Helldivers 2 (XSX) Review

Gameplay

Graphics

Audio

Value

Summary: Managed democracy spreads to Xbox in the most explosive way possible.

4.5

Peace in our time

Some seem to think that Gears of War turning upon the PS5 and Helldivers 2 landing on Xbox is a sign that the console wars are over.

As anyone over the age of five will point out, though. This isn’t the first time the two companies have released games on their (apparent) rival’s platforms.

Whether this is a sign of things to come or just Sony finding a way to reinvigorate its flagging live service business by bringing its most successful (and best) live service game to more platforms is yet to be seen.

All I know is that Helldivers 2 is on Xbox, and now is a fantastic time to dive in and bring managed democracy to the galaxy.

Ultimately, what you get with Helldivers 2 on the Xbox is a much more fleshed-out package than players did when it launched on PS5 and PC a year ago.

For a start, Xbox players must defend Super Earth from three enemy factions, with the Illuminate added to the game post-launch. This spooky, technologically advanced race attacks with a combination of spaceships, walkers, and hordes of zombified ‘voteless’ citizens.

The other races for you to gun down are the terminids (Think the bugs from Starship Troopers or 40k’s Tyranids, and you’re not far off, and the Automations – Killer robots. You know the drill. The terminids are numerous but fragile, and the Automations soak up a decent amount of damage unless you hit them straight in their glowing red eyes.

Ultimately, it’s the basic zombies, robots, bugs template of most coop shooters, but rather than just getting one, you get all three. So who am I to complain when the moment-to-moment gameplay is so satisfying?

It’s one of those games where you can just hop in for a quick round with friends or some randoms really easily. Diving straight into the action quite literally, and joining a beleaguered squad makes you feel like a hero, and it does a marvelous job of making you feel like the odds are stacked against you in its more tense moments, waiting for the drop ship as hordes of Terminids bear down, back to back with your comrades. It’s great stuff.

Also explosions. Big, dumb, satisfying explosions.

Once you get into that flow and you find a good squad to spend an evening with, it’s very easy to play til the wee small hours and not notice the hours fly by.

That’s the best thing about Helldivers 2. It absolutely nails its core gameplay and gunplay. Which is where a lot of live service games fall own. They get so bogged down with the tertiary nonsense, or bogging players down with the metagame, that the actual game part feels secondary to grinding for funny money and equipment. Helldivers 2 mostly avoids this (to begin with, anyway) by making the simple act of shooting and raining hellfire down on the enemies of democracy so damn fun.

Be warned, though, the game is still just as buggy on the Xbox as it is on the PS5 or PC. Personally, that’s not a dealbreaker. But it is worth bearing in mind

One thing that does need addressing, though, is the Helldivers 2 tutorial. It’s bare bones and ultimately the same light introduction that greeted players a year ago. It doesn’t teach you about different weapon types, firing modes, or even how your scope works.

I get that it’s supposed to be a joke. That these supposed defenders of democracy, the best warriors Super Earth has to offer, are actually barely trained meat for the grinder. But as an actual means of reading pliers for the game itself. It’s barebones at best. Especially considering how much more content there is compared to a year ago.

Another thing that is overwhelming and somewhat irritating is the mass of paid content that’s laid at your feet when you get into the game proper.

When the game launched a year agothere were two simple tracks, one paid and one free. Now there is still one free track, and a dozen or so paid ones. At $10 a pop. If you get the Super Citizen edition, you’re given access to one of them for free, but it’s still potentially a substantial investment just to be allowed to then grind for the medals you need to unlock all the lovely toys on offer.

The ODST crossover will also set you back $15, and can’t be unlocked with the premium warbond you’re gifted with the Super Citizen pack.

Yes, you can technically unlock all the credits you’ll need to unlock it all by playing the game, but we both know what an utter slog grinding for cash in these microtransaction-laden economies is like, and if, like me, you are loath to pay for this kind of stuff when a game isn’t free to play. It does make the Helldivers 2 experience, as it stands now, lose a little of its luster.

If you’re hoping you can make the leap from PC or PS5 to Xbox with all your gear and unlocks intact, I have some bad news. Though cross-play is a core feature of the game. With players from all three platforms free to interact and play together. Cross-progression is still conspicuously absent. Put simply, if you want to play on the Xbox, you have to start from scratch.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve been tempted to try Helldivers 2, regardless of whether you opt for the new Xbox version or not. Now is a great time to dive in. Player counts are way up, and there are tons of players, both new and old, to team up with and drive back the enemies of managed democracy.

It certainly needs to rein in the paid content, or, at the very least, make it easier to obtain for players who don’t have more than $100 to drop on extra gear, but at its core, there’s still a fantastic cooperative experience full of satisfying firefights and huge explosions. Did I mention the explosions?

About the Author

Gareth Newnham

Helldivers 2 (XSX) Review