Helldivers 2 - Another Win For The AA Industry
Like many other people I have been playing a great deal of Helldivers 2 and spreading managed democracy across space, and I have not had this much fun since the golden age of Call Of Duty zombies. And recently, I have been talking non stop about how less funded studios and AA games have been raking in millions. From Kena Bridge Of Spirits providing a solid singleplayer story for a great price, to Baldur's Gate 3 literally changing the landscape and showing how others have been doing it wrong, and don’t get me started on Palworld (which honestly, I have not played). We have been treated to some great games at the end of 2023 and the start of 2024.
On my latest podcast episode at the time of writing, I had a great conversation with my guest Chris about Helldivers 2 and the modern day gaming model and how it just doesn’t work all the time. But Helldivers 2 has proven to be the best example in recent memory of a live service game that nailed monetization so much so that people are spending money out of appreciation of it not being predatory.
Once again I stand on my AA soap box and preach to the AAA studios to take notes.
Disclaimer: While I may rant and rave about how the AAA industry has fallen so far, I do not in fact hate the developers and studios and think their games are bad. In fact the opposite. I know devs and studios fall pray to CEOs and businessman types who are disconnected from the space and only have quotas and numbers to guide their decisions. The unfortunate reality is that devs and studios have to do what they are told and make deadlines.
What Is Helldivers?
Helldivers is a game that started as a top down arcade horde based shooter that reached moderate success. The max player base peaked around 7k players, and for all intent and purposes, the game ‘died’ with only veteran players keeping the war going. It was a very simple game with little marketing and few trailers but for all those around it, it was pure fun.
According to a reddit post by an established player: “Helldivers 1 vet here, I recall the original game being launched as a couch coop. Shared screen and no expansions were really planned. Max player count was 6.7K. Game actually “died” with just vets playing - there were actually instances where players will even lose the galactic war.”
Helldivers 2 comes along nearly out of no where and at first people were expecting the same. A fun little top town co-op horde shooter. But instead we got a sprawling third person over the shoulder action packed shooter with nukes falling from the sky nearly every three minutes. From the same reddit user: “From a corporate perspective, Sony saw that the investment to publish HD1 was small but had significant returns. Assuming this is how they also saw Helldivers 2, it is correct to base projections on historical figures. The game had little to no marketing efforts - couple of trailers, no review copies, some goofy clips and that’s it.
So it’s safe to say they really planned well but to everyone’s surprise the game skyrocketed.”
In a more and more common move over the last few months, a small studio producing a game with a small budget but with a whole lot of love, and with little expectations from their CEO overlords, takes the gaming space by storm.
It is quite amazing to see such a massive genera switch and there is quite a lot to Helldivers 2. I have not had as much fun with a horde shooter like this since the golden age of COD zombies when I was young. The magic that those games captured is here as well but cranked up to 100.
The Galactic War Needs You
Perhaps the coolest feature outside of shooting bugs and robots is the overarching ‘galactic war’ going on across space. Upon getting your own ship you gain access to the map that shows the ongoing war and its fronts. To the right are the bugs and the left are the PTSD inducing Automatons. The northern and southern fronts are suspiciously empty but its likely Helldivers wont need to wait long before two new foes appear and try to take Super Earth, one faction is missing from Helldivers 2 that were present in the first game, all but confirming the war is about to get a whole lot busier. Either way, this element of the game adds a whole lot of depth as every mission you go on slightly impacts the ‘liberation’ status of that planet. You are fighting alongside many others to free a planet and it just feels badass. Speaking of planets, there are many different variations of the worlds players fight on. From a very Dune inspired world to fay forests, the variety of battlefields makes each mission feel new and different. Speaking of which, each time you drop into battle, the landscape is procedurally generated, cranking up the freshness to about an 11.
The developers Arrowhead also all but confirmed the fact that at some point Super-Earth will fall and players will have to fight to free it. This was a once a year event that took place in the first game. And currently at the time of writing, players are fighting to liberate a new world and as a reward giant mechs will be available for use, all of this adds so much ‘activeness’ to the game and so far it seems to be working as Helldivers 2 keeps smashing records.
Finally, a very interesting note that I to just learned, there is in fact a GM inside of Helldivers 2. A person that is controlling the events of the war, setting off events and pushing fronts like a crazed DM trying to TPK your group and I love it. This is the person that will gift the community with their mechs if the newest order from Super Earth is completed. So grab your gun, clean your cloak and get out there and fight
FOR (managed) DEMOCRACY!
