Death Stranding 2: On The Beach was already a beautiful game on PS5. I reviewed Hideo Kojima's sequel to Pro last year and was impressed by its realistic cast of characters and wonderfully detailed open world. Everywhere I looked there was an excuse for Sam Porter Bridges to stop and stare, or for me to open up photo mode and spend way too long photographing the surrounding landscape.
When it comes to rendering realistic environments and characters, the Decima Engine may be the most perfect piece of triple-space video game technology right now. The game's heroes feel like they could jump out of the screen and touch you. All good, as long as it's not the ghostly spirits of tar that call this post-apocalyptic world home. And now, Death Stranding 2 is coming to PC much earlier than expected, with a port that will surpass the already masterful visual experience on the right hardware.
After spending the last few days exploring the early Mexico area on PC, I'm very tempted to see this second run through to the end for the sheer graphical splendor. This is an exceptionally optimized port that takes everything that was great about the PS5 version and pushes the boat even further.
How does Death Stranding 2: On The Beach run on PC?
This port – created with the help of veteran studio Nixxes – is exceptionally optimized. I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering how smooth other Decima Engine games are like the original Death Stranding and both Horizons on PC. Whether you're sporting graphics cards and processors from a few years ago on a faded SSD or sporting top-of-the-line gear, On the Beach seems to effectively flex to handle anything thrown at it.
For context, here are my own specs that were able to run things at max settings with 1440p output:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D
- GPU: RTX 5070
- RAM: 32GB
This setup was fully capable of dialing every single setting to the max and even taking advantage of the newly improved beam reflections and lighting that weren't on the original PS5. You'll be warned about the potential performance impact before enabling these features, but I still found that I was able to maintain a solid frame rate with every other setting turned on.
The PS5 Pro was no slouch in resolution or performance, but the PC version makes the world even more beautiful. Each new comparison only surprised me more. The density of foliage in the earlier jungle settings is nicely improved, while the higher frame rates allowed me to appreciate how Sam's movements caused the flora to sway in response, or the spidery chiral creatures scurrying around in panic as I approached. It's a big improvement over an already impressive experience, and even on my smaller 27-inch OLED display, the rendering distance was there.
If you're playing this sequel for the first time and need to catch up on the story, a recap can be found in the main menu just like the PS5 version.
There are few things more exciting in Death Stranding 2 than finding a great vantage point to view the vast landscapes that await, whether connected to a chiral network or not. I love looking back at my handiwork as I spent hours laying out an intricate network of monorails and roads, knowing that thousands of players would soon be using them. The PC port allows me to relive that experience while bringing a new breath of life to every moment. I don't play on PC with a 4K display, but I have no doubt that my PC would easily be able to deliver consistent 4K/30fps or more.
Most impressively, one thing I've never been able to replicate when playing ported PlayStation exclusives on PC before is the loading speed in titles like Horizon Forbidden West and Marvel's Spider-Man. Death Stranding 2 could easily be the first to carry this brilliance forward. Once I'm in the main menu, I'll be in control in less than a second after the game loads. I have no idea what kind of wizardry makes this possible, but jumping into the current game is a breeze if you want to grab a quick delivery before lunch.
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach also plays nicely on mouse and keyboard
Always playing Death Stranding on a controller, I was often amazed at how you could feel the weight on Sam's back and the balance needed to keep him from falling into the nearest ravine through your fingers as you held both shoulder buttons firmly. When playing with a mouse and keyboard, the same sensation is produced by pressing both mouse buttons to achieve the same illusion. Each hand/arm is controlled by one button, making it quick and easy to change balance during reactive situations.
You can get a PlayStation themed jumpsuit and patch by linking your PSN account to access Trophy support. It only takes a few seconds and it pays off.
Managing your inventory and equipping gadgets in the middle of crawling or combat will take some getting used to if you're more used to the controller layout, but if you want Death Stranding 2 to bring a slightly different challenge when you jump into your second run, this is definitely one way to do it. But if you are a new player, I would try both methods to decide which one is right for you. For me, the added immersion that DualSense controllers offer always wins the day for games like this.
I don't think I can yet provide a comprehensive technical breakdown of everything that the PC version of Death Stranding 2: On The Beach does right and wrong, but I can say that it plays a treat on my far from peak system. Kojima Productions and Nixxes are known as masters of optimization when it comes to porting projects like this, and this could be one of their most successful efforts to date. It plays and looks incredible, so much so that I am tempted to embark on this epic and emotional journey again.
