Helldivers 2: The Good, the Bad, and the Democratic
Helldivers 2 has been getting lots of attention lately—and, speaking from experience, that attention is very justified. Between being raised by grandparents who frowned on video games and having a neurological condition that makes motion and visual effects in games uncomfortable (if not outright dangerous), I am not as entrenched in gaming as many of my fellow X-ennials. I don't have decades of muscle memory that make Soulsborne games rewarding or first-person shooters second nature. It's why I follow video game channels, to be honest: it's the only way I can interact with most offerings long-term.
So when I find a game that I both can play and want to play, it's huge. So when both the oshi and my friend group couldn't shut up about Helldivers 2, I had to give it a go. And it is one of the few games, ever, that I have stuck with consistently since picking it up. Or as consistently as I can while holding down multiple jobs.
It's Starship Troopers meets the Terminator franchise. It's a blunt and unsubtle satire of modern warfare. It's also fun as hell and shockingly welcoming to new and untested gamers. So, in advance of the upcoming Escalation of Freedom update, I thought it was time to give a rundown of what works, why it works, and also a diplomatic assessment of where the game could be a bit better. Because we're all about spreading democracy, right?...
The Good
The thing that first attracted me to Helldivers 2 is how it handles multiplayer. I've never enjoyed PVP, and not just because I don't have the time or skills to "git gud." I have more fun figuring out how to deploy resources to solve a problem—whether that be through tactical games like Super Robot Wars or real-time co-op. I do, in fact, love it when a plan comes together.
So knowing that Helldivers 2 is co-op only was a huge draw. Sure, a rando could drop in on your mission and make life difficult, but the way things are set up, there's only so much they can do that. Alongside that, it's hard to be a detriment to your team just by being unskilled, which makes the learning curve much more welcoming. When you're in an environment where everyone's working toward the same goal, coming back to learn and improve is way more fun.
I really appreciate that you can set up for private games, friends-only matches, or open things up to anyone. The in-game voice chat works pretty well, too; I've only encountered a few glitches in my time, and they can generally be fixed by rebooting.
Visually it's a gorgeous game. The planets all feel like different planets, even if you're doing similar missions and fighting similar baddies. Evacuating civilians on any planet requires the same steps (regardless of if you're fighting bugs or bots), but whether you're braving blizzards or fire tornadoes depends on where you land. Leveling up your ship actually leads to aesthetic changes, which both look good and help you get a better sense of how far you've come. And maybe this is just the propane porn fan in me talking, but those explosions are glorious.
Best of all, I love the game devs' involvement. This ranges from actively handling the wargame aspect to doing some frankly magnificent social media work. While there are very few interpersonal problems, they fix the ones that arise (like the issue of "grief kicking"). And they're also just damn good people—don't forget how they matched players' motivation to save in-game children by donating to Save the Children.
The Bad
I will say, the good outweighs the bad in Helldivers 2. If it didn't, I wouldn't keep coming back. But many are the times when a night's diving has ended in frustration. If I was soloing, I would chalk this up to me just sucking at gaming and call it a day. But when I'm in the company of leveled-up friends who do have the gamer instincts I lack, and even they're frustrated beyond the bounds of fun, something's up.
The two biggest issues, at least in my experience, are glitchy crossplay and whatever is going on with enemy spawning. In the case of the former, I'm simply hoping this is a matter of growing pains. The fact that there's cross-system play at all is magnificent. But as a Steam player, I have a much harder time friending my actual friends. This is even with my PSN account hooked up. You can generate friend codes, but they reset whenever you log off, meaning I can't just pass a code to my buddy for them to pick up at their convenience. (Accursed time zones.)
Now, spawn rates. Again, I wouldn't complain about these if it were just me, because I generally assume any major problems I have in video games are a skill issue. But there's a strange disconnect between how many outposts you close up and how many breaches come in. A friend apparently found the formula: shutting down outposts lessens the wave of enemies until it doesn't. There's some kind of magic number at which they'll start calling in outside forces, so there's a degree of management to be done. This has my little brain ticking over: more tactics to work out.
But I have found myself on lower-level missions where the sheer amount of spawns makes no sense. The storyteller in me wants to believe they're stressing us out in advance of introducing new power-ups. The baby gamer in me just feels frustrated.
Your Mileage May Vary
There are shades of grey in anything, of course—things I think I want, but that I'm aware might unbalance what already works. Things that might suit only me as opposed to the broad player base. So this is where I throw those: things I've observed, but that I'm aware might just be a "me" thing, so I'm not confident enough to file them under things that are "good" or "bad."
First is squad size. Four might be the magic number, and if that's what the devs have found works, so be it. I will admit that my desire for a more flexible squad size comes from the fact that I have lots of friends who play, and I want more of us to get to convene. I think all of us have been stuck outside "4/4 fighting Terminids" at some point. That desire, though, is absolutely not a good reason to unbalance the gameplay. But I wouldn't say no to the occasional super-duper-democracy mission with bigger squads.
I also crave a bit more storytelling... but again, that's the storyteller in me. I am absolutely the personal who interacts with non-mission-critical prompts, trying to glean whatever I can about the setting. And considering we are the ones shaping this universe with our actions, there's only so much story one can pre-plan. If we fail to liberate a planet, that just happens and the course of the war changes. (See also the "Save the Children" thing—we chose saving kids over upgrades and that happened.) And that's a part of the game I love a lot because of how important it makes even one player feel. But if the devs ever feel so inclined, I'd love to see some story points backfilled after the fact. Aconyte, if you ever pick up the license for tie-in books, call me.
Last thing... I just want to be able to swim. Or even to get some armor in a warbond that lets me swim. Just give me some little orange floaties. Something.
All things being equal, this game is magnificent. I love the visuals. I love the music. I love the explosions. I love that, as war-torn and ridiculous as it is, the player base as people is so good. If you're wondering whether you should play, the answer is yes.
I'd give you my info so you could friend me, but again, Steam friend codes are a mess.
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