Nine years ago, a small development studio in Stockholm, Sweden released a novel twin stick co-op shooter that became something of a sleeper hit. Helldivers was exceptionally well-received but didn’t quite impact with audiences as well as expected. At the time, I distinctly remember the co-op implementation and wild gameplay providing a much deeper and more nuanced experience than it appeared at a surface level. It felt ahead of it’s time and vastly underrated by the community at large.



Fast forward nearly a decade and Arrowhead are back, with a sequel no less and this time, everyone is paying attention.



You would need to be living under a rock to not have heard about Helldivers 2 at this point, as of the time of writing, it’s broken the record for PlayStation Studios publishing by reaching 369,289 concurrent Steam players, leaping over GTA V at the same time. This isn’t a once off instance either, Arrowhead have now been forced to actively cap the player count to manage their increasing server loads too and for good reason. Helldivers 2 is some of the freshest, most enjoyable gaming in a very long time!

You would be forgiven for not making a connection to the original however as the sequel vastly changes the perspective from top-down twin-stick to third-person action shooter. The roots are still there though and you’ll feel right at home coming from the original. The subject matter hasn’t let up either, baked in humor and a very on-the-nose nods to sci-fi classic Starship Troopers. The fairly sparse lore around the universe of Super Earth isn’t why you’re here but it sure is entertaining.



Super Earth, a play on our own blue planet is ruled through a sort of ‘managed democracy' - one which places humanity far above any other alien race. As a Helldiver, you are the best of the best of humanity, placed on the frontlines to defend your home against the threats from beyond, these being the bug-like Terminids and cold, calculated Automatons. Very little is expanded on for either of these races, but your job isn’t to ask questions, it is to answer in a hail of bullets and bombs.

With up to three other players, you can drop down onto contested planets and complete missions for the greater good of humanity.

As a Helldiver, you’re given a ship from which you can customise your loadout, launch missions and most importantly, squad up with fellow patriots. The galaxy map plays a central and innovative role, not only can you select your missions from here, you can also view progress in the ongoing war against your enemies in real time. This brilliant feature was present in the first game and really adds (forgive me) ‘a sense of pride and accomplishment’. Real-time stats are reflected showing how much of a sector is back under Super Earth’s democratic rule. With up to three other players, you can drop down onto contested planets and complete missions for the greater good of humanity.



Helldivers’ greatest strength is how it captures the essence of teamplay. From the moment you launch in your drop pods, you are a unit, relying intensely on co-ordinated fire and movement to complete chaotic combat scenarios and prevent inadvertent friendly-fire incidents. Dropping in, players must engage in procedurally generated missions, execute a series of tasks and successfully extract to reap the full rewards available.

With a wide range of weapons to utilise, there is something for everyone, from longer range marksman rifles to close up shotguns and SMG’s, but the true brilliance of Helldivers lies in the Stratagems. A total of four Stratagems can selected prior to your drop and are deployable through air drops, offering a range of selections such as cluster bombs, sentry guns, shield generators, or supply pods containing specialized weaponry with limited uses.



The variety is immense and careful planning of which Stratagems to bring along is crucial to a successful mission. Stratagems, alongside mission-related consoles use the D-pad to type in a sequence of inputs, for example; ↓↓←↑→. While this may seem trivial, under pressure from a tidal wave of alien forces, typing these in can become exceedingly difficult while trying to run, dive and shoot your way to safety! Further to this, friendly fire is ALWAYS on, and you really do need to watch where you’re aiming, placing mines or dropping in Stratagems as these can and will kill you and your teammates.

The variety is immense and careful planning of which Stratagems to bring along is crucial to a successful mission.

With a selection of difficulties unlocked as you progress, Helldivers 2 eases you into the action, but things can go from a walk in the park to a veritable cluster-duck in a matter of minutes on the more challenging difficulties as you can quickly become overwhelmed with opponents. The Terminids, bug-like creatures a-la Starship Troopers, employ swarm tactics to bog you down in close combat, whereas the ruthless Automatons use long range weaponry to keep you behind cover while closing the gap. Notably however, it seems an enemy race from the original game, the Illuminates, have been dropped for the sequel, possibly to be added later as a new threat? I sure hope so!



Each race is suitably different providing varied combat scenarios which will keep you adjusting your approach on the fly. The beauty here is no two missions ever truly feel the same, the people you play with, the gorgeous hellscapes you fight on and the moment-to-moment combat and objectives feel different than the last.

There is something to be said for a game where you aren’t necessarily always playing with friends, instead with strangers and in my first week with the game, a kind of unwritten rule has come to light on missions. Share ammo, equip strangers with better gear on the ground and make sure everyone stays alive. It’s a brilliant, unspoken co-ordination and it is, to my eyes, the pinnacle of co-operative gameplay; true teamwork.



Helldivers 2 isn’t just a brilliant example of co-operative play, it’s a stunning realisation as a sequel. The original was a great-looking game, but the shift from top-down to third-person is beautifully realised. Gorgeous landscapes with enough diversity to fill the galaxy play host to some brilliant and cinematic visuals. Vast tracts of land are teeming with detail, from dense forests to barren wastelands, all with dynamic weather conditions. More often than not, these conditions can completely turn a mission on it’s head as your visibility can be reduced to near zero.

The original was a great-looking game, but the shift from top-down to third-person is beautifully realised.

Accompanying this is a soundtrack and sound design that makes for nothing short of audio porn. The brilliant theme track, replete with French horns is a total hype track as you watch your drop pods scream in on each mission and there is enough dynamism in additional tracks to keep things interesting and tense. The rest of the sound design is nothing short of magnificent: thumping rifles, screaming aliens and hilarious one-liners from the divers themselves paint a brilliant and comedic picture throughout your adventures.



Helldivers 2 stands as one of the freshest and most engaging co-operative experiences I have experienced in a very long time. It’s titles like this that really create communities and shape the future of the industry, and it must be mentioned that while a virtual store is present, the pricing is exceptionally good in comparison to other titles with similar offerings. The entire game is the same price as a skin in the new Suicide Squad! It’s a bit of a no-brainer.

Having achieved success already well beyond Arrowhead’s expectations, it will come as no surprise that the studio is scrambling to fix issues with server capacity. Over the past three days I have been unable to play due to full servers. Hopefully this is rectified quickly, but it really is a tribute to the success of the title overall. If you’re looking for a new co-op fix with friends or just curious, don’t sleep on this one, it is a roaring good time for players both new and old.

*PS5/PC Review codes provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment