The fact that shooting the Machine Gun into the air for a long period of time makes your Helldiver yell "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" like Rambo was worth the $40 alone.
Austin is doing such a great job. Just wanted to throw that out there - feels like he’s been doing this since the beginning. We’re gonna take what these guys do for granted because they make it look so easy 😊
It's the build up and the payoff! You know it is not just fluff. You earn it by going back everytime despite the difficulty of the task ahead and you know you will prevail( or not and be immediatelyreplaced ) for democracy!
I noticed that the first time I jumped in and was nearly deafened, went to the audio settings to adjust, saw that and just thought, of course they cranked it to 11. It's so on brand haha
I absolutely love how Real Time everything is with the space ships. When you arrive at a planet, the other ships you see are other actual players attempting to liberate the planet. The stats displayed of bugs killed vs Helldivers are real. If you hit quickplay, you can provide relief to an SOS beacon that was sent out by a team of less than 4 currently on a mission, needing assistance. But you have to be at the correct planet. This game is so fucking cool!
Even better than that: Responding to an SOS on the galactic map searches for any and all available beacons, and selecting a specific region filters your queue to that region. Once found, your ship will move to that sector of space and group you up with that squad/psycho solo guy.
There are so many tiny details in this game that add to the immersion. How is this game make me feel like I am traveling the galaxy more than Destiny 2? IF there is a D3 we need to have similar immersion. Moving across planets in real time is awesome in HD2 .
I was telling friends today, this game is the first game that takes me back to OG Halo 3/Reach days. Like I get the same feeling waiting to drop with my friends, the action is excellent, gameplay is tight and fun, everything just comes together as this amazing experience that feels so old school in all the best ways. I truly hope this game keeps going upwards. It's nice to have a gaming experience like this in 2024.
Please stop pretending this holds a candle to Halo my brain lol killing a scarab compared to throwing ball that brings down the hammer of dawn is not even the same world.
I didn't say the game compared directly to halo. I mean playing the game makes me feel like I'm back in the og halo days. It's just a fun game to play with your friends.
That's been one of my biggest issues with MMOs and live service games. "Oh, it gets good once you hit the end game", "oh it doesn't get good until you've dumped 50+ hours into it." Man fuck all that. I can see myself spending some real time in this game. Looks amazing.
this fr the only game i can think of that is going to actively benefit from being live service. constantly unfolding galactic war with a new, non-expiring battle pass every month and regular planned content updates. i just pray they get through this launch
Love the fact that you're not actually respawning when you die. Instead its your ship just sending down another Hell Diver. you can even set your voice to randomise on death
HD1 had Peak player count of around 60 000 players. HD2 launched with 250 000 player capacity, which wasn't enough, so they increased it. To 360 000 player capacity, which was maxed out in 5½ minute... It currently sits at 450 000 player capacity but the servers are still full. But man is it a great game when you get in.
@@robertlawrence9000 the problem is that severs cant just be spun up via a button press whatever company they are renting servers out from is also renting servers to other companies other than just arrowhead, those companies aren't just gonna be like "oh ok well shutdown our stuff" so arrowhead needs to wait for more servers to become available or the company they are renting from needs to spin up more servers all of this is time consuming, this doenst happen in a couple hours this happens in a couple weeks
I haven't played a game with such a sense of community and comradory before. The amount of posts and roleplaying about pushing back the automaton scum at Malevelon Creek has been genuinely heartwarming.
Tbh this feels like a glorified Deep Rock Galaxy without mining. And the enemies look like Extinction Mode from Call of Duty Ghosts. A great copy from Playstation done right.
Immersion is key and this game knows exactly what it’s doing. When the soundtrack hits, stratagems are flying through the air and you’re on your final stand, that’s when Hell Divers 2 reminds you how fucking good it is.
I know it’s a small detail, but when I realized that your team’s ships are hovering in orbit overhead during every mission, and that you can watch your orbital strikes come from YOUR ship, I was blown away. It’s that attention to detail that makes the game so immersive for me.
@@chipperdrewskia new detail I just learned, me and 2 friends were playing and 2 of us crashed. When we loaded back in our 3rd said he saw our ships warp out of orbit in the sky since we left the game. That's something that didn't need to happen and you would usually miss it since you never look up at the sky that often. They've thought of everything.
I was NOT expecting to hear Yuri Lowenthal as one of the helldiver voice options. Never thought I'd see Peter Parker dispensing liberty to alien planets with guns
All the Helldivers options are big name voice actors in a shit ton of games. Yuri Lowenthal, Erika Lindbeck, and Robbie Daymond are in it, and as a Persona fan this makes me happy. The last Helldiver is also Briar in League of Legends so yeah all big gaming VAs
21:50 "It's just fun." This is why I loved the first Helldivers so much, and I'm so glad people are finally giving this series the attention it deserves.
As a returning vet from HD1, I couldn't have said it better myself. Of course there are the growing pains of something niche becoming popular but hopefully it means an even more well supported game with more grandiose additions. I guess we'll see.
@@Silent_Norsemanyeah, I will admit I have the old man "I was here first" mentality sometimes but I also just love introducing people to the game and talking about Helldivers 1 like I'm a senile war vet who needs to take his meds
The "premium" "battlepass" i unlocked on my third day of just playing the game. You get a lot of the premium currency from the free battlepass and a pretty reasonable amount from missions. The premium pass, for example, costs 1000 super credits. In a single mission, i can get anywhere from 20 to 40 super credits if i hunt them down. I also got about 600 super credits from the free battlepass. I could pretty easily make 100 to 200 a day and even more if i specifically farmed them.
Yeah and I think it makes a different beep too when it goes out of alignment. Not sure since spreading democracy gets noisy and busy, but something tells me it’s how it works. I’ll check again next time
Once the servers are stable and have vacancy, this game is going to be legendary. Already put 16 hours in and I keep getting that urge to go back. Don’t have any friends with the game at the moment, but even with randoms it’s been a blast getting immersed and having little interactions with squad mates. It really does capture that feeling of 360-era coop and multiplayer games with all the benefits of being a modern game. Truly is something special. But I do feel like I’m missing out without having a squad to play with so probably time to visit the discord once the game lets me play again.
I've got 30 hrs in. I play on harder difficulties when I get a full squad of friends but otherwise I do doubles or even solo is still a blast. Also a good way to get $ and medals to unlock stuff for when you do jump back into hard.
As a Helldivers 1 vet, I was massively excited when this game's existence was discovered via the NVIDIA leak. I was looking forward to it ever since then and can happily say I wasn't dissappointed. What a game... FOR DEMOCRACY
@@anthonyd55 They need to go ahead and just plan for 3 million concurrent, I don't see it slowing down, its only going to get bigger when spring break hits.
That opening really sold me on this game. I love Halo 3, L4D2, and Battlefield 3. All personal favourites of mine and I've been chasing those same highs without success for over a decade now. I'm always going back to those games to make sure I'm not remembering them with rose coloured glasses and they still hold that high bar. I know it's possible to find new games to join that exclusive club, I hope this will be one of them.
This game absolutely nails the emergent gameplay that made those games great. Just regularly playing the game often results in moments that are either really cinematic & gripping or moments that are incredibly silly for everyone involved. As a small example, they made sure physics objects are synced between clients so that when something ragdolls funny, _everyone_ sees it.
