What’s special about helldivers?

Dorfdad

Dorfdad

Gold Member
Serious question for the lot of you fawning over helldivers 2? I downloaded it on ps5 tried to play a few game never got connected to another party (finally did three days later for two games twice no connections again) and played probably 4-5 rounds and found the game lacking visually, it felt slow and heavy for movement, and basically was zombies mode with aliens.

Why is it so successful? What am I missing?? I'm not shitting in the game but it seems like a medicore game that got hyped to hell?

Maybe I haven't played enough for it to get good but the loop seems kinda lame to me.
 
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Yeah I don't get it either. It's supposed be action packed fun, but every live stream I've watched or review, it looks generic and not that fun.
 
Dorfdad said:
Serious question for the lot of you fawning over helldivers 2? I downloaded it on ps5 tried to play a few game never got connected to another party (finally did three days later for two games twice no connections again) and played probably 4-5 rounds and found the game lacking visually, it felt slow and heavy for movement, and basically was zombies mode with aliens.

Why is it so successful? What am I missing?? I'm not shitting in the game but it seems like a medicore game that got hyped to hell?

Maybe I haven't played enough for it to get good but the loop seems kinda lame to me.
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Decent game is decent.

Comes alive on the higher difficulty.

Its a right laugh with pals.
 
Romulus said:
Yeah I don't get it either. It's supposed be action packed fun, but every live stream I've watched or review, it looks generic and not that fun.
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Try playing it rather than watching? Kids these days.....................................................
 
Dorfdad said:
Yeah I get that but does it evolve one you get higher ranked? Does the game expand or is it just repetitive?
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It can get repetitive, but higher difficulties offer more challenge and moment to moment inrrractions. The more you play, the cooler and more deadly your items and stratagems get. Eventually calling down constant barrages of death and massive turrets to fun down waves upon waves of enemies.

I did not think the game would be fun from the trailers. Played it through family sharing and fell in love. Definitely try it out if you have the cash and some friends to play with.
 
Faust said:
It can get repetitive, but higher difficulties offer more challenge and moment to moment inrrractions. The more you play, the cooler and more deadly your items and stratagems get. Eventually calling down constant barrages of death and massive turrets to fun down waves upon waves of enemies.

I did not think the game would be fun from the trailers. Played it through family sharing and fell in love. Definitely try it out if you have the cash and some friends to play with.
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Yeah off the trailers and pre release material, i have to admit this game was not on the radar at all. It all rests on the road map they have if i'll stick around as i can't see the current content lasting me more than a month or 2 at best, but for £40 thats a fair price.

scarlet0pimp said:
It's a fun game with friends but absolutely terrible on your own. Hype for this game is way over the top but it is fun.
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Hard disagree. I mainly play with random's and the game is great, better with friends of course but it plays just fine with rando's.
 
clarky said:
Try playing it rather than watching? Kids these days.....................................................
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I've been playing games longer than most people have been alive, so I can tell alot in terms of my mileage with something like that. Other games that look fun via stream are just that, fun. Helldivers 2 hasn't even begun to sell me on to even try it, much less buy.
 
It's definitely more fun to play than to watch. I'd say it the most fun happens in the first 20 levels, after that it does get a bit repetitive but it's not necessarily a bad thing/ The gameplay loop is fun pretty much everytime.

Co-op is a mixed bag. Sometimes I'm on the last mission of a campaign and some yahoo joins and is throwing airstrikes at my feet just because I'm surrounded by enemies. I'm good enough at the game that this doesn't not mean I die. So it's better to hold the ordinance and help me clear without them. People are definitely bomb/strategem happy. I was too til I started learning how to play as a team. When you have a cohesive team though it's awesome.

Streams I see are often people goofing off. That's fine in moderation but us failing the mission over some dumbass gets old real fast.
 
Romulus said:
I've been playing games longer than most people have been alive, so I can tell alot in terms of my mileage with something like that. Other games that look fun via stream are just that, fun. Helldivers 2 hasn't even begun to sell me on to even try it, much less buy.
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Im in my 50's and I couldn't think of anything worse than watching someone else play a videogame, but what do I know.
 
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Dorfdad said:
Why is it so successful? What am I missing?? I'm not shitting in the game but it seems like a medicore game that got hyped to hell?

