I regret to inform you that, despite the best efforts of Helldivers everywhere, the Terminid threat is back and nastier than ever. I’m starting to think that Super Earth command may not know exactly what they’re doing – but, of course, I would never linger on such undemocratic thoughts.
Helldivers 2 is telling a fascinating story of endless war through its Order system. Every time I log in, I’m greeted with a couple of missions to do. The Personal Order is always some simple task, like killing some Chargers, or extracting from a mission with some good samples on me. The Major Order, however, plays out over the course of a few days. Each Major Order asks all Helldivers to collaborate on a common objective. For example, one Major Order was to activate a chemical called Termicide on a bunch of Terminid planets. We were assured that this safe, soothing chemical would solve our bug problem.
For the last few weeks, we’ve been ensnared with Automatons. Nearly every Major Order as of late has been focused on those damnable bots, with only a couple of exceptions – there was one two-front defense against both factions, and one glorious Major Order to stomp two billion bugs. But for the vast majority of my recent playtime, I’ve been on the front with my fellows dealing with the robot menace. We fought to exterminate the Automatons, and even briefly cleared them off the galactic map as a threat, before they returned with terrifying new tools like gunships. The last Major Order had us hold a defensive line against both Automaton factions, and we barely succeeded.
Breaking: Terminids break containment! On TCS Barrier Planets the bugs have begun to display hyper-reproductive adaptation and resistance to Termicide.
Are the disgraced scientists who developed it to blame? pic.twitter.com/K4dwXeyqMF
— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) April 30, 2024
Now, we have a new set of orders from Super Earth, and it turns out the Termicide thing may have backfired. For instance, did you know Stalkers are now completely invisible? That’s a mutation that I don’t care for, and I would prefer they stop this monkey business immediately. As the new broadcast from Super Earth reads, “The Terminid control system has failed. Meridia has turned into a supercolony. Termicide may be causing faster reproduction. The TCS must be deactivated immediately.”
Now, there’s a new mission type called Deactivate, where players go and clear out the massive, gooey nests that have formed around the Terminid Control System towers. We’ve seen Terminids evolve in the past, like when new flying bugs emerged (and were briefly denied entirely by Super Earth command.) After the Automaton debacle, players are expecting new and nasty bugs to emerge.
Arrowhead Games has pulled off an impressive feat with their narrative, balancing the goofy humor of the game with engaging objectives. I’ll be reporting for duty, and I’m praying that we don’t see any new baddies emerge. The gunships are bad enough; I’m shaking and trembling just thinking about what new Terminid enemies might join the fray.
