Death Stranding 2: On the Beach PC Review – A Phenomenal Port

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When the first Death Stranding came to PC in 2020, many players considered it the best way to play the game. Now, Kojima Productions and Nixxes are aiming for the same result with Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. The PC version will offer extensive graphics settings and support for the latest upscaling technologies – Nvidia DLSS, AMD FSR, and Intel XeSS – showing their commitment to a high-quality experience.

“Death Stranding 2: On the Beach continues to be a phenomenal game.”

The PC version of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is excellent. I tested it on a reasonably powerful computer – an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor, Radeon RX 7800 XT graphics card, and 32GB of fast RAM – and it ran incredibly smoothly, even with the highest graphics settings. I consistently achieved over 100 frames per second at 1440p resolution, with frame rates only occasionally dipping slightly below 100, but still staying above 60, during intense moments or when loading new areas.

With performance out of the way, it is also well worth noting that Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a gorgeous game. While I couldn’t make exact frame-by-frame comparisons, I thought it looked quite a bit better than it did on my base PS5. The only negative I have here is the implementation of FSR 3. There was a tendency for some environmental objects, primarily foliage, to look quite blurry due to the nature of upscaling. However, this is far from the game’s own fault, and largely comes down to how FSR 3 works.

Now that we’ve talked about how well it runs, it’s also important to mention that Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a visually stunning game.

The game offers good support for different control schemes. I tried playing with a keyboard and mouse, and while it worked well enough, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach clearly feels best played with a controller. The keyboard and mouse layout was comfortable and I didn’t encounter any frustrating moments. Steam Input works perfectly for players using less common or unsupported controllers, though you’ll need to adjust keybindings through Steam itself, not within the game. For most players, the in-game control options will be more than sufficient.

Playing Death Stranding 2: On the Beach on PC is a great experience, largely because Kojima Productions and Nixxes worked hard to make the port run smoothly. The game offers tons of customization options, letting you adjust everything from detailed graphics like lighting and terrain to keyboard and mouse controls – you can even choose how controls like aiming work. For those who want to really fine-tune things, you can adjust the quality of specific effects like lighting, translucency, and reflections, as well as standard settings like texture quality and ambient occlusion.

Overall, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach truly feels like a proper sequel, and that’s a good thing! I really enjoyed the first Death Stranding because it offered a fresh take on open-world games, focusing on the surprisingly engaging act of walking and delivering packages. Death Stranding 2 takes everything that made the original great – the gameplay, the story, and how it’s presented – and simply makes it even better.

The story of Death Stranding 2 begins a few months after the first game. Sam Bridges and his daughter, Lou, are living a quiet life, disconnected from the established network. Sam earns a living doing small deliveries and focusing on being a good father. Their peaceful life is interrupted when Fragile, an old friend, finds them and asks Sam to undertake a crucial mission: extending the network to Mexico. Successfully completing this task would resolve the consequences of Sam’s actions from the original Death Stranding, allowing him to finally live freely.

“The plot of Death Stranding 2 starts off quite simple.”

During his journey, Sam discovers a strange new phenomenon: a way to instantly travel to Australia. After completing a difficult delivery that required a lot of back-and-forth travel, he encounters a new enemy. A month later, Fragile asks Sam to help with another mission – to connect Australia to the Chiral network.

The game’s opening chapter is lengthy, and the experience truly begins when you reach Australia. Despite this slow start, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach maintains a good story pace. While you’ll spend time making deliveries, major plot points arrive quickly and with surprising twists. The engaging characters on your new base, the DHV Magellan, also help keep things moving.

Several characters return from the original Death Stranding, including Fragile, and we’re introduced to new faces like Tarman. I especially enjoyed Dollman, brought to life by Fatih Akin and Jonathan Roumie – his funny personality is made even better by the intentionally slow speed of his movements.

In addition to the new story elements and nightmares, PC players will enjoy some enhanced features. The game now fully supports the DualSense controller, offering immersive haptic feedback and adaptive triggers – a welcome addition for a major PlayStation game on PC. Ultrawide monitors (21:9) are also supported during cutscenes. Players can also explore a new VR training area called “Trapped in a Strange Realm,” focusing on Sam’s fights with Neil, and test their skills with “to the wilder” mode, a challenging new game option. These updates will also be available for PlayStation 5 owners.

Aside from a few small story scenes and new scary experiences for Sam, PC players will also enjoy some additional improvements and details.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach continues the gameplay style of the first game, focusing on long journeys across vast landscapes. Players still need to carefully plan routes to overcome obstacles like mountains and rivers. While the basic gameplay remains similar, the game introduces a dynamic day-night cycle that impacts visibility and alters deliveries. New environmental dangers, including earthquakes, sandstorms, wildfires, and avalanches, add further challenges to traversing the diverse regions of Australia and require players to adapt their strategies.

Even though exploring the world in Death Stranding 2 can be peaceful, the game now offers many more ways to handle dangers. You can choose from a range of weapons with options to avoid killing enemies, or simply use tools to sneak past threats and avoid fighting altogether.

Death Stranding 2 is a surprisingly peaceful game for much of the time, but it also features thrilling boss battles and powerful, moving scenes. The story is engaging and explores whether rebuilding connections between people in the first game was actually the right thing to do.

This game was reviewed on PC.

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2026-03-19 21:20