In Helldivers 2, we must defend the Over-Earth from potential dangers from outer space. We attack bugs and automatons that pose a significant threat to humanity. It should be clear to some that we are not necessarily on the side of the good. The creative director of the shooter, Johan Pilestedt, is now unraveling the riddle of good and evil.
Which side are we on? Pilestedt revealed that we are indeed on the side of the evil. At a conference, he gave a presentation about the shooter (via YouTube), where he elaborated on the origins of the title. He also showcased the original pitch for Helldivers 2.
The basic idea behind the game is as follows:
Helldivers is an action co-op shooter where players take on the role of the villains from pop culture. How would you fare as an extra in your favorite action movie from the ’80s/’90s? Would you survive in a galactic war without ‘plot armor’ for protection?
As an example, Pilestedt mentions the stormtroopers from Star Wars. Players are meant to feel like the villains from the movies as they try to stop Han Solo from breaching the Death Star. So, in this regard, you are the Empire’s crew.
That raises the question of whether the players would do better. According to Pilestedt, the parallel to the Death Star should have been obvious.
You can see the ‘evil’ in Helldivers 2 in the following trailer:
The villains in Helldivers 2 defend the Over-Earth
In what form are we evil in Helldivers 2? Some players in the reddit forum have already speculated that the intentions of the elite troops in Helldivers 2 might be evil. While we do fight bugs on other planets in Helldivers 2, they have every reason to defend themselves (via GameLeap):
- Humanity discovered that the bugs, also known as Terminids, leave behind a valuable resource after death. Accordingly, they are slaughtered so that the valuable raw material can be harvested.
- The automatons use artificial intelligence that could be of interest to the Over-Earth. It is meant to be used for building a suitable election and tracking system.
- The Illuminated from part 1, who could also appear in part 2, are simply an alien race whose technology was used for the Over-Earth. However, it was forcibly taken.
The Over-Earth is said to have been politically unstable before the introduction of managed democracy and computer-based elections. Now, election software automatically outputs which party citizens should vote for.
Critics who accuse this approach of manipulation are considered enemies of law and order. Dissenters should be reported immediately.
This means that several factors indicate that things are amiss on the Over-Earth and that we are actually playing the evil ones. But not only the Over-Earth is an evil faction. There are also individual players who like to overstep the line: In Helldivers 2, there is an evil player who endangers peace and democracy
