HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition

Arrowhead accidentally created the most satisfying unintended dodge mechanic in all of gaming history (search melee dodging). This single mechanic lets experienced players dance across the battlefield in glorious fashion, dodging any and every unit at the edge of their blades. Very sad not to see this implemented as an actual feature in the sequel.

That, alongside some tactical know-how and ai pattern recognition and manipulation (all gained from experience) makes players out to be nigh unstoppable in Helldiver's ''seemingly'' unforgiving difficulty levels.

Players are under the unfortunate impression that they are reliant on the in-game stratagems and weapons in order to complete their missions when that could not be further from the truth. They are simply quality of life items to help manage whatever players struggle with during a mission, but missions are fully doable with nothing but a pistol if they can manage not dumping all their fire at the first enemy they see.

Which is why it's so saddening to see that the game incentivizes ''meta'' loadouts by not letting there be a weapon-lock option along with several modifiers for hosts to spice up their hosted lobbies with (which should have been perfectly doable considering it exists in the cheater-infested proving grounds that noone plays anyway. Still salty that they stripped swords away from us.)

Phenomenal game that should absolutely NOT be skipped over in light of the sequel's success.

Just get the second helldivers and skip this mess. Thought everything would be attainable through gameplay like the second one. Apparently you actually have to buy dlc just to get things in this one. Yikes.

Kind of boring when solo. I'm not a fan of strategems. It's probably okay in multiplayer.

As someone who went backwards from HD2 to HD1, I surprisingly enjoyed the elder Uncle on its own, but more so as someone who has enjoyed the world created by Arrowhead, and wanted more from it.

I loved how there are many enemies, objectives, weapons, bosses!, and stratagems yet to be introduced but exist here. There's a codex in the game, and special challenges you can do as well. While a much simpler game with its 2D isometric genre, I actually enjoyed the much quicker missions, the fact you do not need a constant internet connection! if solo, and it runs on anything. I played a good bit on my steam deck and it was great.

Unlike HD2, which has a war that has continued since its released, HD1's war resets after total victory or total loss. I believe it has already reset at least once since I purchased the game over a month ago. This does mean there is a lot of content that relies on the day you log in. On our first login, the Terminids and Cyborgs (Automotons) had been defeated, so only the Illuminate front was available. There is also home planets to assault, and capital cities to defend, but again, these are time dependent. So you may get quite restricted on content depending on when you play.

Unlike HD2, HD1's progression is based on old fashioned methods of leveling up all your equipment or buying them through DLC's, including primary weapons, stratagems, and vehicles. This is through picking up samples and leveling up your character. This bypasses all the currencies of HD2, but does make all the weapons feel underpowered until you grind samples. Once I learned that, I focused on equipment to find more and grind, but it takes some time, especially if you want to try different loadouts.

If you are familiar with HD2, you will quickly pick up how to play this, and can get some fun about of it to this day, especially if you can bring some friends with you. The biggest issue will be when you use the many tools and enemies not currently available in HD2, you will be anxiously awaiting their additions to the sequel.

The OG, the building blocks for HD2.
Still holds up, 10 years later.
If you have played HD2, play this!!

This game should be an example to all future co-op shoot'em up games, would definitely recommend. Planning on buying the second game as well. " For Freedom and Democracy!!! "

brothering metal flying decisions made beside the only similiar thought that brought us to this place is what i could say this reminds me a bein "in a game"

If your system cannot run helldivers 2, and you are here wondering if this one is any fun. It is, and it'a not dead yet.

GREAT fun and challenging


super fun co-op and interesting (& fun) friendly fire

It's rare that I enjoy a mostly online game or at least one that claims to be, the game is clearly designed for solo/single player. It's frustrating having to drag 3 players everywhere like they're 3 disobedient dogs because you have to share a camera in multiplayer, constantly telling people to hurry up because they'd rather fight infinitely re-spawning waves.

Just do the objectives and finish the mission, enemies all run slower than you except for 2 or 3 and the enemies de-spawn once you're a set distance from them.

