Note : all the demo takes place in the real world with Sam. No Hades, no Beach, No Cliff or other characters except a bit of Die Hard Man. This is only about delivery, travel mechanics, multiplayer and what kind of stuff you can find in the world.Lore details:
Civilians live underground, in buried shelters or whole cities. Above is too dangerous, that's why they need a delivery man. Port Knot City for example has more than 50,000 inhabitants.
Connecting the chiral network allows Bridges not only to connect with settlements but also to somehow recover data about history and life on Earth before the Death Stranding. Maybe they are looking for Wikipedia pages.
Being Sam:
Many gauges : Movement Speed; Stamina/Fatigue Resistance; Balance; Carrying Capacity; Rugged Terrain Resistance; Resistance to falling unconscious; Sync Level; Lung Capacity; Battery Capacity
If you find a hot spring you can bath to recharge your stamina and other gauges (depending on the hot spring)
Walking progressively destroys your boots (on rugged terrain even faster). When they are out you'll start losing stamina and blood.
Drinking from the Canteen allows Sam to recover Stamina. The canteen refills automatically when it rains (even Timefall) or when crossing a river by filtering the water. Water has been replaced by Monster Energy drink though, for dubious marketing purposes.
Sam can jump on a Floating Carrier and use it like a Hoverboard from Back to the Future. That's rad.
Private Room:
In every Bridges facility you get access to your private room.
You can choose your suit : Blue, Orange, Red and even a Black one. What's specific to each color is still unknown.
You can use a fancy 3D printer to fabricate equipment. The printer needs connection to the Chiral Network.
You can fabricate Tools (ladders, ropes and even dummies), Gears (boots, exoskeletons), Weapons and Vehicles.
Every equipment has a Resources cost : Resin, Metal, Ceramic, Chemical substances, Special Alloys or Chiral Cristals (those golden hand-shaped things that grows in Timefall areas).
You can take a shower and use the toilet. This may be a way to refill your EX grenades, but need confirmation on that.
You can check your miniatures collection (same green figures used to illustrate Amelie's story in the Briefing trailer).
Cargo:
Once you have selected your delivery boxes and equipment, you need to load them all on Sam (there is a weight limit).
You can stack on the backpack, shoulder pads, leg pads or carry it by hand. Some equipment can also be carried without the box (like boots, ropes) or spread into small pouches (like grenades, repair sprays).
To help you balance the cargo a yellow circle on the floor shows how Sam is leaning. An unbalanced load will make Sam prone to fall and require the player to shift the weight more often.
Sam has to transport various items, from weapons to medical stuff but also cryogenized sperm and eggs.
You can have up to two Floating Carriers to carry more stuff. They just follow you like drones.
You can find lost cargo in the world and decide to pick it up and deliver it to the owner. Doing so will get you special rewards.
Timefall progressively damage cargo, except those protected by a Chirallium layer.
The Likes you get upon delivery depends on the state of cargo, time and other factors.
Controls:
Keep balance : sometimes Sam will loose his balance when running or going up/down a slope and the player has to quickly shift the weight left or right using L2 or R2 buttons. Failure was not shown in the demo.
Crossing a river: the scanner shows the water level. Blue is knee to waist deep and fine to cross; yellow is waist to chest deep and will drain Stamina to fight against the current and keep your balance; red is too deep, Sam will be washed away and will have to recover by paddling left or right (L2/R2) until he reaches low level waters and be able to stand up. Cargo can be washed away and recovered.
Touch panel is the Communication button. This allows Sam to call in order to locate and/or activate communal objects dropped or built by other players (see Multiplayer).
Take a rest to save the game. While resting you can massage your shoulders or stretch your legs (but it doesn't seem like it does anything). You can also sleep to slowly regenerate blood.
While grabbed by BTs you need to push Square to try and shake them off, as well as L2/R2 if they put you off balance. If you fall, they get you.
Scanner:
When looking at a point it shows not only the distance but also the elevation graph.
The scanner shows wet terrain in blue, slippery terrain in yellow and rugged terrain in red. It also shows the depth of the rivers: blue, yellow and red.
Map:
You can trace a route on the map by placing checkpoints.
The map features a basic 3D mode to check elevation.
Signs placed by other players appear on the map (see Multiplayer).
Combat:
MULES try to steal you equipment and gear. They'll even take your shoes. Their camps are full of Resources.
MULES area is marked with red poles. They won't chase you beyond that.
Non Lethal take out is possible using the Strand item: sneak up to a guy and tie him up unconscious. The Bola Gun does the same from a distance, but is loud.
You can hijack vehicles GTA-style. However a Shock spear will shut it down immediately.
You can throw cargo boxes at the enemies to stun them, but it will destroy the content.
BTs are vulnerable to bodily fluids. You can use blood grenades against them.
The Bola Gun can also be used to immobilize BTs. And then pissing on them until they vanish is probably an option, but that was not shown in the demo.
When BTs grab you, they drag you to the mini-boss nearby. This area is a potential crater, should Sam end up being eaten and trigger a Void-out.
To defeat the mini-boss, just dodge the attacks and shoot as many blood/piss ammo you got at it.
Multiplayer:
When connecting an area to the Chiral Network you get to see and use items built or dropped by other players.
You can “Like” an item and see how many Likes each item received.
For big constructions like bridges or repair towers, many players can help building or upgrading by spending Resources on the build.
Players can place signs. Danger signs, info signs, all kind of signs.
Players can build shared lockers (Postbox) and put items inside other players can take.
Players can dismantle communal items for Resources but not take and re-use.
Players can find other players lost/dropped cargo, repair it, and deliver it to a Postbox to see what's inside. You can then leave it there or take it.
It was not stated if you can tweak the number of communal items you see, limit to Friends only or even turn the whole multiplayer system off to avoid your surroundings being littered with garbage and signs.
During combat against BTs, a player can call for help. Other players can answer by giving items or cheer. They'll show up as white characters in the black substance.
I could be wrong on that one, but I think white strands in the sky point to communal builds and black strands point to where a player is fighting a mini-boss and may require help.
Cameos:
I'm pretty sure Edgar Wright is Nick Easton in the game, manager of the Capital Knot City distribution center.
Daichi Miura is the Musician (just a civilian, like the Ludens Fan).
Patrick Claude is Viktor Frank, manager of the Port Knot City distribution center. Note that Patrick Claude was a Corpse Disposal Team member in the third trailer. No idea if that's the same character later in the story or if there was a cast change.
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