You would precisely name me a fan of mechs. I’ve sunk extra hours into Titanfall than every other multiplayer sport, and Armored Core 6 was my private sport of the yr. Huge robots, tactical conflict video games, plastic fashions, I get pleasure from all of them. So once I say that the Helldivers 2 mech is a bit of shit, I say that with love, as a result of it’s completely good for this sport.
Helldivers 2 takes place in a fictional galactic conflict between alien bugs, autonomous robots, and the idiotic fascist people of Tremendous Earth. The sport’s tone is satirical in primarily the identical method the Starship Troopers film was: that’s, displaying the various methods conflict horrifyingly warps a society and the way propaganda is used to cover that.
What’s spectacular about Helldivers 2 is how that satire extends into the gameplay itself. You shortly be taught particular person Helldiver’s lives are hardly valued in any respect through the tutorial, when your character is unceremoniously mulched throughout coaching to make some extent. Until you alter the settings, your Helldiver’s voice adjustments each time you respawn to clarify you’re a totally different individual every time. Tremendous Earth actually views its Helldivers to be as expendable as bullets, which is precisely what their “Hellpods” appear like. My private headcannon for why the Helldivers use online game model cheat codes when interacting with computer systems is as a result of they’re illiterate. Why train a bullet to learn?
That’s why it makes good sense that the brand new Patriot Mech Swimsuit can be a whole piece of shit. There’s no method to reload its weapons, it may well get shot down whereas it’s being airdropped, there’s no well being indicator to know whenever you’ve taken an excessive amount of injury, and it feels prefer it goes from being on fireplace to exploding in about half a second. At launch, the mechs even seem to hit their very own hitbox once they launch a missile if they’re additionally turning on the identical time.
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Maybe lots of the issues aren’t intentional and will likely be patched out quickly, however they match narratively into the world of Helldivers 2. It is a sport the place your auto-turrets and drones have such poor focusing on that you simply lower down your allies (or your self) on an everyday, hilarious foundation. You’re telling me Tremendous Earth has an awesome R&D division understanding all of the kinks of its huge robotic? NO! This hunk of junk goes to be piloted by some child who’s fortunate to reside 37 seconds! What’s the purpose of reloading it? So what if the missiles can clip the carriage, waa waa waa, simply stand nonetheless whenever you shoot, soldier! You already know you might want to be ready to dive out of the way in which of an orbital strike, what’s the issue with ejecting out of your flaming mech manually?
This satirical tackle a clumsy fascist authorities offers Helldivers 2 loads of leeway in how “unhealthy” it may well make Tremendous Earth’s arsenal. A rule of thumb within the sport is the extra highly effective weapons and stratagems you unlock later within the sport are additionally much more harmful to you and your fellow Helldivers. It’s the proper method to steadiness a coop squad shooter and make the apparent level that fascism would additionally make a extremely crappy robotic.
