Arrowhead Game Studios, an independent Swedish video game developer, may have created the 2024 Game of the Year, yet you have likely never heard of them. The studio released Helldivers II for PC and PlayStation 5 on February 8, 2024, and it is fair to say it has taken the co-op video game world by storm. Helldivers II combines the tongue-in-cheek fun of the Starship Troopers movie with the grit of The Terminator series, tosses in some over-the-top weaponry, and the result is quite remarkable.
Unlike the original Helldivers, a top-down co-op shooter, Helldivers II is a third-person shooter, making it more appealing to the gaming masses. While you won’t find Helldivers II on any eSports online betting sites with it being PVE, you will almost certainly see it listed as an option at the end-of-year game awards because Arrowhead Game Studios has created a video game masterpiece.
Helldivers II is set a century after the original game, with humans winning the battle for “Super Earth” from three factions: Cyborgs, Terminids, and The Illuminate. Humans discover that Terminids, a variety of bug-like creatures that look like they have been lifted straight out of Starship Troopers, produce E-710 (turn it upside down, and it reads OIL), a unique and highly valuable fuel source upon their death. Terminids are farmed in human-colonized worlds, but the Terminids break free and are hell-bent on causing havoc and getting revenge. Your job as a Helldiver is to stop the bugs from taking over planets and restore managed democracy.
Dropped Straight Into the Action
Helldivers II wastes little time in dropping you into intense action. Following the Starship Troopers-esque opening credits, you are briefly put through basic training, a series of small tasks designed to show you the game’s controls and mechanics. Immediately after earning your Helldiver title, you are hell-dropped onto a planet for your first taste of action.
The tutorial mission is a walk in the park because the difficulty is set to Trivial, the first of nine difficulties. Thus, the Terminids go down without much of a fight and don’t hit too hard. Complete the training mission, and you are given command of your own Super Destroyer and sent out into space to bring liberty and managed democracy to the universe.
The Replay Factor is Remarkably High
Every mission feels different, even if you have performed the same tasks several times. Each part of the planet has a different terrain to navigate, various enemies spawn in random locations, and optional objectives for you to complete. Combined with the open-world design, these features mean no two missions are identical, even if they have the same objectives.
Although you can play Helldivers II solo, the game comes into its own when you play as a team of up to four. I’ve logged 60 hours since launch and teamed up with plenty of random Helldivers who are now considered friends. It is excellent fun creating a loadout that complements my teammates before dropping into what seems like a certain death, only for us to defeat hordes of enemies, survive by the skin of our teeth, and extract to fight another day.
Superb Attention to Detail
Arrowhead Game Studios should be applauded for its attention to the small details because they add to the immersion. Each gun feels weighty and different through the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controllers. Something as simple as the trigger feeling different as your magazine empties is a brilliant touch. Speaking of magazines, reloading with ammunition remaining means you lose the ammo when you discard the magazine; bullets and shells do not magically reappear, meaning you must manage your inventory.
Thankfully, you can call down resupplies from your Super Destroyer. You do this by pressing a combination on the direction pad, which can prove tricky in the heat of battle as Terminids or Cyborgs swarm you in unrelenting numbers. The same direction pad tapping allows you to call in Strategems, powerful attacks fired from your ship or deployed via an Eagle shuttle. These Strategems come with a cooldown, meaning you can’t spam the enemy with them, and using them always feels worth the work.
Also, your Helldiver can receive damage to specific body parts, each affecting how they move and perform. Injuring your leg will make you unable to sprint while injuring both legs makes it almost impossible to move. You can endure severe damage to your chest, resulting in your Helldiver slowly bleeding out, or you can break your arms, meaning your ability to aim reduces, as does the distance of throwing grenades and stratagems. A quick stim injection restores your Helldiver to full health, but these stims are limited in number and have to be resupplied.
Everything Is Available to Everyone
While some stratagems are locked behind your character’s level, you earn plenty of XP for completing missions, meaning you will soon unlock the most powerful orbital strikes. Likewise, a free battle pass (known as Warbonds) contains weapons, armor, emotes, and other cosmetics that you will quickly unlock by receiving medals for completing objectives.
Even the two premium Warbonds that are currently available are open to all. You need Super Credits to unlock them, which you can purchase, but most maps have Super Credits to find, meaning you may never have to make another purchase outside of buying the game.
Conclusion
Helldivers II is incredible fun, and it will be a massive surprise if it does not walk away with more than its fair share of awards come the end of the year. The game is not without its bugs – pardon the pun – including inexplicably drowning while swimming, the occasional crash, and the odd server issue, but Arrowhead Game Studios is fixing everything behind the scenes promptly.
By all means, embark on a solo journey through the galaxy, ridding the world of Terminids and Cyborgs, but be aware that Helldivers II is so much better when you enter the battle with at least one teammate. Should you buy Helldivers II? Yes is the resounding answer; who else will dish out managed democracy and restore normality to Super Earth?
