Helldivers 2's first big war isn't suffering because of tough evac missions or medal-hoarding farmers—it's the pass-or-fail reward structure that's spoiling the fun

A horde of automaton bots from Helldivers 2 marchers mercilessly on.

I've been enjoying Helldivers 2 a whole lot—specifically, I've loved the feeling of being that disposable, fragile grunt in the middle of a large-scale galactic war. That feeling that there's something bad happening at every turn is a whole lot of fun. It's why every other day there's a TikTok of some Helldiver ducking and weaving, barely making it into a Pelican on a razor's edge.

I also adore the concept of adding piddly little percentage points to planet defences. At least, in theory. In practice however, the current major order has a few issues—ones that are solvable, now that Arrowhead Games' HQ doesn't have unending server problems distracting it.