This is how you make a real live-service game!

When we arrive, and we don't know the Helldivers license, when we see the images of this sequel, we have the vague impression of being dealing with yet another classic online shooter. And it's so true that media coverage of the game has never been explosive. Not that Sony didn't communicate about it, quite the contrary (there were many trailers and videos that dissected the gameplay), but because the press had difficulty getting a hold of the game. Even at home, we are a little missed the point. But this was to underestimate its potential, its universe, its gameplay and above all this ability to generate immediate fun between players. It must be said that the universe is super catchy, and for good reason, it has completely replicated that of Starship Troopers, one of Paul Veroehven's masterpieces released in 1997. In Helldivers 2, we embody not one, but several soldiers from Super-Earth who enlisted under the influence of a military government which swears only by the deployment of the great democracy. But from the intro of the game, we immediately understand the very satirical nature of this story which only aims to push men to engage in war against terminid insects, and cyborgs who are the main enemies of Humans. And you heard it, I talked about not one but several soldiers that we play in the game, because in Helldivers 2, every soldier is replaceable by another. We are just cannon fodder, hired to carry out this intergalactic struggle.

HELL YEAH!

And it is true that this notion of shared war where everyone is involved is felt from the start of the game, with this notion of a common campaign in which everyone participates. Whether you are in your ship or on the ground, you will see traces of your colleagues on the ground, with debris from vehicles or equipment which contribute to this feeling of global conflict. If Helldivers 2 can be played alone, it is obviously in multi-coop that the game reveals its full potential. So of course, you will have a good time doing the solo missions, but we suggest that you access shared missions to see to what extent Helldivers 2 is a game that becomes enjoyable when you play with others, even more when you are with friends. Everything has been done so that the clashes take place with several people, in a coordinated manner, especially since the difficulty is really there. The further you advance in the game, the more numerous and tough the enemies become. There are therefore 2 factions at this stage, the insects like Starship Troopers and the robots reminiscent of those of Skyneyt in Terminator. Each faction deploys different types of enemies that quickly spawn everywhere and also surround us. The more we progress in the game, the more we will face more resistant creatures, with armor to blow up, often via more powerful weapons, which we will obviously have to win over the course of the missions or call for reinforcement directly in the battle.

The gameplay is also one of the great qualities of the game, because here too, it is designed for team cooperation, but also to create permanent stress during battles. Our soldier is capable of many things: running, sprinting with a manageable gauge, jumping over obstacles, throwing himself to the ground, crawling, but everything is done to make nothing easier for the player. We have this sprint gauge for example which runs out of steam quickly, the recharging of weapons which takes a certain time, the pricks which we inject to recover energy and this mechanics of stratagems which we must learn to manage very quickly so as not to be overwhelmed. Basically, it is possible to request support from the army either by asking them to drop cargo on the ground to recover ammunition, medical kits, equipment or even specific weapons, or even to order orbital strikes to smash the enemy to the ground. Not only do these reinforcements require a few seconds of waiting, but you also have to use the directional cross to access them. Manipulations that resemble cheat codes which are often not easy to type, especially in the heat of the action and which are deliberately complex to create this permanent stress.

FRIENDS, BUT NOT FOR LIFE

And to all this nice mess comes friendly fire, which means that yes, you can kill your teammates or have your head blown off by a friend if you're not careful enough. And this friendly fire often generates funny situations, especially since the reinforcements of stratagems which are thrown on the ground can also reduce you to pulp if you ever find yourself on the trajectory. Helldivers 2 is therefore a game where you must constantly pay attention to others and to yourself too, with weapons that require two people to use, such as this bazooka where a soldier takes care of the aiming, while the the other will pull the trigger. The missions are numerous and also offer different objectives, such as destroying an insect nest, exploding an outpost, holding a position, eliminating an imposing boss, or even making a rocket take off. And while some of them may take around ten minutes, others may require more than an hour of concentration. And as everything is managed procedurally, no mission is like another, especially since the developers have taken care to offer a wide range of different planets. Arid, snowy settings, by day, by night, with a little more greenery, on moons, knowing that each environment can have an impact on the way you play. On planets where freezing cold dominates, weapons heat up less, but snow slows down movement. On planets where the sun hits hard, visibility is reduced while weapons work less well. In short, you never have the feeling of repeating the same mission, especially when surrounded by friends, the games turn out to be super fun to play. The game may be quite simple in its mechanics and its proposition, but it is in its details that it manages to stand out. Rarely has a multiplayer game required so much cooperation to emerge victorious and this is undoubtedly the key and magical ingredient of the success of Helldivers 2.

There is ultimately only one real weakness to the game, its technique. If overall, Helldivers 2 is nice to watch, looking at the details, we see that it is far from doing justice to the capabilities of the PS5. We'll be honest, the game could run perfectly on the first generations of PS4 games, but in the end, we don't really care, because the essence of the game lies elsewhere, in its gameplay and this ability to unite players between them. The developers have promised regular content to keep players in suspense, communicating a lot on its social networks already teasing objects, weapons and new planets to come. We know that Sony wants to increase the number of service games, in addition to the single-player narrative experiences of which it has become the specialist, and with Helldivers, the Japanese manufacturer proves to us that they have found the right formula. So, anything is possible…