After sinking well over 30 hours into Helldivers 2, I can safely say it's accidentally the best Halo game to come out since 2010. Hold on. Halo game? Sure, there are some obvious similarities between the two sci-fi series – both have a similar militaristic aesthetic and are shooters that see humanity waging war against advanced alien factions with elite troopers that plummet into battle from orbit – but beyond that, they're quite different thematically and mechanically.
However, Helldivers 2 perfectly embodies the glorious and hilarious multiplayer carnage that those Bungie-era Halo games from over a decade ago provided. While many Halo players' experiences are defined by the white-hot crucible of Halo 3's Lone Wolf playlists or classic LAN parties, mine (and I’m sure many others') were defined by accidentally fragging my friends or running them over while driving a Ghost. Cooperative play, whether it's through the Campaign, Multiplayer, and later the Firefight mode, has always been a core part of my experience with Halo and it's great that Helldivers 2 has allowed me to rediscover the same joy. But that has also left me wondering why Halo: Infinite and 343 Industries' previous games just haven't landed with me in quite the same way.
