Mads Mikkelsen discusses working with Hideo Kojima on ‘Death Stranding’

By Brad Jones December 7, 2016

mads mikkelsen death stranding madsmikkelsendeathstranding — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Even after the trailers that aired at E3 2016 and The Game Awards last week, it’s difficult to discern exactly what’s going on in Hideo Kojima’s new game Death Stranding. If you found yourself confused by the beached whales, crying infants, and skull-headed soldiers showcased in the two clips, don’t fret — one of the lead actors set to appear in the game doesn’t quite understand all of it, either.

The trailer shown at The Game Awards introduced acclaimed actor Mads Mikkelsen as a character that’s likely to serve as the game’s primary antagonist. Mikkelsen is currently on a press tour supporting his upcoming appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and along the way he found time to field a few questions about Death Stranding for Birth.Movies.Death.

The Danish actor apparently boarded the project after seeing Norman Reedus star in its first trailer. He praised the “emotion” and “sensuality” that he saw in that footage.

However, Mikkelsen wouldn’t classify himself as a gamer. He didn’t even fully know who Kojima was before working with him on Death Stranding, according to a report from Kotaku. Having spent some time in the video game auteur’s company, he now refers to the director as “a very brilliant man,” even if some of that brilliance sometimes went over his head.

“The stuff he told me?” said Mikkelsen, “I only understood some of it.” The actor went on to comment that Kojima is creating “something completely new” with Death Stranding.

There’s clearly a lot of excitement surrounding Death Stranding, both from the people involved with the project and fans looking forward to playing a brand new title helmed by Kojima. However, we may well have to wait a while before we find out what the its mysterious narrative is all about — no release date has been given as of yet, but given Kojima only officially left Konami in late 2015, it’s likely that the game is still in the early stage of development.

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Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…

Gaming

One of Game Pass’ best titles leaves PC on August 15 and you don’t want to miss it

Death Stranding

While Xbox Game Pass frequently adds new games to its library, some titles do leave the service every fifteen days. Sometimes, those games are fantastic and PC Game Pass will lose a heavy hitter on August 15: Death Stranding. If you aren't familiar with this game, it, ironically, is a PlayStation console exclusive that's part of Microsoft's subscription service only on PC. Death Stranding first released on PS4 in November 2019 and tells a story about a man who is trying to reconnect a post-apocalyptic while dealing with lots of supernatural threats along the way.

It didn't come to PC until July 2020, before that was followed by Death Stranding: Director's Cut for PC and PS5 in the following years. The version of the game that's available through Xbox Game Pass is based on the July 2020 PC release, although it only came to PC Game Pass in August 2022. After a year on Microsoft's subscription service, the deal is up, and it's going to leave on August 15. Death Stranding is a game with a very compelling and socially relevant story and gameplay not quite like anything out there, so Game Pass subscribers who haven't tried this game yet need to before it leaves the service soon.
It's all connected
Death Stranding follows the journey of Sam Porter Bridges, the adopted son of the President of the United Cities of America, as he attempts to reconnect what's left of America with a Chiral Network and save his sister. Of course, this game has Kojima's signature eccentricity, as Sam also carries around and starts forming a deeper connection with a baby in a pod (called a BB) that helps him avoid deadly creatures called BTs and gives him visions of a mysterious figure played by Mads Mikkelsen. On that note, Death Stranding has a stacked Hollywood cast as it stars people like Norman Reedus, Lea Seydoux, and Margaret Qualley and features characters modeled after Lindsay Wagner, Guillermo del Toro, Nicolas Winding Refn, and more.
I'm not a huge fan of this game's melodramatic dialogue exchanges and arduous pacing that leaves a lot of the most interesting reveals for the end. Still, it undeniably has some prescient themes about how important connection is, something that became even more apparent and relevant in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Few video game writers can craft narratives that are as engaging and memorable as the ones in Hideo Kojima's games. Though what I like most about Death Stranding is its gameplay, which isn't quite like anything that came out before or since.
For the most part, Death Stranding is a game about delivering packages. It initially seemed like a shocking change in style for the man behind the Metal Gear Solid series, but the connections become a bit clearer to me as I had to stealthily avoid BTs and saw the Metal Gear Solid V-level of freedom the game gives players in making deliveries. To maximize profits from deliveries, I have to balance all of the packages in Sam's possession, keeping a close eye on the terrain, and finding the best ways to get Sam to his destination without damaging much of the goods he's carrying.

Gaming

Macs are getting a ‘Game Mode’ feature and Death Stranding: Director’s Cut

Sam Bridges gives a peace sign in Death Stranding: Director's Cut.

Death Stranding: Director's Cut is coming to Mac, Hideo Kojima announced today during WWDC 23. The news came amid a brief gaming section during Apple's annual showcase, which also introduced a new Game Mode for Macs.

During WWDC's gaming block, Apple highlighted how the likes of No Man's Sky and Stray have made their way to Mac before announcing a dedicated Game Mode for Mac that prioritizes the CPU and GPU and minimizes latency on Xbox and PlayStation controllers. Apple also announced the Game Porting Toolkit for Metal, which should make it easier for game developers to bring their games to Mac.
After all that, Apple introduced Kojima, who said he's been an Apple fan since he bought a Mac in 1994 and confirmed that Death Stranding: Director's Cut is coming to Mac. This enhanced version of Kojima's 2019 hit was previously released for PS5 and Windows, with new missions, features like a firing range and racing, and more.
The Mac version of the game will benefit from utilizing technology like Metal 3 and MetalFX Upscaling, although it doesn't seem like Apple fans should expect anything in the way of new content. That will likely be saved for the game's upcoming sequel, Death Stranding 2.
At the end of his segment, Kojima also stated that "we are actively working to bring our future titles to Apple platforms." This potentially hints at the fact that games like Death Stranding 2 and his Xbox-published title could eventually make their way to Apple's devices.
Death Stranding: Director's Cut will launch for Mac on an unspecified date later this year, with preorders opening soon.

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Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s sequel should go full Death Stranding

Sam Porter walks across a landscape in Death Stranding: Director's Cut.

During my The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom playthrough, I couldn’t stop thinking about Death Stranding.

Hideo Kojima’s one-of-a-kind “strand game” sprung to mind every time I crafted an ingenious device that would let me traverse Hyrule more easily. I felt like Sam Porter Bridges laying down ladders and ziplines to cut through the rough landscapes of postapocalyptic America. I kept joking to myself that Tears of the Kingdom is a strand game. The more I see players sharing their creations, though, the more serious I’m becoming about that claim.