There are already no fewer than four ways to pre-order Death Stranding, and now it's time to throw a new option into the mix. At least you don't have to pay anything more than the normal price of the game for the Death Stranding Standard Edition (Higgs Variant), which features the Man in the Golden Mask on its cover. That's the bad guy - at least I think he's a bad guy - who is played by Troy Baker, if you're having a tough time keeping your Kojima-approved video game character names straight.
The Higgs Variant is identical to the standard edition of Death Stranding, aside from its special sleeve. But it is a nice sleeve: all grey with black embossing, and a flash of metallic gold details for the mask itself. And hey, it will match the gold bonuses you get for pre-ordering the game. Sorry if you have your heart set on that sleeve and you live in North America - it looks like it's a retailer exclusive that's only available in select European countries for now.
Amazon UK has the Higgs Variant up for pre-order right now, and Spaniards can lock down a copy at Game. I wouldn't bet on this exact version of the game coming out west of the Atlantic, but there could always be more versions like it on the way. There are plenty of characters to render in semi-metallic relief on the cover, after all. If it turns out us Americans get to have a lovely bronze relief of Guillermo del Toro (as BB specialist Deadman) we'll be laughing all the way to the bank, mark my words.
Death Stranding is still scheduled to be released on November 8, 2019. Whichever version of the game you end up with, you can look forward to discovering a whole lot of Norman Reedus Easter eggs.
