Review Roundup For Death Stranding Director's Cut On PS5

Death Stranding: Director's Cut launches on September 24, and ahead of that, review scores for the re-release have been posted online. We're rounding up review scores and excerpts here to help you understand if the PlayStation 5 game is worth your time and money.

The Director's Cut is described as the "definitive" version of Death Stranding, which was originally released in 2019 on PlayStation 4. The game has been "remastered and expanded" for PS5, and the new edition comes with new content like additional weapons, equipment, and vehicles. There are also new storylines and missions, along with new modes like racing.

The game also makes use of the PS5's DualSense controller for haptic feedback and trigger resistance, while there is 3D audio as well for people who have supported headphones. The load times are now "near-instant," thanks to the PS5's SSD, while there are two graphics modes. Performance Mode features scaled 4K images and up to 60fps, while Fidelity Mode features native 4K.

Players who already bought Death Stranding on PS4 can upgrade to the Director's Cut for $10.

GameSpot's Death Stranding Director's Cut review scored the game a 9/10. Critic Justin Clark said, "If nothing else, Death Stranding: Director's Cut is the best excuse to return to the valley of the shadow of death, and find the grim beauty waiting there. What the new features and content bring to the table is simply making that return easier and more welcoming than ever.

You can see a sampling of review scores and excerpts below. For an even more detailed look, check out GameSpot sister site Metacritic.

• Game: Death Stranding: Director's Cut
• Platforms: PS5
• Developer: Kojima Productions
• Release Date: September 24
• Price: $50 on its own or as a $10 upgrade for existing owners on PS4

GameSpot -- 9/10

"It didn't strike me the first time just how accurate the game would be in how isolation makes every interaction with a live human being into an event. The hope, the despair, the determination of it all just plain hits differently now, and in ways that make the game one to experience even if you don't end up liking it enough to stick with it for dozens of hours. The Director's Cut still does an admirable job goosing up that experience for maximum immersion. Even while trying to nudge itself towards something more approachable, there is still nothing quite like this game." -- Justin Clark [Full review]

CNET -- No Score

"So far, I've played Death Stranding to completion three times--once on PS4, then again on PC, and finally on PS5. Each playthrough of this wild, open-world game hit different, and with this third tour, I felt a strong connection with the paths I've walked and the infrastructure I've built. Death Stranding is a brilliant open-world game that gives rise to some spectacular feelings of satisfaction and splendor. It's a game like no other, and I wonder if we'll ever see anything like it again. But I can't help but feel it's the kind of game that's needed right now." -- Alessandro Fillari [Full review] CNET is GameSpot's sister site.

Polygon - No Score

"Some art will, given time, morph alongside us. Some art will wait calmly, even stubbornly, for us to return with a new perspective. Death Stranding, by my estimation, has done a bit of both. It has sat patiently, confident in its mechanisms and gargantuan in its ideas, but it has also shifted--just a little bit--while we all did our best to grow. So: Is Death Stranding: Director's Cut worth playing? Absolutely. Especially now. Was Death Stranding also worth playing in 2019? I'd say so. I just wasn't ready for it yet." -- Mike Mahardy [Full review]

ComicBook -- 2.5/5

"There's no denying Death Stranding: Director's Cut's technical achievements. It's incredibly immersive, putting every new capability built into the PlayStation 5 to the test and coming out triumphant. If you were disappointed by Death Stranding's unwieldy gameplay the first time around, the Director's Cut isn't going to win you over. But if Kojima's storytelling won you over, this will be a worthwhile upgrade." -- Jamie Lovett [Full review]

TheGamer -- 5/5

"It's mindless self-indulgence of the highest order, and it's rare to see a game deliver upon its overarching ambition in such a bold, uncompromising way in the modern era. For that very reason, it deserves to be celebrated." -- Jade King [Full review]

NME -- 5/5

"If you're a newcomer to Death Stranding, the Director's Cut is the best way to play an absolute masterpiece, and I'm very jealous that you'll be able to engage with it in all its glory. Some of the systemic chaff has been cut out to maintain the atmosphere while making your adventure a little less punishing, and, as a result, it feels far more accessible than it was at launch. Death Stranding feels at home on the PS5 with its enhanced immersion, loading times, framerate bump and graphical fidelity, elevating an already great game into something extraordinary. Returning players are also getting a lot of bang for their buck if they upgrade thanks to a job lot of new content and lore, providing a great excuse to transfer your data, slip on your Bridges Boots and dive back in." -- Jordan Oloman [Full review]

IGN -- 7/10

"A long list of quality of life improvements certainly makes the PS5 Director's Cut the most feature-rich and accessible version of Death Stranding. If you're yet to experience its gorgeous vistas and general sci-fi weirdness and you’re not turned off at the thought of a 40-hour fetch quest, then this is the best way to enjoy its fiction with the least amount of friction. However, by giving us powerful new cargo-moving tools that allow us to forgo heavily burdened hikes in favour of walking the path of least resistance, it diminishes frustration at the cost of any sense of hard-earned gratification. This may be called a 'Director's Cut,' but I can't help but feel that, for better or worse, the PS4 original perhaps more closely resembles the director's vision." -- Tristan Ogilvie [Full review]

ScreenRant -- 5/5

"For new players, this means the Director's Cut is the definitive version of Kojima Productions' masterpiece. It delivers an incredibly pertinent story, with more content than ever before, to be experienced through ingenious integration of the PlayStation 5's DualSense." -- Kyle Gratton [Full review]