Latest Helldivers 2 update is the biggest yet, and fans are unhappy with the balance changes and flamethrower nerfs designed to make liberal use of cleansing flames less popular. While many players are eagerly awaiting further improvements to Arrowhead, I’m excited for a completely different reason: There’s a big cloud of Terminid spores called Gloom, and I can’t wait to see what big, scary bugs emerge from the slowly evolving Terminid control system storyline.
You might say, “But Cass! Arrowhead just added new enemies, like the Impaler! Doesn’t that satisfy your craving for major bug mayhem?”
I really like the Impaler. This big Charger-looking beast splits its faceplates, plants them in the ground, and makes tentacles appear everywhere you go. It’s pretty balanced; you can kill it with anything that would one-shot a Charger, or wait for its face to open up so you can shoot into it.
I like to imagine an alternate reality where I saw my first Impaler, thought, “Hmm, this Charger seems kind of sluggish,” and then started screaming as tentacles sprouted around me. But I read about the Impaler and its tricky tactics on a Sony blog long before that, rather than encountering it in the wild.
Something I love about Helldivers 2 is the unreliable viewpoint; all of our information comes from Super Earth, who are the bad guys according to the text. Other players are usually a much better source of information and provide updates from the battlefield. Seeing people posting clips of Automaton ships taking to the skies was terrifying and gave a real sense of escalation.
It would be even better if the super-earth responded to the revelations of the past by denying everything — No, there are no attack helicopters or skyterminids… — until they were forced to acknowledge it by the overwhelming presence of the new enemy. In that case they would say that it had always i’ve flown on terminids and big bot ships and it doesn’t matter because they are so weak and pathetic.
In previous patches, it was exciting to see new threats emerge naturally on the battlefield. I hope we continue to see these slow-emerging threats. It fosters a sense of community as players share threats with each other. Helldivers 2 is also in a pretty unique situation; since the propaganda of our superiors in the game is such a central part of the setting, it makes sense that the game actively informs players about new enemies and updates.
Given the black hole we’ve left on Meridia and the rumors of a third faction approaching, there’s still plenty of room for such surprises. Helldivers 2 continues, I hope Arrowhead doesn’t resort to revealing upcoming surprises in blog posts and promotional materials. I want to be absolutely shocked when these new enemies show up and turn my poor Helldiver into thick salsa; it keeps things fresh.
