Hell Divers 2 It's a “dead game”; long live Hell Divers 2The co-op action shooter that pits the forces of Super Earth against endless waves of murderous automatons or terrifying terminators had a massive launch in February but faltered over the summer months. A recent patch from developer Arrowhead has led to a resurgence of players returning to the fight or picking up the game for the first time, along with tons of positive reception on social media, but all of the new fixes highlight some remaining issues.
The patch, released on September 17, reversed nerfs that had accumulated over the course of balance patches to many popular weapons, such as the railgun and flamethrower, and buffed many other weapons in the Helldivers’ arsenal. The only new nerf that has impacted my play experience is one to the Commando—I could previously one-hit-kill a Fabricator Automaton from any angle. Now, it takes two shots. That seems fair to me, and the rest of the buffs certainly make up for it, such as the Thermal Grenade’s damage being boosted from 150 to 2,000.
Previously, players were limited to a metagame that featured a few ideal weapons and stratagems; the update has added a more versatile arsenal. The recoilless rifle is a new fan favorite, especially since it can destroy dropships and their contents with one well-placed shot. The lance has evolved into a powerful siege weapon, and the flamethrower wipes out magazines in an instant.
Improvements make each individual mission much more fun and flexible, but the war in general still has some issues. Consider, if you will, the presence of the automata. The robots have slowly crept closer to Super-Earth, while the terminids are constantly being fought off. A sizable portion of the Helldivers simply won't leave the bug battlefront, either on Super-Earth's orders or for cool rewards. It can be frustrating to rush into the battlefront of a Major Order, only to inevitably fail while thousands of players are having fun fighting the bugs in Hellmire.
As Hell Divers 2 As the game continues to evolve, Arrowhead will have to consider how players coordinate for war – big events like the Terminid supercolony on Meridia, which the Helldivers had to assault on a suicide mission to create a black hole. Once the long-awaited third faction from the first game, the Illuminate, appears in the galaxy, things will only get more complicated. Arrowhead has solved a lot of frustrations in the game, but it’s worth taking a look at the wider map to see what else can be fixed.