Helldivers 2’s first truly massive update is coming soon: “Escalation of Freedom” is set for August 6, bringing a huge injection of content to the game, from enemy and mission variety to difficulty and quality-of-life features.
Escalation of Freedom was revealed earlier today, with developer Arrowhead diving into the nitty-gritty in a teaser trailer and blog post PlayStation. Difficulty level 10, “Super Helldive,” may be the highlight of the game for the most extreme players, but the new objectives, bots, and bugs should freshen up the game for democracy lovers at all difficulty levels.
Three new Terminids have been revealed: the Impaler, a massive, stabbing tentacle that can block your retreat; a Spore Loader that can “mask its location until it’s right on you”; and an Alpha Commander, described as a “bigger, badder” Brood Commander that summons enemies that are “not the ones you’re used to.”
The new robots include the artillery-style Rocket Tank, and as if that name alone wasn’t scary enough, there are also “other robot surprises we’ll be bringing you,” Arrowhead teases. That seems to include a Rocket Walker, based on the trailer, that’s different from the Rocket Tank. Cool: more rockets!
You’ll encounter these threats to democracy in new mission types like Larvae Recovery, where you transport a live insect sample across a planet for what are undoubtedly important scientific reasons. Their cries will bring the insects right to you, so act fast. From the trailer, there appears to be a new robot mission tied to a research facility of some sort. “Many of our new mission objectives will be playable at other difficulty levels,” Arrowhead says, reassuring fans who’d rather stay below Super Helldive and at least try to keep all their limbs on their bodies.
Arrowhead shared a glimpse of an expanded robot fortress (above) and showed off a massive insect nest in the trailer, assuring players that “these outposts will be heavily fortified and will require players to coordinate and strategize to take them down.” Your “big rewards” for taking them on include “all-new Super Sample rewards,” so coordinate.
“What would the galaxy be without planets?” asks creative director Johan Pilestedt, introducing a seemingly swampy planet that Arrowhead wanted to “make a little scary.” A new acid storm weather effect is also planned, reducing the armor of both you and your enemies, “which is as gruesome as it sounds,” says design director Niklas Malmborg.
“We have many more surprises in store for you,” Pilestedt concludes.
The Helldivers 2 troopers win a decisive major order with 43 minutes left, and the high command is so impressed that we all get free mech suits for a while..