Video Game Review: Helldivers 2

One of the fondest memories I have is playing video games on Thursday evenings with my brothers and dad. This is when online gaming started taking off and so you didn't have to be in the same room or even the same house. We would log onto our PlayStation 2 consoles and play SOCOM 2 with each other. I have missed the online game playing and so I thought I would start something similar with my own 2 sons. I have one that lives across town and another that lives across the country. Once again we have designated Thursday evenings as our night to play and our game of choice is Helldivers 2.

I started playing the original Helldivers when I still worked at Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and enjoyed the top-down shooter platform. It didn't feel natural though and took awhile to get used to. The latest version of the game is a 3rd-Person shooter very similar to SOCOM 2. It feels like so many other shooter games that it should be easy for everyone to play.

While I am no longer at SIE, I still work for Sony and have access to discounted versions of the game. I purchased 3 copies so I would have one for myself and my 2 sons. Retail price for the game is $39.99 and well worth it if you are looking for a fun online playing experience.

The game is very similar to the movie Starship Troopers from 1997 where you are part of an elite team of soldiers sent to eradicate either bugs or robots from planets throughout the area. There is a lot of propaganda shown throughout the game relating to how you are spreading freedom throughout the galaxy and it adds a level of humor to the game play.

One difference between Helldivers 2 and SOCOM 2 is that you are always on the same side as the people you play with. The bugs or robots are controlled by the game. That means that the only competition you have with your teammates is to see who has the most kills or other similar statistics. This makes for a much more friendly environment.

The game is limited to squads of 4 and so it will not accommodate larger groups. You can play as a single person, but that can be really tough as you often need others to help unlock storage garages or align communication dishes. Fortunately the game won't keep you solo too long as other players may decide to join your mission and help out. This allows you to see how others play the game and learn from their technique.

My son who lives in Ohio will be gone this evening (Thursday) and so we played Tuesday this week. After an hour or so of running around and squashing man-eating bugs, he sent his brother and me a text saying how much fun he had. I agree, we did have a great time.

Helldivers 2 has an ESRB rating of M for mature due to intense violence and blood and gore. As you can hear other players playing, you will often hear strong language as well. The original version had a rating of T and the new one does deserve that M rating. The game is somewhat limited to the PlayStation 4 and 5 consoles but is also available on the PC. Naturally I play on the PS5.

A Fun Group Game

Saturday night I found myself at home with my youngest son along with my oldest daughter's husband. We probably should have been attending one of two family events happening that evening but rebelled and told our wives we didn't want to go. My youngest son suggested we find a video game that the three of us could play together. I had one that I had been wanting to play for a long time after playing it at work with some of my colleagues. The game is called Helldivers and is available for the PlayStation 4 console as well as the PS3, PS Vita, and the PC. We played it on the PS4.

We started up the game and immediately jumped into play without waiting for an update to load. That limited some functionality and so every time we completed a level, it wouldn't upload it to "Galactic Command." We didn't mind as we just wanted to spend a little time together killing time and bad guys.

The first time I played the game, it felt like being a part of the 1997 movie "Starship Troopers." You and up to 3 of your friends (if you have enough controllers) are sent to various planets with specific missions. As we just started the game, we had a number of really easy missions where we landed, cleaned out an area of bugs, robots, or cyborgs, and then got extracted. When we got that down, the missions got a bit more difficult and we had to do things like find some keys, get a black box, and then get extracted. For the most part, we kept the difficulty of missions to super easy while we got used to the top-down view of our players. As all 3 of us shared the same screen at the same time, we couldn't advance on the map unless we all moved in the same direction and stayed together. The moment one of us tried to go up while another tried to go down, scrolling stoped and we got stuck until we cooperated.

One problem that I experienced initially is that I kept losing track of which player was me. All of the characters have your name below them but I would get so caught up with one of the other players that I switched my attention to the wrong avatar and got scolded for not moving in the right direction. After about an hour of play, I figured it out and never lost track of my character again. It also took about that long for me to figure out the controls as I am more used to 1st-person views in the games I play.

I know I tell people to limit video game play to about an hour but we played for a couple and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. When my youngest son's wife returned from one of the family events for the evening, I suggested we might want to stop playing. My son pleaded that we do one more mission that would finish the planet and allow us to get some extra experience points. I gave in and it surprised him that he convinced me to play one more game so easily. Fortunately it was he who got in trouble with his wife and not me. We finished up the game and had an enjoyable evening.

Today I looked at what it would cost to buy the game today. You can get a basic version for $20 and that is well worth the price. The version I have is on disk and currently sells for $40 but we never got into any of the extra features that come with a higher purchase price. Helldivers is rated T for Teen by the ESRB because of cartoon violence with blood and gore combined with some mild language. I don't remember any language in the game other than the game's title.

My son, son-in-law, and I had a great time playing and I highly recommend it if you are looking for a family bonding activity with at least two other people. If you are by yourself, the missions are almost impossible and so you will want to partner with people online, which is also an option.