2024 has been quite the year with multiple breakout hits stealing the spotlight. From Palworld to Last Epoch, Balatro to Helldivers 2, multiple games that were not on my radar have gained massive popularity and are drawing in players. Helldivers 2 is the talk of the town in the live service FPS space and needs no introduction.
In case you missed the hype around the game, Helldivers 2 is a co-op third-person shooter that is developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and published by Sony. It received a simultaneous launch on PlayStation and PC in February and it has garnered a lot of praise for its simplicity and fun factor. It is not a looter shooter and focuses on horde
The Prevalence of FOMO in Live Service Games
Fear of missing out (FOMO) is one of the biggest problems in the live service industry. FOMO is a combination of game design choices that keep you hooked to a game. They can be through exclusive rewards, limited-time events, time-gated progression, and other methods.
FOMO leads to unhealthy amounts of playtime or excessive spending. Destiny 2 is one of the biggest culprits in the live service space. While I can get behind seasonal challenges and triumphs to some extent, the vaulted content and seasonal content no longer available in the game prevent newer players from getting a complete experience.
Destiny 2 has addressed FOMO to some extent through Xur and Legacy Focusing but things are far from perfect. It is difficult to take a break from such games without missing out on some cool new things.
And this is just gameplay-derived FOMO. We also have monetization-based FOMO that can be unhealthy if you do not have any self-control. For example, characters in Genshin Impact or Honkai: Star Rail is only accessible for a limited time, and you could end up waiting for months to get a rerun. While the argument can be made that the content of such games is free and you do not need to spend money to beat all content, we cannot deny that there is a psychological aspect to missing out on items or characters that you like without spending excessive amounts of money.
How Helldivers 2 Addresses FOMO in The Best Way Possible
Let me clear this up first. Helldivers 2 does have added monetization but you do not need to pay a single dollar more than the asking price to enjoy the game. You can earn almost everything in the game through gameplay alone and there are ways to earn premium currency.
In Helldivers 2, Warbonds function like battle passes. They offer a tiered system where you unlock various rewards by progressing through gameplay and earning in-game currency.
Warbonds provide a way to unlock new weapons, armor, cosmetics (like emotes and player cards), and even equipment for your character. You can also upgrade to premium warbonds which offer additional cosmetics. They function just like battle passes from other games but with a twist. You can complete the passes to unlock gameplay items that are available permanently. You don’t have to worry about logging in every day to grind our levels on the warbonds.
I’d also like to give a shoutout to Halo: Infinite or implementing this. For all the criticisms that 343 Industries gets for Halo: Infinite, the ability to skip a season and not worry about missing out on cool stuff in a battle pass is one of the best things to be implemented in a live service title. There are 80 items that you can get from Helldivers 2’s warbonds and an additional 24 exclusive items. Most of these are variants of existing weapons.
These variants are essentially sidegrades of existing weapons but the best part is if you don’t want to spend any money on top of the $40-50 USD asking price depending on your region, you can just grind the premium currency and get it for free. You can earn Super Credits (premium currency) in small quantities.
Game Director Sagar Beroshi stated in a blog post, “At Arrowhead, we're gamers too, and we want these Warbonds to feel modern, fun, and in line with the Arrowhead style. This is important to us: the Warbonds are NOT a pay-to-win, FOMO-driven system. Instead, the gear in the Warbonds just keeps accumulating. We will not retire earlier Warbonds as new ones are released - you can pick them up and complete them at any time!”
The Character Progression in Helldivers 2 is Excellent
Soren Johnson, who was the lead designer for Civilization IV once said in his journal once said, “Many players cannot help approaching a game as an optimization puzzle. What gives the most reward for the least risk? What strategy provides the highest chance – or even a guaranteed chance – of success? Given the opportunity, players will optimize the fun out of a game.”
I am guilty as charged and so are millions of other players. We often try to find the most efficient way to do this and there’s nothing wrong with it if you are into optimizing everything, but somehow I don’t feel the need to do so in Helldivers 2. Since I am not racing against myself to complete a checklist of things on time in the game, I don’t have to worry about optimizing my playtime. The game also offers an ungodly amount of fun upgrades that you can unlock and try out in missions.
You can choose how to play the game instead of the game deciding for you. There are cool upgrades and stratagems to use and the game balance seems on point so far. While there are a few misses here, there are countless options when it comes to builds and loadouts. The enemy variety also demands that you strategize around them instead of picking a one-size-fits-all approach.
Should You Play Helldivers 2?
Absolutely! The $50 entry cost is worth it, and you can consider picking it up on sale down the line. The game is enjoyable in both solo and co-op environments, and its casual approach allows anyone to pick up the game and have fun without worrying about the meta or min-maxing.