When I first saw it going from isometric to third-person I was kind of terrified. HD1 has some absolute genius when it comes to forcing people to work together. For those unaware, it wasn't an isometric (or incorrectly labeled "top-down") game where you're each managing yourselves, you share a singular camera. That means if you try to fuck off on your own, your vision becomes nearly non-existent, so you were required to move as a group. Most of the vehicles REQUIRED multiple people to fill out different roles. Think the Warthog in Halo, but extend that to all of the other vehicles. The driver of the tank is just that. The driver. You need someone manning the gun, or *multiple* guns as was the case in the APC. This worked great because of the shared screen space where you couldn't just drive off leaving people unattended. Because you were all close together, it meant the drop pod mechanic had a VERY high mortality rate from people not paying attention and dropping a beacon near allies, or wandering into a beacon that was already deployed. So I'm glad to see that much of the identity of mandatory cooperation has stuck around. The recoilless rifle (or rocket launcher) in the first game worked the same way. Someone holds and shoots it, someone else provides the ammo. A solo operator *can* do a manual reload, but it takes an eternity compared to your partner instantly topping it off. Something Austin didn't mention is that with the guns having a slower turning speed, it means you have blind spots that your teammates are *supposed* to watch for you. Helldivers is the most intelligently designed trust-fall in games. EDIT: Unrelated, but HD1 has the most natural-handling motorcycle in any game I've ever played and I don't get how or why. It just *feels* right and has beautiful handling.
Oh wow never played H1 so I had no idea camera works like that. Ohh I love that, it makes gameplay so different. Like those old arcade side scrollers when playing with 2 players.
I was wondering why it felt so natural to cover someone's back when playing this game. When Austin and now you mentioned the slower turning speed with weapons it clicked and made me realize the genius move that it was from the developers. With twitchy shooters you can cover your own back because you can just turn on a dime instantly. Small details like this make a huge impact on the overall feel of the gameplay of a game!
@@thisusedtobemyrealname7876 That was honestly my biggest fear with HD2, that the transition to 3rd person combat would make you too capable on your own. Another factor for HD1 is that your "headshot" mechanic was hitting the target dead-center since there was no up/down aiming, meaning slower turning weapons were harder to be efficient with and was yet another way to make "weaker" weapons more viable. Having pistols be one of your strategems was a terrible decision, but just about the only one I can name. Well, they didn't let you run the sabre in normal missions, which also sucked. Not that it was good, but it was cool. Oh, some weapon upgrades added burst fire and to my knowledge there is NO WAY to undo that. If I need controlled bursts in a game, I can do that manually. If it's a semi-auto, then usually a burst burns through ammo.
another thing that I really enjoy in this game is the fact that their discord is used as a command center where we receive orders that match the weekly community activities in-game I get that this is not something that everyone enjoys but for me is awesome, gives a little bit of immersion
Kinda similar to how the Deep Rock Galactic Discord community was presented as the Miners Union hall, a place for hard-working dwarves to get together and commiserate about the crap Management puts them through. That little bit of out-of-game worldbuilding is the secret sauce for sure.
This game is incredible. The developers are really doing some special things. Turns out you can make a great game, do right by the gamers, AND have commercial success. Let’s make this a new way of doing things.
though the server situation is terrible, the game itself is amazing. The mood, the false-bravado, the absolutely screwed situations you end up in, its great.
You brought up some of the main design decisions that really make me love this game, like the nice heavy targeting sway on the weapons and the lack of health bars and damage numbers that would otherwise obfuscate the actual visual experience of seeing how much damage you're doing. Just fucking brilliant and raw action design that more games need to do.
The fact that even your starting weapons feel crunchy is nice. Also I adore the fact that they let you stack strategems. When me and my teammate laid down multiple orbital barrages it was intense
my dream game is one that is entirely diegetic, so very few numbers, no levels, and the bare bare minimum in terms of menus. Everything communicated by gameplay and visual cues on the player and other objects.
This is how live service should be. It’s so fun seeing the community fight together and slowly liberate a planet. I kinda wanna lose to see what happens if they reach Super Earth and we end up losing Super Earth. I wanna see how the developer handle that.
Playing a hard mode last night, during the extraction the amount of bugs and airstrikes aimed at one wall of bugs was an absolutely amazing gaming experience. Haven’t had that in awhile. One the best I’ve played
Arrowhead Studios somehow making us nostalgic not for the time period it depicts or media it references, but for a time when shit just felt more cohesive under the hood of your favorite game. HD2 is really one of those games that makes me wish I had a dedicated group to play with online.
When the walker mechs and hopefully squad cars, motorbikes, and other vehicles from the first game finally drop this shit is gonna kick into overdrive. Holy fuck, what a game
Helldivers 2 is some of the most fun I’ve had gaming with buds in years. Also I’m normally solo and matchmaking today worked great & i had blast with Randos. Love it
dude you explained this game ABSOLUTELY PERFECTLY!!! Literally I have been trying to tell someone about this game, but I could never find the right words or explanation.. this is great man cant thank you enough for the detail and humorous delivery!
Had a horde of stalkers biles and those littel bastards. Looked like 100 coming over the hill. Called in a 380mm barrage...one of the most cinematic moments ive had in gaming
It's also worth mentioning that you can get the premium currency, super credits, from playing the game, available both in the free battlepass and within the ingame map.
I am here to remark "Bank for you buckshot" is a fantastic line. Congratulations. I am also here to state that no one, No ONE, describes the perfect plate of nachos as 'juicy'.
I believe he said, "bowl of nachos" too, which makes it that much weirder! I now picture him eating juicy nachos from a bowl like it's cereal, and I want that image out of my head.
Also, was really surprised at the level of friendly fire in this game (even your _melee_ can FF), until I learned what IP Arrowhead had previous created....Magicka.
This game is heroin gamified. I either can´t stop playing it, or I can´t stop thinking about playing it. I also love how the community is coming together on Discord to plan next steps for the entire war there is a lot of roleplaying and memes are just.. chef´s kiss. Once the server issues are sorted out, we will be in an amazing, hopefully long ride with this game.
Didnt play the first one myself....to be honest i didnt know it existed until i saw the trailer for 2. From what i have been hearing though alot of the people transitioning from 1 are having a blast with 2 despite the total change from top down to 3rd person.
@@carlzerris6566 Yeah, the devs nailed the transition. The first game was a bit of an indie cult classic, but now that the devs got that Sony money they managed to modernize the presentation while keeping everything that worked about the first games systems and mechanics. This game is good for all the same reasons the first one was good, plus some new ones on top.
The power of this game is so impressive for a team of under 100 devs. Countless planets with gorgeous graphics and a frame rate that stays consistent even tho u have thousands of bugs and points of interest on the screen at one time
Crazy detailed first person animations too! The revolver ejects the correct number of rounds and remembers the ejected rounds if you interrupt the reload. So much effort for something you’ll never notice in third person.
@@Nickong67 if you're carrying the hard drive and you reload the revolver, you'll wedge it in the crook of your arm to reload with one hand. unique solo reload animations for recoilless rifle at every level of stance as well.
There's so many little details that are phenomenal. My favorite might be the 3D map on the bridge of the ship. When you're on someone else's ship the map they're looking at is displayed to you as well. So you can in real time watch their decisions and talk about them with them. Everything about the game makes sense, functions well, seems well thought out, and one can see that there's clearly a lot more to come. Sections of the ship that are closed off quadrants of the map unused still.
Server woes aside, this will be a runner up for shooter of the year for sure. This game is one of the best live service models in a game in probably a decade at least. I have never once felt pressured or FOMO to buy the currency, the way the story will revolve around the community results will shape the story unfolding in the galaxy, and being able to find the purchasable currency in game is wild. This is the PvE co-op game I have wanted for a long time and am having a blast. I hope this game gets all the success. It deserves it and so does Arrowhead studios. It fills that Starship Troopers fantasy many have wanted for a while.
