Death Stranding 2 is out now on PlayStation 5 for folks who pre-ordered the fancy deluxe edition of the game. That means players are finally getting their hands on director Hideo Kojima’s latest video game extravaganza. And one of the first things they are noticing is just how improved Norman Reedus looks in Death Stranding 2 compared to his appearance in the original PS4 game.
Sure, we’ve gotten plenty of pre-release trailers and screenshots for Kojima’s latest open-world delivery game featuring monsters and ziplines, aka Death Stranding 2. But now that players can actually boot the game up and start running around its digital recreation of Australia, they can also start taking photos of Sam Porter Bridges, the main character played by Reedus. They can stick the camera really close to his face, too. And that’s allowed people to compare this new version of Sam to the one from the original game, released in 2019 on PS4. The results are genuinely impressive.
Sam looked fine in the first game on PS4, but compared directly side-by-side to how he looks in DS2, it’s very clear that a lot of technical improvements have happened in the six years since that game. His flesh looks less plastic-y and his eyes look more natural. Even his eyebags look more fleshy and real. The old Sam, in comparison, looks like a Halloween mask.
Here’s a great video comparing the two games via Nick930:
“Norman Reedus 720p vs Norman Reedus 4k,” joked one Reddit user. Another replied to an image comparison of the two with: “My guy was legit sick in DS1, made some connections and powered up like Mario in DS2.”
My favorite theory as to why Sam Porter Bridges looks so much better and healthier in Death Stranding 2 comes from Reddit user gpost86: “First one was chugging Monster.” Honestly, that makes sense. That’s now my headcanon for why they look so different.
Death Stranding 2 is out now on PS5 and PS5 Pro for deluxe edition owners. For everyone else, the game arrives on June 26.
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