A new project from the Arrowhead Game Studios, makers of Magicka and Gauntlet, can easily claim the “Game of the Year” title. The popularity of Helldivers 2, which breaks new online records daily, speaks for itself. It’s not every day or even month that games like this are made: fun, teamwork, the desire to do good, cause love, and bring democracy to the enemies of humanity are important here! You’ve probably already seen many epic videos where everything around you is exploding from shells, the guts of beetles, and the limbs of allies are flying. And yes! Everything is just like that. Keep reading to see why we think this is one of the best games of the year (so far…). This is our Helldivers 2 PC review.
Those who say the game is just about running around the map from point to point and killing three bugs may have only watched 15 minutes of a stream on release day on easy difficulty. In fact, at 5+ difficulty, there are more waves with beetles and more beetles themselves. Yes, there are moments of respite from the shootings, but without them, it wouldn’t be exciting either.
To this point, I would like to add that each player can choose the optimal difficulty for themselves because there are as many as 9. Whether you are a sophisticated fighter for controlled democracy or just decided to spend the evening with a light, unfiltered one.
There is no serious plot in Helldivers 2; there is no great protagonist on whose shoulders lies the world’s salvation, but the game does not need this. There are inhabitants of Super-Earth who love freedom and democracy, and there are enemies who oppose everything that the Super-Earths like. Fortunately, Super-Earth has a powerful army that roams space on warships and punishes with fire and sword everyone who is not like people and does not share their views. You are part of this army, one of the millions of hellish marines armed with the latest military-industrial complex and hardened in harsh battles against formidable enemies.
The whole essence of the conflict and, in general, everything you need to know about the Helldivers universe and the player’s place in it is easily and quickly conveyed by the introductory video, made in the form of an advertisement for military service, offering to become part of the elite peacekeepers spreading democracy throughout the galaxy. If you do not want to enroll in their ranks after this, then there is something wrong with you.
The player will have to take on the role of a warrior who needs to land on various planets to complete the tasks set by the leadership. There is no development of history as such. First, H2 is a sessional third-person shooter, but the developers have already mentioned that they will try to modify the plot based on the players’ current achievements.
After this, the player undergoes a young fighter course, where he is given basic knowledge about stratagems, weapons, opponents, and some mechanics. He is immediately sent to sow freedom and damage democracy.
The authors promised a real battle map, where you can monitor the number of conquered planets and the state of sectors, which will change depending on the players’ contribution to the common cause. And they gave it, which is an exciting feature of the project. The developers will develop it, offering various events that will force the hellish paratroopers to abandon their work in one sector and urgently fly to protect another. What’s happening right now: while players have been recapturing sectors from the bugs since release, insidious authoritarian automatons have attacked the planets of super-earthlings, and players will have to defend new territories for 12 days.
Each sector contains several planets at once, each with its own geographical and climatic features that can simplify or significantly complicate the campaign. Those desert planets are often blanketed by sandstorms, which reduce visibility and cause energy weapons to overheat (more on that later). Each time, mission locations are randomly generated, so every foray into enemy-controlled territory will be interesting.
In addition to completing the main task – the destruction of enemy buildings, namely the main task from the authorities such as establishing communications, launching an intercontinental ballistic missile, and rescuing scientists – on each map, there are additional missions, the completion of which can help during battles with the enemy or exploration of locations, and what’s nice is that there are a lot of them, so don’t be surprised
For example, paratroopers can activate a weapon and then load it with various types of projectiles – from napalm to a mini-nuclear missile – to show the enemy the error of his decision to fight against the infernal landing.
Or launch a radar that will reveal all points on the map with hidden ammunition, additional weapons, materials for improving the battle cruiser, and super-credits (local game currency). At higher difficulty levels, additional firepower can greatly help evacuate the entire squad from the planet when the radar will always be helpful.
The most important help in solving assigned combat missions for hellish paratroopers are the so-called stratagems – beacons, with the help of which turrets, airstrikes, various equipment, and even railgun shots from a battle cruiser hanging in low orbit can be called to the battlefield.
You can take up to four stratagems with you on a mission into battle, and activating each one turns into a real mini-game that requires you to set a certain combination. In the heat of battle, it’s quite easy to make a mistake with a combination and drop an SOS beacon instead of an airstrike, but this makes each confrontation with the enemy more tense and fun.
Well, since the stratagem behaves like a grenade, if it unsuccessfully bounces off the enemy’s armor, then the Super-Earth ships will turn fire on the location of the paratroopers. The stratagem can even fall out of the hands of a hellish marine if he is knocked down by an enemy attack or a simple shock wave from an explosion that occurs next to him, which is why an airstrike can be called directly on himself.
