41 replies to this topic

[Outlaw]

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.

As part of the elite unit called the Helldivers, you choose your deployment zone and dive into battle on procedurally-generated battlefields. Once there, utilize overpowered weapons and Stratagems to defeat the enemies of mankind. Working together as a team will be vital, whether calling in strikes or placing weapons, each action must be totally synchronized to achieve objectives. As with all Arrowhead games, friendly fire is a key part of the game, and if you’re not careful with the Helldivers explosive firepower, you’ll lose the mission and a few friends along the way.

Helldivers features Cross-Play and Cross-Save between PS4, PS3, and PS Vita.

[GasClown]

Reminds me of Starship Troopers. haha.

[Outlaw]

GasClown, on 20 August 2013 - 11:39 PM, said:

Reminds me of Starship Troopers. haha.

Dead Nation meets Starship Troopers?

[Saintsy]

Game looks rather interesting..

[OC-138]

Similar to Diablo 3 as well.

[Axe99]

This is made by the same mob that made Magicka, a creative and very enjoyable 4-player coop mage game.  Very interested in what they've put together here, they know what they're doing in this type of game, and have a great and quirky sense of humour .

[spectre51]

5 things you need to know about Helldivers - PSBlog

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1. An intergalactic campaign
HELLDIVERS is all about team work. The entire community wages an intergalactic war played out over four to six weeks (we are still tweaking the exact time frame), every victory and every defeat impacts the war which can be either won or lost, depending on the efforts of you – the community.
Whether you’re cooperating with your two to four person squad or fighting steadfastly alone, you choose the mission that matches your capabilities. Rise through the ranks and earn new weapons and perks or save entire planets for that most valuable asset: the Stratagems.


2. Say hello to the Cyborg
Up to this point, we’ve showed you one of the enemy races in the game: the Bugs. In addition to the Bugs, Super Earth is also at war with the socio-feudal Cyborg Nation, a race of bionically augmented separatists that once were part of the Super Earth federation, but now have declared their sovereignty. The Cyborg’s heavy armour and projectile weaponry presents the HELLDIVERS with a very different tactical challenge, where the “fire and manoeuvre” doctrine is of essence.


3. Cold as ice
At Gamescom, we showed you the desert environment, and today, we’re unveiling the second environment – ice. Not only do you need to band together to fight the alien races, you need to stay on your toes to tackle the dynamic environments that dictate your fighting techniques. Beware, if you wander from the solid rock to the deep powder, your squad will need to trudge through the snow, slowing you down and rendering retreat impossible.


4. Strategise with strategems
Probably the most essential part of the game (aside from your comrades) are strategems. Each player selects their load-out prior to the mission, containing up to four support strategems of their choosing. Called in by the player, stratagems are key to deciding the outcome of battle, a few of my current favourites are automated the defence turrets, napalm, heavy artillery for busting tanks and jump packs. One thing with HELLDIVERS that never seems to get old is the bickering and strategic talks when selecting the stratagem composition with your team.

5. Yes, there are mechs!
To tackle some of the unforgiving environments and challenging foes, HELLDIVERS have a fleet of advanced vehicles – the most frequently deployed is a mechanical armoured biped that wreaks absolute havoc. The standard mech is equipped with a Gatling gun and a grenade launcher pod.

Remember, all of the weapons in Helldivers are very powerful to counter the tough alien races that mankind faces, as such almost all weapons can tear a man in half. In the heat of battle, nobody is safe.
Watch out for HELLDIVERS, available for PS3, PS Vita and – running in beautiful 1080p and 60 fps – PS4, later this year.

Hands-on with Helldivers: Hardcore, hilarious and hard to put down - PSBlog

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Missions are fast and fun on their own, but there’s a sort of metagame to be found in the overarching Super Earth conflict. Arrowhead plans to create community-wide wars that last for two real-life months. If players can collectively rise to the task and push back the alien invasion, the difficulty for everyone will rise. If the community fails, the difficulty drops. These massive engagements will allow the global Helldiver populace to decide how future battles will be waged.
Despite how difficult Helldivers is in its early state, this brutal shooter will get players laughing. And that’s a real accomplishment when those players are being eviscerated by giant insects. Think about it.

[I_live_4_fun]

That sounds really good . Difficult too with the friendly fire so I'll try not to team kill (no promises though ).

Yay for Cross-Play and Cross-Save between the three systems!

