Game Review: A Weekend with Helldivers 2 – Definitely not a Game for Everyone
Hello, dear readers! My name is Victor, and I am a totally blind gaming, technology, and entertainment journalist. I am also an ambassador for universal design, an accessibility consultant, advocate, and tester.
Helldivers 2 is a frantic third-person co-operative team shooter from Swedish developer Arrowhead Game Studios and PlayStation Studios that sees the elite forces of the Helldivers trying to win the Galactic War by ridding the galaxy of the rising alien threats. We received our download codes for this multiplayer co-op shooter for PS5 and PC on Friday and since then Alina and a few other friends have spent some quality time with it.
For me, as a totally blind player, sadly, the experience was cut short after the text-to-speech engine stopped working unexpectedly. Although when we first boot up the game we are greeted by screen narration, the functionality is extremely limited and it will not work at all during actual gameplay. I recorded a video that you can watch as it is embedded in this article. I also have reached out to the developer explaining where the problem is and how the game can be made more accessible.
Aside from some subtle customization that allows us to increase the size to large or extra-large, there aren’t any other accessibility features worth mentioning.
Also, if you are interested in a narrative-driven adventure, this is not the game for you as aside from completing different missions and ending the insignificant lives of weird insect aliens in the most realistic and even inventive ways possible, there’s not too much of a story here to write home about.
Luckily, Helldivers 2 is at its best when you play alongside other gamers.
Immediately as the game begins we are greeted with a cinematic that invites us to step into the boots of the Helldivers, an elite class of soldiers whose mission is to spread peace, liberty and Managed Democracy using the biggest, baddest, and most explosive tools in the galaxy. Once this is over we are dropped on a planet to start our training and after completing a series of objectives we are sent on our first mission. As Helldivers, we must take on the role of peacekeepers in this Galactic War, protect our home planet, and repel the hostiles by overwhelming force.
Helldivers 2 features procedurally generated maps which results in enemy bases, secondary objectives, and the terrain itself being different from dive to dive, offering unique scenarios for each mission.
I understand that Helldivers 2 is mainly a “global co-op” game in which the entire player base combines forces to fight enemies for the liberty of Super Earth. The galactic map is made up of different areas and each of them is composed of planetary clusters. When the entire community clears out all bug-infested occupied planets in a sector, everything is claimed for Super Earth and all participating players receive rewards.
We can use a variety of weapons, like pistols, machine guns, or flamethrowers, but also stratagems such as calling in turrets, airstrikes, or other care packages to ensure that we obliterate the alien threats. We can also aim down the sights for a 1st person camera view which is definitely more precise.
Combat is intense and insane as most of the time it is accompanied by frequent sprays of blood and dismemberment as we try to exterminate the alien forces. In some cases, both us and our squad mates are hit by environmental explosions or friendly fire which is both exhilarating and frustrating at the same time.
In Helldivers 2 it is recommended that we join forces with up to three other friends to wreak havoc on the alien scourge threatening the safety of Super Earth. With a variety of mission types for us to drop into, like Horde mode, Bug nest extermination, or Automaton Control, there will be enough diversity for everyone to keep them busy for a long time.
In conclusion, Helldivers 2 is a fun and extremely entertaining shooter if you’re not disabled, if you’re not looking for a compelling story, and if you play it with friends.
I understand that the launch has been a successful one, with the head of studio from Arrowhead Game Studios saying that the numbers are well above projections and Helldivers 2 is approaching 1 million sales.
Sadly, the over 450 million estimated impaired and disabled players in the world that need features like navigation assist, narration, high contrast, captions, color filters, or help with motor and cognitive accessibility are left looking in from the sidelines. But, with a tagline like, “A game for everyone is a game for no one”, which has been used prominently throughout the advertising campaign, I can’t say I am surprised that players in the Accessibility Community and Disability Community have been excluded from this experience.
Helldivers 2 is a great game for able players looking for intense co-op fun, but with Sony Interactive Entertainment pushing accessibility on all their first-party and partner studios, it’s shocking to find out what ‘A game for everyone is a game for no one’ truly means in this situation!
You can play Helldivers 2 right now on PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam.
Review copy provided by PlayStation Norway
Victor Dima
