Arrowhead Game Studios returns with an explosive, exciting and chaotic third-person shooter sequel that has set a new standard in live-service gaming.
I don’t remember the last time I played a game as fun as Helldivers II.
Helldivers II – The joy of spreading “managed democracy.”
2009’s Left 4 Dead II might be the closest.
Helldivers II is fun. A riot. A hoot. A laugh. It’s tension, excitement, carnage, explosions and outright chaos bundled into a package that costs half of what many other titles cost and provides more entertainment value than any game I think I’ve played in a decade and a half. It wears its Starship Troopers influence on its sleeve and its genuinely a funny game to boot. Especially when you use a medkit and get a “Ah! Liberty!” Or the grenade tossing slogan, “Have a cup of Liber-Tea!”
As with The Finals, Helldivers II is a game-changer that has set what I’ll be seeing as the new standard for comparisons with co-op, third-person-shooters and action games. This is a higher bar for a cheaper entry cost. Excuses be damned.
Helldivers II – The influences of Starship Troopers are never far.
Coming seven years after its well-received predecessor, Helldivers II brilliantly builds upon what was already an engaging, satisfying and entertaining foundation. With a gameplay loop that lends itself to a “Oh, go on then, one more round”, a good progression system and a balanced sense of difficulty.
The premise is a simple one, but it works brilliantly: You are orbital-dropped onto a procedurally generated world full of enemies, objectives and pickups. Then, its time to “spread managed democracy” in the form of shooting, exploding, lasering, plasma-ing, immolating, orbital bombing, electrifying and otherwise laying waste to everything around you before you and your squad call for extract (or evacuation – depending on how the mission’s gone), holding off a few waves before flying back to your ship.
Helldivers II – A cinematic of a Helldiver drop.
Where Helldivers is most fun is in the chaos that unfolds throughout. Swarms of enemies will rush or shoot you from all directions pretty much the moment your boots hit the ground. Friendly fire is on and won’t be coming off – anything you can use to harm the enemy does just as much harm to your teammates.
At your disposal to fight the enemy are Stratagems. A mix of orbital and air to ground munitions, deployable turrets and other defences and man-portable heavy weapons. You need to put a series of inputs in to get them – easy when there isn’t a Charger snapping at your heels or a pair of Berserkers swinging chainsaws at you – and then you throw the marker.
Speaking of enemies, at present there’s two factions. The Termanids are a swarm of bugs ranging from dog-sized chaff to three-storey high titans. The other current faction is the Automatons – very much akin to Terminators with bases, walkers and tanks. They each present a distinctly different playstyle required to deal with them and present very distinct styles with which they’ll try and deal with you. Veterans of Helldivers will remember a third faction, the Illuminate – a highly advanced race of aliens who the in-game galaxy map has conveniently left a space for. We’ll see if those make an appearance.
On the bridge of the ship is a galaxy map split into sections. Each section has several worlds, each with its own biome. At present most sectors are under humanity’s control but rest assured this will not be the case for long as the factions start to spread out. This back and forth will mean different places are set for missions at different times, keeping rotation for missions fresh.
Helldivers II’s galaxy-map.
Upon starting a mission, you or the team you’re with are supplied a set number of lives with which to keep fighting. If a player dies, it falls to another player to call in a reinforcement pod. If all players die, you spawn back in automatically – the downtime between carnage in-match is very short.
The missions involve a set objective you need to complete in order to have the mission considered a success. These range from things like taking surface samples to refuelling shuttles to launching an ICMB that explodes over the horizon. Every one of these triggers an assault by enemies which you have to deal with whilst also managing the terminals on the objectives which have little tasks to complete, so you can’t just start it off and run.
Helldivers II – A particular set of mission objectives.
Secondary objectives dot the maps, and they tend to boost your mission in some way. For example, there can be an artillery placement on the map you need to load the ammo into (a variety of shells with different effects dot the site and you can arrange them in the weapon anyway you want) which then becomes a Stratagem. Another is a radar that you activate which shows all the loot areas on the map.
As mentioned earlier, the map you play on is procedurally generated. I was impressed with this as – whilst the biome is standard across a world – they all felt distinct. Some encircled lakes, others had mountains splitting them, some were large open plains and others craggy passes. It’s a really smooth system with plenty of variety.
Helldivers II – A defence mission.
Back on the ship, you spend resources and money earned in-mission to upgrade your ship which in turn boost the power of stratagems, buy more stratagems and unlock items and weapons through the game’s “war bonds” system. There is a premium currency which you can spend real money on, but I was never low on that currency as you can unlock it through the war bond system and you find plenty in game, too.
There are so many elements to this game I adore. The aesthetic options aren’t in-depth but many look distinctly different. The weapons feel weighty with a momentum to them swinging around, your character moves really fluidly, and the dive NEVER gets old. Rewards are consistent, the progression feels fair, unlocks impacting. The gameplay loop rocks, and the action is chaotic and uncompromising. It’s brilliant.
Helldivers II – A Termanid Bile Titan.
I’ve wracked my brains to think of something I don’t like and I’m struggling. Anything I can think of has a big old asterisk next to it that I can reason with. There’s next to no story to speak of, but I don’t feel like there has to be and we’ll see what Arrowhead brings in in the future when the galaxy-map starts to flesh out. It can be played solo, but it is absolutely intended to be played as a pair, trio or four-person.
There is a premium currency which can rub me the wrong way but believe me this is about the least predatory of them you’ll ever see. It’s most expensive pack is most games’ second or third cheapest and you earn plenty just playing the game and looking around. There’s an argument to be made for the small market that swaps out items being a bit of “fear of missing out” but it will roll around again. The war bond progressions don’t leave; one is due to come about every month, but the previous ones stay put.
If I had to come up with one, single true negative for me: Being always-online isn’t something I like and when there’s server issues you simply can’t play. That really is about the worst I can say about it; that can be enough for some people so know that going in.
Helldivers II.
The game runs well technically, the gameplay is amazingly, it is a barrel of laughs and is relatively cheap compared to many other titles.
Helldivers II absolutely deserves your attention if you’re at all interested in co-op games, action games or want to live out some Starship Troopers bug-slaying business with your friends.
I adore this game. Helldivers II is fantastic and I worry how long it’ll be before we get a game as fun as this again. In the most enthusiastic way, I strongly recommend Helldivers II.
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