It has been nearly nine years since a small independently published title, Helldivers, was released for one of my favourite consoles, the PS VITA (RIP). The frantic top-down shooting, the swarms of enemies, and, oddly, the usage of friendly fire triggered intense joy in my former college self that other games have failed to meet. Luckily, I was granted the opportunity to get my boots on the ground in Helldivers 2, and let me tell you, democracy was defended that day.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be one of the unfortunates in an action film? Embody the fist fodder for John Wick, or just any character not named Johnny Rico in Starship Troopers? That’s what Helldivers 2 drafts its players for—a crucible that will likely kill (or maim) one of your party members. Out with the familiar top-down perspective, and in its place is a third-person extraction shooter with teeth, comradery, more friendly fire, and a lot of high-octane action that would make Sylvester Stallone blush. My hands-on time with Helldivers 2 embodied what a video game should be: FUN.
What’s a Helldiver?
Helldivers are the last line of offence for humanity in a galaxy where civilization has evolved into Super Earth, and defending democracy is the primary objective. It’s a Helldiver’s sworn mission to invade other planets, blow up objectives, shoot enemies, and extract without leaving any men behind. Except, you can leave men behind. If you fall in battle, you will be replaced almost instantly (by an identical Helldiver with the same loadout). In the pursuit of defending democracy, Super Earth and its super-powered Destroyer battleship — pulled from the deep reaches of Star Trek — will destroy anything in its path to complete objectives.
“…being the bad guy while pretending to be the good guy is what Helldivers 2 is all about…”
Yeah… we might be the bad guys here, but being the bad guy while pretending to be the good guy is what Helldivers 2 is all about, and in a game with fun and friendly fire, a well-thought satire on the political climate is my jam. But democracy needs defending, and the bug/robot menace needs to be suffocated for it to thrive; our only purpose is combat, and rational thinking is left to the Super Earth elite. The Enterprise and the Prime Directive can go kick rocks!
Diving In!
My session with Helldivers 2 gave me a good impression of everything on offer here, and it was as precise as my 22-year-old self would have thought, Helldivers 2 is almost exactly what I would have gathered if I could go behind my top-down character in the original. You are a weapon. You will complete your objectives. You will die. These are the only certainties, as everything else is a chaotic tangle of bullets, blood, and general mayhem that assures players no two missions will ever be the same.
The loadout screen is surprisingly robust. There are many armour styles to select here that give your Helldiver individuality. Dripping in swag and bug blood is our creed. But armour is not just cosmetic, there are three different weights and each allows a Helldiver to either sustain more damage or travel at faster speeds. I chose medium armour for balance. Helmets are also well designed, think a Spartan from Halo, but with a more realistic feel. Customization (for my time with Helldivers 2) and loadouts have improved so much that fans might second-guess whether this is the second title or the third title in the series.
Back in the first Helldivers, fans were bogged down by throwing their armour selection or even their laser pointer in the special equipment choice. In Helldivers 2, you can have an armour selection, a primary weapon, a sidearm, a grenade choice, and just complete control over your loadout, as Super Earth now intends. As a bonus, teams in Helldivers 2 can strategically plan who brings what to the fight. Each player loadout is shown fully, and while my comrades elected to bring the carnage, I held the shield and my favourite, the jump pack.
Fans will instantly notice the familiar weaponry; the trusty Liberator is available, but I went with the old trusty Breaker shotgun that I abused in the original. Sometimes, an old friend is what you should bring on a new conquest. Of course, after equipping a very handsome and very heroic cape, I shot down onto a planet that had no idea what was coming. The developers at Arrowhead Games have also sneakily shaped the Helldiver pod capsules like bullets. Our Destroyer shoots to kill, and so do we.
Chaos?
Helldivers 2 throws you in the deep end without a floatation device. As a four-player team, we had to Tropic Thunder our way slowly across the perilous planet, where everything (including your teammates) can kill you. In Helldivers 2, you can deploy special equipment called Stratagems to the battlefield to turn the odds in your favour. These Stratagems range anywhere from an energy-bubble-shaped shield (real heroes wear capes and shields!) to a full-on nuclear warhead that can decimate enemy bases.
Our four-person group had just met, and after landing on the planet, we were Helldivers in arms. Working together is key to complete victory, so our group leader (called Defend Democracy) asked us to vote on where to go first, and we settled for a nearby base we had to destroy.
This was a planet inhabited by the robot menace that plagues the galaxy, so the base was higher tech than the bug’s strategy of attempting to swarm. These artificial lifeforms had higher intelligence, and some were equipped with walker robot vehicles, complete with riot shields attached to the front. Hilariously, when you attempt to shoot them from behind, they have a little chair they comfortably rest on, making them much more human.
First and foremost, grenades are weapons of mass destruction. Helldivers 2 lets you pull the pin and hold it, and that robotic vehicle (mentioned before) did not stand a chance against the awesome might of a Helldiver grenade; the enemy turned into car compost. After witnessing the destruction a single grenade can cause, I knew I had barely scratched the surface of what Helldivers 2 offers in the way of pure carnage. I was right.
Chaos!
The base had vents on the sides of the building, C.O. Defend Democracy suggested to the group “Why don’t you try throwing a grenade in there?” I missed my throw in the vent like a true Helldiver would, but the base blew up, so we all took credit. The other structure had to be taken down by a larger blast, one that a Stratagem can make short work of. I used an airstrike barrage on the structure (and missed), but the barrage lasted for about 15 seconds and rained down all over the place. Defend Democracy shouted to take cover, but it was too late.
“After priming the bomb, C.O. Defend Democracy asked us to run for our lives. After getting far enough back, we were able to watch the awesome explosion. Two of my squad mates even hugged (using an emote) over the occasion, it was a moving moment in Helldivers 2.”
Although I had accidentally perished in the blast, typing in the code by holding L1 during a firefight gave me just enough tension to misread which Stratagem I was using, and I used the barrage code instead of the single airstrike. This small moment, having to press up-up-down-right — the feeling of having to enter an old school Grand Theft Auto cheat while being under fire — while the team staves off the enemy assault, was an adrenaline-inducing gauntlet that felt all the better when the squad ended up victorious, especially when things don’t go as intended.
During the next Helldivers 2 mission, we were tasked with bringing down monstrous enemies with heavy artillery called Hulks. This allowed us to deploy the largest explosion, the Hellbomb (which is a nuke). This adds another layer of stress to the battlefield in Helldivers 2, as the bomb can be destroyed by the enemy, so we had to protect it—and the person arming it—so it could detonate. After priming the bomb, C.O. Defend Democracy asked us to run for our lives. After getting far enough back, we were able to watch the awesome explosion. Two of my squad mates even hugged (using an emote) over the occasion, it was a moving moment in Helldivers 2.
It’s comical how easy it is to die in Helldivers 2. An errant friendly fire bullet can turn you into plant food, explosions throw you far, Helldivers are allergic to fire (it can be cleverly put out by going prone and rolling), and poison is almost certain death. Vigilance is key in our mission, and hilariously enough, you can even crawl on the floor and drown yourself in a puddle. After successfully extracting from the mission, we were able to compare statistical prowess. Things such as accuracy, kills, shots fired, and friendly fire kills were compared. This can make for fun bragging rights after a session to prove you’re the real main character and not just a background death.
My time spent with Helldivers 2 brought me back to old-school LAN parties. The chaotic nature of a mission going wrong but everyone coming out in one piece, the comradery of having to work together, all while bragging and laughing at failures, feels like a new type of extraction shooter. Thankfully, Helldivers 2 invades on February 8, and hell will be brought with it.
