Hideo Kojima really just went 'screw it' and made Metal Gear Stranding

Towards the end of the new ten-minute (!) long trailer for Death Stranding 2, Hideo Kojima decides to throw the crowd some red meat. The footage has by this point established new character Neil, played by Italian actor Luca Marinelli, as what looks like Death Stranding 2's version of Cliff (Mads Mikkelson): someone forced into dirty jobs who can't let go of the past.

Then, as Neil begins to lead a small special forces unit of some kind, the camera focuses directly on the character's face as he ties a bandana around his forehead. It's a small detail but it's an unmistakable one for longtime Kojima-fanciers: From the first Metal Gear Solid, the bandana has been an iconic part of the look for both Solid Snake and Big Boss.

As if this wasn't enough, Kojima Productions then doubles-down on the vibe with the DS2 ship, the DHV Magellan. This is shown flying around and negotiating the tar channels (or whatever they're called), before in a final scene taking over one of the giant humanoid tar figures: At which point, for those with eyes to see, it becomes clear this is the same mech design as Metal Gear Rex.

To be clear, these are references: I'm not saying Neil is literally Solid Snake. Though Kojima did trail this casting in a 2020 Instagram post, saying "I think if [Luca Marinelli] donned a bandana, he'd be the spitting image of Solid Snake!"

The creator's friendship with Remedy's Sam Lake is well-known, and in this light it's worth looking at what Alan Wake 2 did with bringing in Alex Casey: a legally distinct version of Max Payne that is also definitely Max Payne. Konami still owns and controls the rights to Metal Gear, Solid Snake and so on, but it doesn't own the idea of a character putting on a bandana, or a familiar-looking mech silhouette.

Oh and one more: The president in Death Stranding 2 is a new character voiced by Alastair Johnson. The final game in the Metal Gear series timeline is Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, in which the final boss is Senator Armstrong played by… Alastair Johnson.

So we're in some sort of alt-universe where, with enough tinfoil, you could probably just about convince yourself that the Metal Gear and Death Stranding universes are, excuse the pun, connected. We've got alt versions of Snake, we've got Rex, we've got Armstrong, on top of which the director's cut of Death Stranding had already added a bunch of Metal Gear-style elements (this video goes through most of them).

It all ties-in to elements of Death Stranding 2 that are already being made explicit. The days of delivery are over. Describing the original as a "walking simulator" was always unfair, but this time around it does seem like there will be slightly less emphasis on traversal as the core mission mechanic and a lot more, dare I say, tactical espionage action.

Neil doesn't just look like Solid Snake with his fancy bandana, though, he also leads some sort of unit that's distinguished by skull imagery and smoking cigarettes (another Metal Gear staple). He also seems to be this game's equivalent of Cliff, which thematically ties-in to being unable to let go of past events: Or in this case, past achievements. And then at the end, as well as the Rex-like ship-slash-tar creature, we get unmistakable echoes of the giant mech fights between Rex and Ray that were some of the series' high points.

I am certain there are dozens of other small nods I'm missing, and no doubt the Metal Gearheads are poring over this trailer as I write. It's always been clear that Kojima was never going to truly leave Metal Gear behind, and has become bolder about discussing the series and adding more overt nods by the time of the DS director's cut.

But this is as explicit as it gets. Don't bother waiting for Konami to make Metal Gear Solid 6 because, if that series has a future, it's now as another series under its original creator. Fans are already joking about Neil's character being called "Rigid Reptile" and the like, but the real charge here is seeing one of the industry's greats not only returning to his past, but comfortable rewriting it. Expectations are high for Death Stranding 2 and, going by this trailer, it may well be the game to surpass Metal Gear.