Sometimes, it’s healthy to take a step back from rampant bug- and bot-killing and have a little breather with something new. If you’re looking for something like Helldivers 2, which still has high-octane warfare and goal-driven extraction energy, here are some of my suggestions.
9. Earth Defense Force 5
Yes, there are five of these, and they’re all as mad as the last. There is also planned to be a sixth, but who knows when that one is coming out. In the meantime, you can defend the Earth from the relentless onslaught of bugs with your endless ground troops.
Akin to Helldivers 2, this game is best for utter bug and friendly annihilation. Friendly fire is always on, and a lot of the various shoulder-mounted rockets, air strikes, and guns do not discriminate. It is huge amounts of multiplayer fun that quickly makes you forget the dated graphics. One of the best couch co-op games of all time, in my humble opinion.
8. Starship Troopers: Extermination
You can’t talk about interplanetary bug genocide without mentioning the legendary 1997 movie, Starship Troopers. Recently, a criminally overlooked game called Starship Troopers: Extermination came out. This is a similar game to Helldivers 2, but from a first-person perspective and with some different objectives.
The game modes vary from nest clearance to base defense as you systematically slaughter the disgusting aliens. The game can be played completely multiplayer and results in hours of fun. It can be played on a casual level, or you can jack the difficulty right up for some underground, hive-mind sweat-fests.
7. World War Z
Swap bugs for zombies and alien planets for Earth-based locations, and you have World War Z. The game is astronomically better than the total flop of a film starring Brad Pitt. In World War Z, it is up to you and three other teammates to work from objective to objective, fighting hordes of zombies.
I found myself enjoying this game a lot, which was a surprise. Movie games are usually rubbish, but this one has a certain something. The hordes of zombies that come pouring like water over walls or into buildings can be mowed down and split in such a way that makes the warfare exciting and satisfying. It feels like fighting back a flood with bullets as they tumble and pour over each other while you scream for support and pray your landmine holds them back long enough to reload your gun.
6. Deep Rock Galactic
Rock and Stone, brother. Before the release of Helldivers 2, this was the game my friends and I would pop a couple of cans to, chat the evening away, and enjoy our casual all-night game sessions. It’s endless fun with a simple premise. Collect valuable resources, get them back to the ship, and don’t die in the process.
There are numerous classes and huge amounts of cosmetics to choose from to make your little mining guy your own. Team building is core to making sure you all get out alive, and as you collect more resources, you’ll only become stronger. Digging through the fantastic procedurally generated caves makes each game seem unique, and you run through the missions. Trying to complete objectives while being overrun by ever-increasing bugs leads to some hilarious, high-octane action.
5. Star Wars Battlefront 2
Classic. When I first started playing this, it was run through a LAN party, and the dudes in the next room communicated with a walkie-talkie. Maybe it’s the nostalgia for me, but for large-scale warfare with a bunch of buddies and some simple objectives, the Star Wars Battlefront 2 remake can’t go without a mention.
If you’re a fan of the Star Wars franchise or just love some big team battles with lightsabers and laser guns, then give it a go. Of course, it has its typical greedy EA problems and will never quite be as good as the original title. But, if you grab it on sale, there is a lot of fun to be had. The over-the-shoulder Helldivers 2 gunplay is always an interesting choice over 1st person.
4. Risk of Rain 2
Risk of Rain is like Helldivers 2 in that it is a team-based battle against hordes of enemies while trying to complete various objectives. That’s where the similarities stop. Risk of Rain 2 is a unique game, but that pays off.
In Risk of Rain 2, it is up to you to choose the right character for the job. All of them are different, and all bring something important to the table. As you roll, run, or glide your way around the maps, you need to collect limitless amounts of powerups that give wild benefits and boons. These stack to end up creating a monstrous character that can just about stand up to the onslaught of enemies. Like Helldivers 2, Risk of Rain 2 is best with buddies.
3. Rayman Legends
Am I just looking for an excuse to include this masterpiece in a list? Can I link it back to being like Helldivers 2? Rayman Legends is a multiplayer game in which you must jump, slide, duck, and dodge your way through side-scrolling maps to the final endpoint, collecting resources along the way.
This game has musical levels, beautiful levels, spooky levels, complex levels, and hard and easy levels. The game is a masterpiece of old-game revival and pays homage to its source material with this love letter. It is huge amounts of 4-player couch co-op multiplayer fun that will leave you screaming, laughing, and celebrating together.
2. Hunt: Showdown
I have over 700 hours in Hunt: Showdown, and I’ll double that before I am close to bored with this game. It has three large maps, five bosses, and endless hours of fun. Like Helldivers 2, it is based on a simple premise, but it has it so finely tuned that it never becomes dull.
Simply, you and your team of three drop into a map populated with various zombies and dogs. Around the map are locations with clues. Collect enough clues, and the boss’s lair is revealed. The thing is, all the other teams on the map are also trying to get to the same boss lair. Once there, you need to kill the boss and extract its soul. But all the other teams also want the soul, so it’s a war with only one team left standing. Sometimes there is one boss, sometimes two. Also, it’s all set in 1985 American Wild West, so expect some rootin’, tootin’ six shootin’. MASTERPIECE.
1. Helldivers
The first game from Arrowhead Games came out back in 2015 and had quite a loyal but compact fanbase. I first started playing it when it came out free one week on PlayStation 4 and loved it. I quickly got my mates on it, and we spent hours on the top-down directional shooter.
The beauty of Helldivers 2 is that they have taken the carnage of Helldivers 1, which seemed to only be possible due to the top-down gameplay, and translated it perfectly into a third-person shooter. I would recommend giving the original a go if you love the second. It is a great game in its own right, and a lot of what you love about the second is clearly born in the first.
