Twin-stick shooters are always a fun time, but what if one was made with the following concept: Be the bad guys, and spread ‘democracy’ to the indigenous lifeforms of various planets, all for the glory of the Earth and imperialism. Sound Good? That’s Helldivers in a nutshell, but there are some nice twists to the concept that push it forward more. But there are a few things holding it back from perfection.

The game has you play as a random soldier of an Elite group of commandos that subjugate worlds in the name of Super Earth, because everything is better when you add ‘super’ to it. The game plays like a twin stick shooter, albeit a far more tactical based one. You hit the dirt to crawl under overhead fire, and you have to do little directional inputs to select a beacon to throw. These beacons will send you various tools like an automated turret, an air strike, or ammo resupplies. Unlike most twin stick shooters, Helldivers takes a bit more realistic approach. You have limited resources, and you even have to manually reload once you run out of ammo in a clip. While you can pick yourself up after losing your health from rapidly hitting the cross button, it’s better to go in with friends and have them rescue you. Your trooper’s health also regenerates overtime, but it’s still incredibly easy to be drained of it, or even killed completely. You also need to be clear of the drop-zones of any beacons you throw out; otherwise you or a friend can get squashed.

Whether you decide to play online or single-player, the game will grant players influence if you manage to successfully complete missions and completely subjugate a planet. You also can earn levels which grant research points needed to unlock weapon upgrades and other unlocks. Influence on the other hand, is needed for perks, as well as being used to determine what else you can do in the game. This is where the game’s biggest twist comes in. Your access to future worlds is completely determined how much progress the community has collectively made. It’s a bold move that seeks to encourage players to work together in multiplayer. This is especially true as the game is immensely more fun with others than it is alone.

There are some issues with the game though. Aside from a glitch that can erase save data if your controller runs out of juice, there are some control issues. Players can’t reconfigure their controls in the game, which is a shame considering a few little tweaks could make moving about easier for some. But the real control issues are really felt in the Vita version. Since the Vita version lacks the additional buttons afforded by the Dual Shock 4, the actions those buttons were assigned have shifted to touch controls. And they are mostly swipe based, and on the bottom touch screen. This makes the game play terribly to the point of being near unplayable. It’s just too difficult to move aim, and shoot while having to stop for grenade throwing or just simply sprinting. And the game lacks any PS TV support, or Cross-save functionality. The game is still a very solid experience and definitely worth purchasing, just stay far away from the Vita version.

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