Helldivers 2 is off to a record-breaking start on Steam, with the game’s concurrent player count eclipsing that of all other PlayStation PC ports combined.
Honestly though, the extraction shooter part of this isn’t even the most compelling component for me in a vacuum. For me it’s how the extraction element contributes to the larger galactic war story. It reminds me of why I liked Hades so much but otherwise don’t like many roguelikes in general. The run-die-repeat mechanic of Hades only worked for me because it made sense in the story, with each time you die the House of Hades changes bit by bit and the story progresses.
Devs should come up with a story they want to tell or a work they want to build first, and then from there walk it back to find the gameplay loop, rather than say, “Extraction shooters or so hot right now, how can we shoehorn this loop/mechanic into a game that otherwise has no soul.”
What sold my friends on this game was me saying, “it’s starship troopers DnD with the Devs as the dungeon master and the aggregate of players making the story decisions.”
Hell yeah, Mario extraction shooter, can’t wait!
Honestly though, the extraction shooter part of this isn’t even the most compelling component for me in a vacuum. For me it’s how the extraction element contributes to the larger galactic war story. It reminds me of why I liked Hades so much but otherwise don’t like many roguelikes in general. The run-die-repeat mechanic of Hades only worked for me because it made sense in the story, with each time you die the House of Hades changes bit by bit and the story progresses.
Devs should come up with a story they want to tell or a work they want to build first, and then from there walk it back to find the gameplay loop, rather than say, “Extraction shooters or so hot right now, how can we shoehorn this loop/mechanic into a game that otherwise has no soul.”
What sold my friends on this game was me saying, “it’s starship troopers DnD with the Devs as the dungeon master and the aggregate of players making the story decisions.”