Helldivers 2
It had to be this, didn’t it? Not just one of the smash hits of 2024 is Helldivers 2, but it’s arguably the greatest co-op shooter since Left 4 Dead. Yes, the basic premise is to team up with up to three fellow soldiers, choose a planet, kill stuff, secure areas, collect things, extract into space, buy upgrades, rinse, repeat, but the way all this activity so commonplace in other shooters coalesces uniquely here is thanks to developer Arrowhead’s attention to detail. The game’s meaty arsenal of shotguns, SMGs, and assault rifles feel immense to fire, and their capability to pulverise whatever foe finds itself in your crosshairs into visceral mulch of guts and goo is nothing short of intoxicating. Thanks to the game’s intelligent difficulty scaling firefights are routinely edge-of-your-seat encounters, the satisfaction in you and your squad scraping to survive a never-ending boon. This is ludicrous sci-fi bombast befitting of its Starship Troopers inspiration, a gameplay loop fostering a feeling of continual franticness preceding fist-pumping success. If there is one shooter to play this year, it’s without question Helldivers 2.
