Summary
- Helldivers 2 remains familiar, but subtle changes add significant depth.
- Visible supply lines aid players in strategic decision-making on which planets to prioritize liberating.
- Exploration of new ways to unlock planets and spice up the liberation process could enhance overall gameplay dynamics.
Helldivers 2 hasn’t changed much since its launch. Metas are still primarily the same, there are the same points of contention now that it had when it was released, and not much has been added beyond what subsequent Premium Warbonds have offered. That said, for anyone who has been playing often and keeping up to date with balance patches, there are subtle details that are noticeable that, when compounded, make a fairly significant difference. For instance, actual supply lines weren’t visible in Helldivers 2 until recently.
But while it wasn’t impossible to discern which planet preceded another or which planets would connect to which, being able to see literal lines now connecting planets has been a great aid in instantly discerning what systems players should concern themselves with if a major order has tasked them with eventually reaching and liberating a faraway planet. Helldivers 2 prohibits access to certain systems based on where they are across each interconnected sector and the only way to progress from one planet to another is to achieve total liberation of each planet in a supply line’s spider web toward players’ desired destination.
Helldivers 2 Should Explore New Ways for Players to Move on to Neighboring Planets
Liberating an entire planet is only truly challenging if there aren’t a lot of active players contributing to its completion. Indeed, even in major orders that task players with liberating a handful of planets occupied by either bots or bugs this is typically a non-issue as long as enough players are dedicating their efforts there.
Still, other ways of penetrating new planets would be terrific. For example, it would add a lot more specificity to gameplay if players could only liberate a certain planet by engaging with a particular objective type enough times, rather than playing any mission available. If Helldivers 2’s SEAF Artillery side objective needed to be completed with progression percentage being applied to that objective alone it would make that goal much more favorable.
Some players may never go out of their way for a certain objective and this would be a wonderful way for Helldivers 2 to highlight the blue, optional objectives players come across on most mission types. Plus, if each planet’s prerequisite objective was different, it would be interesting to see which planets players amass upon over another due to objective preferences and how efficiently they could traverse from planet to planet as a result.
Some players may prefer simpler tasks such as closing bug holes in light or heavy Terminid nests while others may prefer more elaborate or skillful tasks such as shutting down a jammer or clearing Automaton factory bunkers. Of course, not every side objective appears on every planet, but Arrowhead could ensure certain spawns on associable planets to ensure that completion and progression are possible.
As it stands, liberating whole planets isn’t terribly arduous; that said, spicing up how liberation is achieved could make traversing each planet far more dynamic and interesting than simply having players hurl themselves at random missions and objectives wholesale.
In the meantime, major orders might continue to fail if not a lot of time is allotted to them and player counts put their success rates in jeopardy. Without a meaningful reward, it can be difficult to want to grind major orders back to back, especially with medals being the only incentive for ensuring their success. Now that a huge content update has arrived with Helldivers 2: Escalation of Freedom, it’ll be interesting to see what new changes are in store.
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
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- All platforms
- Franchise
- Helldivers
- Number of Players
- 1-4 players (online)
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Extraction Shooter, Action, Science Fiction
