Summary
Recent leaks suggest thatHelldivers 2will be receiving vehicles, most likely for use as special strategems. The arrival of vehicles in the massively successful live-service game has yet to be officially confirmed by developer Arrowhead Studios, but the ostensible veracity of the leaks, combined with the recentlaunch of mechs inHelldivers 2,makes the prospect seem likely.
While the idea of spreading intergalactic democracy at breakneck, motor-powered speeds has a lot of potential, Arrowhead Studios may want to use a gentle hand when adding vehicles to the game. Co-op shooters aren’t exactly a rare breed, butHelldivers 2has managed to carve out a space for itself in the market by offering gameplay that is truly unique: players are constantly oscillating between being overpowered super-soldiers and overwhelmed, meek humans in over their heads, and this dichotomy helps the game maintain a finely-tuned sense of tension and chaos that simply isn’t found in other, similar multiplayer games. A bad implementation of vehicles could upset this balance.
Helldivers 2 Should Take a Conservative Approach to Vehicles
Like with Mechs, Helldivers 2 Will Need to Carefully Balance Its Vehicles
Assuming the recentHelldivers 2vehicle leaksare accurate, it’s worth wondering how exactly they will function in-game. Current evidence points to vehicles being available as strategems, allowing players to call them in for specific use cases. It seems likely that players will be able to leverage vehicles much in the same way as mechs, in the sense that they will be on a long cooldown and offer some sort of risk-reward balance.
Although some players have been unhappy with their underwhelming power,Helldivers 2’s mechs might be a good blueprintfor its vehicles. The recently released EXO-45 mechs, or “exosuits,” are flashy and powerful tools that players can use to level the playing field, especially against Automatons, but they aren’t completely overpowered. The game reels in their effectiveness by making them relatively brittle and keeping them on a long cooldown, ensuring that players can’t just spam them for an easy victory. On top of this, the mechs' slow movement speed and deadly explosiveness on destruction mean that there’s a risk involved in the reward of better firepower and slightly more durability. If vehicles are similarly well-balanced, then this could prevent them from being overpowered or undermining the aforementioned tension of the game.
Vehicles Might Be Even More Tricky Than Mechs to Implement
Theongoing balancing ofHelldivers 2mechsis helping to keep the game’s design pillars intact, but vehicles might be a different beast entirely. The vehicles revealed in the leaks appear to be APCs and all-terrain vehicles similar to the Warthogs from Halo, both of which would be, by nature, faster than a person on foot. So, while Arrowhead Studios could take balancing measures like making vehicles explode upon taking too much damage, this may be rendered far less risky by their ability to rapidly extricate away from danger. With a core part of mostHelldivers 2missions being extraction and high-risk traversal, the higher speeds and better durability of vehicles might trivialize certain objectives.
Vehicle speed could be particularly overpowering when fighting Terminids, as they have considerably more limited options in ranged combat.
The bestHelldivers 2strategemsfeel like substantial elevations of player power while still being relatively constrained and, more importantly, not altering the fundamental team-shooter gameplay that is so central to the experience. Thankfully, the multi-rider design of the leaked vehicles, combined with their peripheral turrets, means that vehicles will likely serve to supportHelldivers 2’s co-op nature, making them as interesting and multifaceted as they are powerful. If Arrowhead can manage to show restraint with regard to things like cooldown time, firepower, and general availability and balancing, then vehicles will likely only serve to enhance the game, not alter it on a fundamental level.
Helldivers 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Do you believe in freedom? Can you stand in the face of oppression – and defend the defenceless? Wage war for peace. Die for democracy.Join forces with up to three friends and wreak havoc on an alien scourge threatening the safety of your home planet, Super Earth, in this multiplayer co-op shooter for PS5 and PC from Arrowhead Game Studios.Step into the boots of the Helldivers, an elite class of soldiers whose mission is to spread peace, liberty and Managed Democracy using the biggest, baddest and most explosive tools in the galaxy.Helldivers don’t go planet side without proper backup, but it’s up to you to decide how and when to call it in. Not only do you have a host of superpowered primary weapons and customizable loadouts, you also have the ability to call on stratagems during play.Helldivers 2 features Arrowhead’s best cooperative gameplay yet. Collaboration will be vital: Teams will synergize on loadouts, strategize their approach for each mission and complete objectives together.1Enlist in Super Earth’s premier military peacekeeping force today. We are heroes… we are legends… WE ARE HELLDIVERS.
