It’s well known among video game fans that Kojima Productions’ upcoming title Death Stranding will be chock full of oddities when it releases for PlayStation 4 on November 8. As if phenomenon like pod babies, ghost breastfeeding, and Geoff Keighley holograms weren’t enough to make us scratch our heads, Hideo Kojima revealed at Gamescom this year that protagonist Sam Porter Bridges will be able to fight foes with nothing more than his own urine. To call that resourceful is a bit of an understatement. Weaponized pee may seem strange at a glance, but it isn’t too out of the ordinary for the legendary video game designer that brought us such as artistic marvels as dying from old age and a ridiculously long ladder. The following are the best innovations that Kojima has gifted us with so far.
ALSO: New Death Stranding trailer shown at Gamescom Opening Night
Kojima Innovations | The pee box
Death Stranding won’t be the first time that Kojima implements urine as a gameplay mechanic, as he experimented with pee in the original Metal Gear Solid. In order to face off against the infamous Sniper Wolf, players must make their way through an underground cave filled with ravenous wolves. Meryl tags along for the journey and if fans hit the woman, she’ll retaliate. This causes a pack of wolves to rush toward Snake, but if the spy deftly equips his cardboard box before the animals get to him, they’ll have no choice but to pee on his disguise. This comes in handy later on in the game when more wolves appear, as Snake is able to blend in with the environment thanks to the scent of his pee box. In the Metal Gear universe, urine is the gift that keeps on giving.
Kojima Innovations | Using ketchup to escape prison
Though Otacon wants his bottle of “Italian, tomato-based food condiment” to complement an order of fries one day, Snake finds a better use for it when he’s imprisoned on Shadow Moses. While a guard is using the bathroom, players can apply the ketchup onto Snake’s body so that he appears to have been bludgeoned to death. When the solider enters the room, Snake can karate chop him in the head to dispatch him and escape. Otacon may not have anything to dip his fries into anymore, but at least his partner is alive. It’s a pretty fair trade-off.
Kojima Innovations | Psycho Mantis
The boss fight with Psycho Mantis in Metal Gear Solid had to be on this list somewhere. Considered by some to be one the most iconic villains in video game history, what makes Snake’s confrontation with the character so novel is how the esper manages to mess around with the player’s head. Turning the screen black, vibrating the controller haphazardly, reading the memory card, and criticizing the user for saving too often are a few phenomenon that the boss is able to conjure seemingly by magic. The only way to topple the foe on the original PlayStation is to switch the controller from the console’s first port to its secondary one. Suffice it to say that this Kojima innovation forced everyone to think outside the (cardboard) box.
Kojima Innovations | Codec freakouts
Towards the end of Metal Gear Solid 2, it’s revealed that Raiden’s partner, Colonel, is actually an A.I. controlled by a malicious group called the Patriots. As the protagonist tries to escape Big Shell, he’s frequently interrupted via codec call with such nonsense as “Li-Li-Lu-Le-Lo” and stories of the Colonel’s recent encounter with extraterrestrials. The commander even gets Raiden’s fiancée, Rose, to appear in an attempt to convince the hero that she cheated on him earlier that year. The whole ordeal is one great big obstacle that players must learn to ignore if they ever hope to play as Snake again.
Kojima Innovations | The End
Metal Gear Solid 3‘s boss encounter with The End evokes Psycho Mantis in how it also encourages players to think creativity. Instead of taking on the sniper in a grueling fight, fans could wait for a week to pass in-game or fast forward the time in their console’s system clock. Either action results in the boss’ defeat, as he dies from old age. This Kojima innovation serves to teach video game fans that sometimes all we need is a little bit of patience.
Kojima Innovations | A very long ladder
While Metal Gear Solid 3‘s The Fear and The Fury are pretty tough boss fights, one encounter in the game that fans often overlook is Snake’s battle with a horribly long ladder in the Krasnogorje Mountainside. The structure takes roughly two minutes to ascend if players keep their finger glued to the joystick. People who find The End’s boss fight to be needlessly drawn out may have a hard time here.
Kojima Innovations | Cardboard box posters
In Metal Gear Solid 5, fans can pick up a variety of posters featuring scantily women. While this can be easily misconstrued as fan service, Snake can adorn his cardboard boxes with the images in order to distract guards in the surrounding area. Some may come close to get a better look, but they’ll never ask why a swimsuit model is prancing around in their covert military base. Real-life and cartoon women are apparently enough to weaken the defenses of any Soviet soldier.
Should Death Stranding perform well at retail in a few months, there’s a good chance we’ll see more shenanigans from Kojima Productions in the future. If subsequent titles from the developer delivers excellent stories and compelling gameplay, all kinds of human and animal waste are welcome.
