Update : Sony has backed down for the requirement of creating a Playstation Network account. Well done Helldivers. We will see how the game goes from here and my review will definitely change later in the future.

It is quite rare for me to leave a review with less than 100 hours spent in a game. Instead of the usual review I write which includes my opinions (+pros and cons), today's review will be different. Most of the sources are linked at the bottom of this review.

I had high expectations for Helldivers 2. I started playing the game from the recommendations of my friends. The game is very entertaining with the concepts and the gameplay. Almost every item in-game can be obtained for the player just by playing the game. I love games that do not require any PAY-TO-WIN system. It has been a very long time since Monster Hunter that I have dedicated my time and effort to progress in a game. It was refreshing, challenging, and a great way to create memories with your friends. Being united with the community to fight for objectives as everyone trying to achieve the same goal. I still think Helldivers 2 is a delightful game. I have purchased the Super Citizen DLC to support the developers of Arrowhead. However, due to the current state of the game and the poor moderation, I have now requested a refund for both the base game and the DLC on Steam. I am not sure if my refund request will be accepted but at least this is how I express my disappointment for the game.

Sony's error of judgment has majorly impacted the state of the game. Users who have purchased the game are forced to comply with a very flawed service and system provided by Sony. Playstation Network which I will be referring to as PSN is a digital media entertainment service by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Currently, all consumers who have purchased the game are forced to create a PSN account in order to continue playing the game. However, the consumers do not want to comply with these rules due to Sony's history of security breaches in the past. Most users do not have problems with linking my Steam account with PSN but rather is being cautious about the security breaches. Here is the following list of the mentioned security breaches I have found.

• July 2008 : PlayStation Site Targeted with SQL-Injection Attack, Prompting Visitors to Download Fake “Antivirus Scanner”
  
• April 2011 : Hackers Access Personal Data of 77 Million Sony PlayStation Network Users
  
• May 2011 : Personal Details on 25 Million Sony Online Entertainment Customers Stolen
  
• June 2011 : Sony Pictures Website Hacked, Exposing One Million Accounts
  
• November 2014 : Hackers Steal 100 Terabytes of Data from Sony Pictures
  
• December 2014 : PlayStation Network Taken Down by Christmas DDoS Attack
  
• August 2017 : Hacker Group Accesses Sony Social Media Accounts
  
• September 2023 : Sony Investigates Alleged Hack
  
• October 2023 : Sony Notifies Employees of Data Breach

As a victim of the following security breaches listed above, I was also displeased with the requirements I was not well-informed of. This is a major concern for especially those who are living in a country that requires them to share the consumer's personal and sensitive information. To create an account in the United Kingdom and Ireland requires you to provide details of the consumer's face, ID, name and other personal information. Creating an account in South Korea requires users to share i-PIN or SSN (Social Security Number). This is critical information that should not be provided comfortably.

The worst part is that the following 121 countries do not have PSN support. However, consumers have been allowed to purchase Helldivers 2. The following countries are listed below.

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, The Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cote d’ Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, ♥♥♥♥♥, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marini, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, The Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe

As of 21st May, 2024, most if not all the following countries (180 countries according to SteamDB) are no longer purchasable on Steam.

The Arrowhead's Developers have responded and apologised for the lack of miscommunication and clarification. However, as much as I would love to sympathise with their mistake, I would also like to say I find it very difficult to believe Arrowhead was not aware of the following issue. They should have informed the players of the upcoming issue of mandatory connection with PSN. They are receiving an enormous amount of backlash for this misleading behaviour. However, I will not go any further with sending negativity towards the developers.

It is quite unfortunate to see the current state of the game. I am majorly disappointed with how things are proceeding as I am writing this review. Indeed, I could simply stop playing the game, leave a negative review and move on. However, I am still attached to the game and would love to see a positive change from the developers as they listen to their community. I do not wish for any arguments. I am simply wishing for a brighter future for a game I love. Thank you for reading this long review and I wish you all a fantastic day.


