For the most part, games today are copies of the same concept done way too many times. Every game wants to be another souls-like, a shooter, rogue-like, and so on. But occasionally, there comes a game that introduces an entirely new style of game that the industry then starts imitating.
Helldivers 2 is one such game that truly came with an original idea and concept rather than being just another souls-like or rogue-like and such. With this new formula, the industry should leave its usual tropes and try to make games like Helldivers 2 to create a new genre that can perhaps be called a “Diver” game. But before talking about the gameplay, let me tell you what really makes the game so much fun.
Helldivers 2 is Pure Multiplayer Fun Without Having to Sweat
Multiplayer games these days require way too much grinding. If it’s a PvP game, then you probably need to sweat against toxic players to unlock the basic things they already have. Granted, Helldivers 2 does not have PvP, but even with its PvE, you can start having fun and not be underpowered right out the gate itself.
This is because Helldivers 2 is focused first on delivering a fun game that you can play without needing to do too much. Despite having a lot of things to unlock, these are just different ways to play, different ways to take down your enemies or move around the map. It’s never a case that you absolutely NEED to unlock a thing to stay in line with other players.
You would think unlocking locked weapons will make you more powerful, as other games have conditioned us to think, but it’s far from true in Helldivers 2. Want to use the Anti-Material rifle you just unlocked? Good luck fighting enemies at close range now. Instead of an increasing power ceiling with weapons, they are all equally powerful but with different playstyles, advantages, and weaknesses, which you only see in PvP multiplayer games and not PvE ones.
The Pacing of Helldivers 2 is Peak
Related: Helldivers 2 Review – A Benchmark For Co-Op
Let’s get down to the gameplay loop. In Helldivers 2, you are a “Helldiver” who drops down to a planet, does their mission, and extracts out of it. Sounds like an extraction shooter? Well, it isn’t. These levels are specifically generated for you and your current mission. Other than that, there are no other enemy players on it that can stop your extraction.
Think of it like a single-player/co-op PvE extraction shooter, but without anything to loot and bring back. You are not there for the loot, and you are there to do a mission in the name of democracy. There is no item you gain that you can bring back by doing these missions. You simply get credit rewards that you can then buy better gear with.
Once you and your fellow Helldivers dive into the surface of the planet, these missions take anywhere around 15 to 40 minutes based on the type of mission and whether you also do the side missions scattered across the map. This loop of diving onto a completely new map for 30 minutes, doing your missions, and then extracting is exactly what needs to become a new genre of games.
Endless Possibilities is What Keeps Helldivers 2 Fresh
The gameplay of Helldivers 2 borrows a lot from successful game genres like extraction shooters and rogue-likes. Similar to a rogue-like game where every run is different based on what you get, Helldivers gives you the same feeling of the unknown as you dive into the surface of a planet. Even if you have been on the planet before from the countless different planets in the game, the surface map is different every time since it’s procedurally generated.
Also, the equipment and stratagems you carry also change what you can and cannot do in these missions. If I compare this to something like the PvE of Destiny 2, that game has a whole bunch of content, but you are still limited to those raids and those high-level weapons that are strong enough to complete them. We need more games where you can just meet up with your friends, even if they are new to the game, select a random mission, and dive into a whole new world that not even the veteran player in the group has seen.
This creates such fun moments between friends since something totally unexpected and unknown will happen, the new player will make a mistake, and it will be hilarious rather than frustrating because it isn’t that punishing to die in Helldivers 2. The gameplay and its loop are so focused on providing fun that you will not even worry about your weapons and equipment until after the mission is done.
Helldivers 2 does not require anyone to grind for days, does not require you to sweat to win, does not require you to spend hours on a single mission or area, does not require you to check walkthroughs to understand something, and most importantly, does not force you to buy microtransactions, and that’s exactly what the gaming industry needs more of.
