HELLDIVERS™ 2 Review Summary

Enjoyable and fun gameplay: The game is widely praised for its enjoyable and fun gameplay. Players find it engaging, smooth, and generally fun to play.

Variety in enemies and missions: The game offers a diverse range of enemy types and missions, which keeps the gameplay experience fresh and interesting.

Initial enjoyment and love for the game: Many players express that they loved the game at first and enjoyed it initially, indicating a strong initial appeal.

Variety of weapons and strategies: The game offers a wide variety of weapons and strategies, which enhances the gameplay experience and keeps it fresh.

Impressive graphics and animations: The game is praised for its beautiful animations, graphics, and visual details, making it visually impressive.

Game plagued by bugs: Players report a high frequency of game-breaking bugs, crashes, and various minor bugs that significantly impact gameplay. These issues have persisted over time and are a major source of frustration.

Developers ignoring feedback: The community feels that developers are not responsive to player feedback and suggestions. This lack of communication and action on reported issues has led to significant player dissatisfaction.

Balancing issues: The game suffers from poor balancing, making it unfair and less enjoyable. This includes unbalanced enemies, weapons, and overall game mechanics.

Performance issues: The game has significant performance issues, including frequent crashes, poor optimization, and stuttering. These problems affect the overall gaming experience negatively.

Warbond problems: Players are dissatisfied with the Warbond system, citing issues such as high costs, lack of meaningful content, and poor value for money. These problems make Warbonds feel underwhelming and not viable.

Engaging Progression System: The game features a comprehensive progression system that includes levels, stratagems, and warbonds, allowing players to customize their characters and weapons. This system is engaging and encourages grinding to unlock new gear.

Cooperative Gameplay Mechanics: The game offers robust cooperative gameplay mechanics, allowing players to team up with friends and the community to tackle various missions and enemies. This includes both solo and cooperative mission gameplay.

Stratagem and Weapon Customization: Players can use a variety of stratagems and weapons to complete missions. The game features a stratagem simulator and different loadouts, adding depth to the gameplay.

Variety of Enemy Types: The game includes various enemy types with unique behaviors and abilities. Enemies have specific weak points and behaviors, requiring strategic targeting and different approaches.

Difficulty Levels and Balancing: The game offers a variety of difficulty levels and modifiers, catering to different player skills. However, there are some balance issues and stability concerns that need addressing.

Network and connectivity problems: The game has various network-related issues, including disconnections, desync problems, and crashes related to internet connectivity. These issues affect multiplayer and online gameplay.

Sound and audio issues: The game has several sound-related problems, including audio malfunctions and stuttering audio. These issues detract from the immersive experience of the game.

Balance adjustments needed: Several balance adjustments are suggested, including decreasing the stagger resistance, durability, and HP of war striders, as well as adjusting the movement and turning speed of vox engines.

Wait for sale to buy: Players suggest waiting for a sale before purchasing the game to get better value for money.

Recommended for group play: The game is highly recommended for playing with friends or in a group setting, enhancing the overall experience.

Action against toxicity needed: Players urge the developers to take action against toxic behavior in the game community.

Recommended for lore enthusiasts: The game is recommended for those who enjoy the lore and the war within the game's universe.

Community fair range: $20.00 - $30.00.

Game completion: 200.0h.

Session length: 3.0h.

The game is widely regarded as fun and enjoyable, especially when played with friends, emphasizing teamwork and communication.

Friction: Technical issues and bugs; Repetitive mission structure; Balancing issues; Lack of meaningful progression or content; Grinding for in-game currency; Friendly fire causing frustration.

Unlock drivers: Playing with friends; Effective teamwork and communication; Engaging in chaotic and memorable sessions; Coordinated missions with friends.

Chaos Co-op Enthusiast: Enjoys chaotic and humorous co-op experiences, often leading to tense and rewarding moments. Motivation: Entertainment and humor in cooperative gameplay. Stance: buy.

Grind-Loving Community Veteran: Focuses on grinding for progression and staying updated with new content, often playing with a squad. Motivation: Progression and community involvement. Stance: buy.

Challenge-Seeking Solo Player: Enjoys tackling the game's steep learning curve and high difficulty levels, often playing solo. Motivation: Overcoming challenges and mastering the game. Stance: sale.

Performance varies significantly across different hardware cohorts, with higher-end systems generally reporting smoother gameplay but still encountering issues like crashes and optimization problems. Lower-end systems struggle more with stability and performance, particularly on Linux/Proton setups.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: mixed. Mostly positive experiences with some reports of crashes and freezes.

Windows <8GB VRAM / <16GB RAM: negative. Frequent reports of crashes, freezes, and poor optimization.

Windows 8-11GB VRAM: mixed. Mixed reports with some users experiencing smooth gameplay while others report crashes and performance issues.

Steam Deck: The analysis of user feedback reveals significant concerns regarding the anti-cheat system in the game. Users are experiencing hardware damage, including bricked PCs and damaged power supplies, due to the invasive anti-cheat software. The kernel-level anti-cheat is seen as unnecessary and invasive for a PVE game, causing more problems than it solves. Additionally, the game is causing significant stress on hardware, leading to potential damage and overheating issues. The anti-cheat system is also preventing the game from launching for some users, causing frustration and concern.

Linux and Proton: The game has significant issues with its kernel-level anti-cheat system, which poses risks to user hardware and affects gameplay. Linux compatibility is a major concern, with many users reporting that the game no longer works on Linux after recent updates. Proton compatibility is mixed, with some users experiencing smooth gameplay while others face bugs and performance issues. Crashes and the need for workarounds are also common, indicating that the game often requires additional steps to run properly on Linux.

Monetization: The game has a mixed reception regarding its monetization and gameplay mechanics. While some players appreciate the ability to earn premium currency through gameplay, many are frustrated with the amount of content locked behind paywalls, the grind required to unlock items, and concerns about the game being pay-to-win. The presence of bugs and the necessity to spend premium currency for progression also detract from the overall experience.

Mod reliance: The analysis of user feedback reveals a significant reliance on community fixes and mods to enhance and stabilize the game. Users frequently mention the need for community patches to address balance issues and improve gameplay. Additionally, specific mods are recommended to overhaul the game experience. Stability issues, such as crashes and bugs, are also highlighted, suggesting that mods are often necessary to maintain a smooth gaming experience.

External guides: The analysis of user feedback reveals significant issues related to the dependency on external data sources (wikis) for understanding game mechanics, changes, and navigating the game. The primary concerns fall into the categories of 'The Grinder,' 'The Student,' and 'The Tourist,' indicating high severity problems that affect the user experience. The need for external data to farm resources, learn complex mechanics, and navigate the game effectively are the most impactful themes.

Unix-based OS compatibility resolved: A recent Proton hot fix has addressed compatibility issues for Unix-based operating systems. This update ensures that users on these platforms can now enjoy the game without previous technical difficulties.

Potential review manipulation: Some reviews suggest there may be manipulation or bias affecting the review scores. This could be due to various external factors not directly related to the game itself.