Those who preached thatlive-service gaming was a dead affairmust find another game to scapegoat their theories onto becauseHelldivers 2has shown that it is alive and well.
According tothe player charts in SteamDB, the game posted a peak of 150,169 today. This is the first time since May when the bug and robot exterminator game hascrossed the 100,000 playersmark.
The spike in player count since Friday came after the franchise madea bombastic displayat The Game Awards, introducingthe Illuminateas a third hostile faction.
Helldivers 2: Who Are The Illuminate?
The Illuminate faction is rumored to be returning in Helldivers 2. But just who are they, and why do they hate Democracy so much?
The Illuminate Cult is a group of humanoid squid-like chapswho are technologically advanced, intelligent and have a knack for enslaving Super Earth citizens.
These evil enemies of democracy debuted in the firstHelldiversgame in 2015, when the title wasa tough top-down shooterwith a relatively small but loyal player base.
When Gamers Get Too Good
Most players who have sunk a couple of months intoHelldivers 2have gotten extremely comfortable fighting Terminids and Automatons.
Helldivers are so competent at this thatit has spurred Arrowhead into action to try and rebalance the gameto keep things spicy. Unfortunately for the developers,things got spicy on Earthinstead.
The balance patches after release tanked the player population, sendingHelldivers 2from thetop of the Steam chartsto a respectable mid-table position.
Arrowhead eventually patched most of the complaints, but while this resulted in brief spikes,the player count never came close to the first three months.
Helldivers 2 and the Horrors of War
Fire. Blood. Lead. Napalm. War is beautiful. But only when it’s used to remind us how horrible it truly is.
The addition of the Illuminate proved the perfect opportunity for Arrowhead to shake things up without messing with the fragile balance in the war against Terminids and Automatons.
What makes the Illuminate so challenging but also so damn fun to fight is thatthey combine high-tech ranged attacks with hordes of zombified humans.
Sitting out in the open gets you obliterated from far out, but ducking behind cover mindlessly ends up in a bloody last stand that you will definitely not win.
In a few months, there might be an article on this site about howHelldivers 2players are bringing out the pitchforks and torches again because they figured out how to beat the Illuminate meta.
Until then,take a deep breath, load your weapon, and deliver sweet libertyto those dastardly squid people.
Helldivers 2: Five Best Support Stratagems Ranked
Feeling daunted by the amount of options in Helldivers 2? This list will help you lock down your loadout.