Overall, I'd get this if you want a good singleplayer game. No idea what it's like with friends. Couldn't get them to play. Randoms are a nightmare though.

Top down view, training helps learn the ropes, and good for co-op same room play with a friend or online. Enjoyed HD2 so had to back track to 1. Fun unlocking upgrades and stratagems on higher levels. When on sale i recommend the full edition with more weapons and mechs early. Great fun, 9/10 (top down views)

still a good game afterafewyears
playernumbers drop as theres a new one
i play this on the go and mostly solo
or play with my kids

recomend other players to play as easy to understand
dont need high graphic requirement
can play on "remote play " so u can stream easy too
can play with 1 account with 3 additional players
or online with friends BUT they need to have the game too

highly recommend to play!!!

It's alright if you have a low-end PC and time to kill. Very difficult to grind and often infuriating.

Good game, too bad I have no friends to play this with.

I'd recommend this game if you have friends to play it with. I found it fairly difficult to find other players to get in a lobby with because I DON'T have any friends who play this, and it's pretty hard to play on higher difficulties without a full squad, making the full experience either not that much fun, or literally unplayable by yourself.

Other than that, it's a good game. 10/10

Very good for couch coop, very bad if you are within punching range.

If I get executed by player 2's drop pod one more time

it's a really good game, but the raid bosses present a very large challenge even some of our best players struggle with so it's a pretty good game

A great version of HELLDIVERS, wherein you may dispense some good ol' managed democracy. The local coop is an amazing part of this game as well, so the whole family can gather together and eliminate some traitorous wrong-thinking aliens.

great game, blew bugs into smitherines, blasted bots to the fucking moon, and put the illuminate to rest

Old game from 2015, still fun as hell. If you find on discount, just get it. May also be worth full price depending how much you love the franchise or hardcore co-op action games.

Not a Bad Game to Take on Sale if you like Top/Down Shooter
Good
A lot of fun with friends
Can be played solo
Can be played with random people and the community is surprisingly well behaved
Initially there's a lot of variety (enemies, environments, weapons) and the progression system is very enjoyable (you unlock new equipment or perks very often)
Friendly fire is awesome in this game, realistic and fun
Amazing attention to detail and great use of realism to introduce difficulty - for example turning speed is lower when firing, you have to stop when you want to open the map (no persistent map overlay), you can't do any other action during weapon reload, you can shoot when bleeding on the ground but only from a small-arm pistol, etc

Bad
Once you unlock everything and play even the hardest difficulty missions (after 30-40 hours), there's little else to explore.
The enemy variety is much smaller than it initially seems. You've basically seen everything once you played a difficulty 9+ mission.
The environment has some variety (desert, volcanic, forest, snow, city), but they do not differ too much. For example I would expect shooting among and destroying the trees in the forest, or cracking the ice in a snow world. Nothing like that is there. The only visible change between the environment (except for snow/water surface) are volcanoes spilling lava.
The objectives variation could've been higher. There are maybe 10 different objectives, which is fine, but I'd like to see more of them, more different, and some of them introduced just later in the game.
The global war concept. On one hand, it's cool that all players contribute to a war, and it changes even without you playing (you come the next day and different sectors/planets are available). On the other hand, it prevents you from playing exactly the mission you want, and that's a huge disadvantage. The system isn't balanced properly, so one day the war ends, and on the next day it's not just that another war has started (that's obvious), but one of the factions might be already exterminated! Which means you'll be locked out of those missions (not be able to fight against that faction) for a few more days until a new war starts. Also, when we played Helldivers for the first time, we arrived at a point where only enemy home planets were available. So there were no missions where we could obtain new gear, which is essential on lower levels. This is very confusing for beginner players. I believe this game needs to give the player a choice whether they want to play the global war, or they just want to fire up a custom arbitrary mission with their friends, with no limitation.
The pricing mode. Arrgh! This is as bad as some F2P titles on mobile phones. You can play the vanilla (no DLCs) version very well, initially. But later, once you're playing the hardest difficulty missions, you'll realize that some of those missions (especially the snow ones) are almost impossible to complete unless at least someone from the team has bought the right DLCs. As I and my 3 friends picked up just the vanilla version, we have basically just 2 options - decide to pay up just to be able to "finish" the game (complete the hardest missions together), or be screwed. To make this even worse, the developers decided to do a shameless money-grab from those who originally bought the vanilla version and want to buy the DLCs later - the vanilla game is €20, the deluxe version (all DLCs) is €30, but the DLC megabundle (available when you already have the vanilla game) is €20, so €40 in total (€10 more than the deluxe version). I extremely despise this, the only fair approach is to not put DLC players into advantage in a multiplayer title. This is the opposite - DLC players are in a big advantage, you're not even able to play some missions without DLCs, and buying the DLCs later milks you from more money than the deluxe version cost. I'm very angry about this. To be absolutely clear, I'm talking here mainly about All-Terrain Boots (snow missions are near impossible without them), UAV (makes equipment upgrading much faster), Demolisher Charges (much better against tanks than alternatives when soloing) and perhaps some other. My main gripe goes to the boots, though, because you'll feel cheated once you try snow maps on high difficulties without them.

