Helldivers 2: PS5 Review

Developed by Arrowhead Games
Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platform: PS5

Easily dismissed as Starship Troopers the video game, Helldivers 2's commitment to its own OTT language and visuals makes it a game that knows what it's doing and will have a damn good time doing it.

A Sequel to the top down 2015 hit Helldivers, Arrowhead Games' latest sees you back in the thrall of the Helldivers as they head to the outer reaches of space to bring their own level of justice and colonisation to their exploration.

If you're not familiar with Starship Troopers, much of the game's opening sequence which seems like an updated satire on the alien invasion will be lost on you - but the game's fairly open about what it wants to achieve. It wants to send you down to an alien world with a desire to team up with others and to kill.

From kitting out your crew member with the right kit, steeling them with strategems, and weapons, the game makes it pretty simple to face off against hordes of marauding aliens. But it's the element of strategy that comes largely into force with Helldivers 2 and the game's difficulty levels kick in the lower your ammo goes and the longer it takes for your various perks to cool down.

It also becomes harder to achieve the more simplistic tasks the further into the game you go, and while you level up as time goes on, so does the achievement levels you need to meet.

From chunky feeling weaponry that kicks in via the DualSense to crisp graphics on foreign worlds, Helldivers 2 is the kind of multiplayer shooter that's all encompassing - even if it's better played with friends than online unknowns who have a tendency to abandon the team on successful completion.

All in all, Helldivers 2 offers a strong argument for a simple co-op concept, brilliantly executed.