Helldiver’s Positive Reviews Mark a Change in my Gaming Interests

OXCGN: Helldivers is currently holding an 82 over at Metacritic based on 19 reviews. Suffice to say Helldivers doesn’t have the same following as the bigger AAA titles released on the console, however it’s good to see that critics are enjoying Helldivers, which launched on the Playstation 3, 4 and Vita this week is receiving positive reviews.

This makes me extremely excited.

[RocknRolla]

This game. So much fun. Not sure I've enjoyed a PSN title as much as this before. Seriously 4 player co-op is a blessing. Exclusive AAA titles though are the cream of the crop but hell if this isn't a good game still.

[jriquelme_paraguay]

is this game like secret pochho, dea<d nation?

[Palitera]

Well, both are twin sticks top down shooters, but...

No. They are very different.

Helldivers' major difference to the others in the genre is friendly fire.

Friendly fire changes everything about it and puts it into a different league when playing coop. You have to think and position yourself the whole time to avoid killing team mates. And, if you die, you don't auto respawn. You need that someone alive call reinforcements, through button prompts, so you can revive.

Also, the stratagems system (you can call timed support similar to "killstreaks") is VERY awesome and really change the flow of the game.

Excellent design. Quite repetitive, at least in the beginning, but a blast in coop, which, btw, works very well.

[MilkMan]

twin stick shooter. take your pick there's a million of these. this one has always-on friendly fire and user traps that can hurt the player as well as enemies, cross platform play.

nothing special, just the flavor of the month.

[rdgneoz3]

More like dead nation with more customization, 4 player co-op, 3 different factions to fight, and upgradable weapons/abilities. And friendly fire which can be hilarious at times when you drop in a match right on top of a person. Or throwing a supply drop right on top of a huge hulking beast.

[MysticStrummer]

@Milkman - Why answer when you clearly haven't played the game?

[nix]

Milkman, thank you for buying the game.

[HammadTheBeast]

I'm thinking more like a different angle Destiny. This is what Destiny needed, and the metagame and mechanics are just great.

Here's something which might explain better: 4 of us went on a mission which we'd never done before it was on the "Very Hard" difficulty. Team leader dropped us in, and we went to complete the objectives. 1 got in a mech suit and front lines, 2 had ARs and pushed, and a shotgun brought the rear. Eventually dozens of enemies popped up, real armoredones and we were screwed, droppig airstrikes and trying to save each other before all of us died. Eventually, we got to the evac site, set up a bunch of turrets and had a last stand,amazing part was that the auto turrets friendly fire, so you have to dive to the ground if an enemy gets you between its line of sight.

Overall great game, can't go wrong for ~$18.

[YoungKingDoran]

Sorry if a little off topic, but i feel the same as rocknrolla about not only this game which I'm loving, but La Mulana on Vita, is anyone else playing this? Absolutely incredible game so far. Indies on a real roll lately as far as my personal preferences are concerned anyway.

[Ozmoses]

So the author is suggesting he is only now interested in "Helldivers" and similar style games because it is getting quality reviews??

whatever happened out to figuring out things on your own??

don't solely buy something based on the opinion of others...

use your own judgement.. I mean it is your money...

you don't need a review to tell you if a game looks like a game you'll enjoy

[JoGam]

See I was wondering if anyone else caught that. That's the problem with our industry. Same with The Order. People who didn't even play the damn game was hating on it because of the reviews. WTF happen to playing a game and making your own opinion? Helldivers is a great game but you could have found that out yourself if you just tried it. Fuck reviews. Whats sad is there are games out there that will never be noticed by some because the review score didn't meet their expectations.

Thank you author for proving me right.

[Major_Bogart]

your using the Order really. That game did suck though.

[GiggMan]

I'll admit that I missed out on a few gems due to reviews in the pass but never again. Luckily some of these games came out on PS+ and I was able to try them for myself and felt stupid.

SharePlay and PS+/Gold are making reviews and reviewers obsolete in my opinion.

I would have never played Dragon's Dogma if it wasn't for plus and it was my favorite game last gen.

