Helldivers 2 Review - A Refreshing Multiplayer Experience

Helldivers 2 is a unique and satisfying multiplayer experience that feels refreshing thanks to its old-school approach to storytelling, gameplay, progression, and monetization. 

It abandons the core pillars of what most modern multiplayer shooters are built upon — loot-based gameplay, bloated grind, and embarrassing monetization schemes — and instead boasts simple yet challenging moment-to-moment gameplay, slow but straightforward progression, and a monetization system that's more play-to-earn than play-to-win. 

Helldivers 2 Overview

The best thing about Helldivers 2 is how unabashedly fun it is to play. Every mission has a chance to go smoothly or erratically, and regardless of the way it goes, it's bound to be a memorable experience.

At its core, Helldivers 2 is a PvE extraction shooter where you and your fellow comrades drop into one of the many procedurally generated planets to eradicate alien life forces, complete random objectives, and extract successfully with all the resources you gathered to complete the mission. Doing so can reward you with XP, Medals, Renown, and Samples. 

Gaining XP will increase your character's level and make more Stratagems available for you to unlock. You can use Renown to purchase these Stratagems, which are basically special weapons and abilities you can call upon on the battlefield.

Samples unlock Ship Modules, which increases the effectiveness of your Stratagems. These include things like reduced cooldown, increased health of sentry, and more. Lastly, you can use medals to unlock weapons, armor, and cosmetic items from Warbond, the game's battle pass. 

The gunplay in Helldivers 2 is tight and precise. From heavy shotguns to laser weapons; machine guns to SMGs; everything feels weighty and satisfying to use. 

But the gunplay isn't the only reason why Helldivers 2 is so fun to play. It's the feeling of the lightness that comes with exploring a map that's not full of bullet-sponge enemies, loot pools, and needless XP grind. 

You're simply there in the moment, strategizing with your teammates how to clear the next wave of Automatons; the deadly Terminator ripoffs, or close off another bug hole as an army of Terminids encircles your entire squad. These are frantic encounters, and surviving them feels immensely satisfying. 

The main reason why Helldivers 2 is so refreshing to play is because its gameplay ideas feel bold and unique to the shooter space. 

These originate from little nuances like the option to dramatically dive into a prone position and shoot enemies (an underrated feature that I only recall being in Metal Gear Solid 5 and The Last of Us 2) to its versatile mission objectives and how you use Stratagems in a chaotic situation. 

To call a Stratagem, you must insert various commands using your controller's D-pad or the keyboard's arrow keys. Initially, entering a command every time you want a supply drop or call an air strike may seem a hassle. However, with time, you should be able to memorize most of them. 

While there's plenty of equipment to unlock, progression in Helldivers 2 feels mostly intangible, but in a good way. The more you play, the more accustomed you get to the game's various mechanics, which in turn makes you better at completing objectives, surviving enemy encounters, and more competent at extracting yourself and the team successfully. 

It all clicks in the moments when there's a horde of automatons at your disposal, and you dive in like a swashbuckler, as your muscle memory kicks in and you quickly enter the command to call an orbital strike and watch as everything turns ablaze. There are countless possibilities for creating these non-scripted anecdotal moments that are memorable not just for you and your teammates but also for someone watching you play. 

Thanks to all these incredible moments, Helldivers 2 excels in making you feel like a star trooper. Even the mission activities feel creative. While there are your standard tropes, such as liberating an output or destroying X amount of enemies; there are also several unique ones, such as launching a missile and activating pumps, which requires a surprising amount of coordination and interaction from the entire team. 

However, despite several positive factors that can encourage you to play Helldivers 2, there are plenty of others that can do the opposite. 

Like most modern multiplayer games, Helldivers 2 suffers from a myriad of technical issues. From game crashes to XP loss; network issues to performance dips; these issues are frequent and significantly impact the overall game experience. 

The crashes and XP loss are so persistent that one of my friends half-jokingly said that he would never be able to level up in this game. It's disappointing that such a great game suffers from such trivial issues, but if it's something you can't stand, you are better off avoiding Helldivers 2 right now. 

Helldivers 2 Verdict (4.5/5)

Helldivers 2 is one of the most refreshing multiplayer experiences out there and easily the best PvE extraction shooter to date. Its robust shooting mechanics and unique gameplay ideas make up for a stellar moment-to-moment experience.

Despite being plagued with a plethora of game-breaking issues, Helldivers 2 feels like a solid multiplayer experience, which, for the first time, paints an optimistic picture of PlayStation's live-service-centric future. 

A PC review code was provided by the publisher.