Freedom. Peace. Managed Democracy. Your Super Earth-born rights. The key pillars of our civilization. These are under attack from deadly alien civilizations, conspiring to destroy the Super Earth and its values.

You’ll step into the boots of 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. Team up with up to four friends and wreak havoc on the alien scourge that threatens the safety of your home, Super Earth.

The Helldivers must take on the role of galactic peacekeepers in this Galactic War and protect their home planet, spread the message of Democracy, and liberate the hostiles by force.

We don’t send our Helldivers planet side without proper back up, but it’s up to you to decide how and when to call it in. Not only will you have a host of superpowered primary weapons and customizable loadouts, you also have the ability to call on stratagems during play.

In the heat of the battle and your squad needs to take out a massive onslaught of Terminids in one go? You can have an Eagle drop a 500KG bomb,leaving behind only liberated bug corpses. Need to lay down a defensive perimeter? You can call for the Anti-Personnel Mine Deployer to layer the battlefield with deadly mines.

Gearing up

After your Helldiver defrosts on your ship, you and your squadmates must prepare for a mission by customizing your armor, your weapons, and your stratagems together. 

Creating your loadout feels like part of the mission prep: changing your weapon to suit not only your appetite for destruction but the mission and enemy types you might encounter. Your greatest aids as a Helldiver are stratagems: powerful tools that can be summoned with short button combinations. Everything from airstrikes to Hellpods containing bigger, badder weapons to defensive gear and extra supplies are at your fingertips.

When selecting stratagems, it’ll be essential to coordinate with your team to select the best possible load-outs for the enemies and mission type. If you’re going up against armored enemies, like the Terminid Charger, you or a squadmate can equip armor-piercing weapons, like the AT-48 Recoilless Rifle or the AC-8 Autocannon, which feature a teammate-assisted reload to keep battles even more chaotic.

But don’t sleep on those defensive stratagems either. While one Helldiver is handling the heavy fire, another Helldiver can call down a shield generator to protect teammates as the enemies push back. In a four-person team, you’ll be able to select a mix of stratagems and weapons that will lead to a unique victory every time.

Ready for action

Once your Hellpod lands on a planet, you can start calling in support stratagems, which include more powerful weapons, shield generators, and supply backpacks.

Each member of your squad can play according to their own style: some of you will charge into the fight, others will call down a sniper rifle stratagem and maintain a safe distance while picking off the enemies. You can even sneak past encounters if your team moves carefully. You’re all free to decide how you want to spread Managed Democracy: up close and personal, or with tactical oversight.

Of course, once the action really picks up, get used to dying. Not only are the enemy hordes relentless, but you might run into some stray bullets from your fellow Helldivers. Either way, it’s your team’s first priority to use a Reinforce stratagem to call your brand new Helldiver down to the planet to pick up right where you left off. You can even grab the guns your previous corpse left behind.

There’s not only cooperative combat, but you’ll have cooperative objectives to tackle with your team as well. You’ll be able to share locations with each other and move together across the map. You’ll also encounter optional objectives to complete, requiring a small detour with your teammates, and of course, requiring more ammunition. But you’ll be rewarded for your efforts.

 

Players can decide how to take down each enemy surge using a multitude of offensive and defensive tools. As you complete missions, you’ll be able to upgrade your ship and build an even more impressive arsenal. Everything from shield generators to turrets to large-scale airstrikes can be used to give your team the upper hand.

They say everything is better with friends. Especially when it comes to raining destruction down on the enemies of Liberty. True to our co-op roots at Arrowhead, we’ve made sure Helldivers 2has our best cooperative gameplay yet. Collaboration will be vital: teams will synergize on loadouts, strategize their approach for each mission, and complete objectives together.

But for maximum challenge and collaboration, friendly fire is always on. Communicate with your squad mates and make sure those stray bullets and mines take down the real adversaries. Remember that you will return home celebrated as heroes, whether you’re dead or alive.

Helldivers II is coming to PS5 and PC in 2023.