Maybe I haven't played enough for it to get good but the loop seems kinda lame to me.
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It's the complete package it offers, for me, and the laser-focus on everything being designed around/built to maximize the team/crew dynamic -- the unlock and loadout progression, coordinating strategems & weapons with your teammates to make sure all bases are covered, leaning into the military unit experience as much as possible. All that makes it feel like this game successfully prioritizes teamwork and crew interplay in ways that the vast majority of "team-based" shooters don't IMO.

That said, I know myself and I would never enjoy the game just randomly jumping in with other people... I play with a dedicated group of 3 of my friends, and in that format it's a blast (as many things are). But other games we've played, like Division or Diablo 4, I'd happily play solo. This is not that kind of game. The whole appeal for me is playing with friends, collectively building out our unit and playing together.

And because of the specificity of that angle, this game has hooked us in a way very few games do... we've played a large number of co-op shooters/rpgs/whatever for years and years, and this has easily been some of the most fun we've had.
 
Dorfdad said:
Yeah I get that but does it evolve one you get higher ranked? Does the game expand or is it just repetitive?
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Does it need to? Does everything have to be in service of some Mariana Trench-deep endgame?

I've never been having fun but found myself asking the question "is this going to continue to be fun and engaging in hour 30?"

Maybe if you don't find it fun, you just don't find it fun? Not everything is for everyone.
 
To me it'd be the sense of cooperation as an entire community of players towards a common goal, which I find reminiscent of Planetside.
 
Firstly the hype is 100% correct, as of a couple of days ago the servers etc seem to be working fine, not had a single disconnects,constant matchmaking…
Game is objective based which does mean defending at points, the longer you stay in a mission the more enemies attacks ramp up which does lead to hordes of enemies.
BUT its hilariously fun, shooting feels great blowing off limbs and chunks, stratagems are handled fantastically too giving you over 30-40 unlockable orbital strikes/special weapons/turrets/emplacements etc, the more you play the more you feel like a action movie soldier.
 
You know. I was pumped for it a little and when my cousin got heavy into it, he convinced me to grab it. I played about 5-6 rounds so far, and while it's fun in small doses? I also do not get the heavy hype for it at all.
 
EruditeHobo said:
Does it need to? Does everything have to be in service of some Mariana Trench-deep endgame?

I've never been having fun but found myself asking the question "is this going to continue to be fun and engaging in hour 30?"

Maybe if you don't find it fun, you just don't find it fun? Not everything is for everyone.
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Nothing in gaming "needs to happen". It's an entertainment product.

If Helldivers 2 had a deep endgame it would make significantly more money, and provide considerably more value to its players than if it gets dull after 30 hours.

There's literally no downside to a game with increased depth and quality.
 
It's fun with friends and good in short, 30 minute bouts.

But yes, it's certainly getting overpraised. Some of that is in reaction to games like Suicide Squad. I also think it's a game that makes a great first impression and promises a rewarding experience that never really arrives.

Great foundation though.
 
Men_in_Boxes said:
Nothing in gaming "needs to happen". It's an entertainment product.

If Helldivers 2 had a deep endgame it would make significantly more money, and provide considerably more value to its players than if it gets dull after 30 hours.

There's literally no downside to a game with increased depth and quality.
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Development cost when it doesn't need it is a pretty big downside. For the price I love what I get. Fun that doesn't seem like it will overstay it's welcome with endless grinds. Hopefully they keep that in mind as they expand it.
 
Personally, I'm not good enough to play twitch competitive shooters anymore, so it's a real pleasure to play a multiplayer game where everyone has the same goals - and you don't need to be that good to feel like you're being helpful.
 
gothmog said:
Development cost when it doesn't need it is a pretty big downside. For the price I love what I get. Fun that doesn't seem like it will overstay it's welcome with endless grinds. Hopefully they keep that in mind as they expand it.
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Obviously if investment exceeds revenue you're going to have a bad time.

That being said, this is a GAAS title that would only benefit if it kept players happy for longer. They're going to make significantly less money if 93% of their audience grows bored after a few weeks.

Also, "endless grinds" aren't why people play games.
 
Men_in_Boxes said:
Nothing in gaming "needs to happen". It's an entertainment product.

If Helldivers 2 had a deep endgame it would make significantly more money, and provide considerably more value to its players than if it gets dull after 30 hours.

There's literally no downside to a game with increased depth and quality.
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Well first of all, you don't know if there's a downside or not because software development is resource allocation first and foremost.

But I mean, I don't necessarily disagree with your broader point. My post there is responding to someone going "why do people enjoy playing this?" and it should be obvious you don't need a great endgame, or even the promise of a deep endgame, to enjoy the first 20-30 hours of an online shooter.

