Helldivers

In Helldivers, the player needs to coordinate their actions during chaotic combat to complete objectives and avoid friendly fire casualties. The game pits the players against three different enemy species and tasks them with ensuring the survival of Super Earth. Players engage with procedurally generated missions where players must accomplish a series of objectives. At the start of each mission, players can choose their loadouts (sets of weapons, equipment, and gear) and deployment positions.

They can also use the game's stratagem mechanic to enhance their options, catering to the map layout or their individual playstyle. For example, the player may choose stratagems that focus on providing additional firepower or mobility, or give themselves supportive abilities such as calling in precise airstrikes.

Helldivers is set in a dystopian universe where humanity is ruled by a totalitarian world order hidden as a "managed democracy", an alteration of a contemporary democracy. The pseudo-democracy also acts a creed by which the inhabitants of Super Earth (the fictional futuristic Earth) fight for without question, but without fully understanding it. Super Earth greatly encourages military service, with the Helldivers—the legion of special forces assigned behind enemy lines—worshipped as idols to the freedom of Super Earth.

Super Earth is threatened by three hostile enemy races: the Bugs, space insects harvested by Super Earth for Element 710, a valuable resource (the number resembles 'OIL' turned 180 degrees); the Cyborgs, a faction of "socio-anarchistic feudal[ist]" separatists outfitted with robotic gear; and the Illuminate, a race of squid-like aliens hunted down by the government. As well as countering primarily through combat, the Helldivers are also tasked with retrieving technology or carrying out certain tasks deemed important by the government in an effort to preserve their freedom and way of life.

Helldivers received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic. In Japan, where the game was ported for release on March 5, 2015, Famitsu gave it a score of two eights, one seven, and one eight for a total of 31 out of 40.

IGN played the demo version of Helldivers at the 2013 Gamescom, and reviewed the demo positively. Game Informer also gave the demo a positive rating, commenting that it "isn't easy, but this throwback to classic top down shooters is still a good time".