Helldivers 2 is all about propaganda – both in the game and in the real world

Helldivers 2 strikes a fantastic balance between a great game to goof around with your friends and a genuine world-building commentary on the folly of an oppressive regime. You play as the titular Helldiver, who is launched into enemy planets in capsules that look like giant spheres – with no obvious symbolism – to fend off waves of evil Terminid beetles and evil robots. The gameplay is great, but what I really love is the silly Super Earth propaganda and how it perfectly sums up fascism as a ridiculous ideology that is doomed to fail.

There is also an ongoing meta-narrative Helldivers 2, in which the Super Earth command (aka the developers) tells players which fronts to fight on and which enemies to prioritize. When the community pulls together to achieve these goals, everyone will receive Warbond medals that can be spent on valuable loot and cosmetics. If they fail, no one gets a medal and more often than not, something goes terribly wrong. The secret trick, however, is that even when things go well, they still go bad, because Super Earth is terrible at the whole galactic liberation thing.

Image: Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment

If you stop and listen to all this propaganda, one thing becomes clear: we are the bad guys. The Terminids have been released from Super Earth facilities and we are killing them because they are a great source of space oil. Super Earth has used the automatons as slaves and they are staging a completely justified revolt. Of course, it’s not immediately obvious, as most players focus on staying alive and unlocking new strategies, but if you stop to read ambient text and listen to broadcasts, everything becomes clear. It’s probably best not to mention it, though; According to one broadcast, dissidents are identified, arrested, tried and executed.

The constant propaganda is delivered with such enthusiasm that it’s hard not to be persuaded. An ad mockingly says that the Automatons should be grateful for what they had, but now they’re choosing to rebel. “You will see how hard every man, woman and child under the age of 7 is willing to work,” the game tells us.

After dousing a Terminid planet with chemicals, a democracy officer happily chirps that it is so So Although it is deadly to terminids, it is hard to believe that it is completely harmless to any other life form! Everyone on my ship is completely convinced and spouting exaggerated nonsense. Nobody is capable of a casual chat at the water cooler.

Developer Arrowhead Game Studios also delights in muddying the waters and exploiting the game’s propagandistic nature. When flying beetles first appeared on the battlefield, CEO Johan Pilestedt said: “I would like to officially refute such absurd claims.”

When the truth came to light, Pilestedt quickly reassured himself that insects could fly and that was normal and to be expected. This kayfabe style of posting on Helldivers 2 particularly. I’m proud to be at the forefront and be a bigger part of the cause.

And then I remember we all lost the ability to fuck when we disobeyed an important order from mission command. No, really – players failed to fix bugs on Zagon Prime, and so everyone received a message that “further requests to procreate will be rejected until further notice.” You must have a signed form beforehand anything This could result in a baby, so everyone has to be celibate now.

Super Earth are the bad guys, but they are funny bad Boys. I’m still on the battlefields fighting them with the best, but part of me is excited to see new flying bugs and attack helicopters from our opponents. I believe Super Earth is doomed and deserves to fail. The government sucks, our mission is immoral, and to my knowledge no one has ever lifted sanctions on sex.

It would be so easy for Helldivers 2 to lean into the darkness and deadness of the surroundings. But there are plenty of games about fighting hard through an endless war; the silly satire of Helldivers 2 The campaign is a breath of fresh air. We’re all in on the joke – or at least most of us are – and it leads to iconic moments like the retaking of the memetic Malevelon Creek from the Automatons. I just hope the ride continues to be a ridiculous roller coaster along the way.