“Helldivers 2” has been one of the most controversial games of 2024 with a severe roller coaster of highs and lows that have given fans more than a few cases of whiplash.
From its astounding spike in popularity on launch rocketing past 140,000 players to the Sony PSN debacle in early May – when PC players would later be required to have a PlayStation account in order to play the game – that drastically soured player opinion of Arrowhead Game Studios and Sony, the game has been a mixed bag of either fun or fury for many players.
On Aug. 6, Arrowhead Game Studios released their largest update for “Helldivers 2” yet. Titled “Escalation of Freedom,” the update added five new enemy types, a new difficulty level known as “Super Helldive,” two new side objectives and a new spooky swamp planet biome to the base game.
This update could have been more than enough to satisfy members of the fan-base who were growing tired of the recent gameplay loop, however, there was also an unwelcome surprise tied to “Escalation of Freedom.”
The update changed two fan favorite weapons, the “FLAM-40 Flamethrower” and the “SG – 225IE Breaker Incendiary,” in a way players were not happy with.
Before the update, the flamethrower was a reliable tool that was mostly used against “Terminids” and specifically to quickly take out “Chargers” and “Hive Guardians” as it was efficient at piercing through their heavy armor on the legs and head.
Despite its benefits, flamethrower users were at risk of setting themselves or teammates aflame and mobility was decreased while using the weapon so it was a high-risk high-reward type of weapon, especially against Terminids.
However, after the “Escalation of Freedom” update, the weapon’s streams of fire have been changed so it no longer pierces through medium and heavy enemy armor, taking away a well-utilized and treasured characteristic for the flamethrower.
The Breaker Incendiary was another reliable tool used against swarms of Terminids for its spread and additional fire effects that would deal fire damage over time to anything the bullets made contact with.
With the update, the number of cartridges the weapon uses changed from six to four, reducing its effectiveness and reliability against large swarms of Terminids.
The reasoning behind these changes was questioned by players even more after it was revealed that another small update, titled “Freedom’s Flame,” would release on Aug. 8 which featured weapons, armor and cosmetics that would be centered around flames.
Thanks to this, much of player excitement for “Freedom’s Flame” was doused due to changes that were deemed unnecessary in the first place.
“Helldivers 2” has always been a fantastic game and garnered an incredible amount of attention and players, despite its numerous issues with bugs and odd development choices.
Despite all of that, “Helldivers 2” has a good chance of being remembered as either a game destroyed by poor development choices or a game that players can proudly advocate for as “Game of the Year.”
