HELLDIVERS™ 2 Reviews

This game used to be fun and genuinely addictive, even without a friend group. However, the so called caring developers are coping and seething at their playerbase for enjoying the game not the way they intended to and "rebalancing", while acting innocent and good willing when they inevitably receive backlash for the gorillionth time. Who knows, maybe in 6-7 years the game will finally be worth playing again.

Last night I was playing fine (2:30am EST). Get on tonight and every time a light turns on, off, or blinks in game (consoles, lightning, weapons flashes) it turns my screen into a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Christmas tree. Red, blue, yellow and green lights suddenly fill up my entire screen. I've done two purges and reinstalls after two attempts at file validation, and the issue remains, so it's clearly your ♥♥♥♥-ass graphics update that makes lighting wig the ♥♥♥♥ out. What the ♥♥♥♥, guys. First it was every gun that you ever put in the game getting nerfed, now we're not even allowed to see?

Helldivers is a really great game, Though there is a catch. This game has some of the wonkiest crashes of any game I've ever played. I don't struggle with it as much anymore but when you crash in this game it really takes you out of the game. The gameplay loop can get extremely repetitive, and after around 80 there reallly isn't anything to do but grind out warbonds, and truthfully, medal grinding can get really old really quickly. That being said, this game is updated very consistently for better or worse. When you first play this game, you will probably play it for a week straight and then go, damn, whats left.

The core gameplay loop is incredibly fun and genuinely unique in the video game industry. [h2]BUT...[/h2] The company behind it, [b]Arrowhead Game Studios[/b], seems to hate people actually playing their game—which is ironic, considering this is a [b]MULTIPLAYER LIVE-SERVICE GAME[/b]. Their relationship with the playerbase constantly reminds me of a quote from [i]Far Cry 3[/i]'s Vaas Montenegro: "[i]Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is? Insanity is doing the exact same ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ thing... over and over again, expecting ♥♥♥♥ to change... [/i]" [h2]Example of This Game's Insanity[/h2] [list] [*][b]Make a great game.[/b] [*]Nerf everything into the ground [i](for no good reason).[/i] [*]The playerbase review-bombs the game. [*]The developers acknowledge the problem. [*]Revert the changes. [*]Arrowhead promises: [i]"We'll never do this again."[/i] [*]Nerf everything into the ground [b]AGAIN[/b]. [*]The playerbase review-bombs the game [b]AGAIN[/b]. [*]The developers acknowledge the problem [b]AGAIN[/b]. [*]Revert the changes [b]AGAIN[/b]. [*]Arrowhead promises [i]"We'll never do this again"[/i] [b]AGAIN[/b]. [/list] [h1]AND THE CYCLE KEEPS REPEATING[/h1] [hr][/hr] Oh, and while you're at it, please fix the optimization and crashing issues. The bugs are reproducing faster than Terminids. [i](Maybe changing the game engine wouldn't be the worst idea.)[/i]

The company made a golden goose, so instead of fostering a community around it they lie to us about changes, mock people who like weapons and gameplay that the devs themselves added, and continue to continuously roll out nerfs for players for a PVE only game all to support their philosophy that hasnt been relevant since launch. Sad that they can't be honest to or respect their own player base, but that's where I have to step out. It was a fun game.

