This Death Stranding Clone Is Nothing Like Heavy Rain

Look out world: One of the most anticipated games ever created is about to hit Steam. No, we're not talking about Half-Life: Alyx. This game stars Norman Reedus in a strange, post-apocalyptic world the likes of which we've never seen before. And no, this game isn't Death Stranding either. It's a very... we'll say different game called Man Standing. Totally unrelated to Death Stranding and, as the Steam description reads, nothing at all like Heavy Rain. 

Man Standing, stylized in all caps, is a game developed by the talented folks at Alfina Gamers, directed and designed by Hideko Kojimba. The "unique game experience" forces players to "shoulder the heavy burden of the only surviving person in the world who, in a fit of schizophrenic delirium, walks to places that hold memories of untimely people who left this world." If you're thinking that this sounds familiar in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way, you're not alone. Man Standing is, unsurprisingly, a parody of Death Stranding that looks like it belongs on the PlayStation 2. 

The trailer is a strangely intense look at a low resolution Norman Reedus character model with a fridge stuck to his back walking... and not doing much else. At some point he runs into a holographic, dancing Joker — the one from the Dark Knight -- who promptly dabs. The most action we see is him shooting at floating sharks that dissolve into clouds of blood. This must be a preview of the "exciting battles with representatives of the local fauna" waiting for us in the game. 

This is far from the only Death Stranding parody game. Earlier this summer saw the release of the incredibly original mobile game called Deadly Standing from "the great genius Kokumbo." This one is very much different from Man Standing, and therefore entirely separate in theme and design from Heavy Rain. Seriously, Alfina Gamers (or Hideko Kogimbo) went out of its way to assure prospective players that Man Standing is nothing like Heavy Rain. 

This low tech (all you need is an i9 processor and 2080 Ti to play) knock off will be available on Steam on Dec. 10. If you're in the market for "deep philosophical plot, understandable not only to everyone" and "over forty hours of intense immersive addictive gameplay," then Man Standing might be the game for you.