[spectre51]

Yep, quite excited that its on PS3(still no rush to get a PS4) and a twin-stick shooter. Really enjoy playing SuperStarDustHD and Dead Nation. Oh the so many possibilities of laugh out moments friendly fire could provide.

Plus you have me addicted to co-op now Live, so thanks so much for making single-player games boring now.

[I_live_4_fun]

WalrusKing, on 23 February 2014 - 12:27 AM, said:

Plus you have me addicted to co-op now Live, so thanks so much for making single-player games boring now.

[Axe99]

This deffo looks the goods, thanks for the new info Spec/Walrus .  Really looking forward to it.  Great to hear about cross-play between different systems, that's what we want to see .  Apologies in advance for friendly fire kills .

[spectre51]

Friendly fire goodness.

[Axe99]

Hahaha, I can see a lot of entertainment/grief value from that FF .

[econodog]

That video is pretty funny, looks like friendly fire was more lethal than the enemies they were fighting. Looking forward to this game, looks like a great challenge and good co-op fun.

[Hasan-I]

Yeah, looks like ti could be a lot of fun!

[spectre51]

Why teamwork really matters in Helldivers on PS4, PS3 and PS Vita
New community site launches for Arrowhead’s ruthless top-down shooter


With a game of Helldivers going, shouts, curses, and laughter are never far behind. Arrowhead’s top-down shooter is coming to PS4, PS3, and PS Vita this Summer, bolstered by brutally difficult missions and gratifying multiplayer design. This is a game about outfitting an elite squad, dropping into procedurally-generated battlefields, and fighting to survive. The high level of challenge and the “always-on” friendly fire make victory all the sweeter.

But at a PlayStation event last week, I had more time to watch groups of four players (including Arrowhead’s own Designer Patrik Lasota) tackle the alien menace together. The results showcase just how smartly Helldivers has been put together, and how players must, must, work as a team.



For those that missed our original hands-on of Helldivers, the basics are easy to grasp for any passing fan of twin-stick shooters. Move with one stick, aim with the other. Each soldier in the squad had a default load-out of a primary weapon, sidearm, and grenades. There’s plenty of tactical options when building these load-outs, but doubly so when dealing with “strategems.”

These abilities allow each player to call in additional support from orbit, be it an ammo drop, auto turret placement, or even replacement troops for fallen friendlies. These strategems are activated by holding down L1 on DualShock 4, for example, and inputting a series of d-pad inputs. This demands additional precision and a palpable sense of calm when calling in urgent support during a heated firefight.

But watching players fight together through procedurally-generated environments (and mission objectives) and learning how to cope with the vicious enemies is its own special treat. Newcomers will inevitably kill their teammates with stray assault rifle fire or an ill-placed grenade, which — surprisingly — leads to a lot of laughs.

But then an instinctual sense of cooperation and survival begins to emerge, especially under the presence of strong leadership — like Lasota, who was ever present in battle. Players would begin to arrange in a line against incoming enemy waves, creating a powerful torrent of bullets concentrated in one direction. Players would rush to a downed friendly in the thick of battle to pull them up. Teams would arrange turrets and aerial bombardments along chokepoints. Anything and everything to stay alive and complete the next objective.

Arrowhead’s decision to keep friendly fire on at all times forces players to stick together, play carefully, and think about positioning. These necessities lead to more interesting battles, since players can’t kick back and shoot away with no concern for where they — or their teammates — are standing.
Helldivers employs rich strategy and requires constant cooperation. And fortunately, Arrowhead plans for cross play between the three versions, as well as any mix of online and local multiplayer.
Of course, even a well-coordinated team may still get obliterated by the enemy — Helldivers is no joke, after all. But being killed by a friendly supply pod drop is still too funny to get angry about. Feeling up to the challenge? Join the Helldivers community today.

Source: PlayStation Blog EU

[spectre51]

NEW | HELLDIVERS Release Date Trailer | Exclusive to PlayStation

Release Date: March 4th

Could possibly be a March PS+ title no price in the blog post and it would be the March Plus game release date but of course also possible they just didn't want to release the price yet.

If it around $15-25 I'll grab it, since I will be finished Infinite fully by then and maybe get through Bioshock 2 before it releases as well.

[spectre51]

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HELLDIVERS Q&A

What an overwhelmingly excited response we’ve gotten from the HELLDIVERS release date announcement!

To answer a bunch of your most pressing questions we’ve put together this Q&A with the most common ones. Have a look if yours has been answered and if not, feel free to ask it in the link provided in the bottom.

