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Helldivers 2

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Helldivers II
Developer(s)Arrowhead Game Studios[a]
Publisher(s)Sony Interactive Entertainment
Director(s)Johan Pilestedt
Producer(s)Denis Bender
Emily McGregor
Heidi Nummi
Eduardo Zamora
Tomoyo Kimura
Designer(s)Niklas Malmborg
Programmer(s)Peter Lindgren
Artist(s)
  • Felix Fritzell
  • Calle Schytt-Winberg
Writer(s)Russ Nickel
Composer(s)Wilbert Roget II[b]
EngineAutodesk Stingray
Platform(s)
Release8 February 2024
Genre(s)Third-person shooter
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Helldivers 2 is a 2024 cooperative third-person shooter game developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5 and Windows. The game is the direct sequel to Helldivers (2015). Set in the 22nd century, the story follows the Helldivers, an elite force of shock troops dispatched to combat various threats to humanity.

Helldivers 2 was released on 8 February 2024 and received positive reviews from critics. The game sold in excess of 12 million copies within three months of its release, becoming PlayStation's fastest selling title of all time, as well as Sony's most successful Windows title. It was nominated for and won a number of awards and is considered amongst the best video games of 2024.[2][3][4][5][6]

Gameplay

[edit]
A player using the Orbital Laser Stratagem to battle Terminids.

Helldivers 2 is a shooter game primarily played from a third-person perspective.[7] Players complete tasks (called "Missions") in procedurally generated levels (or "Operations") while fending off hordes of enemies. Players choose the difficulty level of their Operations, ranging from level 1 ("Trivial") to level 10 ("Super Helldive").[8]

A core gameplay feature carried over from the first game is the use of "Stratagems", powerful equipment which must be called in from orbit by executing a sequence of directional button or arrow key inputs. Players may select up to four Stratagems in advance to take into the mission with them, as well as a "Booster" which affects the whole team.[9]

Helldivers 2 features cooperative multiplayer with up to four players,[7] but does not include a dedicated single-player campaign.[10] It also provides optional cross-play between PlayStation 5 and Windows.[11] Friendly fire is always on.[12] In the initial days of release, gameplay involved staff at the studio observing players and influencing gameplay in real time.[13]

The game features a battle pass system called "Warbonds" that never expire; as of 12 December 2024, ten Warbonds have been released: "Helldivers Mobilize"; "Steeled Veterans"; "Cutting Edge"; "Democratic Detonation"; "Polar Patriots"; "Viper Commandos"; "Freedom's Flame"; "Chemical Agents"; "Truth Enforcers"; and "Urban Legends".[14][15][16][17] Players can earn different types of in-game currency during gameplay: "Warbond Medals" and "Requisition Slips" are awarded for completing Operations, missions and game objectives; while "Super Credits" can either be found during missions or purchased via microtransactions.[18]

As players gain experience and progress in levels, they unlock different weapons and Stratagems to use during missions.[19] Players can also collect "Samples", which are used to upgrade the player's Super Destroyer, providing advantages during gameplay.[20]

By completing Operations, players also contribute to the collective progress of "Major Orders", which are mass-collaborative missions that directly affect the outcome of the Galactic War in-game.[9][21]

Plot

[edit]

Helldivers 2 is set a century after the triumph of "Super Earth", a self-described managed democracy, over the Bugs, Cyborgs, and Illuminate in Helldivers.

It is discovered that the blood of the Bugs contains a unique and highly valuable resource known as "E-710". Bug farms are established on human-colonized worlds, and after decades of genetic engineering and accelerated evolution, they become Terminids. Eventually, containment of the Terminids is breached and the creatures are released, causing widespread chaos and destruction. Simultaneously, a new threat emerges in the form of the Automatons, descendants of the defeated Cyborgs, intent on getting revenge against humanity. Subsequently, the Illuminate, an ancient and technologically advanced alien race thought to be extinct, return and invade Super Earth's colonies.[22] [23]

Environmental storytelling is prevalent throughout the game, with various logs, notes, and propaganda messages available for players to find during gameplay.[24]

Development and release

[edit]

On 3 December 2020, Arrowhead Game Studios revealed that work had started on a new project for PlayStation 5. It was confirmed that the game would be a third-person shooter.[25] Like the first game, Helldivers 2 runs on the discontinued Autodesk Stingray game engine (originally known as Bitsquid). Arrowhead Game Studios founder Johan Pilestedt confirmed on social media that "The project started before [Stingray] was discontinued," adding, "Our crazy engineers had to do everything, with no support to build the game to parity with other engines."[26][27]

On 13 September 2021, Helldivers 2 was mentioned in a GeForce Now leak.[28] The game was teased in a TikTok post showing Arrowhead's social media manager starting their workday, which is followed by a series of posts from fans demanding them to release the game.[29] On 18 August 2022, a 12-second clip of gameplay was leaked on Twitter, but was later removed.[30][31]

On 24 May 2023, Helldivers 2 was announced during the 2023 PlayStation Showcase, with a slated release of sometime in 2023.[32] On 6 July 2023, a trailer showcasing gameplay was released.[9][12] On 30 July 2023, the game received an M rating by the Entertainment Software Rating Board for "blood and gore" and "intense violence".[33] On 14 September 2023, gameplay was shown in a PlayStation State of Play event, and it was announced that the game would release on 8 February 2024.[34] Pre-orders became available on 22 September 2023.[35] On 8 February 2024, the game was released on the PlayStation Store and Steam.[36]

