Helldivers 2 is at all times altering. At some point you would possibly get up to a brand new DLC including aliens with thoughts management powers referred to as the Illuminate. One other you would possibly encounter an enormous patch that secretly provides shovels. Otherwise you would possibly load up the sci-fi shooter and instantly obtain an evacuation order for Angel’s Enterprise as a result of it’s about to be destroyed by a rogue black gap.
Gamers who had been on-line on the time may leap to the planetary system in query and behold the destruction of what’s been one of many massive battlefields within the Galactic Conflict that started again when Helldivers 2 launched in February 2024. Hundreds of thousands of Helldivers died liberating the autumnal planet from Terminid management starting with Operation Valiant Enclosure. Gamers solely ever misplaced one battle there. However this week, it proved to be all for naught when Helldivers dungeon grasp Joel determined to make it the primary pawn to fall in a way more sinister sport.
However it’s not the primary time a planet was destroyed in Helldivers 2. Meridian was the primary to fall, and never by the hands of out of doors forces. It was gamers who destroyed that planet final yr by turning it right into a black gap as a method towards eradicating a mutated Terminid Tremendous Colony of their very own unintentional making. It was the primary instance of Arrowhead Sport Studios essentially altering its in-game cosmos in service of its grim navy storytelling. And it’s not clear it was a part of a grander plan.
Final weekend, gamers got the Main Order to go contest the Illuminate’s management of the black gap, lest the aliens gas it with darkish vitality for unknown functions. “The Illuminate at the moment are actively transferring Meridia,” an in-game message knowledgeable gamers on February 8. “The Heart of Science on Fenrir III can affirm: Meridia is in movement. The Darkish Vitality that the illuminate muster by their many invasions seems to be key. The Helldivers is [sic] now referred to as upon to restrict the Illuminate accumulation of this Darkish Vitality.”
It’s unclear how the black gap might be stopped however issues will get very, very unhealthy if it’s not. The anomaly is now on a collision course for Tremendous Earth, with 5 different planets in the best way. Plus, the extra darkish vitality it accrues, the sooner it strikes. Gamers had been monitoring it by way of in-game instruments over the previous week. What number of extra planets will fall earlier than the Illuminate’s plan might be unraveled and halted? Or is Arrowhead planning to have fun Helldivers 2’s one-year anniversary with a Tremendous Earth showdown gamers have been ready for?
Both means, it’s a testomony to the sport’s one-of-a-kind evolving on-line world that it feels prefer it’s constructing towards one thing regardless of all the repetition and incremental progress. Gamers of the unique Helldivers have gained the Galactic Conflict a number of occasions at this level, with every victory clearing the board forward of a brand new marketing campaign. I’m excited to see what Arrowhead’s long-term plans are with this sequel. It seems like Helldivers 2 has room to persevering with evolving, each mechanically and narratively, for years to come back.
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