Recent reviews by Kablaq

Edit 3: Sony has reversed course (partially) and is not implementing the PSN account login as a requirement at this time. While I also hope they re-enable play of the game in regions that aren't able to use PSN, I am re-recommending this game again.

Officially: The Traitorous Automatons and the All-Consuming Terminids press closer to Super Earth, and your precious family! Sign up today, join the Helldivers, and defend our planet against foes inching ever closer to your home. For Super Earth! For Managed Democracy!

Unofficially, off the record: Helldivers 2 is an interesting dichotomy. On one hand, the developers love of the Starship Troopers movie is clear, with the satirical but obviously fascist government; the rapidly trained and quick frozen helldivers being sent into combat where they may live for mere minutes; the propaganda from the Ministry of Truth being broadcast on every ship and planet, the constant wave of helldivers being sent up against impossible odds and innumerable forces, all to secure citizenship and an AI vote. The numerous planets, each of which can have different terrain, objectives, and challenges, adds even more detail to this universe that Arrowhead is building.

On the other, the gameplay and gunplay are fantastic. While there are still noticeable bugs in the game, the game is still super enjoyable. Most of the guns feel very realistic and weighty, with model sway and taking time to move them around so you can aim them. The variety of guns is also nice, as some weapons are clearly meant for small targets, and others for larger, more armored targets. The armors feel somewhat different, with the different armor types (Light, Medium, Heavy) both altering how much damage you can take and the speed with which you traverse the world, but also adding extra features like additional grenades or the ability to throw grenades and stratagems farther.

Then, of course, there's the stratagems. Some are simple, letting you have an additional third weapon, so you have an even greater chance to kill certain enemy types that your regular guns might struggle with. Others are game changing; Being able to call in a cluster bomb attack on a large group of enemies that you'd easily spend 10 minutes shooting at, and clearing them in seconds is satisfying. Similarly, facing up against a tough armored enemy, like a Hulk or Bile Titan, and then using a railgun strategem to kill them in a single high powered shot has a certain level of greatness to it that's hard to capture in words. As you go up in difficulty, the necessity to pick the right stratagem becomes even more paramount, as the amount of enemies and the toughness of the enemies that spawn increases. Trying to take out a tank with only grenades and your revolver is frustrating; using a stratagem to call down two expendable anti-tank missiles, and blowing up the tank in two shots feels amazing.

The only downside, admittedly minor, is the ease with which your helldiver dies, and how flippant some other players can be about that. While it can be arguably defended as "Just a game", for the default settings, each time a new helldiver is reinforced/called down, its a brand new individual you are in control of, who has gone through the same 15 minutes tutorial each player starts with, and then is flash cryo-frozen for storage until they are once again awakened to be sent into hell. For myself, I feel a loss each time my helldiver dies, even if they are just a virtual being, as it feels like their life was thrown away before it could achieve greatness. I do try to keep my helldivers alive as long as I can, but then other players and there carelessness can interrupt that task. While being killed by a stray, misplaced stratagem can be funny, it can also be frustrating, especially if you were close to achieving an objective, defeating an enemy, or just trying to escape with your life. I doubt the player base will ever truly try to keep each other alive as long as possible, and this is something I'm just going to have to get used to.

Great game, 9/10, will easily reach 10/10 with bugfixes and more improvements and updates.

Edit 1: missed a minor sentence

Edit 2: With Sony's announcement of requiring a PSN account to play the game, I have to move this review to a negative at this time. The game has functioned fine without needing an account, and having one attached to my steam account gives me nothing of value; It is only a losing proposition, as more information about my account is used to sell advertising and other useless tchotckes. Until further updates are posted by Sony, clarifying why this account is necessary and not just spewing ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about "Security", I would advise not purchasing this game.

A fun little game, with a bit of strategy and movement required to survive long enough to become the bullet hell.

For those moments when life is feeling disorganized, and nothing feels like it's going right, you can spend hours in game trying to figure out why your iron smelters aren't producing enough iron plates just to discover you forgot to replace a slow belt in the middle of your red belts.

If eating terribly over the past 12+ months didn't give me diabetes, this game sure will.

A simple game based around matching patterns of tiles, but as the play area gets larger, the challenge of connecting everything gets harder. Would recommend.

While Destiny 2 may have its ups and downs, the story and gameplay have been consistently enjoyable since the release of Destiny 2 on Battle.net. If you're looking for a shooter with challenging gameplay mechanics, cooperative pvp and pve, and lore that keeps you coming back for more, give Destiny 2 a try.

Even though this game is in "beta", its amazingly complete. The ability to have massive fights, with hundreds of units running around and shooting each other, and then smashing a moon into them to annihilate everything is sooooo awesome. Awesome enough for me to start saving up to get a better graphics card to handle this beautiful game. If you like strategy games, buy it. If you like Supreme Commander, Buy It. If you like to smash moons into planets and watch the dust settle, BUY THIS GAME!