On 18 December 2024, Arrowhead released a crossover event with the Killzone franchise, releasing downloadable content for players to purchase with in-game currency.[37]

Reception

[edit]

Helldivers 2 received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[38][39]

Upon release, the game experienced a large influx of players, leading to widespread server and login issues for the first two weeks of release.[54] By the third week of release, the player cap was increased to "a whopping 700,000 concurrent users" according to Wesley Yin-Poole of IGN.[55]

Aaron Bayne of Push Square described the game as "a riotous affair, offering up best-in-class gunplay" and a "truly epic and often cinematic experience, mixed in with one of the best co-op gameplay romps currently available." However, he criticized the game for the server issues and crashes that players experienced after release.[49]

Helldivers 2 has been compared to the 1997 science fiction action film Starship Troopers; both are satirical comedies featuring a militaristic regime fighting against a race of large insectoids.[56][57]

Sales

[edit]

On February 11, 2024, Johan Pilestedt, then-CEO of Arrowhead Games, announced that Helldivers 2 had sold approximately 1 million units.[58]

Helldivers 2 was the largest launch of any PlayStation Studios game available on PC.[59] Arrowhead stated that the game's success has greatly exceeded their expectations.[60] Following its initial success, Arrowhead Studios announced its intention to scale its studio and team to accelerate its post-launch content plans.[61][62] Pilestedt reacted to the game's ongoing success by stating that he hopes to see Helldivers become considered as iconic as PlayStation's other intellectual properties such as Uncharted, God of War, and Horizon.[63]

In Europe, the United Kingdom, and Canada, Helldivers 2 was the best-selling game of February 2024.[64][65][66] Helldivers 2 remained the best selling game in Canada in April 2024 too.[67]

By February 24, 2024, the game was estimated to have sold over 3 million units and became the most actively played game on the PlayStation Network, surpassing Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 and Fortnite.[68] By 15 March 2024, Helldivers 2 was estimated to have sold 8 million units and reached 450,000 concurrent players on Steam.[69] By 5 May 2024, 12 million units of the game had been sold, making it PlayStation's fastest selling video game of all time.[70]

According to GameSpot, as of 2 November 2024, Helldivers 2 was the second highest selling video game of the year in the United States.[71]

Accolades

[edit]
Year Ceremony Category Result Ref.
2024 Golden Joystick Awards Ultimate Game of the Year Nominated [72][73]
Best Multiplayer Game Won
Console Game of the Year Won
Best Game Trailer (launch trailer) Won
Critics' Choice Award Won
2024 The Game Awards Best Ongoing Game Won [74]
Best Community Support Nominated
Best Action Game Nominated
Best Multiplayer Game Won
2024 PS Blog Game of the Year Best Multiplayer Experience Won [75]
2024 Game Audio Network Guild Awards Best Audio Mix Pending [76]
Best Game Foley Pending
Best Game Trailer Audio Pending
Best Main Theme Pending
Best Original Song Pending
Best Original Soundtrack Album Pending
Best UI, Reward, or Objective Sound Design Pending
Creative and Technical Achievement in Music Pending
Dialogue of the Year Pending
Creative and Technical Achievement in Sound Design Pending
Music of the Year Pending
Sound Design of the Year Pending
2024 The Steam Awards Game of the Year Pending [77]
Better with Friends Pending
Most Innovative Play Pending


PSN account controversy

[edit]

At launch, Helldivers 2 did not require PC players to log into a PlayStation Network (PSN) account, allowing players to skip the integration despite a line on boot up stating that a PSN account is required. On May 3, 2024, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that the PC version of Helldivers 2 on Steam would mandate users to sign in with a PSN account, taking effect for new players on May 6, 2024 and required for existing players by June 4, 2024. SIE stated that a PSN login is necessary to "[uphold] the values of safety and security provided on PlayStation and PlayStation Studios games", and that this requirement was not implemented at launch due to technical issues.[78] The announcement was met with criticism.[79] Additionally, many players called out that official documentation from Sony claimed that PSN accounts were optional for games on PC, with this statement changing to an ambiguous "some games" statement[80][81] after players were directed to contact Sony support by Pilestedt.[82] On 4 May, the listing on Steam was updated to disallow sales to 177 territories where PSN is not available.[83]

Pilestedt apologized for the sudden change, stating on Twitter that "I hope we will make it up and regain the trust by providing a continued great game experience".[84] Arrowhead develpers stated that they were on the side of the players and one community manager even called for the player base to negatively review the game on Steam,[85] leading to players review bombing the game; as of 4 May, nearly 53% of all posted reviews were negative,[86][87][88] with over 84,000 negative reviews on Steam.[89] Sony announced on May 5, 2024 that they would not be moving forward with the account linking requirements, and promised to work with Arrowhead to find alternate solutions to protect players.[90]

60-day plan

[edit]

By July 2024, the PC player base dropped significantly, with a reported loss of up to 90% of players on Steam. The player drop was attributed to the PSN account controversy, player frustration with weapon balancing changes and increasingly tougher enemies, as well as bugs and performance issues.[91] In response, Arrowhead announced a 60-day plan to address these issues. In September and October 2024, two major patches were released as part of the 60-day plan, which aimed to re-evaluate weapon and enemy balancing, as well as fix performance issues and bugs. The changes were positively received by the player base, with reviews once again become more positively aligned.[92]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Additional work by Toadman Interactive[1]
  2. ^ Additional music by Ross Tregenza

References

[edit]
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