Just got done with the platinum for Helldivers 2 and completed a few solo runs on “Helldive” difficulty. Now I’m moving on from the bugs to try and master the bots which are a lot harder to fight. The first game I’ve been truly addicted to in years. What a gem of a game 👌🏻
I finally managed to get some games in after multiple attempts over the weekend, I’m totally hooked, as someone hasn’t played halo multiplayer since the 360 it definitely giving me some of those experiences, I just hope the devs can fix the servers before too many people move on because they can’t get matches in
The monetization in this game is amazing. The fact that I’ve completed all three of the “battle passes” and the best weapon that I always use is the marksman rifle from the 1st or 2nd page of the free one is awesome
@@stevenjackson9028 The sickle is good I just dont like it against bots and I think it heats up too quick on non-ice planets. Definitely my second choice though
Does anyone else remember the Mercenaries games? HD2 reminds me of those games so much with its explosions and craziness. Playing games this fun make you thrilled to be alive.
Yes! I was just making that comparison on stream last night! It's like they took the structure and foundation of HD1 and dropped it into the action packed, chaotic, mayhem framework of Mercenaries. Now, if only I could have my Helldiver voiced by Peter Stormare.... 👌🏻
Fantastic review Austin, you prove yet again to be a perfect complement to Mr Up himself. Important to note with the tech issues that Arrowhead has been EXTREMELY communicative,issuing patches every single day and doing everything they can to expand server capacity. They were not expecting the game to blow up, like this!
On the requisitions or warbonds, they will be adding a new war bond every single month. Some will you be able to access for free others will cost differing amounts of sc the primium currency. As well as get it from the war bonds by spending medals to purchase it. In addition these war bonds were 100% always be available so you can go back and get any of them at any time.
This game is just so effortlessly cinematic. Just about every match you'll get into situations so epic other games only have in scripted sections and cutscenes. Intensity of mayhem has been turned up to absurd levels, and despite not being a technical marvel game's look and feel is an artistic masterpiece. Tiny details in animations, quality and sheer amount of gore and dismemberment makes it so unbelievably satisfying. Just laying on a trigger with your machinegun into a big mass of bugs and seeing body parts fly everywhere, bugs stumbling and limping as their various appendages get shot off, all while explosive apocalypse is unfolding around you that would make Michael Bay jealous, and allies screaming into the mic "THERE'S MORE BEHIND US" - those moments are absolute bliss. Very atmospheric lighting and volumetric effects help the immersion immensely too. And of course there's the sound design, with very meaty gun sounds and that glorious theme that hypes you up before every mission.
The devs are military veterans with l extensive real world firearms experience, so it makes sense they make things work logically. You'll also notice that the angle you hit something matters for armour; shallow angle and it will bounce off without doing damage.
This game is truly somethihg special. As Austin said, the context of the live service experience is so well defined, featuring more of a story context than attempt at making a full blown narrative. I hope other would-be live service games take note of that, and not just the excellent third person chaotic gunplay and swarm battles.
Hell pods give me the same vibe the scream of the tie fighters did Someone on reddit said it best "it's a testament to the games quality that during server issues all people are doing is trying to get back in and play"
@@Keithustus I actually had it on the back burner after getting the platinum, but the reintroduction of the daily missions got me interested enough to jump back in for a quick round on most nights. We'll see if that continues after the recent nerfs...
@@frozenninja4030, sure, I can get that. But most of the time I’ve got too much parenting or other things going on to be able to log in to *any* game for a solid 30 or more minutes daily, so games that do that really just seem to be taunting me for not being college age anymore.
I can imagine the WB and Rocksteady financial guys making predictions about games releasing around the same time as Suicide Squad going like: "Ok, so we have to release Kill the Justice League before Skull and Bones. That will likely be our biggest competition since it's a quadruple A game, but I think our top shelf narrative and endgame will keep players hooked. Also there's this thing called Helldivers 2, but that's just some indi game from Sweeden or something. I wouldn't worry about it."
Isn't it wild man that a small studios able to achieve so much in recent years while AAA studios are falling behind. This game launched with not much bugs (no puns), with variety of maps, gun, costumes and good gameplay. while keeping in mind about micro transactions and not being greedy I hope they don't become greedy in the future. Overall 10/10
I never understood why microsoft never gave more studios the Halo IP the way warhammer does. We could have so many new and fun games already. An ODST game like helldivers was even a pitch aroubd 2022.
@@thedog5k what a dumb statement. "This new orange is exactly like the old apple." Those aren't the same thing. "iT dOEsn'T eVEn mAtTeR!" Delete that shit and go read a book on critical thinking.
Never been a big fan of shooters in my 35 years i've played alot however. But I only just got a ps5 this week, and I must say the addition of the Adaptive Triggers is a gamechanger. feeling your gun locking up coming up to empty and not being able to press them down when empty. So good.
I love that mentioned fact that almost every mechanic in the game is made in such a way, that it won’t be perfectly smooth and easy to use. This is such a smart design! It makes it very stressful but also fun… in a stressful way :D
You can first person aim down sights if you press middle mouse button while aiming. There is also a setting where tapping aim, instead of holding, will go straight to ADS.
Really thought Austin was going to mention the nod to spinal tap and the humour on the loading screen like all games they advise you to take extended breaks but helldivers adds " if you have no issue being labelled a coward"
I play this on steam deck (at work) and the whole crew watched over my shoulders, some even backseat gaming. No other game I've played (at work) has had that sort of reaction. It's amazing! Haven't had this much fun since the original helldivers.
@@Perezleo2367Not great but it’s playable. Will mostly maintain at 30 fps but can also spend large amounts of time in low 20’s with enough action on screen. Have not yet played on hard or higher which I heard is far more demanding performance wise
@Perezleo2367 basically what the other guy said, casual player's dream. Have had slight dips with the socialist robot army but playing on high settings, battery lasts a solid 2.5-3hrs of play.
This game's possibilities are virtually endless. Imagine one day a prompt appears for players to join a Rebellion movement, which results in a live war between players that enables new PvP modes which can even include CPU enemies in the middle of skirmishes. This is the coolest execution possible for a Live Service and when I upgrade my rig this is the first thing I'm getting
Seriously, the 2-man reloading and aiming thing adds a whole new level. I’m the kind of guy that likes immersion and feel, and having a reason to use real-feeling teamwork like that is a game changer. Feeling like I’m there and I’m making decisions I would really make, relying on my team to perform clunky and difficult actions just bridges that gap from ‘I’m playing a game and I’m omnipotent’ to ‘I’m trying to achieve something and there are stakes’
My favorite thing about this game is the constant persistent galactic war that everyone is playing and constantly evolving every week or so. I especially love looking out the window of my ship and seeing the other ships bombing the surface from stratagems in real time.
I think all these recordings and stuff server side is what makes it troubling in terms of connecting in Quickplay and such. Theres just so much happening consecutively with how its all Live that its almost impossible to not have any network problems. Once Arrowhead fixes that though, this game would be a masterpiece.
Ralph mentioned in this weeks news videos he assigned you helldivers while he took skull and bones. I hope Austin you made sure to not hold back on the smug there. Side note, really glad the devs are putting in the work to sort out the server issues and the community are being patient with them. It really seems in this case its not due to penny pinching and/or laziness its due to genuine mis judgement on just how well this was going to do.
They are getting like 6x the players they expected. Servers are expensive. You don’t want to spend millions on servers , and no one shows up. I heard, right now they are limiting server cap to 450k players.
@@aaronwalsh8469 yeah i remeber seeing a video from someone else actually explaining just how much this game blew up and why they can't just magic in some new servers. And they only had access to the steam numbers not the ps5 aswell.
I was genuinely surprised by how many people actually bought it considering whenever it was shown off at showcases the videos I saw had people being like "meh". I do not fault them for not expecting this many people wanting to play.
The sound design is amazing. Every weapon feels so punchy, and hearing an automaton patrol speak binary to each other while I cower in the jungle is top tier.
