Managed Democracy is a cornerstone of advanced civilization
Helldivers 2 (HD2) is a game that has problems, but I still find myself enjoying it despite the flaws. I was late to the hype train when this game came out because I was hooked on Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, but I finally got around to playing and here are my thoughts about Arrowhead Game Studios's latest title.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Fun multiplayer-based gameplay
Tons of weapons, perks, and abilities to utilize
Lots of cosmetic options to choose from
Beautiful environments for you to traverse
Cons
Missions are repetitive, with nothing unique to them after a while
177 countries cannot play the game due to Sony's PSN issue
Don't forget to take breaks, that is if you want to be remembered as a coward
HD2 is a 3rd person shooter where you are assigned to missions to take out alien threats. You will either fight Terminds or Automations, with those factions being on corresponding planets for you to explore. You can select a mission for you and three other players, and these missions will have a certain number of objectives to complete. There are also side objectives in those missions that provide bonuses upon completion.
Shooting in the game is genuinely nice and all the weapons that you have access to are fun to use. Each weapon has its own purpose, but everything is up to your own personal preference in terms of useability.
Before starting a mission, you can select your gear, weapons, Stratagems, and Boosters to help you and your teammates secure objectives. Boosters are applied for the duration of the mission which enhances the resources available, and they can be used every mission, although only one person can equip one at a time, as they cannot stack.
Stratagems are abilities that the Helldivers can call down to help them on their missions, they can have a wide range of abilities for you to utilize. There are offensive ones that can either call down eagle or orbital strikes, defensive ones that can give you turret guns to help hold your ground or support ones that will give you a weapon for you to use.
In terms of enemy types, they each have their own methods to be taken out but there will be tougher variations of them depending on the difficulty you selected for the mission. These stronger variants will usually have their weak points on their backs, so teamwork is especially important when taking them out.
There are a ton of weapons you can use to help take out enemies, with even more available by spending medals. You can get these medals by completing objectives on missions and can also use them to unlock cosmetics for your character as well. Boosters are also unlocked by this method.
At the end of each mission, you will be awarded experience points that work towards increasing your level which unlocks even more weapons as your level rises. You can also upgrade the ship you are on by collecting materials in the missions you play.
With all of this in mind, the customization options in HD2 are fantastic with a vast variety of options for you to choose from. Although specific armor is preferred for certain missions as they do have passive abilities attached to them. Although everything else is up to you in what you want to bring with you on the missions you play.
Despite all this praise, there are in fact two issues that I want to address with the game.
The first problem I have is that the mission structure remains the same throughout the game. This problem can be avoided when you are playing with friends, and I will admit that it’s not a huge issue but still something I wanted to bring up, especially for solo players.
However, the biggest issue that I have is not with HD2, rather it’s with Sony. HD2 was supposed to be a part of Sony’s PSN program. This would force the player to connect to the PSN servers before they could play the game. People took issue with this, rightfully so in fact. This is due to Sony not having a good record of accomplishment with keeping people’s data safe, but the big issue is that a large majority of countries don’t have access to PSN. This means that a lot of countries would not be able to play HD2.
Fortunately, this decision was later reversed thanks to the protests from the HD2 community. However, even with Sony reversing their initial PSN mandates, a total of 177 countries still cannot play HD2. This was last updated on May 11th, 2024, from the research I have done. If anyone has any updates on the number of countries that can play the game, please tell me and I'll update this review.
I’ll admit though, this entire con could lead to a negative review but it’s not Arrowhead's fault for this, it’s just Sony being Sony. Imagine you buying a game but three months later you can’t even play it, the idea of how this can even be a reality is mind-blowing.
Super Earth Recommends spending 2.4 seconds per mission enjoying the scenery, A happy Helldiver is a deadly Helldiver
HD2 is a beautiful game, the planets you visit are all colorful in their own ways, and they each have a theme corresponding to them. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM. I did have to play the game on low settings to maintain a solid 30 FPS, so you will need a decent computer to run this game at reasonable frame rates.
Become a hero, become a legend, become a Helldiver
Despite my rant regarding the PSN debacle, I can easily say that Helldiver 2 is a fantastic game even with my nitpicks. I recommend this game for anyone who wants a fun third-person shooter to play with friends. While the missions may get repetitive and such, I can’t deny that HD2 is one of the best shooters I have played, and I highly recommend it for those who want a casual experience.
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