately one of the most important tools in the player’s arsenal. Very early in Death Stranding‘s episodic narrative, protagonist Sam Bridges is given BB-28. BB-28 helps the player detect the presence of BTs. Coming into contact with BTs is a unique, oddly stealth-like experience.

The BB is hooked up to an Odradek Scanner, which points over Sam’s shoulder in the direction of the nearest BT, spinning faster as it gets closer. BTs are incredibly hard to see, and are very sensitive to noise. This leads to stealth gameplay entirely unique to Death Stranding. Like many other games, these sections consist of enemies that need to be avoided, however these enemies cannot be seen unless standing completely still (and even then they are sometimes tough to spot), and there is no cover that will protect the player. Sam is forced to crouch walk and hold his breath while near BTs in order to avoid being detected.

Failing to properly utilize the BB has ramifications far greater than other games’ stealth sections. If Sam is detected by a BT, a group of them will swarm him and attempt to drag him into a pool of a tar-like substance that forms under his feet. If the player cannot escape the area before being killed, a Voidout occurs, destroying the surrounding landscape and leaving a massive crater. Combined with Death Stranding‘s asynchronous multiplayer, these Voidouts will spawn stronger BTs in other player’s worlds, essentially making it harder for other couriers to do their delivery job. The Bridge Babies stuck inside their pods can be an off-putting addition to Death Stranding at first glance, but are actually a fascinating part of the game considering their heavily symbolic role in the narrative and gameplay alike.

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