I mean, the first 20-30 hours are going to be the most fun part of MOST games resembling this, no? PvE online co-op shooters with lite RPG elements, those are going to tend to be pretty fun as you're unlocking everything and using all the new toys along the way.
 
EruditeHobo said:
Well first of all, you don't know if there's a downside or not because software development is resource allocation first and foremost.

But I mean, I don't necessarily disagree with your broader point. My post there is responding to someone going "why do people enjoy playing this?" and it should be obvious you don't need a great endgame, or even the promise of a deep endgame, to enjoy the first 20-30 hours of an online shooter.

I mean, the first 20-30 hours are going to be the most fun part of MOST games resembling this, no? PvE online co-op shooters with lite RPG elements, those are going to tend to be pretty fun as you're unlocking everything and using all the new toys along the way.
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I see your point. Fair enough.
 
The Starship Trooper vibe is fun and when the game hits just right, it reminds me of the highs from L4D...it's just too bad it doesn't reach those highs as often and has much lower lows (robot enemies are meh). It also has me really excited for EDF6.
 
It's better at higher difficulties but at the end of the day it's a PvE extraction shooter like the rest, pretty common genre nowadays. But it does add some funny social elements with the gore and team killing.

Came in hot though, needed more dev time to iron out some glitches and issues.
 
Markio128 said:
Personally, I'm not good enough to play twitch competitive shooters anymore, so it's a real pleasure to play a multiplayer game where everyone has the same goals - and you don't need to be that good to feel like you're being helpful.
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This is a big one. It is nice to play a military shooter where reflex reactions are not the main component to whether you are good or not
 
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It's the new Streamer/influencer FotM game. Not saying it's not good or deserved of praise or whatever, but that's why it's exceedingly popular. We just saw the same trend with Palworld, then before that there was The Finals, so on and so forth.
 
It's just a very fun game with no frills or filler. Pick a load out, join a group and fuck some bugs or robots up. Level up and buy new stuff to fuck them up with even bigger bombs/weapons. It's a very fun game but not doing anything particularly special. It just has a really fun gameplay loop. I can't see me playing it every day or anything long term but a few rounds a week for the buzz will keep me coming back no doubt.
 
Markio128 said:
Personally, I'm not good enough to play twitch competitive shooters anymore, so it's a real pleasure to play a multiplayer game where everyone has the same goals - and you don't need to be that good to feel like you're being helpful.
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This is a huge point. Developers would be wise to learn this lesson.
 
It's deceptively basic, but actually has some really smart stuff going on under the hood. You notice it more as you play.

I only just found out that you can fire laser weapons for longer on the colder planets for example.
 
Go to the highest accessible difficulty and don't play solo.

"Slow" ...lol.
The game is deceptively simple and maybe even slow on the tutorial difficulties, then you get to higher difficulties and you suddenly understand that you actually had no idea what you were doing up to this point and a single enemy sighting can immediately call an entire army down on you.
If you ever witness a real high difficulty battle with orbital weapons mowing down turret high enemies while you try to kite a hundred smaller ones while also trying to call down the next stratagem and bullseye the armoured monster charging you at once you'll look back and never understand how you could ever call this game... Slow.
 
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The game absolutely shines on harder modes and with a full squad. The sheer chaos and feeling of being in the shit makes this game take off.

Dropping a 500kg on an egg nest and wiping it out in one strike feels amazing. It's small, satisfying moments like that multiplying in a match.

When I first played a few solo matches on Trivial and Easy I just thought...okay...that's it?
 
ive only played it for 2 days but I like the coop aspect of it. The competitive nature of the game is then focused more on how much you can whoop ass amongst your squad.

The gunplay and character mobility needs to loosen up a bit like warframe, then it would be wild.
 
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This game isn't influencer driven, unless you call player word of mouth influencer driven. When Destiny came out nobody knew what to make of it because Bungie couldn't sell it for shit. I remember the 1st E3 where they played the intro mission with a scripted squad and one was player so elated they got a blue sniper rifle they spent 5 minutes describing gun stats. They made the game look stupid and unfun. Then they released the alpha and word of mouth took over. I say this to students all the time, you're not going to learn math until you personally put pencil to paper. So stop watching shit and be like Nike and Just Do It!. Not everything has to be COD, Fortnite, Apex….insert favorite twitch shooter. Instead savior games that get it right and are just fun. Arrowhead and Bungie got the gameplay right and that's why their games took off.
 
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