I'm someone who played the original Helldivers (shocking, I know, there's like 10 people who can claim that), and actually really liked it, but of course expected it to just be one of those kinda good PSN games that crop up once and never again, like what you used to get back on the Xbox Live Arcade days. A game that comes out, is a bit of fun for a while, then you basically forget about it forever. Then I heard Helldivers 2, and couldn't have been happier with what I saw. The 2d -> 3d glowup is Risk of Rain 2-tier, which is to say, really really really good. Not many games can pull that off. And just lays even heavier into the over-the-top warfare and campy ultranationalism in the best way. Stratagems were cool, now they're amazing. Friendly fire was kinda funny, now it's either hilarious or still amazing. I've never been happier to get mulched by friendly cluster bombs when it looks and plays that well. And then also it has the single-best battlepass and MTX system ever made, with battlepasses that don't expire, and MTX premium currency that is easily earned with playing well, no Halo Infinite style "Sorry you only earn xp through weekly challenges", I almost shed a tear when I picked up super credits and realised it was the premium currency. "Huh, that easy? Isn't that the stuff you pay for???" I'm so glad I got the super-citizen edition just to give them more money because they deserve it.
Something i also really like, is how easily you can get the premium BP too. through playing the game, leveling up, earning medals, you can use all of the SC you earned to buy the premium BP and do it all over again. and the even better part, theres SC in the premium BP too! so youll still have a couple hundred SC to buy stuff in the item shop, if you havent collected enough in the missions. it isnt perfect, but its a step-up from most other games nowadays.
Love this channel, I am not even much of a gamer anymore honestly, I just still kick some ''dad games'' where you manage graphs and stuff, but still like to keep up with industry. Also, me, a man who grew up on Sega genesis Sonic and original Prince of Persia, listening to the guy reminisce growing up on Halo reach rofl...
Ralph sacrificed himself so Austin could experience peak managed democracy
o7
Huzzah!
His sacrifice will be always remembered but ultimately.
WE MUST CONTINUE WITH THE FIGHT AND KEEP DOING OUR PARTS.
Ralph regrets taking skull & bones after hearing his review so he's a good boss for not choosing helldivers 2 to review!
o7
A moment of silence for Skill Up for having to review Suicide Squad while Austin gets to revel in this wonderful game
Suicide Squad + Skull and Bones 🥲
@@Barbeedood We thank him for his efforts nonetheless! Hopefully he can get a better game to review soon.
I'm sure he'll get around to playing it for the podcast though, so he's not completely left out 😄
*quietly giggles in the corner*
@@Underdrill I think he's playing ff 7 rebirth in secret.
The fact that shooting the Machine Gun into the air for a long period of time makes your Helldiver yell "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" like Rambo was worth the $40 alone.
How do you like the taste ... of FREEDOM!
Get some!!!
this game and Snake Eater are the only games on their own tier, the shoot-guns-until-you-rambo-scream tier
60*
@@c.u.001No, **$40
Austin is doing such a great job. Just wanted to throw that out there - feels like he’s been doing this since the beginning. We’re gonna take what these guys do for granted because they make it look so easy 😊
He definitely is.
50 hours in and the hellpod drop music still gives me goosebumps
It's the build up and the payoff! You know it is not just fluff. You earn it by going back everytime despite the difficulty of the task ahead and you know you will prevail( or not and be immediatelyreplaced ) for democracy!
Credit to Wilbert Roget for the soundtrack
Same with Apex Legends
My condolences to Austin who had to play this game instead of the QUADRUPLE A GAME that is Skull and Bone. I'm sure Ralph had an absolute blast
Can’t believe he missed out on the FIRST QUADRUPLE A GAME
😂😂😂😂😂
Brother, touch grass. Commenting multiple times on the same video for likes is mental illness
They play games and get paid chief. Even the worst games would be a better job than 99.9% of the people watching this
@@johndodo2062
The Joke
Your head
Under the audio options, all the volume scalers go up to 11 instead of 10. Brilliant.
😂
I noticed that the first time I jumped in and was nearly deafened, went to the audio settings to adjust, saw that and just thought, of course they cranked it to 11. It's so on brand haha
This is so silly I love it 😂
Crank the symphony of liberation to 11 baby. Woohoooooo
Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
I absolutely love how Real Time everything is with the space ships. When you arrive at a planet, the other ships you see are other actual players attempting to liberate the planet. The stats displayed of bugs killed vs Helldivers are real. If you hit quickplay, you can provide relief to an SOS beacon that was sent out by a team of less than 4 currently on a mission, needing assistance. But you have to be at the correct planet. This game is so fucking cool!
Even better than that: Responding to an SOS on the galactic map searches for any and all available beacons, and selecting a specific region filters your queue to that region. Once found, your ship will move to that sector of space and group you up with that squad/psycho solo guy.
That’s dope I’m bout to buy it now
There are so many tiny details in this game that add to the immersion. How is this game make me feel like I am traveling the galaxy more than Destiny 2? IF there is a D3 we need to have similar immersion. Moving across planets in real time is awesome in HD2 .
GOTY contender
I noticed that when a squad gets wiped out their destroyer actually blows up. I’ve seen it happen one time it was awesome
this game is a perfect proof that we are not tired of live services, we are just tired of shitty uninspired profit-grabs
I was telling friends today, this game is the first game that takes me back to OG Halo 3/Reach days. Like I get the same feeling waiting to drop with my friends, the action is excellent, gameplay is tight and fun, everything just comes together as this amazing experience that feels so old school in all the best ways. I truly hope this game keeps going upwards. It's nice to have a gaming experience like this in 2024.
Please stop pretending this holds a candle to Halo my brain lol killing a scarab compared to throwing ball that brings down the hammer of dawn is not even the same world.
I didn't say the game compared directly to halo. I mean playing the game makes me feel like I'm back in the og halo days. It's just a fun game to play with your friends.
When my group breaks up into two stacks of 4 in call it just feels like we're playing custom games in halo3 or reach just like the good ol days again
@@seapower2109halo has not been shit since 2009
@@5wum657 still better than a 40$ live service lol
The first live service game to realize the “End Game” is actually just the game itself.
And where you have to actually put some effort to get to the end game
Could add Deep Rock Galactic to that list.
That's been one of my biggest issues with MMOs and live service games. "Oh, it gets good once you hit the end game", "oh it doesn't get good until you've dumped 50+ hours into it." Man fuck all that. I can see myself spending some real time in this game. Looks amazing.
this fr the only game i can think of that is going to actively benefit from being live service. constantly unfolding galactic war with a new, non-expiring battle pass every month and regular planned content updates. i just pray they get through this launch
Is skull and bones really just endgame?
Love the fact that you're not actually respawning when you die. Instead its your ship just sending down another Hell Diver. you can even set your voice to randomise on death
Wait really? Huh i didnt know about the random voice setting. Will look that up
Yea but ain’t nobody trying to spawn in with a women’s voice lol
@@habibi8964speak for yourself
@@habibi8964 Excuse me, your incel is showing.
@carlzerris6566 It's in the equipment computer, plus with the VA star power they have for the Divers, it's nice to go from Yuri to Robbie to Erica.
HD1 had Peak player count of around 60 000 players.
HD2 launched with 250 000 player capacity, which wasn't enough, so they increased it.
To 360 000 player capacity, which was maxed out in 5½ minute...
It currently sits at 450 000 player capacity but the servers are still full.
But man is it a great game when you get in.
its actually worse then that, hd2 has aprox 750-850k users trying to connect at the moment
@@quantum5661those numbers of players trying to connect not playing?!
They need to double that even at least. I wasn't able to get on for 2 days after many attempts and waiting.
@@robertlawrence9000 the problem is that severs cant just be spun up via a button press
whatever company they are renting servers out from is also renting servers to other companies other than just arrowhead, those companies aren't just gonna be like "oh ok well shutdown our stuff" so arrowhead needs to wait for more servers to become available or the company they are renting from needs to spin up more servers
all of this is time consuming, this doenst happen in a couple hours this happens in a couple weeks
@@flamingscar5263 yeah I think they are using Microsoft Azure servers. Maybe that's part of the problem
I haven't played a game with such a sense of community and comradory before. The amount of posts and roleplaying about pushing back the automaton scum at Malevelon Creek has been genuinely heartwarming.
