Hideo Kojima is one of the most renowned game developers of the last couple of years, and his contribution to the medium cannot be understated. Whether it was the bold, innovative take of narrative-driven experience with Policenauts or the genre-defining Metal Gear Solid or the haunting depiction of a post-apocalyptic world with Death Stranding, Kojima has continued to create games that really push the envelope in new and interesting ways.
But within the context of modern gaming, two of Kojima’s works stand out from the bunch – namely, 2015’s Metal Gear Solid and the recently released Death Stranding 2. Both of these games are the pinnacle of Kojima’s biggest franchises, so we thought it’d be a great idea to pit them against each other in different aspects and see which of them comes out on top.
Storytelling & Themes
Starting out with storytelling, Kojima has always resorted to an exposition heavy narrative structure where characters tend to take their merry time delivering monologues and introductions, and the complexities of the mission. Both Metal Gear Solid 5 and Death Stranding 2 employ this very style of storytelling, which comes with its own set of flaws. Death Stranding 2 feels like the right candidate for such a treatment rather than The Phantom Pain.
The primary reason for that disparity is that the world of Death Stranding 2 holds a long history with unique phenomena such as Beached Things, Timefall, and Extinction Entities, and explaining these things along with the technology involved, is absolutely necessary to make sense of what’s going on. On the other hand, Metal Gear Solid 5’s story revolves around the usual military stuff, along with a strong focus on discerning one’s identity, which could have been narrated in a more convenient manner. Don’t get us wrong, Metal Gear Solid 5 features a great story but unfortunately, most of it is hidden in tapes or is left up to the player’s interpretation so the way the plot unfolds is rather inconsistent.
Death Stranding 2 also does a great job of crafting a story where the themes resonate with the story on both a surface level and beyond. Embarking on long treks in a desolate land devoid of hope rekindles the feeling of being alone in a huge world, and as you slowly bring communities together, the fruits of your labour start to show in the form of new structures appearing throughout the world, new relations being built, and NPCs who often unexpectedly, begin to matter.
Metal Gear Solid 5, on the other hand, doesn’t have that strong of a synergy between what’s being told through the story and what’s being played in the open world. According to many players, the story actually suffered when the series made its shift to an open world setting. Death Stranding 2 feels much more connected in this regard with the story gelling well with the open world mechanics, resulting in a tighter narrative. This is a clear win for Kojima’s latest game.
Gameplay & Mechanics
Moving on to the gameplay and mechanics, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is literally a playground of possibilities. It’s a sandbox that gives you certain tools and a goal, but how you achieve that is very much up to you. You could be a madman and use brute force to stop anything in front of you, or be a ghost in the dark, or anything in between. The sheer breadth of tools at your disposal can be daunting at first glance, but experimenting with them is the core part of what makes Metal Gear Solid 5 so special. The game thrives on its systemic nature, meaning if you can conjure up any wondrous solution in your adventures, it’s very likely that with proper execution, it is quite possible.
When it comes to Death Stranding 2, many of these factors take a backseat as you are just a simple porter transporting cargo across places. But the beauty of Death Stranding 2 lies in how Kojima is able to make that simple act of going from A to B such an interesting affair, right from the ever-looming threat of BTs to environmental hazards and much more. But it’s a very slow burn, and that coupled with a mostly flat difficulty curve can make it a bit monotonous when compared to the dynamic and gratifying gameplay of Metal Gear Solid 5 and that puts this point in Metal Gear Solid 5’s favour.
Stealth Execution
In terms of the stealth execution, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain features a vast breadth of mechanics that intertwine with one another to create some stellar experiences. You can crawl through long grass, hide in cardboard boxes, or use tranquilizer darts to stun enemies – and much more. You can Fulton extract guards, shoot your rocket arm into your enemies, and mix and match different tactics to create the ultimate stealth strategies that are almost a form of player expression.
Death Stranding 2’s stealth mechanics also improve upon its predecessor in meaningful ways, but they still pale in comparison to the genius of Metal Gear Solid. Death Stranding 2 introduces new tools that help tailor your playstyle towards being stealthy, but it doesn’t manage to deliver the ultimate stealth experience as it doesn’t really align with its core vision. That said, it still provides a decent offering of stealth action with some amount of flexibility in how you choose to approach the situation. But in this case, it’s a clear win for MGS5.
Presentation & World Design
The world design of Metal Gear Solid 5 is all about enclosing different enemy encampments and facilities in a tightly constrained map, and while it works for the most part, it’s not the most engaging open world of the last generation. It serves its purpose, and the sandbox part of the world is absolutely amazing, but visually, it just pales in comparison to the post-apocalyptic beauty of Death Stranding 2.
The Decima Engine produces some stunning visuals, creating a visual dichotomy of a world that’s devoid of life yet somehow brimming with character. The map seamlessly transitions from grasslands to different terrains like tall peaks and deserts and much more, and everything from just the atmosphere to the level of detail is higher than what the 2015 classic offers. Clearly, Death Stranding 2 excels in the open world department.
Cast & Characters
Coming over to the cast and characters, it’s definitely going to be a break neck competition between the two. Kojima has a very distinct style when it comes to characters in his works as they operate on a precise wavelength between caricature and psychological depth, often blending over-the-top personalities with surprisingly human vulnerabilities, making his characters feel both surreal and deeply relatable.
These traits can be seen in both Death Stranding 2 and Metal Gear Solid 5, but Death Stranding 2 does take a slight lead thanks to a star studded cast that has done justice to the script. Metal Gear Solid 5’s story was a bit disjointed due to the way it was told, and one can see the cracks in how the character development arcs were laid out. You don’t play as Big Boss, and Venom Snake is mostly a mute character. Ocelot, Kaz and Huey do an admirable job, but Kojima’s latest is filled to the brim with a star studded cast. Thanks to this, we get some great performances captured with stunning attention to detail – and that alone nets a victory for Death Stranding 2.
Legacy and Replayability
Both Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid broke new ground with their respective first entries, with the former birthing an entirely new genre (the Social Strand System) while the latter defining the blueprint of what a modern stealth game should be. Although Death Stranding 1 sold quite well due to its sense of mystery, and Death Stranding 2 will also likely do well thanks to its critical reception, there is no doubt that Metal Gear Solid has amassed a massive fanbase and a strong legacy over the course of almost forty years.
Death Stranding 2 is without a shadow of doubt a fantastic game but it would likely appeal to a very specific set of audience. Metal Gear Solid 5, on the other hand represents the pinnacle of stealth genre, the last Kojima directed Metal Gear that pushed the series into new directions. MGS5’s replayability is also quite high especially with the systemic nature of the open-world and how the narrative starts to make a lot more sense on subsequent playthroughs.
So, another point awarded to Metal Gear Solid 5.
Conclusion
If you have been following along with the score line up until now, you would have noticed that we are sitting at a total of three points for each game – meaning no game turned out to be objectively better than the other. And that’s to be expected, of course, when comparing such excellent games coming from the same director.
Metal Gear Solid 5 is a lot more palatable to the average gamer thanks to an action-packed gameplay loop and the fun that comes from experimenting with the different tools on offer, while Death Stranding 2 leans more into creating a holistic experience with its philosophical themes in the narrative and the signature Strand-type gameplay. Each game has proven to be a very important piece of gaming technology, and deserves to be appreciated on its own terms.