Helldivers 2 is a great game - one of the best online experiences I've had in years. The game is steeped in overt satire and the community has taken it upon themselves to fully embrace it.
Best enjoyed co-op, Helldivers 2 is a lot of fun if you're not taking it too seriously. RNG is a prevalent part of mission types and enemy spawns, but it's one of the few games where I would consider losing to be a part of the fun. That's not to say there are times where it can be frustrating, but in my experience those are few and far between, or at the very least tempered by the rest of the game.

The only thing that stands out to me as egregiously bad is the lack of information regarding weapon stats. Allegedly in an earlier version, the armoury had a more detailed breakdown of weapon stats, showing numbers and recoil charts in comparison to the imprecise percentile bars that we have now. Two weapons may list having medium armour penetration, but behind the scenes one actually has slightly better penetration and there's no way to tell until you fail to shoot through something you're expecting to shoot though.
The same goes for stratagems and boosters. The tooltip descriptions give you a vague idea of what these items do, but leave a lot of questions frustratingly unanswered. Does a booster that increases enemy spawn delay function on a mission with scripted spawns? What does "being able to move better through difficult terrain" actually mean? Does that increase my movement speed? By how much? Lower my stamina drain? Both? The lack of information can make the decision to experiment with things feel risky, especially after you stumble on a combination that works well for you.

Despite that, Helldivers 2 is a satisfying, deeply fun experience, and I'm glad that Sony has walked back their decision to force a PSN account link and alienate over 100 countries, because good God what a stupid decision that was.

Helldivers 2 is a great game - one of the best online experiences I've had in years. The game is steeped in overt satire and the community has taken it upon themselves to fully embrace it. Best enjoyed co-op, Helldivers 2 is a lot of fun if you're not taking it too seriously. RNG is a prevalent part of mission types and enemy spawns, but it's one of the few games where I would consider losing to be a part of the fun. That's not to say there are times where it can be frustrating, but in my experience those are few and far between, or at the very least tempered by the rest of the game. The only thing that stands out to me as egregiously bad is the lack of information regarding weapon stats. Allegedly in an earlier version, the armoury had a more detailed breakdown of weapon stats, showing numbers and recoil charts in comparison to the imprecise percentile bars that we have now. Two weapons may list having medium armour penetration, but behind the scenes one actually has slightly better penetration and there's no way to tell until you fail to shoot through something you're expecting to shoot though. The same goes for stratagems and boosters. The tooltip descriptions give you a vague idea of what these items do, but leave a lot of questions frustratingly unanswered. Does a booster that increases enemy spawn delay function on a mission with scripted spawns? What does "being able to move better through difficult terrain" actually mean? Does that increase my movement speed? By how much? Lower my stamina drain? Both? The lack of information can make the decision to experiment with things feel risky, especially after you stumble on a combination that works well for you. Despite that, Helldivers 2 is a satisfying, deeply fun experience, and I'm glad that Sony has walked back their decision to force a PSN account link and alienate over 100 countries, because good God what a stupid decision that was.