Death Strandinghas quite easily become one of the most polarizing video games of 2019, if not in the history of the industry. People seem split on whether the game is yet another Hideo Kojima masterpiece, or if it is a boring slog, and the review scores reflect that division. Twitch streamer Felix “xQc” Lengyel, mostly known for hisOverwatchstreams, recently completed a playthrough ofDeath Strandingon Twitch, and he had some blunt words for reviewers who gave the game low scores.
While theDeath Strandingend credits played, xQc said that “trash game reviewers” gave the game a low score because they couldn’t play it properly. “[Reviewers] would get stuck on parts where you have to walk a lot, because they couldn’t climb properly because they’re just stupid. So they gave it an overly bad review.”
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xQcthen acknowledged that someone who is more interested in “gameplay” may come away with a bad opinion ofDeath Stranding. Even so, he feels as though those who didn’t like the game still shouldn’t have scored it as low as they did. “If you’re someone that’s more for gameplay, then of course this would have a bad review, but not that bad. Not as bad as people gave it in the first place. No way dude.”
Many of the negativeDeath Strandingreviewscite the same reasons for their low scores, including the game’s slow pace and purposefully tedious gameplay. The more positive reviews argue that these elements are part of what makeDeath Strandingspecial. Regardless of where one falls on theDeath Strandingdebate, though, it’s clear that this game is going to be quite divisive for some time to come.
xQc isn’t the first person to comment on theDeath Strandingreview scores. Game director Hideo Kojima has also offered his opinion on them, making somewhat controversial statements aboutwhyDeath Strandingscored lower with American reviewerscompared to those elsewhere in the world.
Despite the mixed reviews,Death Strandinghas received enough perfect scoresto counteract those on the lower-end, with the game sitting at an impressive85 review aggregate score on OpenCritic. More reviews for the game continue to be published, though, so it’s possible that its overall review score will change.
Death Strandingis out now for PS4, with a PC release to come in the summer of 2020.
