There's no need to wait for Death Stranding on PC to play a game about lugging heavy objects around and falling over.
Steam users are clamoring to download Walking Simulator, a free-to-play love letter and/or damning indictment of Kojima Productions' latest creation. While it's still in beta, you can already play through a series of missions that set you tromping across post-apocalyptic Antarctica to make deliveries. They say it's post-apocalyptic anyway, it mostly just looks like Antarctica.
Just like in Death Stranding, you start out by strapping items to your back and making your way in the world on foot. Eventually you collect enough "Likes" to purchase handy vehicles like a jetpack or a flatbed truck. There's none of that wishy washy infrastructure creation here: you'll drive that truck straight across the Antarctic ice fields like the grizzled ice road trucker you were born to be.
You'll also fall down and ragdoll a lot. But enough of my assessment, here are some of the glowing reviews from the Steam community:
"10/10 'Simply jawdropping' -Hideo Kojima" - Mtropele
"I like the part where you walk." - PerhapsYaBoi
"pretty good substitute for death stranding assuming that death stranding is the same it just costs 40-70 dollars more than this" - Bad Time Tim
In one of the rare negative reviews for Walking Simulator, a displeased player pointed out one of the inconsistencies at the heart of the game.
"you can run" - Miyagi
I might argue that, much like Kojima Productions dropping product placement into Death Stranding as a commentary on the cultural influence of brands extending well into the post apocalypse, developer Pugscape included the capability to run in Walking Simulator as a reflection on how quickly we sacrifice our ideals at the altar of convenience. I just made all that up, but it sounds right.
The Death Stranding PC release date has been delayed, so you'll have some extra time to wander Antarctica in Walking Simulator.
The long-awaited next entry in the cult classic horror RPG series Pathologic is getting a free "prelude" game, and after 19 years we'll finally see the mysterious Capital
Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid lead Hideo Kojima once said "everything I make ends up feeling somewhat like a movie" because he'd "grown up with them"