We will keep updating this Q&A with any question that we can reply to.

Developer:
Arrowhead Game Studios

Publisher:
Sony Computer Entertainment

Genre:
Hardcore, cooperative, twin stick shooter.

Release date:
March 3 – US, March 4 – EU, March 5 – Asia.

Players:
1–4

Platforms:
PS3, PS4 and VITA systems.

Dev team size:
Around 10-12 people.

Why was it delayed?
As you’ve all noticed, the first tentative plans of a summer release were replaced with ‘it’ll be done when it’s done’. As the game grew in quality and complexity, so did Sony’s eagerness to support our quest for the Best Game Ever™. Helldivers needed cooler stratagems, more weapons, better enemies, richer worlds, more choices! But with more complexity comes also a higher barrier to understanding the game. The testers all reported the same thing: Helldivers now needed a seriously improved tutorial and user interface.

Then there was the issue of getting the game to run smoothly on the VITA. Quite a challenge with a small team that hasn't touched the platform before and with many small things to optimize.

We’re happy to say the game is massively improved from what it would have been during summer. Now we’re excited to the point of bursting to finally release Helldivers to all of you!

How much will it cost? Will there be a pre-order?
This is still to be announced. We will update as soon as we can.

Will Helldivers offer Cross-Play?
Yes, between PS4, PS3 and VITA, with full Cross-Save and Cross-Chat.

Will it have local multiplayer or only online play?
Helldivers offers 4-player local and online co-op multiplayer, and any combination in between (except for the Vita which doesn’t really support local co-op since it only has one controller). You can have two on the PS4, one on the PS3 and one on the PS VITA for example.

Can you drop in and out?
Yes, at any time another player can join the action. Just don’t stand under their drop pods.

Will it have friendly fire?
In true Arrowhead spirit, Helldivers features full “friendly” fire, allowing you to “accidentally” kill your friends, again.

Is Vita ad hoc mode supported?
No but PS4 remote play and PS4 sharing is.

Will it support Playstation TV?
Not from release but further details are not decided.

Will it have a Platinum trophy?
Yes!

Will there be a Beta before release?
No. But we’ll be happy to deliver you a full experience from the start instead, playing a polished game with everyone else. No risk of growing tired of the game before it’s even done. Much better than a beta!

Will Helldivers be released on PC or Xbox?
There are no plans for other platforms right now, but we will keep you updated if there are any news.

What enemies will you face?
There are of course the space Bugs, a crustacean-like race of varying sizes and types. Then we have the Cyborg nation, a race of bionically augmented separatists with heavy armor and weapons. But we want to keep some of the surprise until you play the game!

Is there any character customization? Are there female characters?
You will unlock new equipment and gear as you rise in ranks. There are not only female Helldivers, there are male too!

How do you plan to support Helldivers after launch? Will there be Downloadable Content or micro transactions?
The after-launch support has not yet been decided, but as with Magicka we do want to support the game with various updates in the coming year. It all depends on what happens after release, if people want more different enemies to fight – that may be what we’re aiming for. Helldivers is not a game of micro transactions.

Source: arrowheadgamestudios

Glad to have a reason for the delay. Good move to release all versions at once and make sure it was ready to go.

[spectre51]

First HELLDIVERS stream with the devs goes for 1hr 14min

Some funny moments during the games. The games it self seem perfect length for vid share. Depending on difficulty looks like finishing could be around 5-20min.

Difficulty 10 looked quite tough and they have been playing the game for the past 2 years and it goes up to difficulty 12.

Looks fun, glad they went the extra effort to get it cross-play across 3 platforms.

Its also been confirmed that it wont be a plus game and is $US19.99 so not sure what that will turn into au but it wont be anymore then $30 I would guess, hoping it will be closer to $20 than $30, $30 would just be a bit much for me to grab straight away at the moment.

[spectre51]

Well is up the store now HELLDIVERS™ 2.8gb and I was wrong about it not being any more than $30.
AU$31.95
20% plus discount AU$25.56
NZ$33.95
20% plus discount NZ$27.16

Plus discount is for the first week only as is this dlc pack included.
Buy HELLDIVERS™ today and get the following exclusive content:
• Ranger helmet, armour and cape.
• “Humblebee” UAV – a drone which increases your patrol detection radius.
• LHO-63 “Camper” – a high-calibre, semi-automatic, marksman rifle.

I wont be getting it, not at that price, I will wait for a sale or just never get it, depends on time and what else is out at that time.