DRG was / is the same way
Tbh this feels like a glorified Deep Rock Galaxy without mining. And the enemies look like Extinction Mode from Call of Duty Ghosts. A great copy from Playstation done right.
@@shaggytophawful take
I have seen so many propaganda posters for a universe and a fight that exists entirely within the realm of fiction, and I live it so much.
Garbage take @@shaggytoph
Blasted a bit over 35 hours with three friends now. Some of the most fun I've had in a multiplayer game in a looong time.
Immersion is key and this game knows exactly what it’s doing. When the soundtrack hits, stratagems are flying through the air and you’re on your final stand, that’s when Hell Divers 2 reminds you how fucking good it is.
Yeah this games atmosphere is awesome
Wholeheartedly agree. Just explaining the game to someone isn't enough. You need to experience it for yourself.
I know it’s a small detail, but when I realized that your team’s ships are hovering in orbit overhead during every mission, and that you can watch your orbital strikes come from YOUR ship, I was blown away. It’s that attention to detail that makes the game so immersive for me.
@@chipperdrewskia new detail I just learned, me and 2 friends were playing and 2 of us crashed. When we loaded back in our 3rd said he saw our ships warp out of orbit in the sky since we left the game. That's something that didn't need to happen and you would usually miss it since you never look up at the sky that often. They've thought of everything.
Playing this type of shit in the dark room is the best. The immersion and smoothness is a chef's kiss
I was NOT expecting to hear Yuri Lowenthal as one of the helldiver voice options. Never thought I'd see Peter Parker dispensing liberty to alien planets with guns
Yuri Lowenthal has always been a top notch "faceless NPC" actor in a loooot of games.
I thought they AI’d his voice until he confirmed haha
It’s like if Venom suit Peter was somehow combined with Cpt America 😆
He has a part in Persona 3 Reload too !! I was like why does that voice sound so familiar
All the Helldivers options are big name voice actors in a shit ton of games. Yuri Lowenthal, Erika Lindbeck, and Robbie Daymond are in it, and as a Persona fan this makes me happy. The last Helldiver is also Briar in League of Legends so yeah all big gaming VAs
21:50 "It's just fun."
This is why I loved the first Helldivers so much, and I'm so glad people are finally giving this series the attention it deserves.
It’s kinda frustrating seeing the game come out, blow up, and normie RUclipsrs recommending it
It’s like… no shit it’s an amazing game.
As a returning vet from HD1, I couldn't have said it better myself. Of course there are the growing pains of something niche becoming popular but hopefully it means an even more well supported game with more grandiose additions. I guess we'll see.
I tried the first game but I didn't like it. This looks better.
@@thedog5koh no! They’re not giving you credit for seeing it first. For being cool before it was cool. How frustrating.
@@Silent_Norsemanyeah, I will admit I have the old man "I was here first" mentality sometimes but I also just love introducing people to the game and talking about Helldivers 1 like I'm a senile war vet who needs to take his meds
''The good old days when microtransactions where actually micro''
The good old days was when microtransactions didn't exist at all
the good old days when games were finished on launch
@@cluckendip🥹 the perfect days, days when they didn’t scam their customers every year.
@@MilesJ. hahaha yes fellow redditors indeed i love keanu chungus fortnite thanos
Ya when he said he "grew up" playing Left 4 Dead, I'm like 'what, that was only 15 years ago!'
The good Ole days where games weren't as fun has this
The "premium" "battlepass" i unlocked on my third day of just playing the game. You get a lot of the premium currency from the free battlepass and a pretty reasonable amount from missions. The premium pass, for example, costs 1000 super credits. In a single mission, i can get anywhere from 20 to 40 super credits if i hunt them down. I also got about 600 super credits from the free battlepass. I could pretty easily make 100 to 200 a day and even more if i specifically farmed them.
When turning the dish you can listen for a beep when its aligned properly so someone doesnt have to stay at the terminal the whole time
Thanks for the tip.
Yeah and I think it makes a different beep too when it goes out of alignment. Not sure since spreading democracy gets noisy and busy, but something tells me it’s how it works. I’ll check again next time
@@aaronwalsh8469 no problem!
@user-kz4ir5ux9f you are correct lol and yes spreading democracy is very noisy buisness indeed
Figured that out yesterday.
Thanks SkillUp, you just murdered the servers even more.
A glorious sacrifice towards the goal of managed democracy...
Hahahaha
He's doing his part!
@@Lugghandle ....damnit.
Born too late to chart the earth. Born too early to explore the stars. But born just in time to enjoy good games one more time.
Celebrate and dance so free
Well said
Born just in time to dispense Managed Democracy my friend.
I mean, plenty of good games are coming out all the time. Especially in the indie scene.
Once the servers are stable and have vacancy, this game is going to be legendary. Already put 16 hours in and I keep getting that urge to go back. Don’t have any friends with the game at the moment, but even with randoms it’s been a blast getting immersed and having little interactions with squad mates. It really does capture that feeling of 360-era coop and multiplayer games with all the benefits of being a modern game. Truly is something special. But I do feel like I’m missing out without having a squad to play with so probably time to visit the discord once the game lets me play again.
I've got 30 hrs in. I play on harder difficulties when I get a full squad of friends but otherwise I do doubles or even solo is still a blast. Also a good way to get $ and medals to unlock stuff for when you do jump back into hard.
which difficulties are you tackling solo or duo? Hard defend is the best I got until now with two people.
What's the gamertag dawg. I need people to squad up with as well
Same I've put 35 hours in. The game just feels so damn good to play. I hope they have some big plans for updates.
What console you on mate? I'm looking for some fellow Soldiers to squad with! Let's restore that Democracy!
The amount of friends I’ve made in this game since launch is astonishing and the community in this game is incredible
As a Helldivers 1 vet, I was massively excited when this game's existence was discovered via the NVIDIA leak. I was looking forward to it ever since then and can happily say I wasn't dissappointed. What a game... FOR DEMOCRACY
Same I loved HD1 but I’m super happy that HD2 is a success even if I’m tired of all of ya swamping the servers 😢
@@anthonyd55 They need to go ahead and just plan for 3 million concurrent, I don't see it slowing down, its only going to get bigger when spring break hits.
The transition too third person shooter is amazingly done.
This isn't the game we wanted it's the game we needed right now
For democracy 🫡
Freedom 💪
Have a sip of liber tee
We definitely wanted it
Any and every studio who has license to 40k stuff must be frantically taking notes
I'm sure Henry Cavil is somewhere dispensing democracy right now on the front lines.
They could just release a skin for this game with Imperial Guard and Tyranids
lol yes@@MrMaltavius
space marine 2 is probably helldivers but you're a miniature ICBM
@@MrMaltavius HAHAHA that would be epic and sell out so quick. Do that with Halo, Gears, 40k, Destiny etc.
That opening really sold me on this game. I love Halo 3, L4D2, and Battlefield 3. All personal favourites of mine and I've been chasing those same highs without success for over a decade now. I'm always going back to those games to make sure I'm not remembering them with rose coloured glasses and they still hold that high bar. I know it's possible to find new games to join that exclusive club, I hope this will be one of them.
This game absolutely nails the emergent gameplay that made those games great. Just regularly playing the game often results in moments that are either really cinematic & gripping or moments that are incredibly silly for everyone involved.
As a small example, they made sure physics objects are synced between clients so that when something ragdolls funny, _everyone_ sees it.
Awesome to hear that. I will give this game a go then.
