Introduction
Helldivers 2 is a chaotic coop sci-fi horde shooter that was released on February 8th, 2024, becoming an instant hit releasing on PlayStation and pc to a staggering 360,000 concurrent players on the opening weekend and later peaking at 458,000 on the 24th of February 2024.
The hype around the game was real at release it felt like everyone was talking about Helldivers 2, making videos, podcasts and even super earth propaganda memes, Arrowhead studios were on top of the world at release, but does it still hold up? this review will highlight whether or not it’s still worth it in 2025.
Gameplay
Helldivers 2 at its core is a game about spreading managed democracy across an ongoing galactic war, you play as a helldiver one of super earths elite and after a brief tutorial you are given a super destroyer ship, this is your main hub where you can customize weapons, Armour and air support. after you’ve got all that set up you drop in/literally crash land onto a planet in a hell pod and are tasked with completing your objectives, this can be something simple like taking out an illegal broadcast on the lower difficulties to destroying an entire ship the size of a city on a higher one. But the unique thing about helldivers is that no matter what you do, you feel like you’re always helping towards something bigger than you. which in fact you are, the galactic war is a Realtime faction war between the helldivers, bugs, automatons and illuminate, every mission, every death and yes every team kill is counted in real time and completing objectives as a community helps to retake planets, attack planets and defend planets creating a sense of camaraderie in the community which I believe is truly unique to helldivers. This war creates a sense of scale, and you feel a part of something bigger while playing.
You may be asking yourself by now how the game feels to be played? In my opinion The guns are punchy and have weight to every shot, they also feel realistic and have different settings and bullet drop, the movement is slow at times and the environment has different effects on your diver but it’s not restricting it just adds to the realism, the game still lets you dive ,prone, crouch, and sprint to get out of situations and that’s all it needs, the stratagems/airstrikes are satisfying and dynamic to enter in, making you input different arrows on your d pad or keyboard like a cheat code in a ps1 era game. All these features combined with the mandatory nature of teamwork and communication due to friendly fire means positioning matters, and you’re not just mindlessly mowing down enemies. You’re trying to survive your teammates gunfire, communicating around different airstrike locations and overcoming waves of intense enemy forces with unique abilities and weak points creating an experience which is frantic yet highly calculated and rewarding at the same time.
Visuals/Audio
The visuals of Helldivers 2 are distinct from its competitors due to its commitment to its gritty, dark and weathered aesthetic, which makes it one of the most visually unique games on the market right now. This commitment gives the game identity it’s not about being the prettiest looking game out there, it’s about having a strong and consistent style that appeals to its target audience and pulls you into its universe. Every planet is different going from icy planes to jungles infested with bugs which are all complimented with a backdrop of gunfire. Explosions and orbital strikes lighting the sky creating not only a beautiful visual experience but also auditory. Each airstrike is followed with a huge boom as shriekers screech flying through the sky all while your fellow helldiver screams in agony while being torn apart by bugs. Even small things like automatons patrols chanting as they march by, or your super destroyer announcing airstrikes pull you in even further, immersing you in the world.
The music in Helldivers 2 feels like the cherry on top and arrowhead nailed the feeling of being a soldier in a war with dramatic militaristic tones and motivational soundtrack when the mission gets especially chaotic but also it slows down during quiet moments to let things cool down for a while. Overall Helldivers 2 visuals and audio aren’t the best in the industry but stick to their core identity and direction even in areas where other games struggle like call of duty adding in collabs like Nicki Minaj which takes away from the tone and world building of that game helldivers found a way to make a collab cohesive with the universe adding halo odst characters which fit the style and aesthetic perfectly while pulling new Xbox players in.This shows flashy isn’t always the way to go in the games industry.
Replayability/ Longevity
Helldivers 2 has many different methods in place to ensure replayability and fresh experiences. The games different currency systems determine what new weapons, Armour, airstrikes, emotes, capes, boosters and stratagems you can buy/work towards they can be acquired through purchases of war bonds that are similar to battle passes and contain exclusive items and cosmetics. war bonds are purchased using super credits which are the game’s most valuable currency and can be bought using real money or by earning them from finding pois scattered throughout planets in bunkers and downed aircraft .You can also unlock free weapons and upgrades by completing missions and acquiring requisition slips which can be used towards different stratagems and airstrikes that are not exclusive to war bonds however both of these systems require gameplay to unlock and can’t be purchased outright instantly. These systems and the variety of different weapons, cosmetics and stratagems give the player a sense of progression and makes every round feel truly different allowing you to mix up different combinations keeping the game fresh and giving a great sense of progression like your moving up the ranks in the military they even have their own ranking system from which you can go from cadet level 1 to super private level 150 with different rank names every 10 levels. These systems, which encourage gameplay to unlock new features keep players coming back and that ‘grind’ and fun gameplay of course is what makes them stay at least that’s what it did for me.
Conclusion
At the end of the day Helldivers 2 is one of those rare games that knows exactly what it is and doesn’t deviate from that ever. It’s immersive, chaotic, unforgiving, and sometimes just completely over the top, but that’s what makes it so unique. The grind for new gear and constant galactic war updates and missions and the fun of playing with your mates always gives a reason for me to come back and thousands of others also .Don’t get me wrong it comes with its own issues with servers, performance and a couple of questionable balancing decisions but arrowhead has something special with this in an oversaturated shooter market that are all starting to look the same. So, is helldivers 2 worth it in 2025? YES, it stands out from the rest due to its identity, gameplay loop and community and if you’re just looking for a great time with your mates, it’s one of the best on the market currently. So, what are you waiting for? Suit up today and become a helldiver FOR DEMOCRACY!
