Helldivers 2 – Byte Size Review (XSX)

I liked Helldivers 2 on the PS5 but I am an Xbox Fanboy at heart, and didn’t really give it much of a chance first time round. So to get the full run down on the game then head over to Guys Review. And now its on my beloved Xbox I have properly dug into the chaos, but I can’t help imagine the conversation of how we came to be here… “Hey Sony! How about we swap you Gears of War for Helldivers 2? Yeah? OK? Awesome.”

So gotta say, it worked out well for everyone I reckon. Even if it is a bit odd watching Sony and PlayStation Logos playing on my latest Xbox game. Ironically I did boot up Helldivers 2 on the PS5 while installing it on the Xbox Series X, only to find mountains of rewards awaiting my year of inactivity. Forcing myself to quickly spend these credits and head back to the Xbox version was some kind of weird. In an interesting twist, all versions of Helldivers 2 now have DLC based around Halo’s ODST Troopers. We really are seeing a sharing of IP these days. This is a good thing for gamers.

All Sorts of Bugs!

Firstly, most of these bugs are the Starship Troopers kind of bug that you are out to exterminate. Unfortunately there is also a handful of not so ideal “bugs” too. The main one that I have is that of the Pelican dropship clipping through the ground on extraction. I have even had my Helldiver drop through the ground as well. It appears this isn’t some devious plan by Sony to make the Xbox look subpar as these glitches are also appearing on other platforms. Now, while not game breaking, this really ruins immersion.

I am yet to meet hordes of PS5 players out to assassinate Xbox players, but have actually teamed up with PS5 Divers on occasion. Looks like that bad blood was short lived. That does lead to my biggest problem with Helldivers 2 though. It isn’t very single player friendly. Yes, you can do alright in the beginning while enemies are sparse but you get very little reward here. So attempting tougher missions for better reward is your only option. A very tough option. I found myself very quickly overwhelmed stepping out of the opening planets.

Closing Comments.

Now my big ‘Single Player’ gripe is on me. And I knew this going into Helldivers 2 the second time around. It is a good game and I can see that but I would love to be able to get deeper into it without needing friends. I do love the quickness of missions though. I find it easy to pick up and do a drop or two if I am short on time. The humour too really appeals to me too. Will these things see me returning regularly? I’m not sure, I will be logging on every now and then to collect rewards though. This might be a way to advance as a solo player.

But as Xbox players we need to embrace titles from the likes of Sony and Nintendo. Doing this may very well help us see a future where the hardware you have doesn’t dictate the games you have access too.