Hell Divers 2 Review based on 15 Hours Gameplay

After 15 hours of gameplay, covered in bug slime and blood on myself and my weapon, I can now offer an initial Hell Divers 2 review.

General information about Hell Divers 2 is available HERE.

Gameplay Review and Overview

Hell Divers 2 doesn’t reinvent the gameplay. It takes a simple loop and makes it exciting. You arrive on the ship, name it, my destroyer is called Adjudicator of Liberty, then you head straight to the main terminal. Passing by the ship upgrade and weapon upgrade terminals, you find yourself before the galaxy map, choosing a planet to fight bugs or androids on.

I chose the bugs because I’m simply from the Starship Trooper generation. On the galaxy map, you can also see the progress of liberating the respective planet, but this is a community task. This means the world is persistent, and every single player contributes to liberating the planets from bugs and androids. We also see our weekly quest where we must liberate both planets in the first system, with the reward being 10,000 R.

Currencies

It can get a bit complicated at first, but it’s actually understandable. There is:

• R;
  • This currency is used to purchase Stratagem upgrades. You get it after each mission; the more side missions you complete on a planet, the more you receive.
• Supercredits;
  • These are used to buy cosmetics in the Superstore. Supercredits can also be bought in the shop, but it’s not necessary since you can find them on planets and also get them in the Warbond shop in exchange for Warbond tokens.
• Warbonds;
  • These are for the “Battle Pass”, called Warbond in Hell Divers 2, where you unlock weapons and equipment. Successfully completing missions on a planet will assign them at the end. If you complete both missions on the same planet in the same region, there are bonus Warbonds.
• Samples;
  • These are samples from the planets; there are 3 different kinds in total. They are used for ship upgrades. You find them on planets at POIs, hives, and randomly distributed on the map. Beware; if you die, you drop them but you can and should pick them up again.

You receive all currencies by simply playing. Now, one could say that missions take a long time and that the rewards for missions are not big enough. However, I think this is the right approach, as I don’t want to unlock everything in the first few hours. I don’t want to blast through content right away. Just because our neural reward system has been completely wrecked by the gaming industry, it doesn’t mean that Hell Divers 2 has to bring it to a new low where something is blinking everywhere and something is always being unlocked.

Battlepass alias Warbond

There are 2 Warbond catalogs, one is free and the other is the Premium Warbond Catalog. In them, we find weapons, like Shotguns, SMGs, pulse rifles, etc., as well as various equipment from heavy to light. It’s also important that you can unlock Supercredits, which then allow you to buy the Premium Battlepass without investing a single cent of real money. The best feature is that there is no FOMO (fear of missing out), because even when a new Battlepass comes out, you can continue working on the old one and unlock things, and after 2 hours, we already own everything.

Missions

There are various missions, ranging from exterminating BUGHIVES to seismic probes, digging, and delivering. The missions always have a main task and some also have a side task. They can typically last 40 minutes if you visit all POIs and complete all side missions. Only the main task is a “must”, everything else is optional.

I complete everything on each planet or at least try to. This makes my mission last about 30-35 minutes. Accordingly, I get the most out of missions. Whether this is the most efficient method, I do not know, but it’s definitely the most fun for me. There are also short missions, which can last up to 12 minutes. These are missions where wave after wave comes and you must survive and I love them—pure chaos. The turret kills everything and everyone, even me and my team, for democracy.

Weapons and Stratagems

In this review, I’m going over a few various weapon types, such as AR, SMG, Shotgun, etc., which we unlock through Warbonds. The shooting and sound feel very good; the screen shake, which I ALWAYS turn off, is in this game simply an essential part of how good shooting feels. Magazine after magazine into the horde of bugs, dodging back with slime on all sides, and then killing the bug above you from the ground. I LOVE IT.

The Stratagems are delivered directly to the planet by your destroyer. There are air support, supply, and special weapons Stratagems. Special weapons like MG, Anti-Material Rifle, Flamethrower, Rocket Launcher, etc. are a MUST, as various bugs also have a “chitin layer” from the insect world. So you call in your Rocket Launcher Stratagem, grab the Rocket Launcher, blast a hole in the bug’s armor, and then stick the MG in. It’s very action-packed and very satisfying, the shooting and calling in of Stratagems.

Calling them in is like entering cheat codes in the old GTA parts with the movement keys. This can lead to very hectic and planning-intensive situations. For me, the shooting is so responsive and immersive, and not infrequently do I make voice lines in sync with my character. The good thing is every weapon feels unique and there’s something for every playstyle. I’m the shotgun and MG shooter and I constantly need the Resupply Stratagem for ammo and grenades. For that, I also have the most slime on me.

Conclusion of Hell Divers 2 Review 15 Hours

Hell Divers 2 does a lot right; there are crash problems, server problems—there shouldn’t be any. Unfortunately, I can’t really remember a release where there weren’t any problems. Hell Divers 2 manages to make something great out of simple things. Everything can be criticized; the question is just how much of it is the game’s fault and how much is on us.

That progress is not fast enough is largely subjective. That missions take a long time is also subjective. Because 40 minutes maximum duration, and then only if you die and can’t kill enemies, is not long and should not be shorter. The epic scenes that you can experience with your team are definitely worth the 39.99€. If you like Starship Troopers, if you like Hell Divers 1, if you hate bugs and androids (AI) anyway, then you will get many hours of gameplay out of the 39.99€. I have to go now and slaughter some bugs for democracy and freedom. I’ll see you on the battlefield, recruit! I recommend it!

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