It's been one month since Super Earth High-Command mobilized the Helldivers into the Second Galactic War. Operation Valiant Enclosure was supposed to be a simple counter-offensive, designed to halt an emerging Terminid advance on the Orion Sector. The battle to protect Heeth and Angel's Venture was easily won, but other threats soon emerged – while bugs swarmed eastern territories, a western front emerged as Automatons launched a debilitating assault against the worlds of Mantes and Draupnir. Our forces were spread too thinly. Countless colonies have been lost, and millions of Helldivers 2 soldiers are confirmed KIA; but still the battle rages on. As the war stretched into its fourth week, a Major Order sent us scrambling back to Heeth and Angel's Venture, the planets bordering Super Earth now engulfed in Terminid spores. The territories were held until SEAF reinforcements arrived, but there's no telling what hell awaits from here.
In an environment where live-service experiences feel increasingly caustic, Helldivers 2 is a real triumph. Titles that occupy this space have only become more demanding of our most valuable commodities – our attention, energy, and money – in the years since the battle royale supplanted the MMO as the ultimate time vampire, but there's something refreshingly refined about developer Arrowhead Game Studios' approach to player retention. There's no conventional battle pass to buy into, nor is the story sectioned out between seasonal rotations. Instead it's you, your friends, and an endless swarm of enemies to swat as you rotate between exceptionally simple objective-sets.
