Visually, the game is stunning! It’s a far cry from the previous iteration which didn’t really have too many details to emphasize as the game was isometric. However this time around, you get to appreciate not only your personal Helldiver but also all of the hostile enemies that are out to get you.

For example, some enemies are so heavily shielded they can only be put down by explosive weapons capable of tearing through the steel, so you’ll want to have at least one player who can call down the Recoilless Rifle, a rocket launcher that’ll make short work of anything that stands in its way. It’s especially cool that any equipment summoned can be shared with anyone on the team, encouraging teamwork and allowing your friends to benefit from your untimely demise by looting your corpse.

Image: Arrowhead Game Studios Every second of combat is also fueled by the tension of balancing your cooldowns on the razor’s edge. Using the big guns, like orbital strikes and bombing runs, feels perfect for conserving your ammunition and grenades, but those can easily run dry before the artillery cooldowns are back. On top of their cooldowns, the heavy artillery or support of the Stratagems have to be activated using a wrist-mounted computer that requires fighting game-like button combinations to call down anything from Em excesso ammo to a nuclear warhead.

The robotic Automatons and the bug-like Termininds terrorize Super Earth citizens in the biggest conflict since the last Helldiver mobilization, over one hundred years ago. Each faction operates differently, and requires their own strategies – and stratagems – to face.

As I fought through armies of lethal insects, I got to try out a whole bunch of helpful gadgets that played a central role in my success. On one mission, I deployed a turret to keep the area clear of hostiles, while in another I threw down a bubble shield to give the team some much-needed cover, and in another I made use of the “guard dog,” a floating robot who followed me around to lay down suppressing fire. Unlocking new toys and communicating with your team to ensure you’ve got everything you might need is absolutely necessary to survival.

13D audio via built-in TV speakers or analog/USB stereo headphones. Set up and latest system software update required.

There's also a setting to adjust the level of image sharpening. At zero sharpening in performance mode Helldivers 2 looks soft and indistinct, while stepping up to the max sharpening level increases clarity at the cost of additional artifacting. Quality mode exhibits the same difference, although given its higher resolution, the effect is a bit more subtle. Helldivers' Helldivers 2 Gameplay performance mode runs smoothly. We're mostly at 60fps in typical play, with a very smooth readout, especially when combined with the game's motion blur. The game can suffer from extended dips into the 50s though, typically during larger firefights. In my gameplay the worst I saw was about 50fps, so the game does manage to stay pretty close to 60fps more generally, although it can spend a long time hovering in the 50s in extended firefights. The quality mode also manages a tight lock on its 30fps frame-rate target, but it clearly has issues with bouts of inconsistent frame-pacing.

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Instead of putting a group of players onto a dedicated server, the matchmaker simply connects you to another player's public lobby as they're preparing for a mission that matches your chosen planet and difficulty.

They really leaned into the parody of enlistment and military media, from the music and the dialogue. Weirdly enough, it does make me feel patriotic. Sound effects from the weapons and the enemies are great to say the least, and even elevates the experience.

There’s tons of mission variety, weaponry, and even cosmetics to unlock. You may not be a fan of live-service modeled games, but for Helldivers 2, it completely works. Game8's Review Policy and Scoring System

Best answer: No, Helldivers 2 isn't on Xbox, and likely won't ever be, either. With that said, it's not impossible that it could come to Microsoft's consoles one day.

It's still a tense, communication-based game, but it feels designed to generate memorable gameplay - and I think it succeeds. Both the PS5 and PC versions of Helldivers 2 provide a good experience, and the game is attractive enough for a large-scale multiplayer shooter. I would like to see some additional features on PC though: temporal upsamplers are a must-have in my opinion, and frame generation would be great as well. The 1080p resolution on PS5 in performance mode is bound to be a source of controversy too, but I think it's a sensible trade-off given how taxing this game can be. Perhaps experimentation with FSR 2 might yield decent results, especially considering the unimpressive quality of the existing TAA, but this is a tough game to run at high resolutions. So Helldivers 2 is a compelling multiplayer package, and it's technically sound as well. Players looking for a fresh co-op experience are unlikely to be disappointed.

The game features dozens of purchasable upgrades and new weapons, which can be earned by completing missions and bonus objectives — though the unlocks are admittedly slow-going if you’re not 100%ing every mission. But where Helldivers 2