[OB1Biker]

Totally agree. Some people need reviews to tell them what they should like and that's laughable.

[JoGam]

@ Ob1Biker...Looking at reviews can back fire too. You ever read a review for a game and that didn't get a high score but still purchased the game and while playing it all you did was think about the negative things you heard and it kinda didn't allow you to appreciate the game for what it was? Another reason I leave reviews alone.

From now on I just play what I want to play.

[GrathiusXR]

I didn't follow the press around The Order: 1886 and when I did it was honestly a game that didn't interest me. I'm not a big fan of the steam punk setting so right there the game wasn't holding my interest. Cover based shooter? I've played dozens in my life and this wouldn't have been anything different. With the average to bad press the game was getting from critics and consumers, I wasn't the least bit slightest interest for the game. With money being tight going out and buying games and making my own opinion is a luxury. I need to be smart. I've spent thousands of dollars on games for the sake of "I need this game regardless of if it's shit etc..."

So no matter which way I looked at it wasn't worth buying personally.

[JoGam]

@ GrathiusXR. At least it was ur personal opinion on why you didn't like it and not some review

[GrathiusXR]

@JoGam: The reviews did nothing but polarize a problem within the industry. People hating on a game for the sake of hating on it cause others are and large websites giving it good scores when the game clearly has problems for hits or websites giving the game too low of a score to again score hits.

My site doesn't have a review of the game because 1) We didn't receive a review copy and 2) from the writers that bought and have played the game they didn't want to even bother reviewing it because they would have had nothing new to bring to the table of what hasn't already been said.

I just read reviews to see if others agreed/disagreed with what I thought NOT because I want to buy this game but don't know if I should. But like I said before Metacritic was just to show that others opinions of the game fell in line with my own that it was indeed a fun enjoyable co-op shooter. Not "Hey this game is getting 9/10 is the best games suck it"

[gangsta_red]

@Jogam

"Whats sad is there are games out there that will never be noticed by some because the review score didn't meet their expectations."

When has that ever happened? In fact there are more games out there that got glowing reviews that gamers never played or bought and those games went on to be flops.

I see a lot of people constantly blaming reviewers and a biased media for games reviewed for Sony. I'm glad there is at least a continuing discussion for it here. I would state my opinion on the bias, clickbait articles and how reviews have ruined great games but I think you all have covered it and made some excellent points.

Edit:
I didn't know you could cuss on N4G? If I would have known i would have used a few choice words for other reviews in other articles.

[MasterCornholio]

Some people believe that metacritic determines whether a game is good or not. For example for some anything below a meta of 7 is garbage and anything above a 7 is good. It doesn't matter if you enjoy a game with a meta of below 7 its just (according to them) you have a bad taste in games.

Kind of like someone who enjoys wine that comes in a carton vs someone who only drinks the most expensive wine.

[Palitera]

If only you read the actual article instead of the headline...

The writer's point reflects something very true in today's industry, with the explosion of indies finally hitting consoles with full force.

When you read the article you'll understand. And probably feel ashamed.

-

@below:
His tastes were more directed towards "big", AAA, mainstream gaming. He is slowly moving towards smaller games, where he finds some qualities not usually present in bigger titles.
The good reviews for Helldivers are a(nother) mark in this change of culture, in which he includes himself.
That's what he actually said.

But I understand the haters. Anything that comes vaguely close to "reviews mean something" needs to be killed with fire by holier beings. After all, reviews are pure evil!

[Ozmoses]

actually I did read the article...

and it suggests that he is happy that "Helldivers" is getting good critical reviews..

and then he goes on about AAA titles and how he has been playing Rogue Legacy and Escapist...

the way it is worded... it almost seems like the author is reluctant to try something new...

it's like he has these expectation that every game must live up to and he waits until reviews come out to make up his mind..

he's unable to make his own decisions... the author of this article relies on the word of others to make his purchase...

that's what I got out of the article... he's afraid to purchase something on his own because he is scared it might turn out to be bad.

edit - "Lately I've been enjoying the challenging aspects of Rogue Legacy and The Escapists, and whilst they may not be AAA titles that the world goes crazy over, I've found a certain level of enjoyment out of them. They’re unique art style, their challenge, as well as the fact that it’s just as fun to watch others play these games than it is to play it myself."

that quote from the article suggests that for the first time ever this kid discovered why people play games....

it's like he's been oblivious to the games he plays this whole time.

