Helldivers by Arrowhead Game Studios is the perfect game to play if all you want to do
is get together with some friends and squash some bugs! Basically, it’s Starship Troopers,
the game.
The plot involves mankind now living on a planet called Super Earth, but unfortunately
it’s constantly getting attacked by three alien races.
There’s the bugs, who are your normal Starship Trooper enemy. There’s the cyborgs. And
there’s the mysterious Illuminati, who you can find running around with hi-tech weaponry
like teleporters and plasma cannons.
Humanity’s only defence against these three extra-terrestrial bastards is an army called
the Helldivers and they’re the only one’s capable of taking on this fight.
This is the map showing the current war being fought by all players of the game. As you
can see, the bug army has currently been pushed way back, so we’re nearly at their main
nest. However the cyborgs are getting dangerously close to home, so we should probably do something
about that. This is just one example of how the war can turn out.
Every match you complete will gain a thing called influence, and when the influence bar
reaches the top, everybody will advance forward. It’s cool that as an entire community, we’re
all working towards a common goal. Obviously everything you do is actually pretty insignificant,
I mean look at how much the influence bar increases when you win a match… wow. But
it is a pretty neat idea and does make you feel like you’re part of something big.
The war resets itself when either the aliens are wiped out, or Super Earth is destroyed.
So anyway, onto the gameplay. As you can see this is a twin stick shooter. But it’s a
pretty technical one. For example- reloading. Ammo is limited and what doesn’t help the
matter is that whenever you reload, you lose all the bullets that were left in your previous
clip. You have to forget about your old habits of constantly reloading whenever there’s
a moment’s peace. If you only shot a couple of bullets then reloading would be a waste.
I like it- for one thing, it’s more realistic. In real life if you reload, obviously you
lose whatever was left in that last clip. In fact, I’m surprised that other so called
‘realistic’ shooters don’t have this mechanic.
Another important aspect of the game are these things called stratagems. These are basically
your special moves and can vary from anything from heavy weapons, to turrets, to vehicles,
to airstrikes. To call them in you have to bring up the radio menu, and then type in
the corresponding code to whatever move you want. It’s easier said than done, especially
when you’re under pressure. This button entering system is also used to complete a
lot of the objectives and it’s a nice way to keep you on your toes. Because make one
mistake and you have to start it again. And yes, I tried entering the Konami code. Nothing
happened…
There’s a load of these different stratagems, as well as a pretty good variety of weapons,
all of which can be upgraded with science. One thing that I did find a little strange
though was this setting for veteran control mode- don’t know what that’s about, but
I found that with it off, I could only fire fully automatic by just hitting the top of
the R2 button. Pressing it normally would mean that the gun wouldn’t fire at all.
Or it would just fire a single shot, but that’s it. I didn’t even know the PS4 controller
could have this kind of mechanic, but there you go! You learn something new every game!
Each planet you fight on will have a couple of missions to complete, and each mission
will consist of a few different objectives. These are also pretty varied, which means
that each game feels different. For example you may have to blow up an enemy nest. Set
up a SAM missile launcher. Retrieve a black box. Or of course you could always get lumbered
with the dreaded escort missions. There’s even a trophy called “don’t you just hate
escort missions” which only begs the question, if they knew that no one liked them, then
why the hell did they put them in the game? Oh well, they’re not too bad- just use a
bit of stealth.
Each patrol you come across will have a way of signalling in support, which you want to
avoid at all costs. Either dodge them entirely, or quickly try and take them out. If you don’t
then you know what that means- all hell will break loose.
One of the most exciting parts of a match is the escape. Even with all your objectives
complete, you have to still wait a minute and a half for your ship to come in and get
you outta there. Your ammos low, your resources are running out, the enemy’s right on top
of you. It’s a manic last minute as you desperately try to survive, because after
all, if you die now then all your hard work was for nothing. Well, maybe a lil bit of
XP, but that’s about it. Then finally, to your relief, your ship swoops in, squashing
the surrounding bugs… “Get to de choppa!”… and whisks you away back to safety.
The game can be played in a single player mode, but it will really get too difficult
for one person to handle. This was a game that was made for multiplayer. Ideally, I
like to play with just two people, because I think that with the maximum of all four,
the screen can get a little crowded and you struggle with the camera as it tries to squash
you all in. But even with two people, you’ll find that pretty soon you hit a brick wall
and things just become ridiculously hard. You need a full team to get the best out of
this game, but just be warned about one thing.
Friendly fire. It’s not an option. Friendly fire will always be on and no matter how careful
you are there’s always going to be casualties. I mean, just look at the statistics! Even
when your stratagems are called in, they can fall and kill your team mates. Hehehe! It’s
a key part of the game and forces you all to try at least, to play as a team and coordinate.
If you all just run around firing will-nilly then you’re all gonna get yourself killed,
probably by each other so you need to work together and decide who’s gonna shoot where.
You two cover left, I cover right- that sort of thing.
This isn’t an easy game. There’s no pause option. It will at times be frustrating, but
in the end I think it’s all worth it. So get a team together because tonight… we
dive into hell!
And be sure to check out the A’s GAMING moments community over on the PS4, where you
can find and start parties to play Helldivers with, as well any other multiplayer game only
on PlayStation.