In amongst the expected Star Troopers chatter, a less obvious comparison for Helldivers 2 has quietly been making the rounds: 2015's Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Unexpected overlap in stealth, movement, and gunplay has brought Kojima's open-world action espionage masterwork back into the spotlight, and director Josh Sawyer of RPG powerhouse Obsidian reckons it's all just more evidence that more games shouldn't feel bad about copying stuff that works well and feels good.
"I’m not kidding when I say more games should just directly copy stuff that feels good from games they like and then riff from there," Sawyer said in a tweet sharing a video from AnthonyCSN, who reckons Helldivers 2 feels Metal Gear-ish in many ways. Anthony points to gameplay from 2014's bite-sized treat Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes specifically, with prone shootouts being one touchstone for it and Helldivers 2. The two games obviously pursue different goals, but there's a case to be made for shared DNA in their bones.
