Helldivers 2 has still got it

Surprise attack! After a short hiatus spent shoring up its forces and launching targeted strikes on planets with a weaponized black hole, the Illuminates have launched a new campaign in Helldivers 2's galactic war. The cunning beasts are marching closer to Super Earth than ever before.

Players suspect the latest offensive will culminate in a new named update arriving sometime next week, the first since December's Omen of Tyranny, but a patch released yesterday sets the stage. The Illuminates have reinforced their frontlines with three enemy types:

Fleshmobs: large, meaty brutes made up of mangled zombie citizensCrescent Overseers: Cannoneers who attack from the backline, launching mortars across the battlefront from the safety of coverStingrays: Fighter jets that target helldivers with periodic strafing runs

The galaxy-wide emergency inspired me to dust off my helldiving helmet and get back in the fight, and it only took 30 seconds to remember how friggin' excellent this game is. That's how long it took to run into my first Fleshmob, a creature that I didn't know existed because I hadn't read the patch notes closely.

Yuck. Arrowhead is already going in surprising directions with its third faction, which debuted last December with noticeably fewer enemy types than the Automatons and Terminids. I expected another tier of armored soldiers who shoot rockets or carry miniguns, but Fleshmobs are like smaller, nimbler Chargers: They rush toward helldivers, flailing a bouquet of limbs for big damage. They're all meat, so bullets can tear through them no problem, but unlike Chargers, Fleshmobs can spawn in groups of two or three.

They're a gloriously grotesque shot in the arm for Helldivers 2's urban Illuminate missions, as are those Stingray jets. These are a rough equivalent of the Automaton's gunships, but Stingrays don't hover over the battlefield asking to catch a rocket in the engine. Instead they circle the fight, staying out of reach before executing a Top Gun strafing run that reliably kills all players in its path. The brief window where it flies near the surface is a chance to take it down, and nailing a shot feels as amazing as it looks.

Helldivers 2's urban biome is finally coming into its own. The jets and mortar squids feel tailor-made around the claustrophobic streets of colony planets. This time last year, I wondered how Arrowhead could introduce a faction distinct from the bots and bugs when they already cover long and close-range combat so well, but the Illuminates' role is coming into focus: Unrelenting waves, crowded killzones, and archetypes that can overwhelm the frontline while also laying waste from a distance.

(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

How will Super Earth counter? If what we're hearing of "mega city" maps on Super Earth itself is true, I hope it's finally time for that armored APC from last year's leaks to hit the streets.

I didn't mess with the other major feature of yesterday's patch, weapon customization. Arrowhead's added a new progression path for (almost) all primary weapons with unlockable sights, grips, and underbarrels to fine-tune a gun's handling. The Call of Duty gunsmith-lite approach is a nice start, but they don't seem like exciting enough sidegrades to justify another 100 hours of grinding.

That said, I'm absolutely slapping a holographic sight on my beloved Eruptor, which just got another buff to its explosive damage.