Human versus nature is a timeless and classic struggle, even in far-away sci-fi settings like Helldivers 2’s galaxy. Even though there are already plenty of unique weather effects in the game, future updates for Helldivers 2 still have plenty of room to grow by introducing new weather effects and shaking up some of the existing ones.
Above even the most resilient of enemy types in Helldivers 2 that players regularly face, one of the biggest threats to players is often the environmental weather hazards, since these can’t be so easily overcome as most enemies can. So, while adding new enemies like the Illuminate faction is a highly-requested feature for Helldivers 2, adding new planetary weather types should arguably be just as much of a priority, considering this could prove to be the game’s secret to longevity.
Helldivers 2’s Weather Effects Keep Things Fresh from Mission to Mission
Aside from the overall difficulty level, every mission in Helldivers 2 has up to three different kinds of gameplay modifiers: weather, conditions, and operation modifiers. While conditions and operation modifiers mostly alter missions in passive ways, a planet’s weather generally presents a more explicit, physical obstacle for players to deal with.
Changing the difficulty in Helldivers 2 will present new operations that typically have different combinations of conditions and operation modifiers, but players will need to change planets to find missions with a different weather type.
Unlike the different enemies and mission types in Helldivers 2, weather poses a unique threat that doesn’t put any hidden restrictions on the type of gear that players can bring into a given mission. Consequently, future updates for Helldivers 2 should consider adding new weather effects to the game, especially considering that some planets currently don’t have any.
How Helldivers 2 Could Take Its Weather Effects to the Next Level
Introducing More Weather Effects Based on Different Elements
Given that Helldivers 2 already has Fire tornadoes and the revamped Acid storms from the Escalation of Freedom update, it could be a natural progression to introduce new weather effects based on other Elemental damage types in the game, such as Gas and Arc. Focusing on Elemental damage types could potentially inspire new weather effects that pose a much more physical threat than some of the existing weather effects that merely reduce visibility.
Planets with Multiple Weather Effects
However, even before Helldivers 2 adds more new weather types to the game, there are a few ways that the game could shake things up by modifying some of the existing weather types. Some planets mix a visibility-type weather effect with a damage-type weather effect, but there are little to no planets that combine two different damage-type effects, like Fire tornadoes and meteor showers, so this could be worth exploring. For these kinds of planets there could be specific triggers that change the weather type, such as gradually switching throughout a series of missions in an operation, or switching suddenly mid-mission as the day/night cycle transitions.
Dynamic Weather Effects
These same kinds of dynamic transitions could even work for planets in Helldivers 2’s galaxy that only feature a single weather effect. As it currently stands, most of the existing weather effects in Helldivers 2 are typically all-or-nothing, where a weather effect is either active or inactive without much variation, so experimenting with a more dynamic range could be worthwhile.
Between the major events of the Galactic War gradually adding new enemies and new missions to Helldivers 2, the planetary weather effects are arguably what keeps things fresh on a mission-to-mission basis. Consequently, future updates for Helldivers 2 shouldn’t be afraid to get wild by introducing new weather effects, and also taking the existing ones to new extremes, since this feature could ultimately prove to have the biggest impact on the game’s longevity, far beyond what new enemies and mission types could offer.
Helldivers 2
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 83 /100 Critics Rec: 91%
- Released
- February 8, 2024
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Publishing
WHERE TO PLAY
The Galaxy’s Last Line of Offence. Enlist in the Helldivers and join the fight for freedom across a hostile galaxy in a fast, frantic, and ferocious third-person shooter.
URGENT BROADCAST – SUPER EARTH ARMED FORCES
Freedom. Peace. Democracy. Your Super Earth-born rights. The key pillars of our civilization. Of our very existence. But the war rages on. And everything is once again under threat.
Join the greatest military force the galaxy has ever seen and make this a safe and free place to live.
BECOME A LEGEND
You will be assembled into squads of up to four Helldivers and assigned strategic missions. Watch each other’s back – friendly fire is an unfortunate certainty of war, but victory without teamwork is impossible.
LOADOUTS
Rain down freedom from above, sneak through enemy territory, or grit your teeth and charge head-first into the jaws of combat. How you deliver liberty is your choice; you’ll have access to a wide array of explosive firepower, life-saving armor and battle-changing stratagems… the jewel in every Helldiver’s arsenal.
REQUISITION
Super Earth recognises your hard work with valuable Requisition. Use it to access different rewards that benefit you, your squad, your destroyer ship and our overall war effort.
THREATS
Everything on every planet wants you dead. That’s what we’re dealing with. Each enemy has distinct and unpredictable characteristics, tactics, and behavior – but they all fight ferociously and without fear or morality.
THE GALACTIC WAR
Capturing enemy planets, defending against invasions, and completing missions will contribute to our overall effort. This war will be won or lost depending on the actions of everyone involved.
We stand together, or we fall apart.
- Engine
- bitsquid
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- All platforms
- Franchise
- Helldivers
- Number of Players
- 1-4 players (online)
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Third-Person Shooter, Extraction Shooter, Action, Science Fiction