Short missions, hilarious moments, great top down action, simple, satisfying... its how dawn of war III should have been but never was.

It is also better than running with rifles, and I do love that game.

And gotta love the Star Wars references from republic commando in the DLCs.

Got this gem 10 years late for less than 6€. But it is still well worth 20€ in 2025.

Great game, with an incredible focus on teamwork and customization. Reccoemended if you enjoy Helldivers 2, or if you enjoy twin stick shooters with friends. It's a great time and a laugh all around

This game is Hella fun and if you can't play Helldivers 2, You can still play Helldivers and somewhat have the same Experience

This game was a blast with all the enemy's constantly attacking you so you have to be on your toe's.
The vehicles are fun and great! The game is a bit boring without friends :(

if your fine with rampant cheaters using invincibility cheats and team killing you over and over while sounding like their family tree is more of a wreath then get this game. its fun other wise and there is a need for an actual report system but the devs moved on so it will only live in my heart. i think you can shame the person on the HD1 community page but that only goes so far. bugs are nice, illiuminate are challenging and the bots arent as bullet hellish like in the 2nd one (thanks to players being stuck on one screen). my fellow low levels have common sense but every once'n'a while someone doesn't get the very important samples, like you're right there but it's just off screen and the damnable fool won't move. btw, YOU NEED SAMPLES! most weapons and stratagems get upgrades and really benefit from it, like alot. solid 6/10 would be nice with a real ban system

great local co-op, great online co-op, fun game, lots of people still playing, can play for 5 minutes or 5 hours no problem

Bought game again on PC to 100 percent the game again.... before I played it alot on PS4 and it was a great game highly doubt that has changed on PC HELLDIVERS 1 IS THE GOAT, time to run trident and huble bee UAV and grind this bitch

W game honestly. I've been enjoying my time here so far and the people I've met are super nice!

Man... i didnt expect friendly fire ( including self damage ) to become a core mechanic of a game, and works well.

It's a pleasant surprise because nobody gets salty for being killed accidentally in multiplayer mode (so far).
Nice player base makes the game worth it ( i bought it at discount )

just as good as the sequel and is most of the time 80% off. I NEED PEOPLE TO PLAY WITH GUYS IF YOU"RE READING THIS PLEASE BUY THIS GAME. (there is no more than 1k people playing at one time)

Worth every cent spent! This game is an amazing splitscreen/remoteplay game to play with friends, now obviously it does not compete mechanically with "Helldivers 2" but that is not split screen and it is not under $10 now is it?

The game that started it all, it may be old but its still fun to this day.

1st extraction and the game crashed, this game is not worth it on PC.

does not have fullscreen, at least not on two screens. tabshift puts game into window mode.

