Hideo Kojima's latest slice of digital cinematic cinematic-ness is coming to PC in the next couple of weeks and we had the chance to go hands-on with the near-final build of Death Stranding. Running on the same DECIMA engine that powered Horizon Zero Dawn (also PC-bound in 2020), this is the sort of PC-port that bodes well for the future. Translation, it looks and runs great.

Of course we were running the game on an RTX 2080 powered rig, but still.

Running on the DECIMA engine, the same toolset that powered the also coming-to-PC Horizon Zero Dawn, Death Stranding presents an interesting case study. That being, the curious case of how a AAA and previously PlayStation 4-only release will look on PC. The short answer is, stunning.

With the game’s post-apocalyptic vision of Earth having an almost photo-real quality to it. From lush grass to highly detailed rock formations, to mud and dirt, and a realistic looking Norman Reedus (as Sam Porter Bridge) riding a future bike, carrying future parcels.

Outside of the loading times that feel very much like something from the console realm, Death Stranding’s PC port is exceptional. Support for various resolutions, high frame-rates, ultra-wide monitors, and both NVIDIA’s DLSS 2.0 rendering and AMD’s Fidelity FX image sharpening is here. Plus, some tinkering of effects like shadows, depth-of-field, and motion blur. All of that and it runs smooth and feels as responsive as you’d hope.

Click Here to Read Our Full Death Stranding PC Preview