It really reminds me good old lost planet 2 co-op, very nice
Outside of Halo 3 forge, this has surpassed all of those experiences for me
Here here! Your positivity is contagious - it's great to hear you truly enjoying something in your reviews!
When I first saw it going from isometric to third-person I was kind of terrified. HD1 has some absolute genius when it comes to forcing people to work together.
For those unaware, it wasn't an isometric (or incorrectly labeled "top-down") game where you're each managing yourselves, you share a singular camera. That means if you try to fuck off on your own, your vision becomes nearly non-existent, so you were required to move as a group. Most of the vehicles REQUIRED multiple people to fill out different roles. Think the Warthog in Halo, but extend that to all of the other vehicles. The driver of the tank is just that. The driver. You need someone manning the gun, or *multiple* guns as was the case in the APC. This worked great because of the shared screen space where you couldn't just drive off leaving people unattended. Because you were all close together, it meant the drop pod mechanic had a VERY high mortality rate from people not paying attention and dropping a beacon near allies, or wandering into a beacon that was already deployed.
So I'm glad to see that much of the identity of mandatory cooperation has stuck around. The recoilless rifle (or rocket launcher) in the first game worked the same way. Someone holds and shoots it, someone else provides the ammo. A solo operator *can* do a manual reload, but it takes an eternity compared to your partner instantly topping it off. Something Austin didn't mention is that with the guns having a slower turning speed, it means you have blind spots that your teammates are *supposed* to watch for you. Helldivers is the most intelligently designed trust-fall in games.
EDIT: Unrelated, but HD1 has the most natural-handling motorcycle in any game I've ever played and I don't get how or why. It just *feels* right and has beautiful handling.
Oh wow never played H1 so I had no idea camera works like that. Ohh I love that, it makes gameplay so different. Like those old arcade side scrollers when playing with 2 players.
It was very clearly a top-down game wtf
@@kunimitsune177 if a game is top down, that means the camera is on top looking down. think hotline miami.
I was wondering why it felt so natural to cover someone's back when playing this game. When Austin and now you mentioned the slower turning speed with weapons it clicked and made me realize the genius move that it was from the developers. With twitchy shooters you can cover your own back because you can just turn on a dime instantly. Small details like this make a huge impact on the overall feel of the gameplay of a game!
@@thisusedtobemyrealname7876 That was honestly my biggest fear with HD2, that the transition to 3rd person combat would make you too capable on your own. Another factor for HD1 is that your "headshot" mechanic was hitting the target dead-center since there was no up/down aiming, meaning slower turning weapons were harder to be efficient with and was yet another way to make "weaker" weapons more viable. Having pistols be one of your strategems was a terrible decision, but just about the only one I can name.
Well, they didn't let you run the sabre in normal missions, which also sucked. Not that it was good, but it was cool.
Oh, some weapon upgrades added burst fire and to my knowledge there is NO WAY to undo that. If I need controlled bursts in a game, I can do that manually. If it's a semi-auto, then usually a burst burns through ammo.
another thing that I really enjoy in this game is the fact that their discord is used as a command center where we receive orders that match the weekly community activities in-game
I get that this is not something that everyone enjoys but for me is awesome, gives a little bit of immersion
Kinda similar to how the Deep Rock Galactic Discord community was presented as the Miners Union hall, a place for hard-working dwarves to get together and commiserate about the crap Management puts them through. That little bit of out-of-game worldbuilding is the secret sauce for sure.
This game is incredible. The developers are really doing some special things. Turns out you can make a great game, do right by the gamers, AND have commercial success. Let’s make this a new way of doing things.
though the server situation is terrible, the game itself is amazing. The mood, the false-bravado, the absolutely screwed situations you end up in, its great.
Server situation is much better now
“Bang for my buck shot” - could’ve wept with that level of poetry
You brought up some of the main design decisions that really make me love this game, like the nice heavy targeting sway on the weapons and the lack of health bars and damage numbers that would otherwise obfuscate the actual visual experience of seeing how much damage you're doing. Just fucking brilliant and raw action design that more games need to do.
The fact that even your starting weapons feel crunchy is nice. Also I adore the fact that they let you stack strategems. When me and my teammate laid down multiple orbital barrages it was intense
Its also nice that when you aim you switch to 1st person
Ironic that by putting damage numbers on screen, games actually obfuscate the physical damage you do to a target.
my dream game is one that is entirely diegetic, so very few numbers, no levels, and the bare bare minimum in terms of menus. Everything communicated by gameplay and visual cues on the player and other objects.
SkillUp is way better in this video. It's like a bump up in quality. Ralph really sounds healthier here, too. Good job.
It's almost like he's a whole new person 😂
True. Not sure what's different, but this version of Skillup is an evolution in quality. Really impressive to see his growth
@@teach9023 he even sounds better looking 🤔
He sounds like he's stronger and better looking, more likeable and overall just a better person
A cup of libertea will do wonders
This is how live service should be. It’s so fun seeing the community fight together and slowly liberate a planet. I kinda wanna lose to see what happens if they reach Super Earth and we end up losing Super Earth. I wanna see how the developer handle that.
Last game you fought to keep super earth. Would have special urban maps to defend. If the community lost super earth, the war was over and reset.
@@seanv42 oh so it would just reset? Kinda underwhelming
@spacegoat0133 well uhh yeah if humanity dies off they just don't shut the servers down and delete the game. They still want you to play it
@@freeman6156 wow really?…obviously not, I’m talking about the live narrative of the game.
YOU WILL FIGHT CITIZEN!!! FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION!!!
Playing a hard mode last night, during the extraction the amount of bugs and airstrikes aimed at one wall of bugs was an absolutely amazing gaming experience. Haven’t had that in awhile. One the best I’ve played
Arrowhead Studios somehow making us nostalgic not for the time period it depicts or media it references, but for a time when shit just felt more cohesive under the hood of your favorite game. HD2 is really one of those games that makes me wish I had a dedicated group to play with online.
Sweet Liberty, the SECOND that music kicks in watching this, I wanna jump right back in! It has been in my head all week.
Fr. I'm at work and can't wait to go home
The song that plays when you’re doing a plant the flag mission is an absolute banger.
The soundtrack alone at every bit of the game makes it so much more epic
What mission is that please I’m level 15 haven’t done that yet ?
@@sk8ermGsit’s a low level mission like level 1
@@miguelprima5937 no way 🤣
@@sk8ermGs it’s called spread democracy and the objective is to raise the super earth flag. I rarely see it pop up for me.
When the walker mechs and hopefully squad cars, motorbikes, and other vehicles from the first game finally drop this shit is gonna kick into overdrive. Holy fuck, what a game
As an single player gamer, this will be my first live service game ever. This review and the strategic aspects of combat sold me out. Thanks Austin!
Helldivers 2 is some of the most fun I’ve had gaming with buds in years. Also I’m normally solo and matchmaking today worked great & i had blast with Randos. Love it
dude you explained this game ABSOLUTELY PERFECTLY!!! Literally I have been trying to tell someone about this game, but I could never find the right words or explanation.. this is great man cant thank you enough for the detail and humorous delivery!
Can you play with two people only? This is how me and my bro prefer to play. Just finished the Division 2 like this.
@@formulaic78 You can, but if shit hits the fan you can still call in help with SOS beacons.
SWEET LIBERTY MY ARM!
I CAN'T LIBERATE WITH A BROKEN ARM!!
This game deserves every bit of praise it's getting. I'm having a blast.
That's it, i'm picking up Space Vietnam next week.
Had a horde of stalkers biles and those littel bastards. Looked like 100 coming over the hill. Called in a 380mm barrage...one of the most cinematic moments ive had in gaming
It's also worth mentioning that you can get the premium currency, super credits, from playing the game, available both in the free battlepass and within the ingame map.
I am here to remark "Bank for you buckshot" is a fantastic line. Congratulations.
