For the vast majority, Helldiverse 2 published by PlayStation is a big surprise in this season already loaded with very good video games. After a year of 2023, 2024 is indeed off to a flying start with, in January, the excellent Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown And Tekken 8. A good part of the players were waiting in February FFVII Rebirthwhile keeping an eye on the game Suicide Squad.
Helldiverse 2. © Image capture
But the Swedes from Arrowhead Game Studios had planned their move a little. Only a little, because they themselves had not anticipated such success, or at least not as dazzling. In fact, no one expected it: neither me, nor PlayStation, nor Arrowhead. Person. As proof, the maximum capacities of the servers did not hold and it took several updates to be able to enjoy the game. Just three days after its release, on February 8, it was more than a million copies sold and a game that remains at the top of the best-seller rankings on Steam. On Valentine’s Day, he comes close to the top 50 all time of the most played games on the Valve platform. In short, a big success like the Arrowhead studio has never known.
A look back at the young Swedish studio
The developers had already accustomed us to very nice games, always based on cooperation between gamers and fun in its raw state. Fun that comes through humor in a form of assumed self-deprecation, but also and above all through the impossibility of deactivating friendly fire. I remember burning my brother to ashes more than once in their first game, Magicka, wanting to obliterate the enemy forces as he passed “by chance” in front of me. Of Magicka HAS Helldiverse first of the name, always the same recipe in different coatings, but with one thing in common: a feeling of playing small indie games. Light graphics, anecdotal dubbing… In short, they look like games made for Xbox Live Arcade from the beginning of 2010 for those who remember them. Ambition and will, but an execution commensurate with their means, that is to say relatively minimalist.
This is where Sony PlayStation enters the dance: it takes over the publishing and distribution of the first Helldiverse in 2015. The game was a big success among players, especially on PC, and built up a small active community for years.
The basic concept is simple: it’s a top view game, isometric 3D type. Players take on the role of Helldivers, Super-Citizens who must cooperate to defend Super-Earth against extraterrestrial threats in the form of insects, cyborgs or other mystical aquatic creatures. In the lore of the game, we talk about “defend democracyâ€.
Concretely, we take our spaceship, we go to planets more or less close to Super-Earth, we equip ourselves and we destroy, democratically, the invader in the good mood.
Helldiverse 2the apotheosis
In the facts, Helldiverse 2 looks exactly like its predecessor, with two major differences. First, it’s now a third-person shooter, so exit the view from above. Above all, we go from a typical indie game with few resources to a game that has nothing to envy of the AAAs in the industry, both in its magnificent graphics and its varied and rich biomes. , its epic staging and its divine sound design.
In May 2023, the game was announced during a PlayStation State of Play and we quickly felt that there were many more ambitions than what we were used to with Arrowhead. This is precisely where Sony is smart: it knows how to invest in studios with strong potential. And that’s exactly what he did with Helldiverse 2.
As we’ve said, it’s pretty, it’s well animated, it’s varied, but above all it’s very detailed. Jumbled, a few things where I said to myself: “Oh yeah, they’re good.â€
- The physics engine with enemies losing pieces as they take damage.
- The changing weather and time passing in real time.
- Seeing thousands of players dropping at the same time on the same planet as you and feeling like you’re part of something bigger with this epic, jump-worthy music Apex Legends.
- Our character who gradually deteriorates with his clothes getting dirtier and tattered.
- The shooting sensations and the longer or shorter reloading time if there is still a bullet left in the breech or not.
- The animations when you open the map or when you change the firing mode.
In short, we gave them money, they went all out and we have the impression that they reached their pinnacle while retaining what made them strong: immediate fun.
Shine democratically
The Helldivers license marks both PC and PlayStation gaming in several respects. Firstly, it is the very first game in history published by PlayStation to be released on PC in 2015. Secondly, it is the greatest success of PlayStation on PC on a such a short period of time. And third, it’s the first PlayStation Studios game to be released on PC and PlayStation at the same time.
Given the great success of the game, especially on PC, and recent statements from Sony, we can hope that PlayStation games will arrive more quickly from now on on PC. Cuckoo Stellar Blade And Rise of the RoninHAS ! In any case, that’s what I hope.
I’ll stop here, but I really invite you to try this game if you have a group of friends on PS5 and/or on PC, it’s cross play. Guaranteed laughs when your orbital strike lands on your partner completely accidentally.