Helldivers 2 Is Fun But Struggles to Push Beyond That [Review]

Helldivers 2 is the kind of graphical upgrade only reserved for things like Super Mario 64. The original game was a top-down twin-stick shooter, and its action and parody politics helped make it fun. The co-op helped, too, with the game being substantially more entertaining with a group of friends.

However, Helldivers 2 isn’t top-down. Instead, it’s over-the-shoulder third-person, and it’s legitimately stunning how good it looks. Seriously, it opens with a cutscene that rivals every big studio film we’ve seen in recent years, and every moment of gameplay is cinematic and jaw-droppingly good. Each explosion, bug, bullet, and rock is beautiful, and we respect that.

Big Pew-Pew Energy

The moment-to-moment gameplay is similar to the first game but with a new perspective. You have to go to places and shoot things, occasionally throw grenades into bug caverns, input codes into consoles, and guard areas while enemies swarm you. The gunplay feels great, with each weapon feeling very good to use, and the need to reload manually adds a nice bit of fear to each encounter.

Then there’s the Stratagem system. You have to hold down a button, then input a series of directions to summon in air strikes, auto-turrets, or supply placks, or a flag to salute. It was one of the best aspects of the first game, and it remains a very fun addition to the whole gameplay loop. Also, it has co-op, and playing with friends is the best way to play Helldivers 2, especially with all of the launch issues with servers and whatnot.

With all of that out of the way, congratulations soldier – you know pretty much everything there is to know about Helldivers 2. Alright, there are unlocks you can gain via both resource collection and the battle pass (which is a strange choice for weapon unlocks), and they give you more options, but none of them really change what you’ll be doing. In fact, at launch, each mission sort of blurs into one another.

Related: What the Max Level Cap Is in Helldivers 2

War Never Changes

While some missions need you to go and launch a missile and others need you to kill other things or something, honestly, it all blends pretty quickly. Each enemy has its own skills and abilities, but what does that matter when the only time it’s relevant is if something has armor and you have to shoot it in the butt?

Unlocks are also kind of slow, with leveling being equally sluggish, and there’s just nothing all that exciting going on at the moment. Apparently, mechs will be added later on the game’s life cycle, and that’s nice, but in stark contrast to the stunning visuals, a lot of the combat options just feel like different shades of gray. None of it’s bad, not at all, but it doesn’t leave you feeling especially great.

At no point is Helldivers 2 bad. In fact, outside of the current teething issues that we’re assuming will be sorted out, Helldivers 2 is a lot of fun. However, it’s never anything more than that. That’s not a grave sin, and plenty of people will still get a lot out of the game, but it’s left us feeling a little bit hollow. It’s just sort of there. We might go back to it every now and then, but it’s certainly not a game we’ll be grinding to get every battle pass reward.

Helldivers 2 is available on PlayStation and PC.