I am also here to state that no one, No ONE, describes the perfect plate of nachos as 'juicy'.
What if you're one of those psychos who puts diced tomatoes on their nachos? Juicy seems apt then.
I believe he said, "bowl of nachos" too, which makes it that much weirder!
I now picture him eating juicy nachos from a bowl like it's cereal, and I want that image out of my head.
*me, noisily eating a bowl of nachos smothered in salsa and melted cheese while sitting in the corner* : "I dunno, man. These are pretty juicy."
Had the exact same thoughts about both phrases. Austin, you've gotta know which darlings to kill my man.
"...any word you can use to describe the perfect bowl of nachos-"
*Used the word "juicy" two seconds ago*
Also, was really surprised at the level of friendly fire in this game (even your _melee_ can FF), until I learned what IP Arrowhead had previous created....Magicka.
if your salsa isn't juicy you're doing it wrong
@@Low_commotion Enemies have friendly fire on too.
Just wanna say absolutely great review man, this helps alot and makes me really excited to get back in! Thanks dude 😎
Great review, and the excellent writing style and delivery is on par with what you'd expect from this channel. Thanks Austin!
This game is heroin gamified. I either can´t stop playing it, or I can´t stop thinking about playing it. I also love how the community is coming together on Discord to plan next steps for the entire war there is a lot of roleplaying and memes are just.. chef´s kiss. Once the server issues are sorted out, we will be in an amazing, hopefully long ride with this game.
I go to bed with the dropping to the planet music playing in my head. Never gets old!
Can’t begin to tell you how many hours I sank into the first one. This might finally be what forces my into next gen hardware
Didnt play the first one myself....to be honest i didnt know it existed until i saw the trailer for 2. From what i have been hearing though alot of the people transitioning from 1 are having a blast with 2 despite the total change from top down to 3rd person.
@@carlzerris6566 Yeah, the devs nailed the transition. The first game was a bit of an indie cult classic, but now that the devs got that Sony money they managed to modernize the presentation while keeping everything that worked about the first games systems and mechanics. This game is good for all the same reasons the first one was good, plus some new ones on top.
The power of this game is so impressive for a team of under 100 devs. Countless planets with gorgeous graphics and a frame rate that stays consistent even tho u have thousands of bugs and points of interest on the screen at one time
I didnt see it mentioned, but remember you can also go into first-person when ADS! There are also 1st person reload animations
Crazy detailed first person animations too! The revolver ejects the correct number of rounds and remembers the ejected rounds if you interrupt the reload.
So much effort for something you’ll never notice in third person.
@@Nickong67 if you're carrying the hard drive and you reload the revolver, you'll wedge it in the crook of your arm to reload with one hand. unique solo reload animations for recoilless rifle at every level of stance as well.
There's so many little details that are phenomenal.
My favorite might be the 3D map on the bridge of the ship. When you're on someone else's ship the map they're looking at is displayed to you as well.
So you can in real time watch their decisions and talk about them with them.
Everything about the game makes sense, functions well, seems well thought out, and one can see that there's clearly a lot more to come. Sections of the ship that are closed off quadrants of the map unused still.
Server woes aside, this will be a runner up for shooter of the year for sure. This game is one of the best live service models in a game in probably a decade at least. I have never once felt pressured or FOMO to buy the currency, the way the story will revolve around the community results will shape the story unfolding in the galaxy, and being able to find the purchasable currency in game is wild. This is the PvE co-op game I have wanted for a long time and am having a blast. I hope this game gets all the success. It deserves it and so does Arrowhead studios. It fills that Starship Troopers fantasy many have wanted for a while.
Runner up? Seems like it should win. Unless some COD or something is actually new and good and interesting, but I never bet on that.
Just got done with the platinum for Helldivers 2 and completed a few solo runs on “Helldive” difficulty. Now I’m moving on from the bugs to try and master the bots which are a lot harder to fight. The first game I’ve been truly addicted to in years. What a gem of a game 👌🏻
I just got level 50 and platinum and I still want to play more ! Epic
Props for using the HD1 soundtrack in this review video. Its so good
How did he not mention the RECOIL RETICLE?!?! Its such a cool system that no other shooter has. And is a MASSIVE thing for shooting in Helldivers
he did a segment on it early in the review
I finally managed to get some games in after multiple attempts over the weekend, I’m totally hooked, as someone hasn’t played halo multiplayer since the 360 it definitely giving me some of those experiences, I just hope the devs can fix the servers before too many people move on because they can’t get matches in
The monetization in this game is amazing. The fact that I’ve completed all three of the “battle passes” and the best weapon that I always use is the marksman rifle from the 1st or 2nd page of the free one is awesome
That Sickle tho. The only thing that will beat it for my current favorite load outs is a laser SMG.
@@stevenjackson9028 The sickle is good I just dont like it against bots and I think it heats up too quick on non-ice planets. Definitely my second choice though
Does anyone else remember the Mercenaries games? HD2 reminds me of those games so much with its explosions and craziness. Playing games this fun make you thrilled to be alive.
Yes! I was just making that comparison on stream last night! It's like they took the structure and foundation of HD1 and dropped it into the action packed, chaotic, mayhem framework of Mercenaries. Now, if only I could have my Helldiver voiced by Peter Stormare.... 👌🏻
Fantastic review Austin, you prove yet again to be a perfect complement to Mr Up himself.
Important to note with the tech issues that Arrowhead has been EXTREMELY communicative,issuing patches every single day and doing everything they can to expand server capacity. They were not expecting the game to blow up, like this!
On the requisitions or warbonds, they will be adding a new war bond every single month. Some will you be able to access for free others will cost differing amounts of sc the primium currency. As well as get it from the war bonds by spending medals to purchase it. In addition these war bonds were 100% always be available so you can go back and get any of them at any time.
Good I need them orange armors 🍊
I like that they aren't time gated once you get them. Makkes it feel good to invest my time.
This game is just so effortlessly cinematic. Just about every match you'll get into situations so epic other games only have in scripted sections and cutscenes. Intensity of mayhem has been turned up to absurd levels, and despite not being a technical marvel game's look and feel is an artistic masterpiece. Tiny details in animations, quality and sheer amount of gore and dismemberment makes it so unbelievably satisfying. Just laying on a trigger with your machinegun into a big mass of bugs and seeing body parts fly everywhere, bugs stumbling and limping as their various appendages get shot off, all while explosive apocalypse is unfolding around you that would make Michael Bay jealous, and allies screaming into the mic "THERE'S MORE BEHIND US" - those moments are absolute bliss. Very atmospheric lighting and volumetric effects help the immersion immensely too. And of course there's the sound design, with very meaty gun sounds and that glorious theme that hypes you up before every mission.
The devs are military veterans with l extensive real world firearms experience, so it makes sense they make things work logically. You'll also notice that the angle you hit something matters for armour; shallow angle and it will bounce off without doing damage.
This game is truly somethihg special. As Austin said, the context of the live service experience is so well defined, featuring more of a story context than attempt at making a full blown narrative. I hope other would-be live service games take note of that, and not just the excellent third person chaotic gunplay and swarm battles.
RIP Ralph. That ongoing war unlocking new planets thing is GENIUS though. Easily the most innovative idea in gaming I've seen for a long time
Hell pods give me the same vibe the scream of the tie fighters did
Someone on reddit said it best "it's a testament to the games quality that during server issues all people are doing is trying to get back in and play"
Honestly, so happy for the devs! They deserve all the success!
This is the first 'live service' game I have played that really got its hooks into me. Server issues aside, it has been an absolute blast.
Any time I see "daily quest 0 / 5 something something"...uninstall
@@Keithustus I actually had it on the back burner after getting the platinum, but the reintroduction of the daily missions got me interested enough to jump back in for a quick round on most nights. We'll see if that continues after the recent nerfs...
