HELLDIVERS 2 is a third-person co-operative shooter in which squads of four drop onto hostile planets to complete objectives for a satirical space democracy that is transparently not the good guy.
The defining mechanic is friendly fire, which is always on and never forgiving. Orbital strikes, sentry turrets and airstrikes are called in by typing short directional code sequences on the fly, and a stratagem thrown in the wrong direction kills your own squad as readily as the enemy. Missions are consequently tense and frequently very funny.
Enemies arrive in numbers rather than as set pieces. Holding a position against a bug breach or a robot drop means managing ammunition, reload timing, stamina and cooldowns together, and knowing when a position is lost and it is time to run for extraction.
Above the missions sits a persistent galactic war: the entire player base contributes to campaigns on a shared map, and which planets are won or lost is decided collectively across the community rather than per player.
Paid on Windows, bought once, with a free rotating warbond progression track and optional paid warbonds for additional equipment. Best played with friends, and with voice chat.
Arrowhead Game Studios, based in Sweden, develops HELLDIVERS 2, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The studio also made the original top-down Helldivers.
