It has been an fascinating begin to 2024 to say the least. Whereas final yr threw us a few curve balls, like the large reputation of Baldur’s Gate 3, this yr, we have already seen indie hit Palworld hit record-breaking numbers immediately after which drop gamers’ curiosity nearly as shortly. Now Helldivers 2, a sequel to a reasonably decently obtained recreation from 2015, is topping the charts, and we have nonetheless received somewhat over 10 months left within the yr as I am penning this.
Whereas Helldivers 2 is a superb multiplayer expertise, I am probably not holding my breath that it is actually a GOTY contender simply but, because it may simply see an enormous participant dropoff over the approaching weeks as all of us wait round for the subsequent huge flash within the pan. And one of many issues that retains me from going full burn on helldiving in is its lack of a backstory.
Do Multiplayer Video games Even Want A Story?
Now, to be truthful, multiplayer video games do not essentially want plenty of context and backstory to take pleasure in — that is what you and your folks are for. However taking a look at its opening cinemetic, loaded with hyperpatriotic, pro-Tremendous Earth navy propaganda, I really feel like we’re lacking out on plenty of comedic attraction as soon as the precise recreation begins. Certain Helldivers 2 supplies plenty of humorous moments for brand spanking new gamers, however that little pleasure comes within the type of pratfalls and unintentionally blowing up your folks or your self, and the higher you get on the recreation, the less and additional between these moments might be. Apart from, that form of comedy cannot gasoline an entire present. A great farce is about greater than folks slamming doorways and shouting in dangerous cockney accents, in spite of everything, and pies within the face ought to be used sparingly.
Fallout has at all times thrived on an analogous Uncle Sam “I WANT YOU” propaganda vibe that Bethesda solely leaned extra closely into after buying the IP and taking the video games to a 3D format. Once more, two fully completely different genres of recreation, however even when you’re not wandering round peaceable settlements and taking story-heavy quests from long-winded NPCs, that vibe remains to be one which’s lacking for probably the most half from Helldivers 2, and it is a hook that would actually make it stand out from the gang of different on-line team-based shooters.
Let’s put Fallout’s hyperpatroitism apart for a second and shift to the equally ridiculous critique that The Outer Worlds delivered to hypercapitalism. That recreation’s a riot, and whereas it is nonetheless a single-player recreation with plenty of RPG-heavy parts, it paints a hilarious darkish comedy about how the trajectory that our society’s obsession over chasing wealth devalues each human life apart from the highly effective few on the prime. It is chock-full of dialogue to assist it paint that image, however it’s not the one recreation that may present that feeling.
Dialogue Is not Wanted To Construct The Hook
Enter Deadly Firm. For those who’re not conversant in it, Deadly Firm is a squad-based recreation set in an alternate future. Your staff of as much as 4 gamers is issued an organization ship and some credit to purchase gear, though it is a paltry quantity, and at first, you will not have the ability to afford something quite a lot of flashlights and radios, which offer no safety from the alien monsters filling the deserted amenities you have to discover. I say “received to,” as a result of your mission is to carry again items of scrap from these bases to promote to the corporate each three days, and when you do not meet your financial quotas, you get the one actual recorded line within the recreation — a cheery sounding worker coming over your ship’s loudspeaker to let you understand that you simply’re simply not worthwhile sufficient to exist — earlier than your ship’s airlock pops open and also you and your crew are sucked out to a cold demise within the blackness of house.
There is no one to speak to in Deadly Firm outdoors of your human-controlled teammates — even the character taking your hard-won items on the firm counter is only a monstrous tentacle that pops briefly out of a window to seize your stuff — however the recreation provides you sufficient ambiance in its backstory and atmosphere so as to add some darkish humor to the repetitive grind.
There is definitely nothing improper with the “bugs dangerous, robots dangerous” mindset in Helldivers 2, however I fear that the gameplay will lose its attract over time, and we’ll all transfer onto the subsequent factor. Because of the trailer, the groundwork’s already there so as to add in additional ’50s-tastic pomp and circumstance to humanity’s epic battle for its continued existence. I do not know whether or not Arrowhead Recreation Studios will lean into it like Bethesda did with the Fallout sequence, or have the ability to coyly work it in like Zeekerss did with Deadly Firm, however I believe it is simply the trick Helldivers 2 wants to remain on the prime of the charts.