@@frozenninja4030, sure, I can get that. But most of the time I’ve got too much parenting or other things going on to be able to log in to *any* game for a solid 30 or more minutes daily, so games that do that really just seem to be taunting me for not being college age anymore.
I can imagine the WB and Rocksteady financial guys making predictions about games releasing around the same time as Suicide Squad going like:
"Ok, so we have to release Kill the Justice League before Skull and Bones. That will likely be our biggest competition since it's a quadruple A game, but I think our top shelf narrative and endgame will keep players hooked. Also there's this thing called Helldivers 2, but that's just some indi game from Sweeden or something. I wouldn't worry about it."
Isn't it wild man that a small studios able to achieve so much in recent years while AAA studios are falling behind. This game launched with not much bugs (no puns), with variety of maps, gun, costumes and good gameplay. while keeping in mind about micro transactions and not being greedy I hope they don't become greedy in the future. Overall 10/10
This game IS the new Halo.
Don’t care if it’s only mid Feb, this is my GOTY.
I never understood why microsoft never gave more studios the Halo IP the way warhammer does. We could have so many new and fun games already. An ODST game like helldivers was even a pitch aroubd 2022.
Yes,same
Halo was built on PVP, so no.
@@baneintheraindoesn’t even matter
@@thedog5k what a dumb statement. "This new orange is exactly like the old apple." Those aren't the same thing. "iT dOEsn'T eVEn mAtTeR!"
Delete that shit and go read a book on critical thinking.
Never been a big fan of shooters in my 35 years i've played alot however. But I only just got a ps5 this week, and I must say the addition of the Adaptive Triggers is a gamechanger. feeling your gun locking up coming up to empty and not being able to press them down when empty. So good.
Ahhh man I gotta turn off my trigger limits on my pro controller then.
I love that mentioned fact that almost every mechanic in the game is made in such a way, that it won’t be perfectly smooth and easy to use. This is such a smart design! It makes it very stressful but also fun… in a stressful way :D
Me, frantically running away from a Terminid while trying to hammer in the d-pad prompt for a resupply
You can first person aim down sights if you press middle mouse button while aiming. There is also a setting where tapping aim, instead of holding, will go straight to ADS.
Really thought Austin was going to mention the nod to spinal tap and the humour on the loading screen like all games they advise you to take extended breaks but helldivers adds " if you have no issue being labelled a coward"
I play this on steam deck (at work) and the whole crew watched over my shoulders, some even backseat gaming. No other game I've played (at work) has had that sort of reaction. It's amazing! Haven't had this much fun since the original helldivers.
How’s it run on the deck?
@@Perezleo2367Not great but it’s playable. Will mostly maintain at 30 fps but can also spend large amounts of time in low 20’s with enough action on screen. Have not yet played on hard or higher which I heard is far more demanding performance wise
@Perezleo2367 basically what the other guy said, casual player's dream. Have had slight dips with the socialist robot army but playing on high settings, battery lasts a solid 2.5-3hrs of play.
Great review Austin! SOOO Close to 1 mil guys, very happy for you :D
If you're reading this, log off of Helldivers 2 please, mom said it's my turn on the server
The theme song for this game is perfect!
I'm blown away how well this runs for how incredible it looks!!
As a big fan of the first game seeing this game finally fly high brings a tear to my eye
This game's possibilities are virtually endless. Imagine one day a prompt appears for players to join a Rebellion movement, which results in a live war between players that enables new PvP modes which can even include CPU enemies in the middle of skirmishes.
This is the coolest execution possible for a Live Service and when I upgrade my rig this is the first thing I'm getting
Seriously, the 2-man reloading and aiming thing adds a whole new level. I’m the kind of guy that likes immersion and feel, and having a reason to use real-feeling teamwork like that is a game changer. Feeling like I’m there and I’m making decisions I would really make, relying on my team to perform clunky and difficult actions just bridges that gap from ‘I’m playing a game and I’m omnipotent’ to ‘I’m trying to achieve something and there are stakes’
My favorite thing about this game is the constant persistent galactic war that everyone is playing and constantly evolving every week or so.
I especially love looking out the window of my ship and seeing the other ships bombing the surface from stratagems in real time.
I think all these recordings and stuff server side is what makes it troubling in terms of connecting in Quickplay and such. Theres just so much happening consecutively with how its all Live that its almost impossible to not have any network problems. Once Arrowhead fixes that though, this game would be a masterpiece.
Was thinking the persistent war was an idea that really grew out of the Planetside series, but I only heard friends discuss those, never played them.
Ralph mentioned in this weeks news videos he assigned you helldivers while he took skull and bones. I hope Austin you made sure to not hold back on the smug there.
Side note, really glad the devs are putting in the work to sort out the server issues and the community are being patient with them. It really seems in this case its not due to penny pinching and/or laziness its due to genuine mis judgement on just how well this was going to do.
They are getting like 6x the players they expected. Servers are expensive. You don’t want to spend millions on servers , and no one shows up. I heard, right now they are limiting server cap to 450k players.
@@aaronwalsh8469 yeah i remeber seeing a video from someone else actually explaining just how much this game blew up and why they can't just magic in some new servers. And they only had access to the steam numbers not the ps5 aswell.
I was genuinely surprised by how many people actually bought it considering whenever it was shown off at showcases the videos I saw had people being like "meh".
I do not fault them for not expecting this many people wanting to play.
The sound design is amazing. Every weapon feels so punchy, and hearing an automaton patrol speak binary to each other while I cower in the jungle is top tier.
The game is now much more optimized to steam deck, native resolution, low settings, locked 40 fps, it's great
I'm someone who played the original Helldivers (shocking, I know, there's like 10 people who can claim that), and actually really liked it, but of course expected it to just be one of those kinda good PSN games that crop up once and never again, like what you used to get back on the Xbox Live Arcade days. A game that comes out, is a bit of fun for a while, then you basically forget about it forever.
Then I heard Helldivers 2, and couldn't have been happier with what I saw. The 2d -> 3d glowup is Risk of Rain 2-tier, which is to say, really really really good. Not many games can pull that off. And just lays even heavier into the over-the-top warfare and campy ultranationalism in the best way. Stratagems were cool, now they're amazing. Friendly fire was kinda funny, now it's either hilarious or still amazing. I've never been happier to get mulched by friendly cluster bombs when it looks and plays that well.
And then also it has the single-best battlepass and MTX system ever made, with battlepasses that don't expire, and MTX premium currency that is easily earned with playing well, no Halo Infinite style "Sorry you only earn xp through weekly challenges", I almost shed a tear when I picked up super credits and realised it was the premium currency. "Huh, that easy? Isn't that the stuff you pay for???" I'm so glad I got the super-citizen edition just to give them more money because they deserve it.
Something i also really like, is how easily you can get the premium BP too. through playing the game, leveling up, earning medals, you can use all of the SC you earned to buy the premium BP and do it all over again. and the even better part, theres SC in the premium BP too! so youll still have a couple hundred SC to buy stuff in the item shop, if you havent collected enough in the missions. it isnt perfect, but its a step-up from most other games nowadays.
the most under rated feature imo is the "im sorry" ping. I love dropping a nuke, shredding a bug or my team mates head and then just droppin a soz
How you are not a 1million subs yet is a crime, keep pushing you guys are amazing
Love this channel, I am not even much of a gamer anymore honestly, I just still kick some ''dad games'' where you manage graphs and stuff, but still like to keep up with industry. Also, me, a man who grew up on Sega genesis Sonic and original Prince of Persia, listening to the guy reminisce growing up on Halo reach rofl...
@@TheRealUcanUwill yeah for real, Skill up is goated.
Superb writing Austin! I'm having so much fun with this game. It does bring back Halo feelings! Ralph would wish he did this review.
You havent experienced fear until you experienced the missions against automatons.
Mixed with heavy fog ☠️