Helldivers 2's Gloom War is off to a rough start, but that's just part of the ride

Helldivers have plunged into the depths of the spore-based gloom blanketing part of the galaxy, faced off against the worst the Terminids had to offer, and encountered the dreadful Hive Lords. It was pretty cool except for all the bugs. And I’m not talking about the Terminids! The Hive World of Oshuane was riddled with technical errors that have caused a fan furor, but as a long-time player of the game, I know these trials will eventually be woven into the fabric of the game’s canon.

While the Illuminate and the Automatons are treated as purposeful enemies, the Terminids seem like animals in comparison. Helldivers are on that front to farm the Terminids for their sweet E-710. (E-710, of course, is oil upside down. Arrowhead knows some writers who use subtlety, and they’re all cowards.) 

Every time Super Earth has provoked the Terminids, they’ve mutated into progressively scarier strains. This latest escalation is being hailed as a great victory, as it has led to the discovery of E-711 (basically E-710, but better.) When players were briefly granted access to a new Hive World, the once peaceful planet of Oshaune, they were hyped. On landfall, many felt a sense of awe at the Hive Lords and vast underground structures, but this reception quickly soured as a myriad of technical issues became apparent. The new Rupture Strain in particular was problematic, with many small technical issues snowballing into an objectively not-fun experience in the planet’s labyrinthine cave systems.

With an influx of new players, some are anxious that this represents a dark day for Arrowhead, a major crisis that needs to be sorted with drastic measures, post haste. However, as a seasoned veteran, I’ve seen Arrowhead roll out content like this before. The Illuminate were also rolled out in stages, starting as a mere vanguard force before their full roster arrived for the invasion of Super Earth. Cities were once a rare treat, only playable on one front; now, they’re everywhere.

Because Arrowhead maintains an elaborate charade (or kayfabe for all my wrestling fans), technical errors and other missteps can be explained away via in-game communiques from high command. Most recently, this happened during the original Meridia supercolony event, where players were tasked with pumping the planet full of Dark Fluid, but continuously spawning Bile Titans kept disrupting the drilling process. Arrowhead fixed the bug, but also added in-game text mentioning Super Earth scientists had discovered new technology to fix the troublesome drilling issues on the fly.

Oshaune has been cloaked by the Gloom once again, and Helldivers succeeded on a subsequent Major Order to hold the hazard back from taking even more planets. Now, we’re transferring our attention to the Automatons, but the player base is still tasked with maintaining our forward base on Hellmire. Hellmire, already a beloved map due to its fire tornadoes, is now infested with Hive Lords. 

We’ll return to Hive Worlds, and the annoyance and frustration at technical issues will slowly fade. Helldivers 2 is a game with a notorious zeitgeist cycle of the fanbase going through phrases of “It’s so over...” and “WE’RE SO BACK!!!” in rapid succession. Every time the game has entered a rut, Arrowhead has generally been able to deliver on a fix that tied into the major story. 

Eventually, players will proudly declare themselves veterans of the first Oshaune landing. “I was there,” they’ll say. “I was there the time the Hive Lord threw me up in the air for two minutes. I remember the Rupture bugs appearing from nowhere and instantly throwing up on me. I fought the first Dragonroaches.” 

I took a break after a few Operations with the new content, which wasn’t my cup of tea. Some people like fighting Hive Lords! I don’t understand those people, but I’m happy for them. I’ll probably come back and stomp some bots for fun while Arrowhead figures out their next move.

The persistent nature of the storytelling is a neat, albeit inconsistent, way to run an ongoing narrative in a game. Arrowhead has already issued some updates to improve stability and balance, but fans still have complaints. I suspect we’ll be seeing more Hive Worlds, but it’ll never be the same as the chaotic first week.