Sony said we couldn’t review Hideo Kojima’s latest game unless we finished it. Fine, we said. Then we played it

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Well, at least we finally get to preview Hideo Kojima’s new game. With 40 hours on the clock, we’re barely halfway through Death Stranding: that would not be enough to base a review on even if we hadn’t agreed to abstain from reviewing the game until we’d seen its credits roll – something we’re not sure has ever been asked of us before.

Ever since its announcement, Kojima has shrouded his game beneath a veil of secrecy. Forty hours later, we’re not entirely sure why, at least not without breaking out the conspiracy theories. It is a delivery simulator, as protagonist Sam Porter Bridges (Norman Reedus) works his way across a ruined United States. Starting in the far east, his ultimate goal is the west coast, stopping off at cities, distro centres and outposts, connecting them to the ‘chiral network’ and bringing the nation back online, and its people back together. In practice, the route is far more complex than that – there’s a tremendous amount of to, fro and backtracking – but the game only rarely departs from its core concept of having you load up with cargo, take it somewhere far away, and then do it all again.

Said cargo is physically based, and forms the game’s central mechanic, which is unfortunate given it’s a gigantic pain in the backside. Turn too quickly, struggle on an incline or pick up too much speed on a slope and Bridges will tip over, requiring a squeeze of one of the triggers to have him tighten his backpack strap, or a press of both at once to stabi

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