Helldivers Wiki – Everything You Need To Know About The Game

Helldivers is an upcoming top down action shooter video game (sometimes abbreviated to a “Shoot-em-up” or a “SHMUP”) that is currently in development by Arrowhead Games Studios, the same developer responsible for Magicka and The Showdown Effect. The game is being developed with Sony exclusivity in mind and is set to be published by Sony Computer Entertainment (Killzone, The Last of Us, Uncharted).

Running on a Bitsquid engine (which already powers War of the Vikings, War of the Roses and Gauntlet) and with Sony exclusive platforms being the target, the game is set to release on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PS Vita. Though no exact time frame for release has been given, the game is currently expected to launch at some time in Q3/Q4 of 2014 when it will be made available via digital download.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay

Development

On the development side of things, not much is known at the moment. But here’s what we do know.

Helldivers was announced via a blog post on the Arrowhead Games official website. The blog was posted by Johan Pilestedt (Arrrowhead Games CEO and Game Director) was titled “Our new Game: HELLDIVERS!
It reads, “for all of you out there, both new fans and old, I give you HELLDIVERS. 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.”

The game will make use of the PlayStations cross-play functionality and will also offer cross-save across the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PS Vita, allowing for a wider array of multiplayer match ups. The game is also going to support local multiplayer, “if your preferred poison is to play locally, this is combinable – so you can have two players on a PS4 with two others joining in on Vitas in the same room.”

The game is being powered by Squidbit engine, the engine already powers the online pvp games, War of the Roses and War of the Vikings, It also powers Magicka: Wizard Wars.

Story

Helldivers is set in a dark and dystopian future where the players are fighting to protect their home, the Super Earth. The democracy has become warped and twisted into an unrecognisable state, growing into a mixed military and government ruled world. The world is under attack from three enemy species and it’s the task of the Helldivers to defend us as the last line of defence.

Gameplay

Like most shoot-em-ups, the game is played from an over the top perspective. Unlike most other shoot-em-ups however, the game is set in a procedurally generated universe. These procedurally generated worlds will always contain a set of mission directives that the player must adhere to and accomplish in order to succeed.

The game also forces the players to make choices that will impact the overall gameplay experience. Players will decide where they will deploy on the map and which objectives should be completed first. They must decide when and where to call for equipment drops for example. Players will also be able to call in “Stratagems” to aid in the battle.

Arrowhead games have a habit of torturing the more uncoordinated players in their games. By default, the game (like Magicka) will feature a friendly fire mechanic that cannot be disabled. That means careful planning, execution and communication are the dish of the day if you don’t plan on murdering your pals. Apparently things can get quite chaotic, so best keep an eye peeled.

Just to emphasise Arrowheads love of challenging gamers, they recently brought a demo build of the game to E3 2014 and Gamescom 2014. In this playable build, gamers were given 3 difficulty levels, Challenging, Hard and Hell Dive. however, according to some, there were indications of a further 6 difficulty settings that would change depending on which planet the player chooses to spawn on. Bringing the difficulty settings to 9 levels.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.