For most people, Helldivers 2 doesn't immediately come to mind when you think of PlayStation, but Arrowhead CEO and the game's director, Johan Pilestedt, hopes to change that.
Helldivers 2: how Arrowhead turned the twin-stick shooter original into a bombastic PS5 sequel
12.03.2024 - 15:01 / blog.playstation.com / Johan Pilestedt
Helldivers 2 has exploded onto the gaming scene in a massive way. This co-operative third-person shooter packed with danger, action, humor, and surprises has already become one of this year’s most talked-about games. What some people may be less familiar with though is its progenitor. The original Helldivers, which debuted in 2015 (and is still active) is a co-op, multiplayer overhead twin-stick shooter packed with action, intensity, and plenty of challenging situations that a player might find themselves in.
We asked Johan Pilestedt, CEO & Creative Director at Arrowhead Studios about the process of adapting the original overhead-view gameplay of Helldivers into the third-person format–after first congratulating him for the rip-roaring success of the game. We asked how the team felt about the positive reception. “Overwhelmed and ecstatic! Over the last 15 years, we’ve seen a keen interest in the types of games we make and it was great to see our work recognized at this scale.”
He then elaborated on the process of choosing to go third-person view. “After the successful launch of the original Helldivers, we knew we wanted to test the game design philosophy in first- or third-person. Our stance has never been about ‘only top-down.’ However, a lot of the things we are aiming for when we make games lend themselves to perspectives that are a bit more “removed” from play, such as our commitment to draw inspiration from real life and pop culture. We tried this by pulling down the camera in Helldivers. We wound up feeling really excited by the viscerality of the combat, which made us committed to exploring what Helldivers would be like in third-person.”
“A good co-op game forces players to play together, but a great one makes players want to play together”
Maintaining a persistent sense of danger and chaos was crucial to both games. “Maintaining the sense of chaos was one of the largest challenges we had in creating Helldivers 2. In a top-down perspective, everyone knows what the team members are doing and shares the same reality. But in Helldivers 2, each player has their own perception of events that have unfolded. You gain some and lose some from both approaches.
The launch trailer for the original Helldivers, showing many elements that’ll be familiar to players playing the PS5 sequel today.
The launch trailer for Helldivers 2.
“Since Helldivers is fundamentally a game where collaboration and cooperation is key, we struggled with this early on. The key thing that resolved this was the need for the “watering hole” which encourages players to
gather in certain locations. We created these locations dynamically by making the shared resupply stratagem, players dropping sample containers upon death, and
The website gametalkz.com is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
Top Authors
Popular Topics
gamesradar.com
27.03.2024 / 16:19
Tens of thousands salute Helldivers 2 player who passed away, game director says "I will speak to the team on how to remember one of the fallen"
A Helldivers 2 player by the in-game name of OkamiCheems sadly passed away earlier this month, as their friend Fine-Clothes-1209 recently informed the game's Reddit community, and has been sent off by tens of thousands of like-minded democracy enthusiasts in a bittersweet display of community support.
gamesradar.com
25.03.2024 / 17:07
He's not all bad: Helldivers 2's D&D-style game master Joel joins a player's game, drops an unreleased vehicle, and then vanishes into the night
There are few individuals as mysterious as Helldivers 2's galactic game master Joel – the man pulling all the strings of the war, constantly working to evolve the third-person shooter's evolving narrative, as well as issuing Major Orders to us all.
gamesradar.com
18.03.2024 / 19:33
Helldivers 2 boss says the Autocannon is "the team's best weapon design," actually
Helldivers 2 is full of powerful weapons to smash up bots and squash bugs, ranging from satisfying firearms to explosive orbital strikes that often do more harm to you and your team than the actual enemies. Out of them all, though, one weapon stands out to game director Johan Pilestedt for having the best design.
gamesradar.com
15.03.2024 / 18:13
This is getting out of hand: Helldivers 2 players role-played the bugs so hard that people are making impressive animations of Terminids posting on Reddit
The Helldivers 2 community is a fun place, especially when players remain as enthusiastic about the prosperity of Super Earth on social media as a real Helldiver would out on Erata Prime. There's no doubt the developers encourage this, with game director Johan Pilestedt recently branding the footage of flying Terminids as "propaganda from bug sympathizers" and refusing to acknowledge their existence.
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"
Helldivers 2 players who literally want to watch the world burn have put forward a spicy suggestion for a new Stratagem, which sounds like it has the potential to be incredibly powerful, if not massively risky for your fellow teammates. Enter the idea of the Guard Dog Flamethrower – an auto-firing companion bot that can spew flames whenever it wants, at whatever it wants.
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.
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
presents players with an abundance of different tools to eliminate the deadly armies of the Terminids and Automatons and Arrowhead Studios is giving fans some insight into how those Stratagems are created. One of the core components of the popular co-op shooter is the ability to call down equipment and support from the skies, most of which take the form of explosive air strikes or precision missile launches. They're undoubtedly one of the most fun aspects of and director Johan Pilestedt wants everyone to know how the team creates them.
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
13.03.2024 / 11:21
Helldivers 2 director insists footage of flying terminids is "propaganda from bug sympathizers," so you can probably look forward to fighting hordes of them on Erata Prime pretty soon
Heads up, Helldivers – literally. Seemingly out of nowhere, there've been sightings of flying terminids out in the wild, which the game's director – and the Ministry of Truth – insist are "filthy lies" and "propaganda from bug sympathizers." So, uh, we can probably expect to start seeing a lot more of them soon.
ign.com
12.03.2024 / 17:23
Helldivers 2 'Should Feel Like When You Are Going Into a Dark Basement', Dev Says
Helldivers 2’s surprisingly huge launch has already seen millions of players across PlayStation 5 and PC dip into its co-op focused third-person action. It’s a smash hit and easily publisher Sony’s biggest ever PC game launch. But while Helldivers 2 is certainly a game everybody should play, it can often be a brutal, unforgiving experience, with floods of hard-to-kill alien robots and bugs descending upon players in increasingly tough waves.