Close Menu

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    Karma Brings an Enhanced Experience to Xbox September 10

    12 August 2025

    In This Stunning Metroidvania, You’re Only Held Back By Your Own Imagination

    12 August 2025

    You Can’t Swim In Mafia: The Old Country And That’s Fine

    12 August 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube Discord RSS
    Tuesday, August 12
    • Contact us
    • info@xtremeservers.com
    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube Discord Instagram Pinterest RSS
    Xtreme Servers
    Xtreme Servers Blog Ad 1
    • Home
    • Game Servers
      • ARK: Survival Evolved
      • Counter Strike GO
      • Gary’s MOD
      • Minecraft
      • Rust
      • Team Fortress 2
    • Servers
      • VPS Hosting
    • Categories
      1. PlayStation
      2. PC
      3. Nintendo
      4. Xbox
      5. View All

      MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls — 30 minutes with the 4v4 tag-fighter

      11 August 2025

      Official PlayStation Podcast Episode 520: Four on the Floor

      8 August 2025

      Share of the Week: Vacation

      8 August 2025

      Please, I’m Begging You, Revive People In Battlefield 6

      8 August 2025

      In This Stunning Metroidvania, You’re Only Held Back By Your Own Imagination

      12 August 2025

      You Can’t Swim In Mafia: The Old Country And That’s Fine

      12 August 2025

      IGN Boss Leaving After Latest Round Of Layoffs

      11 August 2025

      League Of Legends Dev Sends McDonald’s Jobs Link To Player Who Boosts Accounts For A Living

      11 August 2025

      PSA: Wash Your Jeans Before Playing Nintendo’s Newest Switch 2 Exclusive

      11 August 2025

      Start ‘Em While They’re Young! Nintendo Launches Preschool My Mario Products

      8 August 2025

      18 Cool Games We Saw In Nintendo’s Surprise Indie Direct

      7 August 2025

      Nintendo Of America Once Suggested Pokémon Company Should Give Pikachu Big Naturals, It’s Claimed

      6 August 2025

      Karma Brings an Enhanced Experience to Xbox September 10

      12 August 2025

      Echoes of the End: An Epic Fantasy Adventure Inspired By Iceland

      11 August 2025

      Check out the Project EVILBANE Pre-Alpha Playtest Schedule!

      8 August 2025

      Tired of Chaotic Co-Op? Lost Twins 2 Lands on 14 August 2025

      8 August 2025

      Karma Brings an Enhanced Experience to Xbox September 10

      12 August 2025

      In This Stunning Metroidvania, You’re Only Held Back By Your Own Imagination

      12 August 2025

      You Can’t Swim In Mafia: The Old Country And That’s Fine

      12 August 2025

      IGN Boss Leaving After Latest Round Of Layoffs

      11 August 2025
    • Contact
    Xtreme Servers
    Home » Helldivers 2: how Arrowhead turned the twin-stick shooter original into a bombastic PS5 sequel
    PlayStation

    Helldivers 2: how Arrowhead turned the twin-stick shooter original into a bombastic PS5 sequel

    Sarah ConnorBy Sarah Connor12 March 2024No Comments7 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit Email

    Helldivers 2 has exploded onto the gaming scene in a massive way. This co-operative third-person shooter packed with danger, action, humor, and surprises has already become one of this year’s most talked-about games. What some people may be less familiar with though is its progenitor. The original Helldivers, which debuted in 2015 (and is still active) is a co-op, multiplayer overhead twin-stick shooter packed with action, intensity, and plenty of challenging situations that a player might find themselves in.

    We asked Johan Pilestedt, CEO & Creative Director at Arrowhead Studios about the process of adapting the original overhead-view gameplay of Helldivers into the third-person format–after first congratulating him for the rip-roaring success of the game. We asked how the team felt about the positive reception. “Overwhelmed and ecstatic! Over the last 15 years, we’ve seen a keen interest in the types of games we make and it was great to see our work recognized at this scale.”

    He then elaborated on the process of choosing to go third-person view. “After the successful launch of the original Helldivers, we knew we wanted to test the game design philosophy in first- or third-person. Our stance has never been about ‘only top-down.’ However, a lot of the things we are aiming for when we make games lend themselves to perspectives that are a bit more “removed” from play, such as our commitment to draw inspiration from real life and pop culture. We tried this by pulling down the camera in Helldivers. We wound up feeling really excited by the viscerality of the combat, which made us committed to exploring what Helldivers would be like in third-person.”

    “A good co-op game forces players to play together, but a great one makes players want to play together” 

    Maintaining a persistent sense of danger and chaos was crucial to both games. “Maintaining the sense of chaos was one of the largest challenges we had in creating Helldivers 2. In a top-down perspective, everyone knows what the team members are doing and shares the same reality. But in Helldivers 2, each player has their own perception of events that have unfolded. You gain some and lose some from both approaches.


    Helldivers 2: how Arrowhead turned the twin-stick shooter original into a bombastic PS5 sequel

    The launch trailer for the original Helldivers, showing many elements that’ll be familiar to players playing the PS5 sequel today.


    Helldivers 2: how Arrowhead turned the twin-stick shooter original into a bombastic PS5 sequel

    The launch trailer for Helldivers 2.

    “Since Helldivers is fundamentally a game where collaboration and cooperation is key, we struggled with this early on. The key thing that resolved this was the need for the “watering hole” which encourages players to

    gather in certain locations. We created these locations dynamically by making the shared resupply stratagem, players dropping sample containers upon death, and through reinforcement Placement. I believe that a good co-op game forces players to play together, but a great one makes players want to play together. Helldivers 2 should feel like when you are going into a dark basement – You want a friend by your side. And we could only achieve this by creating the sensation that no single person can do this alone–even though some crazy people out there have done so!”

