Ever since the initial release of Helldivers 2 back in February, veterans of Liberty's most elite fighting force have been warning new recruits like me of a grave threat hidden amongst the stars: the Illuminate. This bizarre race of technologically advanced squid-like beings featured prominently in the original Helldivers, but didn't make it to the sequel alongside the Terminids and the Automatons...until now. In case you didn't tune into last night's emergency Super Earth broadcast — a crime punishable by death, mind you! — let me fill you in: the Illuminate are back, and it's come to the urban colony world of Calypso with a vengeance.
The free Omens of Tyranny update that kicked off its invasion shadow dropped during The Game Awards 2024, and even though I'd spent all day at my PC covering the show in our live blog, I couldn't resist jumping into the fray with my friends the second I got off work. And after battling the alien bastards for seven hours straight until the unholy hour of 5:30 in the morning, I'm happy to say that the Illuminate are brutal, terrifying, and an absolute blast to fight. In other words: everything I was hoping for.
The best way I can describe the strategy of its fighting force is creeping pressure, with its unit makeup designed to drive you into cover but also to force you to reactively change your positioning. Hordes of enthralled, zombified humans comically named "the Voteless" shamble towards you in slow, but huge packs, playing the role of area denial and flushing you out of cover if you don't stay on top of keeping them at bay. That opens the door for their tankier and aggressive Overseer leaders — tall aliens clad in white armor that come in both ground and airborne varieties — to try and rush in for the kill, with tall, spindly walkers called Harvesters providing support with lethal energy beams that are particularly deadly in open spaces. Throughout engagements, there are also "Watcher" drones that scan you to call in reinforcements and zap you with electricity, temporarily cutting your movement speed down to a snail's pace so that it's easier for the dedicated combat units to get into striking distance.
This approach blends the movement-heavy, kiting-focused gameplay you'd expect from a Terminid mission with the emphasis on fighting in and around cover that's standard with the armored shock troops of the Automatons, and the result is a uniquely compelling and dynamic enemy that's made an incredible first impression on my friends and I. I was a bit worried the Illuminate might be too similar to one of Super Earth's other undemocratic adversaries, but as it turns out, they might actually be the most interesting of the three to contend with.
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Perhaps what's most impressive about the Illuminate is that it's as engaging as it is without heavily armored units whatsoever; even the towering Harvesters have a major weakspot on their singular eye that you can damage effectively with small arms fire or something like an Anti-Materiel Rifle, and while Overseers are resilient, that's due to a large HP pool rather than armor that's difficult to penetrate. Indeed, I've found that fast-firing support weapons like the Stalwart or the regular medium Machine Gun shine the brightest against the squiddies and their hordes, and haven't really felt the need for heavier options like the Recoilless Rifle (though rockets certainly don't hurt for Harvesters, and are useful for blowing the faction's UFO-like dropships out of the sky).
What the Illuminate does have are energy shields, with Harvesters, Overseers on the ground, and grounded destroyable dropships at outposts all sporting the bright blue barriers. These can be quickly destroyed with automatic fire, but effectively "gate" the health of what they're protecting, meaning that nothing short of a nuke from Eagle-1 will both take out the barrier and destroy what's under or behind it simultaneously. Aside from further incentivizing the use of what tend to be underrated support weapons, this also encourages teamwork and coordination between squadmates that I love; as one player takes down the shield on a Harvester or a ship, another can quickly follow up with some heavier firepower or a well-thrown grenade to finish the job.
There are also some pretty sweet plays you can make independent of your allies as well, particularly when you're facing some of the Illuminate's elite Overseer soldiers. For example, the one's on the ground can be lethal when they eschew using their staff's firearm function and opt to sprint in and whack you to death instead, but Helldivers brave enough to meet them in melee and buttstroke them with their weapon can stagger them out of their attack animation, making them easy to kill with follow-up fire.
Flying Overseers can be especially troublesome to deal with, but the jetpack they fly with is a weak spot; with careful aim, you can target and detonate it with a few shots, causing an explosion that instantly kills the Overseer and will potentially damage any other enemies they're close to. Divers with quick reaction times can also toss the grenades they throw towards incoming groups of the Voteless before they blow, making it significantly easier to thin out the horde.
All in all, I'm having a ton of fun with the Illuminate so far, and am looking forward to testing a wide variety of tactics and loadouts against it — especially now that we have a new Urban Legends Warbond to play with. I'm still salty Helldivers 2 didn't get a Game of the Year nomination, but hey, at least it won Best Multiplayer and Best Ongoing Game, right?
Anyway, back to the front. See you on Calypso.