I really hate to write this review because i love the gameplay of Helldivers 2 and its concept is fun but oh my god its been in a downward spiral. The game itself i think is fun and is still fun but not as much as it used to be. I think it can be recovered but i don't expect it to happen anytime soon. First of all the community sucks. Lots of random people are just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ for no reason, a lot of people gaslight themselves into praising the devs horrid decisions, very few normal debates and conversations tend to happen around Helldivers 2. The devs don't really help because they seem to like adding gasoline to the dumpster fire. The communication in the community and especially between the devs and players is awful. Devs will say they wont do a specific thing and will come up with a workaround to still do what they said they wouldn't without technically doing that thing. For example a gun called the coyote. I personally don't care for the gun but i think the devs pulled ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ around it. Saw people were having FUN with it and said they wont nerf it and then in the very next patch nerfed fire. The coyote, a rifle that does fire damage, was unsurprisingly affected by this change. The entire idea of balancing in this game is heavily flawed because the most fun things always get nerfed because the devs look at what gets the most usage. Nearly every balance change we usually get affects the players in this pve game, ignoring all of the glaring issues that all the enemy types have and have had for months. Enemies with broken logic and hitboxes? Those clearly don't need to be addressed at all instead have some random weapon nerfs that make no sense. The devs don't playtest the game at all. Take it with a grain a salt because i might be remembering incorrectly but the devs i think have said they see the playerbase as their playtesters. Yknow instead of the people making the things and actually knowing what needs to be tested because of how many hidden variables are in this game? Speaking of there's so many mechanics in this game that are not explained at all anywhere except for the wiki that the players had to make via DATAMINING TO FIND OUT WHAT THE ♥♥♥♥ DID WHAT. Lots of the logic in this game also just makes no damn sense. The devs have brought up the concept of realism several times SPECIFICALLY when talking about player equipment. Ignoring the sentient robots and mutant insect population that both basically have their own solar systems under control. The helldivers have to play around "realism" and only the helldivers. And a lot of the logic around the helldivers still isn't even realistic at all. We have a heavy tank that uses medium armor and can be destroyed with a spear. The bots have basically the exact same tank and it requires, who would've ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ guessed, anti tank weapons to destroy. Or heavy armor penetration on its weakpoint. A recent update that makes me really upset is about the exosuits. I personally don't care about the exosuits. I do care about sentries. A recent patch added a premium warbond centered around exosuits, bringing with it two new exosuits. Since new exosuits were added the devs increased the exosuits health. And for some reason after increasing the exosuit health they also increased the durable damage that enemies do so they can keep up with the health change... Why change the health if you're gonna increase the amount of damage it takes. Oh I know why! ITS BECAUSE SENTRIES DIDN'T GET A HEALTH INCREASE SO THEY WILL GET DESTROYED FASTER BY EVERYTHING BECAUSE THEY WORK OFF OF DURABLE DAMAGE. I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE BALANCING LOGIC FOR THIS ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ GAME. Another thing adding onto the enemies having obvious issues for a long time that remain unfixed while we get amputated by updates more often. The idea of "known issues". There is a list of known issues that the devs have been updating and working on. These are about bugs in the game. And no not the terminid kind. There are multiple things that everyone who plays helldivers 2 is aware of and is not on the know issues list and should be. A specific one is hellpod steering. When you die and are reinforced you can steer where your hellpod goes to try and get an advantage point if you land in a fight. Except any kind of high ground you cant land on and you will automatically steer away from high ground. This is actually intended by the devs so you cant get up to high ground and not be overwhelmed at close range. But oh guess what even if you use other tools like a jump pack or hover pack to get high ground ENEMIES PHASE THROUGH THE WALLS AND GROUND TO GET UP TO YOU ANYWAYS. This game seems more and more intended to not be fun the longer its around. You play as an "elite force" that have to work like grunts with cool weapons. One more thing about bugs any playtesting. This game has had issues for a long time about certain bugs applying to you specifically if you are hosting the lobby. This makes no sense how do you even cause that why do you wait multiple months to address it and try to fix it only to introduce three more host exclusive bugs. This game is held together by scotch tape and dry spaghetti. Oh yeah the premium warbond system and superstore! This FORTY DOLLAR GAME HAS MICROTRANSACTIONS FOR MORE THAN HALF OF THE EQUIPMENT IN THE ENTIRE GAME!!! Technically yes you can find super credits in missions but its so unrealistic to be able to get everything that costs super credits in a reasonable amount of time without buying super credits and even if you did the devs will add another warbond and set of gear in the superstore every month. Each page of the superstore is as expensive as a premium warbond if not more expensive. The game is already 40$ I do not believe that they need micro transactions in their paid game to keep funding it. Its 40$. Im sorry but if you are considering purchasing Helldivers 2 please reconsider for probably another year. This game is amazing at its core but is handled horrifically and needs a lot of fixing. I personally think the best chance to get it if you don't have it will end up being never or when the devs drop it from live service and work on another game because then the anticheat will be removed and modders can fix them game themselves. I don't believe in happy endings because experience has taught me not to.

