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As you know, content-wise, it’s been a slow period for Helldivers 2. Still, the players are trying to be patient and enjoy the content they do have. Having time to re-examine things made some of the players realize that sometimes there was more to things than met the eye. Have you ever thought about the meanings behind the names of weapons and armor in Helldivers 2? Are the names just random letters and numbers, or are they referencing something? As it turns out, there are some very cool references behind some of the names.
Players Found Several References to 1984
There are many hidden references and puns in Helldivers 2. You’ve probably noticed some yourself, as they are quite on the nose. For example, if you read Element 710 upside down, you get OIL. So, the precious fuel that we get from squishing bugs is literally oil. Another fun example that you might have noticed, the EAT-17 AT mines can be read as “eat it”.
Well, some references are much harder to get, but once you do, you’ll be surprised you didn’t get them before. What surprised us was the amount of references to George Orwell’s book 1984. There are some obvious ones, but the devs were clearly very influenced by this book.
One player, Qui_54, noticed: “Is the “84” in UF-84 a reference to the 1984 book, what with the themes of control and manipulation around the ‘Truth Enforcers’ set?”. Dvalin_Ras93 added: “Honestly, paired with the name “Doubt Killer”, that’s the single most overt 1984 reference I’ve ever seen”.
Another player, XxDarkSasuke69xX, stated: “Probably, considering there is literally an entity called the Ministry of Truth”. Truth be told, we’ve never made this connection, even though it’s painfully obvious. Several players pointed out that the first installment of the game was set in 2084, and the second one in 2184. Not to mention the blissfully unaware Super citizens and Helldivers alike, after all, we are the good guys.
Helldivers Share More Surprising Meanings Behind Unsuspecting Names
Of course, the devs left many more references in the game, not only to 1984. Helldivers 2 players gladly shared which names they thought had deeper meanings. Honestly, there are so many easter eggs in this game that it’s impossible to find them all.
DoctorPayne999 noted: “The SG-451 Cookout fire shotgun is a reference to the book Fahrenheit 451, which shares some themes with 1984”. Another player, pevznerok, added: “Also, Cookout is a fire weapon, and 451 is the temperature at which paper starts to burn. Yeah, there’s some logic here”.
One Redditor, JacketKid2407, noticed: “not really a hidden meaning but the medium machine gun, MG-43, is most likely a joke reference to the real machine gun MG-42. Just one number higher because it’s futuristic”.
AwesomeDude042 contributed: “R-2124 Constitution is the year it was released, 2024, plus 100 years due to the Great Democratization time skip. Idk if this counts but the LHO-63 Camper from the first game is a reference to Lee Harvey Oswald who killed JFK in 1963”.
An honorable mention has to go to GR-8 Recoilless Riffle (GR-8 reads great) and the G-6 Frag Grenade (G-6 looks like GG). There isn’t any hidden meaning to these two, but we appreciate a good pun when we see it.
So, the next time you’re choosing what to bring on a mission, pay close attention to some of the names. You never know what you might find. See you out there, we’ll be the ones sporting the UF-84 Doubt Killer. For Liberty and Super Earth.