Arrowhead Game Studios has done it again, but while the public has quite liked the new weapon in the game using the live service model, it was a great move by the Swedish studio.

This time, Helldivers 2 got a weapon reminiscent of the first part. It was the 2124 Constitution rifle, and Arrowhead has brought the accompanying armor set to the game on PlayStation 5 and PC. Behind the name is a barely modified M1903 Springfield. It was the rifle used by the United States in World War I, and Arrowhead describes the Constitution as the rifle that everyone who turns 16 in Superland (the location of the game) will receive. There are five bullets in the magazine, and they have to be reloaded one at a time. This makes it pretty much useless, but there is a bayonet on the rifle! The other guns in Helldivers 2 have none of that.

And the audience loves this because it gives a kind of retro-futuristic sci-fi effect where you can stab bugs and robots with it. Remember, Helldivers II is now about 300 years old in design. And that’s the joke of it all: players banding together to support something deliberately (!) bad.

Arrowhead alluded to this in April when they asked the public what they would think of a melee weapon, because they thought it would fit in with the other weapons that were not out of touch with reality. And Arrowhead had been such a trollish tap before, as Magicka, the studio’s first game in 2011, allowed us to blow up not only ourselves with our spells (we were wizards), but our friends as well. And the first Helldivers was just as much fun. The second part took on a more serious tone.

And that’s where the studio’s success lies: they can do it and deliberately release something weak because they didn’t take it seriously either…

Source: PCGamer

MAJOR ORDER: In accordance with the signing of the Liberty Day Pact, all Helldivers will spend 24 hours in contemplation of freedom and Managed Democracy. Today, spread these principles throughout the galaxy as you see fit, Helldivers. As a gift to our elite soldiers, in… pic.twitter.com/kVhVYumWEJ

— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) October 25, 2024