Helldivers 2’s modest arsenal makes up for it with the functionality of every weapon type available to the Hellborne Marines. There is an energy gun that does not consume ammunition but can burn cooling modules with intensive use. Its effectiveness is greatly reduced on hot planets, but it can mow down entire armies of enemies in locations where the climate is cold. However, my observation showed that the most effective shotgun in the game is the “Crusher” – it is available almost immediately, deals astronomical damage, penetrates light armor, and shoots over long distances.
Along with the main weapon, you can also take a secondary weapon into battle and summon it using a stratagem. The game does not provide any universal choice, forcing you to adapt to almost every task individually. For example, suppose you have to face armored targets during a mission. In that case, it is better to take a recoilless rifle or an autocannon, when an arc thrower that shoots lightning jumping between enemies is suitable for dealing with groups of enemies.
Speaking of enemies. Democracy and freedom in Helldivers 2 so far have two enemies – automatons, which the game presented as socialists in one of the commercials, and terminid beetles. Moreover, both factions are so different from each other, offering completely different experiences – the Arrowhead studio did such a good job on the opponents of the hellish landing.
The beetles are overwhelming in numbers, overwhelming the paratroopers with meat and forcing them to try to organize a strong defense. The automatons are not as numerous as the terminals, but unlike the beetles, they shoot back at the hellish paratroopers, forcing them to change their location and use cover constantly.
Although Helldivers 2 can be played in splendid isolation, it is highly undesirable to do so. The game is much more interesting when the tasks are carried out by a team of four paratroopers, turning the battlefield into a real hell with orbital strikes, air raids, and volleys of railguns and missiles. Some types of weapons, like the same recoilless rifle, are much easier to use together: while one paratrooper plays the shooter role, the second helps him reload the weapon. And finally, you will never get tired of hearing the cries of “Taste democracy!” from comrades emptying clips at advancing enemies or their maniacal laughter as they burn out bugs with a flamethrower.
Only the lazy did not compare the latest project to destroy beetles and other evil spirits with Starship Troopers. It’s unsurprising – a similar setting, brave fighters everywhere, and an atmosphere of hopelessness. The game very accurately conveys the current situation, adding sparkling humor. The humorous background starts from the first video and continues into the battlefields. For example, we hold the trigger of a machine gun and enjoy the insane screams and laughter of a character who sincerely wants to destroy the enemy.
And this is even without the chaos from the players’ actions. Gamers will more than once “accidentally” kill their comrades or find themselves hopeless. All this opens up vivid emotions from the gameplay in an almost limitless world of fun.
And it will be almost impossible to go beyond the fifth difficulty level alone due to the number and quality of enemies. The higher the difficulty level, the more valuable the rewards for completing tasks. Some upgrades for your starship will be impossible without resources available only in the most difficult missions.
The main and perhaps only problem of Helldivers 2 since its launch has been the servers that cannot cope with the influx of players. Sometimes, you will see a connection error message that takes longer than it takes to complete some missions. Arrowhead increased the server capacity a few days after the games were released, but the studio has not yet been able to solve the connection problems completely. The squat and prone positions with accompanying shooting buffs are perfectly implemented.
And I’ll highlight the jumping, it’s wonderful. I’m not the first to say this, but Max Payne comes to mind! You can jump however you want, anywhere, and do whatever you want at that moment. You can shoot, throw a grenade, or call a stratagem now. It all looks simply gorgeous! Excitement, adrenaline, and joy awaken when, in a jump, not having time to land, you call an ally, hit six keys in flight, and run away from a crowd of beetles.
With graphics and level design, everything is also in order and at a high level. The only thing I can criticize is the detailing of the backgrounds (everything is obscured by fog). Voice acting and audio accompaniment were not left out. The characters constantly shout various slogans, and the sounds of gunfire and other side effects are very accurately conveyed.
Motion and physics. Like with weapons, we also worked on the physics of the spell (and enemies, by the way). The weight feels great. When I fall from a height, everything shrinks inside me! Oh, how you feel the weight of a heavy vehicle when it’s rushing towards you… Before this I’ve never seen how they convey concussion in games, they did it quite well here XD. Beetles have zonal damage, armor flies off, limbs too, pieces fly apart, and some bugs, even without a head, can run up and break your arm!
Also, one of the noticeable disadvantages is that without expanding the map, missions, weapons and other details, the game can become boring after several dozen hours spent destroying beetles and cyborgs. However, even during this time, it will more than recoup the investment and provide an entertaining gaming experience.
Ultimately…
Helldivers 2 is an exciting adventure for friends who have long dreamed of immersing themselves in cooperative action and spending time together. Arrowhead Game Studios and Sony worked together to surprise the community, create a high-quality game, and open a portal to an entertaining universe. We’ll see what the developers can add later, but even now, you can enjoy the gameplay, but only in co-op. All subsequent updates will be completely free, allowing you to avoid spending money on purchasing DLC.
Helldivers 2 will appeal to fans of “meat” and cooperative shooters. The game will provide vivid emotions from the gameplay and allow you to enjoy large-scale battles with friends. We recommend it!
