With Hideo Kojima's post-apocalyptic epic casually striding onto PC in June, with it are a few Half-Life cosmetics, which Kojima himself promised would be far more than an awesome collaboration. Kojima relayed in a recent tweet that these exclusive items in Death Stranding will have "special features," akin to the Otter Hood relinquished by Conan O'Brien's in-game character.
For once, a Headcrab may actually be of some use rather than an utter nuisance.
Details on what abilities these exclusive items will give to Same Bridges (Norman Reedus) remains a mystery. Some have speculated that the Gravity Gloves (AKA Russels), which first debuted in Half-Life 2, could be utilized much like they are in the Half-Life: Alyx gameplay demo or even Death Stranding's own Sticky gun. If something is too far away from Sam to grab naturally, for instance across a strong ravine or in the bowels of a BT infested area, simply use those trusty Grav Gloves to snag it out of harm's reach. It's unclear what the Headcrab could possibly have in functionality, but it may well have something to do with BTs. Potentially (and hopefully) it limits the wearer's chances of being spotted when navigating through a BT infested area. It could also lend some sort of aid when up against those pesky MULEs.
Others maintain the theory, given that these cross-content cosmetics are exclusive only to Steam players, that they will only replace already-existing in-game items. For instance, the Power Gloves will be replaced by the Gravity Gloves and the Santa hat with the Headcrab, yet this is highly doubtful given Kojima's own words: "each one has a special feature." The wording makes it sound as though these features have yet to be experienced in-game. While Kojima only teased these two items in his post, there is still the Valve cosmetic, shown attached to the back of Sam's skull in the PC release trailer. This, too, may also have some sort of special ability, potentially making steam plume from Sam's ears when rotated.
PC players will also be treated with some extra exclusive features, such as a photo mode and ultrawide support. Despite the backlash incited over Horizon Zero Dawn's PC port, gifting it and Death Stranding to more players (and an entirely different platform in and of itself) is a worthwhile experiment that will allow these ever-growing series a chance to shine in more ways than one. It isn't over, after all, what with Kojima's own stance on creating a "Strand" genre and the fact that Norman Reedus has hinted at more projects being made, there's a great deal to anticipate as Death Stranding nears its PC release.