I think 20 hours spent with this game, according to what my PS5 says I've done so far, is more than enough time to warrant a review. I can't tell how much of those 20 hours was time spent actually playing the game though, as opposed to waiting to get in at the title screen or standing around on the bridge of my ship waiting for a match.
This is a time capsule review of sorts - it's been just barely 2 weeks after the game came out and it's gotten so popular that it cannot handle the amount of people trying to play. Among not being able to literally start the game up due to servers being clogged, it's also crashed on me a handful of times either at the end of a mission or randomly during. So this is the time capsule part of the review - currently the game is in a very poor state for a strictly online multiplayer game, and it almost deserves a half to 1 star review for this alone. But the devs have been working their hardest nonstop to fix this, so it's not all totally dire, and (hopefully) it's not like this forever.
ANYWAYS - when this game works and you fully squad up with some buddies and are fighting for your life in a total warzone of either swarms of bugs or an army of cyborgs, it's a fucking blast. Unleashing the entire clip of your big machine gun into a horde of bugs as your Helldiver cackles maniacally gets me every time. The dive mechanic is one of my favorite parts, either diving to safety to escape being surrounded, or (best of all) diving and shooting at the same time like you're Max Payne in space. The cyborg guys riding those little AT-ST armored vehicles that can only be shot from behind - run past them and dive/shoot the guys in the back. Trust me, it looks and feels cool as hell each time. The ragdoll effects as you fly through the air from explosions, and the chaotic mayhem that involves calling in, firing and running away from a deadly barrage that rains from the skies above (and sometimes takes out one of your unsuspecting teammates who didn't notice everyone else running away), it's never not a good ass time.
I played the first Helldivers for like 30 mins on PS4 in 2015 and never thought about it again, and didn't even pay much attention to this one when it was announced; even with the fun Starship Troopers homages in all the marketing. I haven't been much of an online multiplayer gamer for years now, aside from Warzone when COVID had everyone playing it like a big cultural event, but the hype got me way too interested in this one and I got it a few days after release (especially with the cheaper price point). If this somehow was released day one on PS Plus I think it would've crashed Sony's servers. The success is amazing to see, I just hope they can keep up with it.
Can't wait to keep playing this with friends for the foreseeable future
This is a time capsule review of sorts - it's been just barely 2 weeks after the game came out and it's gotten so popular that it cannot handle the amount of people trying to play. Among not being able to literally start the game up due to servers being clogged, it's also crashed on me a handful of times either at the end of a mission or randomly during. So this is the time capsule part of the review - currently the game is in a very poor state for a strictly online multiplayer game, and it almost deserves a half to 1 star review for this alone. But the devs have been working their hardest nonstop to fix this, so it's not all totally dire, and (hopefully) it's not like this forever.
ANYWAYS - when this game works and you fully squad up with some buddies and are fighting for your life in a total warzone of either swarms of bugs or an army of cyborgs, it's a fucking blast. Unleashing the entire clip of your big machine gun into a horde of bugs as your Helldiver cackles maniacally gets me every time. The dive mechanic is one of my favorite parts, either diving to safety to escape being surrounded, or (best of all) diving and shooting at the same time like you're Max Payne in space. The cyborg guys riding those little AT-ST armored vehicles that can only be shot from behind - run past them and dive/shoot the guys in the back. Trust me, it looks and feels cool as hell each time. The ragdoll effects as you fly through the air from explosions, and the chaotic mayhem that involves calling in, firing and running away from a deadly barrage that rains from the skies above (and sometimes takes out one of your unsuspecting teammates who didn't notice everyone else running away), it's never not a good ass time.
I played the first Helldivers for like 30 mins on PS4 in 2015 and never thought about it again, and didn't even pay much attention to this one when it was announced; even with the fun Starship Troopers homages in all the marketing. I haven't been much of an online multiplayer gamer for years now, aside from Warzone when COVID had everyone playing it like a big cultural event, but the hype got me way too interested in this one and I got it a few days after release (especially with the cheaper price point). If this somehow was released day one on PS Plus I think it would've crashed Sony's servers. The success is amazing to see, I just hope they can keep up with it.
Can't wait to keep playing this with friends for the foreseeable future