Finally, a little more than a year and a half after release, Helldivers 2 has come to Xbox, and those who still subscribe to The House Halo Built can finally drop into Hell with the rest of us. A lot has changed between now and when I first reviewed it, so this felt like a good time to reevaluate one of last year’s biggest (and most enduringly successful) games. So I fired up my Xbox and spent several hours serving up hot cups of Liber-tea and bringing managed democracy to the galaxy. And you know what? Helldivers 2 is still pretty great – and there’s a lot more of it.Before I dive (get it? Do you get it?) into the changes, it might be a good idea to give the ol’ peepers a refresh of what I originally wrote:Helldivers 2 is the rare modern multiplayer game that does almost everything right. It gives you a ton of freedom, feels fantastic to play, and has a smart progression system that doesn’t nickel and dime you or rely too much on a paid battle pass. It manages to keep its missions fresh by introducing a ton of enemies, modifiers, and objectives, and varying them in interesting ways. There are some matchmaking and performance issues that still need to be worked out, and you can only go so far by yourself or with random players – but if you’ve got a solid squad, it’s an incredible time, and certainly one of the most fun multiplayer shooters I’ve played in years. When I’m not Helldiving, I’m thinking about Helldiving, counting down the time until my next drop. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to pour myself a nice, hot cup of Liber-tea and get back at it. Those bugs and robots look like they could use some freedom, and Managed Democracy isn’t going to spread itself. For Super Earth! – February 16, 2024Score: 9Read the full Helldivers 2 reviewEvery now and then, you second-guess a review score you’ve given after the dust has settled. That’s just part of the business. But I’ve never doubted the 9 I awarded Helldivers 2 back in ‘24. I had an absolute blast, especially with friends, and now that I’ve jumped back in after some time away, it quickly got its hooks in me again once I boarded the Elected Representative of Family Values. What a boat. So, what’s new? Glad you asked, fellow citizens of Super Earth.The Illuminate are Back, and They’re a Little MiffedThe biggest addition since Helldivers 2’s launch is the Illuminate, a third enemy faction that originally appeared in the original Helldivers but were conspicuously absent from Helldivers 2 at launch. The Tyranids Terminids and the Automations are still around, of course, and you can still go on a bug hunt or visit Space Vietnam if that’s your bag, but the Illuminate are something else entirely. They’re technologically advanced, armed with plasma weapons and starships, but they also bring the horrors with War of the Worlds-style walkers and zombified former citizens of Super Earth known as the Voteless (Super Earth propaganda never misses) and Fleshmobs, which are Frankenstein’s monster-esque fusions of a bunch of Voteless. For my money, they’re tougher than the Terminids and the Automatons, but also weirdly less interesting to fight because they force you to play around their nastiness instead of interacting withit. Still, we love us some variety, and it’s good that they’re back.Started from the Bottom, Now We’re Back at the BottomThe launch of the Xbox version of Helldivers 2 might’ve seemed like a good time for Arrowhead to finally implement cross-progression across that and the PlayStation and PC versions, but it was not to be. If you prefer to play on Xbox, you’ll be starting from square one if you make that switch. To be clear, cross-play has been there from the jump and now works across all three platforms, but it was a bummer to lose all my stuff when I switched platforms for the purposes of this review update. It’s also more than a little overwhelming because there’s just a lot more here. More enemies, more missions, more stuff to unlock. At launch I felt like I was smoothly eased in, since I was essentially forced to take on the Terminids, level up, and then fight the Automatons. Many of the folks I played with in the past few days, some of whom were fresh recruits, were a little confused about how things worked, because despite all the new stuff Arrowhead has heaped onto Helldivers 2 to keep the thriving community happy, the tutorial hasn’t changed. It still doesn’t teach you how to switch your weapon’s fire mode or scope magnification, and while there are more tutorial pop-ups now, they’re actually more annoying than helpful.Where Does He Get All These Wonderful Toys?But the enemies aren’t the only ones that have some new tech. At launch, there were a couple Warbonds to unlock: One big one that was free, and another you had to pay for. Spending medals you earned from completing missions in a Warbond would allow you to unlock new weapons, armor, capes, real money currency, and so on. Now, there are over a dozen, and all but that original one cost real money currency to unlock. They cost about $10 a pop, so you can see how that’d add up pretty quickly. Now, you can find that real money currency on missions and earn it in other Warbonds, so you technically don’t have to spend your cash to get another Warbond or two, but naturally grinding that out will take a long, long time. And all of the new Warbonds (each of which has a unique theme) can make it a little confusing for new folks who might want to know what to unlock first. My recommendation is to max out the free Warbond, and then look through them and pick one with stuff that speaks to your playstyle. If you really have to pick one, though, I’d recommend Democratic Detonations, which is just good at everything.The upside of new Warbonds is that there are a lot of new toys to play with. Mechs, vehicles, guns, armor, chemical weapons for war crime enthusiasts, and so on. There’s even a $15 Halo ODST-themed Warbond that was released with the Xbox version, and I can’t lie, the stuff there looks pretty cool. It’s just a shame all of the goodies you can actually use will either cost you cash or a whole lot of time. New players without a lot of money to throw around are really far behind.It’s Still Very Buggy (Complimentary?)Helldivers 2 has always had bugs – I mean, c’mon, the Legally Distinct Tyranids Terminids are right there – but the Xbox launch has reminded me of just how buggy Helldivers 2 is sometimes. I’ve seen missing textures, kills being attributed to the wrong people, items floating in mid air, and so on. Probably the funniest are the desync errors that had made my teammates see me slithering around on the ground instead of doing my normal manly running, but yeah, in the grand scheme of things Helldivers 2 always has been (and still is) pretty buggy. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal because as I said I’m having a great time with it and the servers held up fine for me and my group, but it is worth pointing out.A Hell of a TimeIf you’ve never experienced Helldivers 2 (or you’re just looking to come back), there’s probably never been a better time to jump in than right now. There’s a ton of new players to squad up and learn the ropes with, there’s more content than ever, and it’s still an absolute blast with friends. Going back to Helldivers 2 after a couple of months away reminded me of how much I love it, and it’s already worked its way back into my regular rotation. This game still rules, and even with its bugs and excessive Warbonds to buy or grind through I can’t recommend it enough, especially if you can find a dedicated group. Now get out there, soldier. Managed democracy ain’t gonna spread itself.