Helldivers (PlayStation 4) Review

By Leigh Groocock 04.04.2015

Review for Helldivers on PlayStation 4

Twin stick shooters are a great genre of games, the ultimate definition of pick up and play. It's a category of games that can either go really well or really badly - there doesn't seem to be much middle ground. They are either filled with mountains of enjoyable content or a dull, repetitive grind from start to finish. How does Helldivers on PlayStation 4 hold up, though? Cubed3 takes a look.

The latest addition to the ever growing twin stick shooter genre is Helldivers, a game that has seemingly come out of nowhere, which is surprising as it's simply fantastic. Created by the folk over at Arrowhead Games, who made Gauntlet in 2014 and the original Magicka way back in 2011, this is from a studio with some serious talent.

Helldivers is set in the future where all hell has broken loose and the humans are at war with three different enemies; bugs, cyborgs, and the illuminate. It's down to the Helldivers, a powerful combat unit, to squash these races as otherwise they will overtake the human super Earth - so it's pretty serious business. The enemies are handily living in their own section of the solar system and the goal is to go though each level and difficulty, completing all the set objects and survive the final onslaught while waiting for the evacuation ship to appear. Depending on how successful this is, a star rating will be received, which will also affect the community influence earned at the end.

Every time a mission is completed and its set goals, such as destroying bug nests, rescuing survivors, or even simply butchering a certain number of enemies, are completed, community influence is gained, which will gradually push back the oncoming enemy hordes. If that's not enough, the player will also earn experience that will let them unlock new items to play with or research points that will allow for the upgrade of a variety of different items.

Screenshot for Helldivers on PlayStation 4

Helldivers is all about co-operative play and if trying to play it alone, a good time will not be had. The co-operative play here is slightly different to what most will be used to, though, as friendly fire is always on - there is no way whatsoever to turn this off. It means getting crushed by incoming stratagem reinforcements, blown up by friendly grenades, or slapped to death with allied squads' weapons. Thankfully, there are four quick use commands on the D-pad that help get basic information across, helping to avoid any friendly fire. When in the middle of a hectic battle with dozens of swarming insects, it is guaranteed that the odd friendly causality will happen here and there (sorry!).

What are stratagems, some might be thinking? Well, they are a range of support equipment that can be called in at any time and dropped straight into the battlefield for player use. Instead of simply selecting the item from the menu, gamers needs to hit a combination of arrow buttons in a certain way as fast as possible, while still battling through waves of murderous enemies.

The amount of content in Helldivers comes from all of the missions completed that unlock a vast arsenal of weapons, perks, and stratagems - each of which can be upgraded and become even more deadly by levelling up the main character and collecting research samples that are scattered across all the different planets in the system.

Screenshot for Helldivers on PlayStation 4

Cubed3 Rating

8/10
Rated 8 out of 10

Great - Silver Award

Rated 8 out of 10

Absolutely fantastic! Helldivers is one of the few games where everyone should actively persuade friends to purchase the game to play it together. It's a game that, at first glance, looks very shallow and repetitive but even after just completing a few stages, it will be realised that this just isn't the case. It really is twin stick shooter mechanic at its finest, and it's mountain of fun - even though it's a pretty visually subpar title.

Developer

Arrowhead Game

Publisher

SCEE

Genre

Action

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  8/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date None   Australian release date Out now   

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