    “Feeling human is a key part to the Helldivers experience.”

    How did the team reference the first Helldivers’ core gameplay mechanics and progression loop when creating Helldivers 2? “Initially we went further away from the original Helldivers,” explains Pilestedt. “Our philosophy is always “don’t mimic, understand deeply and go from there”. Helldivers 1 took a lot of inspiration from real life and military-sim experiences – merged with combat against extraterrestrials. The distance in top-down viewpoints, however, does not allow for more immersive experiences. We also had pivotal functions that we knew we wanted to include: The viscerality and intensity of combat, the haphazardness and friendly fire. We always knew we wanted the juxtaposition between the fragility of humans with overpowered tools versus physically superior foes only vulnerable to heavy weapons. Feeling human is a key part to the Helldivers experience.”


    Helldivers 2: how Arrowhead turned the twin-stick shooter original into a bombastic PS5 sequel

    Which brings us to another major element of both titles: friendly fire always being turned on, and all of the headaches and hilarity that ensues. Pilestedt described the logic behind its inclusion. “The most important thing when we make games is believability. Things should be consistent in the game world and therefore, we must have friendly fire. If your bullets can kill enemies, and the enemies can kill you, then logic dictates that your bullets must also be able to kill your friends. This kind of design is inherently systematic, where we create a rule set that applies to everything in the game world, with minor exceptions.”

    “What this does, and maybe most clearly noted by friendly fire, is create a complexity to the gameplay where players have to actively think during combat sequences – not in a “solve the puzzle” way but instead in a very primal creative problem solving way. Also, the chuckles that happen when you accidentally carpet bomb your friends allows for a playfulness that in reality would be a tragedy – but within the self bounds of games we can explore the dark humor of these situations. And finally,, the friendly fire element makes the players a true interactable part of the game world that plays a great part in positioning and helps with team play.”

    “Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a mech?” 

    Another element that appears in both games are the stratagems, powerful tools that can be accessed using a special code and called onto the battlefield when needed. We asked how the concept emerged, and how they developed between the two games. “Generally, stratagems are based on real world examples. We’re interested in both war movies and pop culture, so in some cases the concept may be inspired by a pop-culture reference, but realism is added by taking real world guns and applying them to the mechanics.”

    “All-in-all, stratagems are generally designed in an iterative and sprint based fashion. We play the game and get bored by the current selection, so we add another one. Maybe a designer that has an idea, such as the walking barrage, or something more advanced. The Exo-44 Walker that came about by the team saying “Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a mech?” Then the process started. What would a mech be like in this universe? What would the armament be? What would be the strengths and weaknesses of a mech? It all comes back to believability.”


    Helldivers 2: how Arrowhead turned the twin-stick shooter original into a bombastic PS5 sequel

    Helldivers II looks to have a long and prosperous future ahead of itself, so we wanted to know what players can expect in the future. “So much! The game is designed from the ground up to be an expandable universe. We have grand plans, but we do not want to make any early announcements as we love to surprise and delight players with new stuff. What I can say is that we have a massive list of quality of life improvement ideas that we source from the community.”

    And any advice for new Helldivers? “Come in with an open mind, be kind and do your part. This is a fun community where everyone is on the same side. We’d love to have you spread some democracy with us. You never know what’s going to happen – login to Helldivers 2 and help create the history of Super Earth and the Galactic War.”

    Go to Source (PlayStation.com)

    Post Views: 103
    cooperative exploded gaming Helldivers massive onto packed PlayStation scene shooter thirdperson
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleEarly Mario Movie Concept Art Shows Cut Characters That Could Be In The Sequel
    Next Article How to Set Up a Dedicated Palworld Server in 2024
    Sarah Connor
    • Website

    Related Posts

    MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls — 30 minutes with the 4v4 tag-fighter

    11 August 2025

    Official PlayStation Podcast Episode 520: Four on the Floor

    8 August 2025

    Share of the Week: Vacation

    8 August 2025

    Please, I’m Begging You, Revive People In Battlefield 6

    8 August 2025

    PlayStation Store: July 2025’s top downloads

    8 August 2025

    Take-Two CEO Won’t Say How Much GTA 6 Will Cost

    8 August 2025
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Editors Picks

    Karma Brings an Enhanced Experience to Xbox September 10

    12 August 2025

    In This Stunning Metroidvania, You’re Only Held Back By Your Own Imagination

    12 August 2025

    You Can’t Swim In Mafia: The Old Country And That’s Fine

    12 August 2025

    IGN Boss Leaving After Latest Round Of Layoffs

    11 August 2025
    Top Reviews
    Xtreme Servers Blog Ad 3
    About Us
    About Us

    We were founded in 2019 with some key objectives, provide our customers with an easy, reliable, fast and enjoyable gaming experience. Welcome to Xtreme Servers.

    Email Us: info@xtremeservers.com

    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube Discord RSS
    Our Picks

    Karma Brings an Enhanced Experience to Xbox September 10

    12 August 2025

    In This Stunning Metroidvania, You’re Only Held Back By Your Own Imagination

    12 August 2025

    You Can’t Swim In Mafia: The Old Country And That’s Fine

    12 August 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest news, articles & guides from Xtreme Servers by subscribing to our newsletter.

    © 2025 Xtreme Servers All rights reserved.
    • Home
    • Contact us
    • info@xtremeservers.com

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.