Sources
https://firewalltimes.com/sony-data-breach-timeline/
https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/support/account/age-verification-faq/
https://www.vpndate.com/create-korean-playstation-psn-acccount-can-buy-korean-playstation-network-card-code/
https://insider-gaming.com/countries-that-dont-have-psn/
https://steamdb.info/sub/137730/history/?changeid=23416542

[b]Update : Sony has backed down for the requirement of creating a Playstation Network account. Well done Helldivers. We will see how the game goes from here and my review will definitely change later in the future.[/b] [b]It is quite rare for me to leave a review with less than 100 hours spent in a game. Instead of the usual review I write which includes my opinions (+pros and cons), today's review will be different. Most of the sources are linked at the bottom of this review.[/b] [h1]My thoughts on Helldivers 2[/h1] I had high expectations for Helldivers 2. I started playing the game from the recommendations of my friends. The game is very entertaining with the concepts and the gameplay. Almost every item in-game can be obtained for the player just by playing the game. I love games that do not require any PAY-TO-WIN system. It has been a very long time since Monster Hunter that I have dedicated my time and effort to progress in a game. It was refreshing, challenging, and a great way to create memories with your friends. Being united with the community to fight for objectives as everyone trying to achieve the same goal. I still think Helldivers 2 is a delightful game. I have purchased the Super Citizen DLC to support the developers of Arrowhead. However, due to the current state of the game and the poor moderation, I have now requested a refund for both the base game and the DLC on Steam. I am not sure if my refund request will be accepted but at least this is how I express my disappointment for the game. [h1]Sony's Error[/h1] Sony's error of judgment has majorly impacted the state of the game. Users who have purchased the game are forced to comply with a very flawed service and system provided by Sony. Playstation Network which I will be referring to as PSN is a digital media entertainment service by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Currently, all consumers who have purchased the game are forced to create a PSN account in order to continue playing the game. However, the consumers do not want to comply with these rules due to Sony's history of security breaches in the past. Most users do not have problems with linking my Steam account with PSN but rather is being cautious about the security breaches. Here is the following list of the mentioned security breaches I have found. [list] [*]July 2008 : PlayStation Site Targeted with SQL-Injection Attack, Prompting Visitors to Download Fake “Antivirus Scanner” [*]April 2011 : Hackers Access Personal Data of 77 Million Sony PlayStation Network Users [*]May 2011 : Personal Details on 25 Million Sony Online Entertainment Customers Stolen [*]June 2011 : Sony Pictures Website Hacked, Exposing One Million Accounts [*]November 2014 : Hackers Steal 100 Terabytes of Data from Sony Pictures [*]December 2014 : PlayStation Network Taken Down by Christmas DDoS Attack [*]August 2017 : Hacker Group Accesses Sony Social Media Accounts [*]September 2023 : Sony Investigates Alleged Hack [*]October 2023 : Sony Notifies Employees of Data Breach [/list] As a victim of the following security breaches listed above, I was also displeased with the requirements I was not well-informed of. This is a major concern for especially those who are living in a country that requires them to share the consumer's personal and sensitive information. To create an account in the United Kingdom and Ireland requires you to provide details of the consumer's face, ID, name and other personal information. Creating an account in South Korea requires users to share i-PIN or SSN (Social Security Number). This is critical information that should not be provided comfortably. [h1]Unsupported PSN countries[/h1] The worst part is that the following 121 countries do not have PSN support. However, consumers have been allowed to purchase Helldivers 2. The following countries are listed below. Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, The Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cote d’ Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marini, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, The Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe As of 21st May, 2024, most if not all the following countries (180 countries according to SteamDB) are no longer purchasable on Steam. [h1]Arrowhead's Developer and their mistake[/h1] The Arrowhead's Developers have responded and apologised for the lack of miscommunication and clarification. However, as much as I would love to sympathise with their mistake, I would also like to say I find it very difficult to believe Arrowhead was not aware of the following issue. They should have informed the players of the upcoming issue of mandatory connection with PSN. They are receiving an enormous amount of backlash for this misleading behaviour. However, I will not go any further with sending negativity towards the developers. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] It is quite unfortunate to see the current state of the game. I am majorly disappointed with how things are proceeding as I am writing this review. Indeed, I could simply stop playing the game, leave a negative review and move on. However, I am still attached to the game and would love to see a positive change from the developers as they listen to their community. I do not wish for any arguments. I am simply wishing for a brighter future for a game I love. Thank you for reading this long review and I wish you all a fantastic day. [i]Sources[/i] https://firewalltimes.com/sony-data-breach-timeline/ https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/support/account/age-verification-faq/ https://www.vpndate.com/create-korean-playstation-psn-acccount-can-buy-korean-playstation-network-card-code/ https://insider-gaming.com/countries-that-dont-have-psn/ https://steamdb.info/sub/137730/history/?changeid=23416542