Helldivers 2's CEO has reaffirmed the game's commitment to friendly fire, confirming that the ability to completely one-shot your allies "will never change."
Helldivers 2 doesn't really have "stealth gameplay" - "it's just that everything just has to make sense"
12.03.2024 - 11:53 / rockpapershotgun.com / Johan Pilestedt
I've written a bit about playing Helldivers 2 as a solo diver, noting that Arrowhead's frenetic shooter holds up surprisingly well when you rudely insist on treating it like an open world stealth sim, a la Metal Gear Solid V. The developers have weighed in on this front, commenting that strictly speaking, Helldivers 2 doesn't support stealth at all. It's just designed in an "agnostic", systems-first way and this in itself makes stealth a possibility. It's also a quiet attempt to capture something of the intricacy of a full-blown military simulator, while still being a very "arcadey" game at heart, which owes a little to Arrowhead's own collective time in the military.
All that's from OperatorDrewski's recent let's play interview with Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt and head of product testing Patrik Lasota. Here's the relevant chunk about stealth (the chat is unattributed, but I think this is Pilestedt talking):
It's not really that we have stealth gameplay, it's just that everything just has to make sense. All of the enemies they have hearing, sight, they also have like an approximation of smell within a close radius. It's just like if you're in proximity to some of the units that are very sensorily aware, like the Stalker, they will detect you no matter if they can see you.
Yes, that's right, the game simulates smelling, so be sure to do your laundry regularly, Super Terrans, lest your noxious underpants lure the arachnid menace to Lady Libertea's door. If I were feeling ungenerous I might say that "smell" here is just a fancy way of saying "some enemies magically notice you at close range", but even if that's the case, it's perhaps a system they can expand. For instance, they could give Stalkers the ability to follow scent trails, and by extension, perhaps they could introduce a Stratagem that drops stink bombs to mislead patrols. As General Brasch might put it, the stench of deception is also the aroma of victory!
There's some follow-up chat on how much fun Arrowhead are having watching players experiment with the moving parts.
It's so nice to see the community figuring stuff out in a game that is systemic like this, because they're going to find stuff we ave no idea exists, basically. It's funny when you take that kind of approach to game design of being more agnostic to the outcome, and focus on designing systems that are robust enough to handle a lot of different varieties.
Helldivers 2's "agnostic" design owes a lot to Arrowhead's appreciation for military simulations like Arma, you might not be surprised to hear. While the game's flavour text (when unlocking new guns and stratagems, for example) makes fun of military jargon and recruitment poster rhetoric, its representation of
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gamingbolt.com
15.03.2024 / 23:19
Helldivers 2 Has Sold Over 8 Million Copies, Estimates TD Cowen Analyst
Arrowhead Game Studios’ Helldivers 2 is a great success, which is even more noteworthy when other live service titles (like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Skull and Bones) have faltered or failed. Studio CEO Johan Pilestedt indicated that it sold almost three million units last month, but the current figure could be higher.
gamesradar.com
14.03.2024 / 15:37
Helldivers 2 players misguidedly ask for a flamethrower attack robot, CEO says "careful what you wish for" as he shares the idea and one dev says "We have to do this"
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screenrant.com
14.03.2024 / 15:35
Iconic Starship Troopers Actor Is Eager For A Helldivers 2 Crossover
While continues to dominate the video game industry, one star is eager for a crossover with the game his film inspired. It doesn't take a lot to recognize that Arrowhead Studios' game and Paul Verhoeven's cult-classic sci-fi have a great deal in the company especially given that both act as satirical comments on the modern military-industrial complex and the influence of propaganda on society. Despite these heavy themes, there's still a great amount of fun to be had in either given that they also spotlight soldiers firing big weapons at giant alien bugs.
gamerant.com
13.03.2024 / 21:02
Helldivers 2 Map Reveals That the UK No Longer Exists on Super Earth
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eurogamer.net
13.03.2024 / 14:45
Helldivers 2 has been infested with winged bugs, and it's up to us to squash them
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screenrant.com
13.03.2024 / 14:05
Helldivers 2 Doesn't Want You To Fall For Flying Bug "Propaganda"
Several players have insisted that they've encountered a new type of flying Terminid but in keeping with the game's satirical tone,Arrowhead Studios' CEO Johan Pilestedt believes it's all nonsense. In the weeks after the game's launch, the community has been hard and working trying to figure out exactly what could be causing the Terminids to spread so rapidly among the stars. Some are speculating that Super Earth itself could be creating the «aliens» but the game's director is trying to throw everyone off the scent.
screenrant.com
13.03.2024 / 12:55
Helldivers 2 Director Reveals How The Team Comes Up With New Stratagems
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screenrant.com
13.03.2024 / 11:55
Helldivers 2's Enemies Have A Creepy Way Of Tracking Down Players
makes a point of throwing droves of enemies at players but those who do their best to avoid combat may be shocked to learn that enemies have a few extra tools in their arsenals to detect sneaky players. During some of the game's larger open-world missions, Helldivers have the option to engage with roving bands of foes or, if they're careful, sneak past without raising the alarm. That's easier said than done, especially when the Terminids can use more than one of their sense to track their prey.
gamesradar.com
12.03.2024 / 17:09
Expect future Helldivers 2 patches to deliver "a massive list of quality-of-life improvement ideas" that Arrowhead has sourced straight "from the community"
Helldivers 2 creator director Johan Pilestedt is teasing developer Arrowhead Studio's "grand plans" for the hit democracy-'em-up, letting slip that we can expect heaps of quality-of-life improvements based on the community's feedback.
techradar.com
12.03.2024 / 12:13
Helldivers 2 has bugs that can 'smell' you
Co-op sci-fi shooter Helldivers 2 is known more for its dramatic air strikes and over-the-top weapons than stealth elements. However, when building Helldivers 2's alien hordes, developer Arrowhead Game Studios included plenty of detection mechanics, including the ability for bugs to «smell» sneaky Helldivers.
ign.com
11.03.2024 / 10:17
Helldivers 2 Dev Says Players Kicking Teammates Who Don’t Have ‘Meta’ Loadouts Is a ‘Hard to Solve’ Problem, Asks Community for Ideas
Helldivers 2 is an early 2024 smash hit, with critical and commercial acclaim following its explosive launch on PlayStation 5 and PC. But there are some aspects of the co-op shooter that can result in a frustrating experience, and one of them has to do with the behavior of your teammates.