[GrathiusXR]

^^ Ozmoses:

With the way that developers and PR hype up their product it's hard NOT to build up an expectation for these only to be disappointed with the end product. I watched 2 trailers for Helldivers and KNEW this game appealed to me in a way that most games didn't.

- 4 player co-op
- top down twin stick shooter
- always on friendly fire
- Starship Troopers inspired (A guilt pleasure movie)

The idea around the article is that this game which I love is getting good reviews and marks a change in my gaming interests as I get older. It means that a game which appealed to me is getting universal appraisal from critics and consumers alike because of how fun it is. It doesn't mean I'm incapable of making my own decisions, I decided I was buying this game the moment my friend told me about it. His excitement was equally met with my own. I picked up Rogue Legacy because it was free for PSN+ members and I had one person on my Facebook who enjoyed the game so I thought why not.

After playing it and figuring out the way the game functioned I was actually hooked. Upgrading your knight with different attributes and every time you die you pick an heir. That was unique, something different I hadn't encountered before. I'm not reluctant to try something new, but when the game doesn't appeal to be in various ways I don't find the need to spend money on it when I KNOW I won't enjoy it.

The Escapists was given to me by PR to review and I didn't know how much I'd enjoy the game being you just breaking out of prison. I decided to stream the game on Twitch and garnered a small group who watched me all the time and by god it was amazing having them tell me different ways to break out of prison and having them feel nervous every time I tried to break out. It made this game more exciting for me.

A colleague at work continually hassles me to buy Evolve but I continue to refuse because I KNOW being a MP game only I won't get the satisfaction I want out of it. After a month or two weeks I'll probably stop playing it in favour of something else and again that'll be money wasted.

I'm not taking Metacritic as gospel, that was purely to show that others are enjoying the game as much as I am. I understand the way the piece is worded may be a little confusing but hopes this clears things up!

Also with regards to your "that quote from the article suggests that for the first time ever this kid discovered why people play games.... "

I guess I've lost that feeling I used to get when playing games, enjoyment. Most AAA titles didn't do it for me. Watch Dogs I bought the DedSec edition played maybe 45% haven't touched it since. Got real bored with it. GTA V got half way and haven't touched it since. Wasn't the same excitement I got with GTA: Vice City, San Andreas or even IV. I guess as people grow older they change and their interests do too.

[S2Killinit]

man this game is so UNIQUE. Loving it. Never had this much fun with co-op.

[averagejoe26]

You're joking, right?

I won't say it's not fun but...

This game is nowhere near unique.

It's like these two stick, top down shooters are easy and cheap to make so so many indie devs go for it. There's hundreds of these games.

Secret poncho, with the PvP, in my opinion, is the most unique game in this genre... But even still, it's not unique.

[Clogmaster]

It might be considered unique because of the combination of Starship Troopers, D-Pad Konami Code style Strategems, and the Friendly Fire.

You won't find that kind of experience in old arcade games, or anything modern new for that matter.

If you're only looking at it as a twin stick shooter like Smash TV, then of course you're only looking at it as a Genre.

That's like saying Srikers 1945-II is the same as the Raiden series.

The combination of mechanics makes it a completely different game.

[MysticStrummer]

I've played lots of twin stick shooters, and you're right that many of them are basically the same game, but Secret Ponchos is much more typical than Helldivers.

[GrathiusXR]

You're kidding right? Friendly Fire is always on. Literally anything can kill you from a Stratagem drop, your own teammates hell even you're own turret when killing enemies can hurt you. Cross play, save and buy. Also the mash up of what @Clogmaster stated makes it a unique blend of other genres, games, movies all in one.

[HammadTheBeast]

Just because other games are in the same genre does not mean its not unique.