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Helldivers 2 review: a co-op shooter mixed with comedy geniusMy idea of heaven
My idea of heaven
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/PlayStation PC LLC
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/PlayStation PC LLC
Helldivers 2is a third-personco-opshooter that’s centred as much aroundactionas it is comedy.Giganticinsects and red-eyed robots threaten the sanctity of Super Earth and, frankly, this isn’t on. As a Helldiver, you must team up with your compatriots and pulverise these menaces for freedom (a shoulder-mounted laser cannon) and democracy (an aerial bombardment). Seriousness is reserved for the act of extermination, which adds tactility to the familiar motions of a shooter, making for horde management that promotes efficiency and frequent lapses of judgement in equal measure. Helldivers 2 is a slapstick masterpiece.
Helldivers supports crossplay, and I found it easy enough to join my pals on PlayStation 5. It was simply a case of exchanging friend codes, before I could join them pre-mission or even mid-game. I’ve had zero issues so far. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/PlayStation
All missions have a timer that counts down, whether that be a lengthy 30-minutes or a quickfire fifteen, and it’s your job to complete the main objectives within the time limit. For instance, destroying a number of bug nests before the final big ask - extracting safely. Feeling confident? Some missions are home to optional objectives, so if you tick those offandzip out of there safely, you’ll receive bonus rewards. Fail to extract and you’ll still get currency for upgrades, but they’ll be trimmed down a touch. And to clear up any potential live-service scares: yes, there’s a paid battle pass with some powerful goodies, but rewards don’t ever make it feel like a focus.
I particularly love how some Stratagems force jolly co-operation, like one particular rocket launcher. To make it function, one of you needs to wear a backpack full of shells, which you’ll then feed into the rocket launcher as your pal pulls the trigger. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/PlayStation
If shooting is your bread, then Stratagems are your butter. Unlockable back at your ship, these are powerful tools that’ll rain down from the sky, either in a delivery pod or as an explosive shelling. You can carry up to four in total, all of which have cooldowns and - Helldivers 2 is a generous soul - unlimited uses. Again, you can’t just press a button and they’ll conveniently fly in, oh no! Like afighting game, you’ll need to stand stock still and stab a short combination of button presses to make it appear as a grenade in your hand. Lob the Stratagem and it’ll call forth a blue beam for “care package”, and a red beam for “if you stand anywhere near this, you will die”.
Stratagems are a real spectacle. Nothing beats watching an orbital strike slam into a turret post and reduce it to metal splinters, or watching as your robot companion’s laser sizzles through Terminids. But a greater joy lies in co-ordinating your abilities with your pals, as the key to tackling the toughest missions is having a variety of tools at your disposal. I often bring an anti-tank missile launcher in with me, so my pals and I have a way to crack open the beefiest armoured lads, reducing them from terrifying threats to glorified walnuts. Another of friend is also partial to a gatling turret for extra firepower in final stand moments. Others focus more on artillery. Napalm strikes built for roasting enormous nests. Nuke equivalents that melt entire armies. A bomb that creates an acidic haze.
And it’s the Stratagems that provide many slapstick moments. Honestly, Helldivers 2 might be funniest game of the year, as the pressure of the bugs and the robots and the forced physicality of your inputs encourages a comedy of human error. A ‘friendly’ turret might target an enemy in the distance mincing your friend who unknowingly stumbles into its bullet stream, then a bomb blast might send you tumbling into a lake. One time, a friend checked Xwitter for a split-second and he walked straight into a mine, vaporising him instantly. Another time, a friend shot a seemingly innocuous canister, only for all of our screens to turn white. He’d unleashed a nuke, killing us all instantly.
Death isn’t the end in Helldivers 2, though. This is a game that understands the importance of generosity, giving all players a single pool of lives to draw from during a mission. If a friend carks it, you can call them back in via the “Reinforcement” Stratagem, which is normally one of the simpler ones to pull off, though in hairier moments even this can feel like quite a task in and of itself. But even when that life pool drops down to one, Helldivers 2 is there, ready to give you another leg up. Instead of punishing you with a fatal zero, you’ll simply enter a longer, more charitable cooldown period, giving your remaining ally the chance they need to survive just long enough to sling a friend back into the fray. It feeds the fantasy of that last ditch effort, and begets fun every single time.
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/PlayStation
Performance for me has been absolutely fine on the highest settings. And as for thoseserver issues, no major qualms that would affect this review. They’ll get sorted eventually (some already have)and the devs are doing their utmost to iron out any lingering problems.Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/PlayStation
