We have seen a lot of live-service games crash and burn over the last few years. Those games usually fail right away – games like Marvel’s Avengers and Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League. Both titles have micro-transactions that really should be called macro-transactions. The amount of money that you would need to spend to unlock every single aesthetic choice available was monstrous. Not to mention that some games promote pay-to-win by locking the best weapons and armour behind a paywall. On top of all that, the long term doesn’t seem fleshed out, the late game loop isn’t enjoyable, and progression starts to screech to a halt. It’s hard for a game to really nail constant progression and a really satisfying gameplay loop.
Every now and then, a game like Helldivers 2 comes out of nowhere. A sequel to a top down shooter that was good, but never really hit the big time. Now we’ve got a third person action shooter with really interesting progression and customization options – on day one no less. That’s ignoring the fact that it has become a massive online touchstone in the gaming community right now. You can’t scroll through Twitter or TikTok without seeing a video of friends having a complete blast. So many developers dream of getting this acclaim. Arrowhead Studios have delivered this on their very first attempt at a third person shooter. This is a huge achievement!
Not only is Helldivers 2 a fun game to watch, but it is absurdly fun to play. You and three other people have to go to different planets and defeats hordes of giant bugs and automatons. It’s hard to explain the shooting and how it feels, because you really have to try it yourself to understand, but it is some of the most enjoyable shooting I’ve ever done in a game. Each weapon feels different when shooting and reloading. The handling on each gun is also noticeably different when comparing them side by side. Pistols snap up when you aim down the sights. Rifles take a second to pull up, and the shots have recoil that you need to adapt to. Heavy machine guns take a bit to aim down the sights but they shoot for a long time. The recoil and spread is hilarious, and you can often mow down a horde of giant bugs without even giving it a second thought. Regardless of the gun you’re using, if you reload halfway through a magazine, that magazine is done. You pull out a new one and are left with one less mag on the battlefield. This took a while to get used to as it’s become habit in every shooter out there that you can reload after every few five or six bullets you shoot.
When you run out of extra ammo, you can call in extra resources by using a stratagem. Stratagems are packages you can drop onto the battlefield. Sometimes they contain ammo, others they contain heavy machine guns or shotguns, and some will drop airstrikes onto a large area. You decide which stratagem you’d like to use by playing a weird little rhythm game. You have to press the arrow buttons that are prompted without making a mistake. It’s kind of like playing Dance Dance Revolution for five seconds in the middle of a gunfight with giant bugs or automatons. That might sound frustrating, but it’s actually extremely exciting. This little directional input mechanic is used on control panels as well. Sometimes it’s best to let someone take over on an objective who is better at that, while the rest keep that person safe.
Unfortunately, playing on your own doesn’t seem feasible after a certain point. Helldivers 2 is designed to be a multiplayer co-operative game. The difficulty is not scaled depending on how many players there are, but it is a set difficulty you can select from the preparation menu. I really enjoy playing on my own, and this game doesn’t really let me do that in a productive or fulfilling way. The menus are also a little bit convoluted for the most part. I didn’t even realize there were different landscapes or enemy types until about eight hours of gameplay. I feel like it could be slightly easier to navigate, and I wish there was a way to satisfyingly play on your own, but I don’t foresee the latter ever happening.
Another huge issue I’ve been experiencing is the servers. Arrowhead has been very transparent about their server issues. They didn’t expect the game to be anywhere near as successful as it has been, and they’re working to make the servers more stable. This is an ongoing issue, and is often a problem with live service games. Hopefully these issues can be cleared, and we can realistically play for more than an hour without being booted.
I think the best and most exciting thing about Helldivers 2 is its future. There really doesn’t appear to be an end game, based on the way the game is designed. You are able to travel to different sections of the galaxy and land on planets that are swarmed by huge insects, or really angry robots with chainsaw arms. You are only able to access certain sections at a time. Meaning, that everyone who is playing Helldivers 2 is trying to liberate those parts of the solar system, and save those planets from the attacks that have been launched on them. It makes you feel like part of a community. There are parts of the galaxy that we haven’t seen yet. Planets that nobody has been on, and aspects of the game that people will learn about together. It’s a very cool design. This overall design philosophy allows for potential new enemy types and mission types to be added in the future. Maybe an update would add something that we’d get to a few weeks after it launches. I think that’s super cool and super out of the ordinary for live service games.
Another thing that is super out of the ordinary is how cheap the micro-transactions are. These are as ‘micro’ as they get. The most expensive currency you can currently buy is like $25 or something. That can buy you basically everything on a store page, and then have some left over for the next refresh. It’s so nice that you can buy a cool helmet or chest piece for $2. It actually doesn’t make me feel like a piece of shit to spend the money on a cosmetic, because it’s not asking for much at all. It’d be great to see other developers take notice.
The other major strength of Helldivers 2 is its presentation. I have never seen a game as cinematic as this one is. Some planets are covered in a layer of thick blueish fog that completely covers your field of view. Others are covered in snow or never ending sand. Every biome feels unique and fun to engage with. The real beauty comes from the combat interacting with these environments. Seeing huge red laser beams shoot through the fog, or looming metal giants looking down on your over a snowy hill. Each moment of Helldivers 2 feels like it could be the final onslaught in any action game. Whether you’re messing around throwing air raids at strangers or really trying your hardest with your friends, you will always have moments that just look like they’re choreographed for a trailer. I didn’t get to play with any friends, but I did play with a ton of strangers. I found myself having the time of my life and celebrating every time we would do literally ANYTHING. It gave me a sense of camaraderie that I’ve felt in very few games before this. I can only imagine that playing with close friends would heighten that experience drastically.
Helldivers 2 is really surprising to me. I hadn’t really understood from the trailers exactly what I was going to be getting into. I knew it looked like a goofy and fun time, but I didn’t expect it to be so genuinely well made and hard to put down. It’s clear that with the success it has already seen, Helldivers 2 is on its way to be a classic. I would love to see some new enemy types and more interesting customization options down the line, and I feel like those things are coming. Helldivers 2 is a really easy game to recommend because it’s stupidly fun in its current state, and it can only get better from here. Helldivers 2 is the equivalent of shooting for the stars, and smashing right onto the moon!