Nerfing something i bought with actual money is not that fun in a PVE game just saying

I love this game, so much. Its in a rough time though. Anybody on the fence about buying it, just wait until its in a better spot.

Helldivers 2 was one of the best co-op games I have played in years. Chaotic, hilarious, brutal, cinematic, and genuinely special. It felt like a glorious exercise in Managed Democracy, where every mission was a beautiful disaster and every dead Helldiver was a small price to pay for Liberty. Unfortunately, Arrowhead now appears to be fighting a new enemy: their own game. Recent balance changes have turned what was once fun chaos into a live-service cautionary tale. Weapons get “adjusted” in ways that make the game less enjoyable. Enemy balance swings wildly. Performance gets worse. Communication gets slippery. Patch notes say one thing, the game feels like another, and then suddenly we are told after the fact that a released patch was apparently just a “test.” Ah yes. A test patch. Released to the public. With no clear warning in the original patch notes. Truly, the Ministry of Truth is working overtime. The latest patch was supposed to improve graphics performance issues. Instead, for me and apparently a huge chunk of the community, performance became worse. Not slightly worse. Not “please verify your files” worse. More like “did the Automatons sabotage my GPU?” worse. When player surveys are showing overwhelming reports of degraded performance, that is not a minor edge case. That is a managed disaster. The worst part is that the core game is still brilliant underneath the rubble. That is what makes this so frustrating. Helldivers 2 is not a bad game. It is a great game being slowly strangled by bad balance decisions, poor communication, and an increasingly impressive ability to turn community goodwill into orbital debris. Arrowhead had lightning in a bottle. A rare thing. A game people loved, defended, memed, and wanted to see succeed. But instead of reinforcing what worked, they keep “balancing” the fun out of it and then acting surprised when the citizens of Super Earth start questioning command. I want to recommend this game. I really do. There is still greatness here. But right now, I cannot recommend it in good faith. Until Arrowhead stops treating the live player base like unpaid QA testers, starts being honest about what patches are actually doing, and remembers that fun is not an exploit to be nerfed, this game remains a tragic example of how to take a beloved success and march it straight into friendly fire. For Liberty. For Managed Democracy. For the love of Super Earth, stop killing your own game.

Players ask weapons like the coyote to not be nerfed. Developers promise not to nerf the coyote. Secretly nerfs the coyote and tries to hide it. Players ask for a useful and fun buff to the one true flag. Developers say it would be unrealistic. Has literal plot armor on certain armors, adds the agitators which do what players want but for enemies, chargers can turn on a dime, war striders have unlimited supplies of grenades, certain bugs whiff fart clouds and take off at absurd speeds. Players ask for a buff to the stim pistol or some kind of lock-on feature to make it more useful, developers insist "no one would use it". Players are limited by "realism". Enemies can hike over mountains and dead bodies, can regenerate shields an infinite number of times while players cannot, have better armor on things such as tanks. Players ask to be super soldiers that are still expendable because that's what's advertised and is fun, developers would rather force players to be stormtroopers who can barely accomplish anything, have limbs break from a light breeze, and will add things to make them die in unfair ways such as leviathans and innumerable ways to ragdoll the player into certain death. Want to fight chargers in fun and interesting ways? No no, shoot them in the head with a rocket launcher. Want war striders to be fought in fun and creative ways? No no, shoot them with a rocket launcher. Regularly locks new and fun content behind a paywall, Sure is nice of almost every enemy to be almost completely silent when spotting and running up to the player, nothing is more fun than suddenly losing half of your health from something that manifested out of thin air. Players ask for challenge, developers add annoyance because dying over and over automatically makes your game hard, I guess. People complain about having to use and being kicked for not embracing the meta, developers outright enforce the use of a handful of explosive weapons and get praised for it. Asks for feedback, only listens to their highly curated discord and select reddit communities that ban any negativity or anything that isn't blind praise or positivity. Creates one of the most beloved and fastest selling games of all time, and slowly ruins it because they cannot get their heads out of their own asses. Struck absolute gold, but they wanted copper so keep mining for copper despite their customers complaints. This is yet another plea, don't let this amazing game rot like so many before it because you can't listen to the people paying for your product, instead of creating a herd of yes-men who barely play the game and will leave you for dead when defending your bad choices isn't popular anymore.