Death Stranding 2: On the Beachis out today, and it’s already managed a pretty successful achievement: making Norman Reedus' in-game model actually look like Norman Reedus. As an actor, Reedus has a long history of video game appearances: he’s best known for his appearance asThe Walking Deadcharacter Daryl Dixon, whom he plays in a variety of video game cameos. He’s also had a long history of collaborations with Hideo Kojima, beginning withthe canceledSilent Hills. But in all his video game appearances, developers could never get one thing right: an accurate model of Norman Reedus' face.
That goes for his previous work with Kojima, too: a post on X (formerly Twitter) bySucumba Gamesdisplays the “evolution of Norman Reedus' modeling,” with screenshots of Reedus-based characters in games on the PS3, PS4, and PS5, including the firstDeath Stranding. While they always bear a certain likeness to the real Reedus, there’s something off about each one of them - untilDeath Stranding 2appears to have gotten it perfect, displaying a photorealistic model of Norman Reedus mugging for the camera.
Death Stranding 2’s Norman Reedus Looks As Good As Real Life
How Reedus-Rendering Technology Has Evolved
The post collects four screenshots of Reedus as he’s appeared in various video games over the years, beginning with his video game debut in 2013 -The Walking Dead: Survival Instincton the PS3, where he, of course, cameos as Daryl. This Reedus looks a bit too thin and emaciated, and his hair’s cut a little shorter than usual to resemble his first appearance inThe Walking Dead- buthe doesn’t look quite right.
Norman Reedus was set to appear (at least in likeness) in the 2010Boondock Saintsvideo game, but it was canceled before release.
Up next ishis first collaboration with Kojima, the playableSilent HillstrailerPT, released on the PS4 the following year. While he looks a little more like himself here, something’s still wrong - it might be that his nose is a little too straight, or that his cheekbones aren’t sharp enough, or that his gaze is too piercing, or a little bit of all three. What follows is a screenshot from the firstDeath Stranding, much later in the PS4’s lifecycle, which includes an accurate, but still obviously computer-generated Norman Reedus.
To round the post out,there’s an image of a photorealistic Reedus as he appears inDeath Stranding 2, basically indistinguishable from real life. His hair, his wrinkles, even the pores on his face are rendered in incredible detail, unparalleled even by other games of the same generation. It’s honestly a feat of technology thatDeath Stranding 2is able to pull off these kinds of graphics on a base PS5, but that’s the kind ofquality we’ve come to expect from Kojima.
Video Game Technology Has Massively Improved
How Kojima Productions Is Creating Realistic Graphics
The fact of the matter is thatvideo game technology has come a long way since 2013, allowing us to render Norman Reedus (and other actors) in much higher fidelity. This is thanks, in no small part, to the face-scanning technology used by Kojima Productions; it’s become a bit of an in-joke that, every time Kojima meets an actor, director, or other celebrity he admires, he’ll “scan” them into his latest game, adding them to an ever-growing collection of virtual luminaries.
The star-studded cast and nigh-realistic graphics are a big part ofthe game’s high Metacritic score- many critics mention them among its positives. Hideo Kojima has always been at the forefront of gaming innovation, and it seems that holds true withDeath Stranding 2.
