Helldivers won't be remembered for its narrative, nor will it be praised for intriguing mission design. No, these elements of the game are merely average pieces of a backdrop in a theater enacting. Patch Notes All patch note history for PC and PlayStation can be found in our Support Centre here. LFG Find other Helldivers to help you on your missions. Suggestions What would you like to have seen.

Here we present to you Helldivers. It's a rather different title that might not have a particularly attractive visual aspect, but it's one that works perfectly with the intentions of Sony of bringing interactivity and cross-platform play throughout their systems. Helldivers will be available on PS4, PS3 and Vita and it will offer true cross-platform play. It’s a top-down shooter, which is a shooter type that some people might've never heard of in fact, and it aims to provide a constant challenge to you and friends wherever you go and whatever system you're using.

This bird’s view on the battlefield might be new for some shooting fans, but if you've played similar titles in the past, you know that it can be pretty addictive, and even funny – coordinating all teams members on the battlefield is complicated, but inevitably leads to some hilarious moments. The view leads to a better understanding of the situation and the team’s cooperation.

Helldivers supports up to four players and it's meant to be played as so. You can play alone, but the developers are already saying that you won't get even half of the real experience this way. Helldivers is an objective based game and it's helping your teammates and coordinating a whole unit that creates all the fun. Don't expect a carefully designed storyline or breathtaking cinematics in this one. The objectives to be completed are clearly displayed in the top right corner with checkboxes beside them, and you and your friends do your best with what you have in your hands to make it happen.

What's special about Helldivers? Well, it's mainly the level of difficulty that will surprise a lot of players. Destroying some bugs’ nests might sound boring to some of you, but it's managing the incoming threats along the way with your team that makes the game interesting. Your teammates will also catch the damage of your own bullets, so you have to be careful about where you shoot. As you can see, Helldivers didn't want to compromise on that aspect in order to make the game a walk in the park. You will be challenged, frustrated and entertained all at once.

Of course, Helldivers also comes with its fair share of equipment, weapons and abilities to improve your characters. The weapon you're using and the ammo available is clearly displayed at the bottom of the screen and from the footage we've seen, you can also see what your allies are working with to help them at the most convenient moment. There's plenty of interactivity between the members as they can heal each other, provide each other ammo, etc. There's even an old-school system where you have to type in some commands to activate an ability, through the directional arrows of the d-pad for example.

Also, a good thing is that there isn't any way to learn the patterns of the game in Helldivers. The game provides randomly generated environments each time you play, and fortunately so, because knowing what's coming would probably kill the fun of the multiplayer mayhem. The environment shown is the video above (desert) isn’t the only one, as they are apparently many others planned for the full game.

Finally, the motivation to play Helldivers also comes in the form of online rankings, so stay tuned for more details on that. For now, it hasn’t been mentioned if a player that buys Helldivers on a system can play it on the other, so we will have to wait for news on that aspect as well. It would certainly be nice to get the full cross-platform experience with one purchase though. It would make more sense. What do you guys think?

The game that was showed at Gamescom was in fact called “pre-alpha” so a lot of improvement is still on the way. I think it’s good to see a game like this that doesn’t shy away from providing a challenge, moreover on multiple platforms. It’s fun to finally see a title that will truly put Vita players against PS3 and PS4 players. I think that’s a good look for Sony’s portable console.

Release Date

Helldivers will be releasing March 3rd in North America, and March 4th in Europe!

Because the game is releasing at the beginning of the month, and no price has been revealed, many are speculating it's going to be one of March's free PS4 games! On Reddit, the developer was asked point blank about this and just answered that they still had some surprises to reveal, so it seems to be a given that this is one of March's free games.

Game Category: Indie

Article by - Marc-André Messier
Insert Date: 09/11/2013

See Also:

About Genre Shooter Rating Rated 'T' for Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Violence, Includes online features that may expose players to unrated user-generated content Summary Built for both single-player campaigns and up to four player co-op missions, Helldivers is a top-down shooter set in a satirical and dystopian future where mankind is ruled by a managed democracy.Set in a dystopian future, players fight to protect “Super Earth,” where a managed democracy has blurred the lines between military and government rule. We are losing the war, and the Helldivers are the last line of defense against three invading enemy species.Helldivers focuses on teamwork, as squads battle formidable foes to become Heroes of the Federation. Communication is key; cover your teammates as they crawl to safety and revive your fallen comrades to get them back into the fight. Tactically operate weapons and gear as a team and use the full might of the military with a unique signaling mechanic. Need reinforcements? Send up distress signals and have friends join the action any time.Up to four players can play together, either online or locally around the same television.

Helldivers features Cross-Play and Cross-Save functionality, where players on the console of their choice can fight together to survive in an unforgiving environment.