Big flaw with this game : the helldivers have hunted the bugs and automatons to extinction, and have pushed the illuminate to their homeworld. What this means is that you get one planet with 4 small maps and 12 enemies that look and function similarly, the rest was conquered a long time ago. Who knows maybe they will conquer the entire galaxy leaving you with only a menu

Local coop seems to work just fine tho

The dangers of coming into a "Live" game, I spent more time in menus getting lore dumps than I did playing and then everyone is playing high level missions or has moved on to Helldivers 2 - Certainly wouldn't be a good fit for my couch co-op team. It'll probably be fun if you're ready to fail your way to competence but I'm less ready to stick around. Had to play on the Steam Deck with the small UI elements meaning learning to play on the small screen to be ready for teaching my local players was not a good option.

If you're looking for a "Harder" co-op game, it's certainly that.

Putting aside MANY design choices like aliens spawning at the very same inch you are, instantly killing you; lack of high contrast crosshair and further customizations; a better, cleaner and more clarifying UI; and the fact the game is pretty much DEAD but still relying on community progress to unlock stuff, it's still a blast.

Unfortunately, I can only recommend if you gather some friends for a casual fun. In case you decide to go solo, things like aliens spawning right where you are completely kill your experience - and I wonder how tf they never did something about it. Gladly I have no intention of playing Helldivers 2, awyways. Better stick to Deep Rock if you want a game with continous, long term fun and solid progression.

This game will make you laugh, scream, and cry. Do not play it solo. Best twin stick shooter i have ever played. I play the second game a lot, but this has its own charm and i love the shorter rounds. Plus its on sale right now! Had to nab it!

Every button you press could be a disaster. If you trust your teammates, you’re already dead. If you trust yourself, you’re also dead.

This game isn't for me. At first, it’s chaotic fun but this gets boring over time. Even if this game was free, I still wouldn’t keep it in my library. I’d rather "democracy" my way into uninstalling it.

game is good!, its very fun and it still has a fairly big playerbase so id recommend it, come and spread freedom and managed democracy, become more than you are become a *legend* enlist today!

The battles are alow and far apart on the lower difficulty settings but once you hit thr higher levels, the difficulty is ramped up to crazy proportions. Where fire fights feel more cinematic than anything.

Picking a load out of weapons you unlock as you progress are important since they can make or break a round you're playing.

and ter fact you can jump in on another players game really helps build comradery than anything.

Being a multi platform game really makes it interesting to see how others play.
One side feels like a terminator movie, another side feels like Starship Troopers

Stand up stand tall, defendrers of our super Earth Against the Terminid swarm, we'll shadow our valor's worth From the ashses of War, to the stars above we are the Heldivers, united by liberties love
Oh super Earth our might sphere
For you, we have no fear Heldivers
march, the end is near For the Terminids, the final cheer Through the darkest night, our spirit never wanes for every fallen comrade, our resoleve remains we are the shield the sword, the keepers of the flame
in the name of super Earth, her glory we maintain with ablaze and fists raised high we pledge to fight, to do or die For our beloved super Earth we 'll always strive as Heldivers for her we'll die super Earth, our eternal guide in your glory, we take pride Heldivers side by side Till peace in our time.

This game is one of the best indie I have had the pleasure of playing. From fighting giant bugs to advanced aliens (Cyborgs included) this game has a lot of bombastic action that is absolutely enthralling. 9/10 would recommend.

Back to basics I'm playing both Helldiver 1 and 2 I'm doing my part!

absolute cinema. this is an excellent choice if, like me your computer does not have enough storage and you need that helldivers fix. i bought the ultimate edition, but the game would still be phenomenal without it. its just all the dlc. 10/10 must have for helldivers fans. enjoy

basically HD2 but allows for local co-op, which is why i got it in the first place. it's like.. literally 100% the same game by the looks of it. just with weird aiming due to the perspective change

Not very many games age gracefully but this definitely does

Very good game. Nice for casual and serious players. Can be done as single player and multiplayer, each mode offers different challenges.
The concept is simple, the gameplay/controls are good in general.
The sound track is ok.
Player community seems very friendly and fun to play with.

This game gets boring very quickly and it's because the DEV's are lazy.
There has about 5 missions in the whole game doesen't matter what planet you go to the missions are the same really lazy.