Once upon a time, Helldivers 2 was everyone’s favorite game. Players were overjoyed to cosplay as satirized fascists, and the promise of an evolving galactic war story enthralled the masses. Nowadays though, it seems like Helldivers 2’s own community is getting increasingly sick of it and the developer behind it. Just look at the reception to the latest major order, which has proven far too hard to be enjoyable.
Helldivers 2’s current major order introduces a new mission to deploy “dark fluid” on the planet of Meridia. It’s intended to be used to destroy the intense number of Terminids that are there. During the mission, players are supposed to defend drill sites from incoming waves of bugs (which is nothing new), but people are finding it exceptionally hard to do, because the bugs have been spawning in overwhelming numbers right on top of the drill sites.
To make matters even worse, the flying bugs have been swarming players too, especially when they’re extracting after completing the brutally difficult mission. Clips and screenshots of players getting completely mobbed on have been shared all over the game’s forums. One meme likened fighting off the swarm to Mifune’s last stand sat in his gatling-gun-strapped mech in Matrix Revolutions. Some folks have been having their own fun laughing at the situation, while others are tallying the number of times they’ve felt burned by the game and considering calling it quits. According to the Helldivers 2 community, the mission is absolutely busted, and they aren’t wrong.
Developers Arrowhead have taken to the game’s Discord to share that the immense spawn rates in the dark fluid missions, as well as the unpredictably close spawn locations, are due for a fix. This unfortunate scenario is just another installment in Helldivers 2’s regrettable fall from grace, and it’s disheartening to see the game’s once-proud community become the one to tear the game down so thoroughly.
It’s been a rough time for Helldivers 2, which has been weathering storm after storm. The turning point in this saga was Sony’s enforcement of a PSN login for PC players, which caused Helldivers 2 to be pulled from storefronts around the world where PSN is not supported. By the time Sony repealed its decision the damage was done, and the game’s loyal fanbase had turned on both the game and its developers.
Since then, Helldivers 2’s player count has been dwindling and those who’ve stuck with it are seemingly always angry at Arrowhead for one thing or another. I keep hoping for a deserved win that turns the tides back in Helldivers 2’s favor, but this most recent string of moves has definitely not been it. Hopefully, its recent change of CEO and a plan to roll out fewer updates so the team can focus on quality, will see fortunes turned around.