A new game has risen to challenge the Triple-A gaming industry. This time we have Helldivers 2 from Arrowhead Studios, a 3rd person co-op hoard shooter.
This game takes place in the far future where Humans have become an interstellar species and started colonizing planets. We unite under one banner – the banner of Super Earth. The government of Super Earth calls itself a “Managed Democracy”.
This means an AI asks the citizens questions and according to those answers votes for the citizen. This AI of course can be tampered with, but don’t question it or you’ll be sentenced as a fascist. The people and government of Super Earth are extremely patriotic and would do anything for Super Earth. So, when galactic enemies arose, you know people signed up to the military in droves. In the game you play as an elite soldier called a “Helldiver” dropped from orbital pods to liberate planets from the “fascist” enemies of Super Earth.
But what is a Helldiver?
Weapons of Democracy
Every Helldiver is armed with a primary weapon, secondary weapon, and grenades of their liking.
They also have the capability of calling in Stratagems. These Stratagems are deployed through a handheld beacon which commands are programmed into.
What Stratagem is called in depends on the sequence of arrows which are inputted. These Stratagems come from the super destroyer that you command which is floating in orbit.
You can call in huge bombs, orbitals lasers, support weapons or mechs. These support weapons are crucial in the battlefield, especially when against heavily armored enemies. These Stratagems do include cooldowns, so use them wisely. This whole system of Stratagems is a fun and unique way to incorporate abilities into a game. Especially with the cooldowns, you really need to think use a specific stratagem or should save it for later.
The best part is the amazing scenes and graphics of these Stratagems. You feel like you're on top of the world seeing the pure destruction from dropping several hundred kg of bombs and lasers on top of the enemies of Super Earth. It makes you feel as though you are in a movie almost like the Tony Stark explosion scene in the first Iron Man movie.
Although, these weapons can hit your friends so make sure you don’t turn your friend into red mist. What kind of enemies need this type of firepower though?
The Automatons
There are currently two factions which a Helldiver can exterminate.
On the western front you fight the Automaton threat. These robot “terrorist” focus attacking at range through various firearms. They have the likes of laser rifles, miniguns, artillery, and cannons.
These combined factors make nowhere truly safe. Especially on higher difficulties it can lead to thrilling battles against the various heavily armed Automatons. These engagements with the enemy can become dire fast if not dealt with quickly. Various heavily armored enemies like tanks and Hulk Automatons can make quick work of your squad. If not taken out, many of these elite enemies will build up and start to farm you and your team. Various times I've been stuck in an uphill battle in scenarios like these.
The cooldown for support weapon Stratagems can lead to your team struggling to penetrate the armor of these mechanical beasts. The Automatons have various outposts around the maps which include fabricators which produce more Automatons if not destroyed.
The number of guards varies depending on the size of the outpost. Large ones almost always include the presence of a hulk and sometimes a large laser cannon. This cannon is surprising precise at long ranges and will delete you from existence.
The Automatons keep the game fresh due to a quite different playstyle compared to the Terminids. Some weapons which are effective against Terminids aren’t as effective against the Automatons. This allows for the use of a larger variety of weapons which are played differently, and this also keeps the game feeling fresh.
I personally prefer the Automatons compared to the Terminids I just enjoy these long-range fights against them. Especially when there are many of them. It feels like a scene straight out of Star Wars with lasers flying all over.
The Terminids
On the eastern front of the galaxy, you have the Terminids regarded by Super Earth to be “fascist bugs.”
These bugs live underground in hives with a monarchy system like the ants of earth. Super Earth has yet to find out how these bugs get from planet to planet. Some believe they just throw rocks into space with eggs on them, but who knows for sure.
These bugs present a threat to humanity as they’ll kill any human on sight without remorse. These bugs deploy hoard like tactics using sheer numbers to kill their enemies. Once they get close, they’ll attack you with their scythe-like claws which can take limbs off a person with ease.
There are numerous types of bugs, most of which you can take out with normal weaponry. The most prominent threats are the Chargers and Bile Titans. Chargers are very heavily armored bugs which as their name implies charge at you. If this charge were to hit, you would be crushed to death or heavily injured. The main challenge of this bug is their armor. This armor requires the use rocket launchers to penetrate it and kill the bug.
The Bile Titan is a different monster. This bug dwarfs any human with a height of upwards of 30ft. This bug will throw acidic bile melting anything it touches. On higher difficulties as many as 5 of them could exist at a time. With their size it almost turns into a scene straight out of Attack on Titan with that many coming at you.
It’s fun to mow down hordes of bugs with a machine gun, especially if it’s one mounted on a mech. What takes the cake for me though is playing with a Flamethrower. You can just torch hordes of bugs and what’s better it even goes through the charger's armor. Along with your Helldivers screams and yells it really makes it feel like you're in space Hell.
This chaos is the main charm of the game, it’s just very enjoyable. Alternatively, you could mitigate this chaos by being a coordinated squad with your friends or random people you meet online.
The Community
The community of the game is fantastic. Many are kind to new players and are willing to help them learn the game. Mainly the artistic community of this game is amazing.
You’ll see propaganda posters in favor of Super Earth almost everywhere you see the game. They really play into the idea of Super Earth being militaristic. They serve to motivate and inspire the citizens of Super Earth into enlisting as a Helldiver. These posters are honestly the reason I bought the game to begin with. They really make you feel patriotic to a country that doesn’t even really exist. It’s like you’re a part of something bigger which you really are.
How? You may ask, well due to the liberation system in the game.
Every planet has a liberation meter, and the community participates in its completion. Depending on the difficulty you play with you may add at times around .0003% to it. Don’t be fooled, this may look insignificant, but it isn’t when there are upwards of 100k people on a singular planet at a time.
The community can rally around a major order which is given to every Helldiver. This usually includes the liberation of a specific planet which is how so many people focus on one planet. At times I've seen 300k people on a singular planet.
To make sure we can’t steamroll through systems the game has a “Game Master.” This game master is allowed to increase the rate at which a planet will “deliberate” itself meaning it will require more Helldivers, thus more liberation. I feel that this unity within this community is unique. Lately, various multiplayer games have developed a toxic community, but this is the opposite.
If this sounds like a game for you, go ahead and enlist as a Helldiver today!
Ratings:
Steam: 9/10
IGN: 9/10
Metacritic: 8.2/10
About the Contributor
Jose Chi