Summary
- Death Stranding 2 introduces familiar biomes with larger and distinct landscapes, including tar-flooded swamps and expansive desert areas.
- The game's world will be even larger than the original, featuring new environments like sandy beaches, dense forests, and urban landscapes.
- Environmental hazards like flash floods and landslides will make traversal challenging, ensuring familiar areas feel unfamiliar in Death Stranding 2.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is finally almost here, after over five years since the release of the first game and Hideo Kojima's bold introduction of the weird but thought-provoking world of Death Stranding. Based on what has been shown so far, Death Stranding 2 will be introducing quite a few new features, mechanics, and characters for players to experience, but it won't all be entirely brand-new, as the sequel's world still feels strangely the same and yet different altogether.
There is little doubt that a major highlight of Death Stranding's gameplay was its attention to detail in its world and environments, especially considering the "walking simulator" criticism it initially received. After all, a game that primarily involves players traveling from one location to another needs to have an awe-inspiring, fascinating, and breathtaking world if it hopes to capture glances. As such, the same is fully expected of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, and those expectations are warranted, given what Kojima has already revealed. At the same time, it appears players can expect even more from Death Stranding 2, as it not only capitalizes on its predecessor's open world but adds multiple new layers to it as well.
Why Tomorrow Might Be Death Stranding 2’s Most Pivotal Character
While her role has yet to be revealed, Death Stranding 2's Tomorrow may be the most pivotal character to the game's story, based on current evidence.
How Death Stranding 2 Builds on the First Game's World
Death Stranding 2 Features Familiar Biomes With New, Larger, and More Distinct Landscapes
Any fan of the original Death Stranding who is looking forward to playing the sequel has likely already borne witness to some familiar landscapes in the footage released so far for Death Stranding 2. One of the most iconic biomes in Death Stranding, tar-flooded swamps, is making a return in Death Stranding 2, with Sam already depicted as engaging in some intense combat scenarios in those environments. However, the sequel also won't be foregoing the snow-covered mountains and desert-like areas introduced in the first game, though all of these familiar landscapes will be different in one significant way.
Death Stranding was a massive game, but it looks like Death Stranding 2 will be even larger, and this is a big contributor to why its world will feel familiar and yet uncharted. Death Stranding's desert biomes will be revived in the sequel, but they will be far more expansive this time around, with massive sand dunes for players to traverse and the environmental challenges that come with them. Additionally, snowy mountains will be featured in Death Stranding 2's open world, but their range appears to have expanded tenfold.
One of the most iconic biomes in Death Stranding, tar-flooded swamps, is making a return in Death Stranding 2, with Sam already depicted as engaging in some intense combat scenarios in those environments.
There are also going to be plenty of new environments in Death Stranding 2, some of which were present in the original game's world but played very small roles. For instance, Death Stranding 2 will feature areas characterized by black, rocky outcrops, as well as sandy beaches, dense forests, and even urban landscapes and subterranean facilities. These new environments will help Death Stranding 2's exploration feel brand-new, even to those who spent countless hours exploring the first game's open world.
Environmental Hazards Make Each Region Feel Unique
Death Stranding 2's world won't only feel uncharted because of its new biomes either, as some challenging environmental hazards will be added to the mix that aim to make traversing the open world a major risk for players. While the original Death Stranding had environmental hazards like Timefall and Beached Things (BTs), Death Stranding 2 will feature more natural hazards like flash floods, landslides and avalanches that can alter the landscape and affect traversal routes. Ultimately, this should make even the most familiar areas feel unfamiliar.
In many ways, Death Stranding 2 is already looking like a bit of a paradox — one that invites players back into a world they thought they knew, only to intimidate them with a fresh take on that world and new challenges to boot. To be fair, this isn't anything new for Kojima, who prefers to keep fans on their toes, regardless of how familiar they may be with his work. With larger, more distinct environments, new biomes to discover, and even environmental hazards that encourage attentiveness, Death Stranding 2's world already looks like somewhere players have never been before, with just a hint of where they have been.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 90 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
- Released
- June 26, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Violence, Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
- Kojima Productions
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
