Fans of the original game will attest to how different Helldivers 2 is from its predecessor. The simple act of making the game a third-person action shooter rather than a top-down perspective did wonders for the series' mass appeal by putting the player more directly in the chaos of combat. It’s tangible proof that sometimes changing the established formula can be a good, even necessary, thing. But the perspective change wasn’t the only shakeup Arrowhead considered when making its record-shattering sequel.
Recent reports indicate that early plans for Helldivers 2 featured five-person squads as opposed to the tried and true four-strong teams. The plans never made it past early development, with developers citing problems making the larger squads work with the objectives, enemy counts, and overall difficulty they were going for with the game. But with one full year of Helldivers 2' s live service officially in the books, it may be time to reconsider expanding the ranks of Super Earth’s finest.
Helldivers 2 May Need to Tap One Source for New Recruits to Prevent Another Meridia Situation
Helldivers 2 experienced a devastating loss after a Major Order failure, and rallying fresh troops may be the key to future success.
Arrowhead Can Still Make Five-Person Squads Work in Helldivers 2
Bigger Maps, More Enemies, More Helldivers
Arrowhead doesn't seem afraid to shake things up with the game’s formula, and players don't even need to look at the original Helldivers to see it. The surprise addition of the Illuminate in December proved that beyond any shadow of a doubt. The update added a new faction and, arguably more importantly, an entirely new type of biome for matches to take place in: urbanized city environments. But more than anything, the update showed the community that Arrowhead is willing to shake things up in a big way. Helldivers 2 will not always be the same game it was at launch when the developers are willing to go for the big swings.
The best way to add an extra player to each game might just be to expand map sizes ever so slightly and up the enemy count. It would go hand in hand with those in the community claiming Helldivers 2 needs a difficulty buff. Increase the scale of the maps, increase enemy volume, and give players an extra slot on their team to compensate for the upscaling of everything else.
This wouldn’t take too much effort on the balancing front. The enemies are already plenty hardy as they currently exist, so no buffs are needed for them on an individual level. The developers wouldn’t even need to change the amount of reinforcements in a given lobby. 20 lives for a squad of five just means everyone present gets four respawns instead of four, upping the difficulty ever so slightly to reflect the added body on the team.
New Mode Or Mission Type With Five Divers
But maybe Arrowhead doesn't want to change the core of the game. After all, there are still only four pods for players to enter on the super destroyer. Perhaps the four-man squad is too deeply baked into the core of Helldivers 2 to permanently change anything now. This leaves room for new extreme mission types in Helldivers 2 that require larger than average amounts of force.
When the helldivers descended on Meridia to create the dark fluid and eventually destroy the planet, it was one of the largest in-game campaigns/storylines to-date. It truly felt like a monumental effort by the community undertaking these new types of missions, working toward a very particular, grand scale goal over a few weeks. It was one of the best examples of Arrowhead's meta narrative storytelling making players feel as though they're actually a part of the galactic war.
In the future, these types of missions can be made even more special if Arrowhead temporarily increases squad sizes by one player. This would perfectly signify the importance of the mission at hand: the normal show of force of four divers just was not enough, so Super Earth high command needed to requisition a fifth body for the never-ending meat grinder that is their war machine.
Helldivers 2
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 91%
- Released
- February 8, 2024
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Publishing
WHERE TO PLAY
The Galaxy’s Last Line of Offence. Enlist in the Helldivers and join the fight for freedom across a hostile galaxy in a fast, frantic, and ferocious third-person shooter.
URGENT BROADCAST – SUPER EARTH ARMED FORCES
Freedom. Peace. Democracy. Your Super Earth-born rights. The key pillars of our civilization. Of our very existence. But the war rages on. And everything is once again under threat.
Join the greatest military force the galaxy has ever seen and make this a safe and free place to live.
BECOME A LEGEND
You will be assembled into squads of up to four Helldivers and assigned strategic missions. Watch each other’s back – friendly fire is an unfortunate certainty of war, but victory without teamwork is impossible.
LOADOUTS
Rain down freedom from above, sneak through enemy territory, or grit your teeth and charge head-first into the jaws of combat. How you deliver liberty is your choice; you’ll have access to a wide array of explosive firepower, life-saving armor and battle-changing stratagems… the jewel in every Helldiver’s arsenal.
REQUISITION
Super Earth recognises your hard work with valuable Requisition. Use it to access different rewards that benefit you, your squad, your destroyer ship and our overall war effort.
THREATS
Everything on every planet wants you dead. That’s what we’re dealing with. Each enemy has distinct and unpredictable characteristics, tactics, and behavior – but they all fight ferociously and without fear or morality.
THE GALACTIC WAR
Capturing enemy planets, defending against invasions, and completing missions will contribute to our overall effort. This war will be won or lost depending on the actions of everyone involved.
We stand together, or we fall apart.
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Franchise
- Helldivers
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Extraction Shooter, Action, Science Fiction
