03/03/2024
Helldivers II... A drunken pirate review
I cannot remember the last time I had this much fun playing a multiplayer game.
I'm not big on chatting with randos and I absolutely suck at games like Call of Duty and other competitive FPS's. The only game I play multiplayer is Monster Hunter. All iterations. 4 teammates VS a big bad gnarly monster. There is no voice chat on the Switch but once you become an experienced hunter you can tell tactics simply by the weapon your teammates bring to the table. Why oh why then has this game changed my outlook on MP gaming?
Helldivers II has a 3 minute tutorial. Your thrown from a fresh recruit to a full blown frontlines warrior in less than 5 minutes! My first mission was horrible. I joined a poor schmo who was probably doing just fine on their own and probably f'ed up their entire strategy. They didn't boot me after my 6th death in the first 2 minutes and for that I applaud them. The mission ended in failure and I left their ship in utter embarrassment. I put the controller down, took a deep breath and delved back in. My 2nd, 3rd, and 4th missions ended the same way. I almost shut my PS5 down in shame. I'm so glad I didn't.
My 5th mission I ended up on a ship with 3 other people. 2 were level 1 cadets just like me, fresh from boot camp. The host was a level 11. He blurts out over chat (my first time hearing someone speak in-game) "Looks like we got some fresh meat!" He queues up a Level 1 mission to raise the flag of freedom, and we get into our tubes and launch... He screams "FOR DEMOCRACY!" as we plummet to the surface. I'm gonna take a minute to explain my feelings for what happened next... This was the first time I managed to pay attention to the music. I usually play my games with the volume down and closed captions on for the sake of my kiddos. It was only after I heard his voice did I turn the volume up.
The dive animation is simply a loading screen. Helpful (and sometimes not so helpful) hints flash as your pod heats up in atmo. But the music. My god the music. Wilbert Roget is the one responsible for the most hard hitting music to get ones mood amped since Pacific Rim. After the host yelled I let out an involuntary "WAAAHHHOOOOO" and every pore on my body made goosebumps. Wilbert... You did not have to go this hard. But I thank you.
We land and the host says to stick close and follow his lead. He proceeds to give us a tour of the map and explains hunting for Samples, Medals, and Super Credits, and Requisition Slips. I won't overwhelm you, dear reader, of what all this is. The gist is to just pick up anything you see. We clear the map of a few Automaton hot spots and points of interest and we have 20 minutes left in the mission. We go and raise the flag of freedom and I now have my first successful mission in the bag. I had to leave the group afterwards, cause life, and I didn't get a chance to thank properly this awesome dude for helping us out. But he's still out there somewhere. Doing his part.
Speaking of doing your part... This is spiritually the Starship Troopers movie in video game form. The satire, the over the top speeches, insane weaponry, and cool stuff to send managed democracy to the galaxy. Speaking of the Galaxy...
There's 2 fronts in the current version with more to come. The Automatons and the Terminids. The front is constantly flowing and changing. If the community rallies to a front on the bugs side, that gives the terminat... I mean the Automatons a chance to gain some ground. Apparently there is a Game Master at Arrowhead Games named Joel, and he controls where the non-democratic baddies surge and ebb. Much like a DM in Dungeons and Dragons this mysterious "Joel" controls our fates. Pour one out for all our brothers and sisters lost at Malevelon Creek...
For the past 2 nights I've been staying up later than any man in his 40's needs to be playing Helldivers II. My pirate buds and I have been screaming the sarcastic propaganda to each other and getting all giddy when we unlock a new stratagem or gear. As my partner in crime, Mister Rogers puts it... This has made me feel like a teenager again. Me being a bit older can't quite say that, but it def makes me feel like I'm in my mid 20's again having LAN parties to Neverwinter Nights. It's so good a week into playing I bought the Super Citizen pass.
To sum this wall of text review up... Helldivers II has made me love multiplayer games again. Maybe it's the PvE instead of PvP. Maybe it's the insane satirical propaganda. Maybe it's just cause it's a great game with an awesome community.
