Okay, full disclosure – I have never played Helldivers in my life. Of course, after playing the sequel, I guess that must change. Eventually. Like, when I’m done with my gazillion reviews.
Anyway, it has been a long time, maybe, since the vanilla versions of Destiny and Destiny 2, where I have played a community-driven game that felt like progress was being made and, more importantly, I was part of a team that was helping to progress the game’s world. Half the fun of a team-oriented shooter is buying into the world and having good reason to keep coming back.
Beyond being a part of a bigger picture and helping to make that picture bigger, Hell Divers II gives plenty of reasons to be a good teammate by providing a set of liberation goals that push the player into a bigger world. The more you do in the game, and succeed, the more the game opens and gives the developers a reason to reward you for your efforts. And those rewards appear to be infinite now, which is part of the reason this game is receiving so much love.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the game’s enemies are creepy ass giant bugs. Mix those with big guns and plenty of quirky lines to keep you giggling, and there is something positive going on here.
So, call down that air strike and rain hell on those dastardly bugs, and let’s get going with the Hell Diver’s II review.
A story only Starship Trooper fans could appreciate
The story of Helldivers II runs with the tale of Starship Troopers. You need to stop a vicious cycle of bugs from destroying humanity and the only way to do that is to get on the front and fight. You play as a Hell Diver, a soldier that gets down and dirty against a massive number of vicious insects that populate several spaces and worlds. The more missions you get on, the more objectives that you accomplish, and the more bugs you wipe out, the more planets you liberate, as a constant story keeps unfolding.
The concept of Helldivers II is simple, and you don’t need to hang on to the story to get the most out of the game as it seems to legitimately take a page out of the goofy sci-fi movie Starship Troopers. Sure, that film has scary and intense moments, but it balances it with humor that keeps the story and experience at an even pace. Helldivers II follows that same pattern, where you might feel some intense moments, especially when escaping a planet and a massive army of bugs is trying to take you down, but it balances out with good humor that dances back and forth with seriousness.
So, don’t go into the game thinking you’re going to have some massive tale that is going to inspire you and make you think that it was well-written. Just sit back, go with the flow of it all, and then absolutely take in all the ridiculous and over-the-top lines the game has to offer during actual gameplay. The dialogue is just pure gold that matches the beat of the story perfectly. That story drum isn’t loud, but it is present enough to be heard.
Now, about that gameplay…
Easy to pick up gameplay
The game wants you to get into battle quickly, and it doesn’t try to overcomplicate the experience with anything out of the ordinary. The game wants you to get in, get down and dirty with battles, and mainly just enjoy the time with friends. It’s obvious this is the gameplay design, and it couldn’t be more appreciated with its intentions. Now, that isn’t to say it doesn’t have a complicated side because it does. But let’s start with the uncomplicated pieces.
Uncomplicated pieces
When the game starts, you’re given choices of fronts your diver can help liberate from groups of bugs. Once you choose what you want to liberate and where you want to land, you’re sent off in a diving pod to join your fellow soldiers and keep the bugs from winning. When your diver hits the ground, several things are going on.
The first and most obvious is that you point and shoot bugs, close bug sanctuary holes, and just try to survive the best way you can. The gameplay is simple and doesn’t require too much thought. It just wants you to get in, go shoot, and then eventually get out. On a base level, it’s that easy to understand. It works and it also can create some repetitiveness, which we will get into in the next section. But if the game is a pick-up-and-go experience, then mission accomplished.
The other portion of this game that you’ll figure out immediately with a tiny push is how important teammates are in the game. As mentioned above, the game wants you to play with teammates and have a good time. Going rogue in Helldivers II isn’t a viable long-term option, as going solo means you’ll be overtaken by bugs quickly. Teammates are a necessity when it comes to this game and sticking with people to get through missions is an easy-to-see gameplay design.
When success happens in the game, then it starts getting a bit more complicated.
Goals and XP
Finding and shooting bugs is one thing, but the game also requires you to complete goals in the shortest time possible. Those goals could be wiping an area clean of bugs, destroying eggs, or collecting samples on the planet. The game also allows you to go off the beaten path and accomplish side quests you happen upon, such as loading up ammo to a large cannon while keeping bugs off your team. These little side quests of sorts aren’t necessary for success but the more you do during a single mission, the more XP you get out of it. And that’s the goal of the game, get more XP. That XP is measured by certain attributes of said goal.
The complicated backend of this experience comes in the form of acquiring war ribbons and turning them into upgraded character traits, such as having more options to strike an area from above or simply becoming stronger. This backend part, which exists on your home ship once a mission is complete, has plenty of unlockables that gently and silently encourage you to get back in the game so that you can open more of them up. From ship upgrades to character traits, there are plenty of decisions to make on the backend that might equal a more complicated strategy.
While XP is nice, as well as upgrades and circular gameplay that send you into the meatgrinder and out, the game does feature some microtransactions. Most of them are cosmetic, much like what you would find in Destiny 2, and won’t change the gameplay experience significantly. They are present though.
Regardless, the strategic complication of trying to get the most useful combination of firepower to help your team makes for a wonderful time.
Guns and controls
The variety of guns in Helldivers II is impressive, as you have such a nice selection that starts with standard firearms, such as your basic one-shot pistol, and extends to downright frightening firearms that can explode bugs from far away with extreme prejudice. As stated above, the more XP you get, the better you do on missions, which equals more access to better weapons. Guns are fun and how the game treats them is more realistic than the story it lives within.
Making the call
Calling for supplies, a strike from above, or extra-strong weapons is as easy as hitting L1 on the controller. Once you hit L1, and choose what you want to call from your dropship, you must press a series of directions in order on the d-pad of the controller. If you make a mistake, the sequence restarts. It’s easy, a little nerve-y, and things can get intense when you’re out of ammo and trying to frantically do it while avoiding an army of bugs. Much like the combat aspect of the title, it’s a simple concept that is built on complicated intentions underneath.
Overall, the gameplay in Helldivers II can be as simple as you want or as complicated as you make it. Regardless of how you approach it, all of it points back to working with your team to accomplish a goal of maximum success. That’s a lot of the charm in this goofy game.
Repetitive but rewarding
The only downside to constant liberation from the front of a battle is that eventually, you’re going to get some repetitiveness in the mix. The enemies, while interesting for the most part, can be repeating targets that become uninteresting when you play the game for long periods. The above gameplay elements of success, XP, and new upgrades are wonderful distractions from repetitive enemies, but you will feel it as you play more and more.
Is that a bad thing? Repetitiveness isn’t ever something you want to notice when playing team-based games but there is enough motivation with goals and rewards to help push past it truly affecting the game experience.
Anyway, it’s there. Maybe as the devs open new planets to liberate that will change up the enemies more and more. More variety is always a better thing.
Gorgeous game. That’s all you need to know. Simply gorgeous.
On that note, let’s wrap this up.
Conclusion
Helldivers II from developer Arrowhead Game Studios is a team-driven experience that is goal-driven fun wrapped in a goofy Starship Troopers tip of the hat. While the gameplay can get repetitive, the reward system helps to balance it out.
