I am a single-player gamer. When I play games, I like the solitude and predictability of the single-player experience. I prefer depending on my own skills when looking to dominating a game. But I do appreciate a good co-op multiplayer game when playing with friends. And if the game is challenging and depends on seamless cooperation between gamers, I dig it even more.
I had seen videos and read impressions of Arrowhead Game Studios’ Helldivers before it was available for free on Playstation Plus this month, but I was not ready to jump in until the Digital Crack crew agreed to group up and take it on. I have put in a few hours with the game since downloading it and have one thing to say: this game is INCREDIBLY fun to play with friends, and you must definitely play it if you can get a group together. But if your friends are iffy, or if you are joining an unfamiliar group without having skill, you will suffer. This game will beat you harder that you beat an egg!
The premise is simple: you are part of a military force tasked with dropping onto different planets to do battle with three different enemy species and complete some mission-based objectives. The top-down game supports up to four-player cop-op, and features squad-based combat and support. Diabolically, it also supports friendly-fire damage, and I can GUARANTEE that this feature alone will lead to all the hilarity – and rage – this game offers!
Team Digital Crack’s first foray into this game involved a “very easy” drop onto a bug-ridden planet with simple objectives. Three minutes in and we were already cussing at each other like drunk relatives at a Thanksgiving gathering from hell! Precise teamwork is crucial to succeed at this game, and it’s too easy to have a reload drop on your head or get an inadvertent face full of shotgun. Our subsequent session was live streamed, and you can see for yourself how well that went:
Bottom line: if you like playing tactical-based top-down shooters with friends, this game will easily scratch that itch. If your friends are dicks or unskilled, though, prepare to search online for voodoo dolls.
Developer: Arrow Game Studios
Platform Reviewed: Playstation 4
Release Date: March 3, 2015
Acquired via: Playstation Plus Free Games, February, 2016
