$19.99HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition Friendly Fire Is Part of the Fun
Drop with up to three friends, call down orbital strikes and try not to blow each other up in a fast, chaotic galactic war.
Is HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition worth it?
HELLDIVERS™ Dive Harder Edition is worth it if…
- you want co-op where teamwork actually matters, not four players doing their own thing
- you enjoy fast top-down shooters with real tactical depth behind the trigger
- you like games that are difficult on purpose and reward learning the systems
- you and your friends find accidental explosions funnier than frustrating
- you want a satirical sci-fi war that does not take its own propaganda seriously
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Stratagems: your firepower arrives by code
You never fight alone, because the military is one button sequence away. Want an airstrike, a supply drop, a mech or a nuclear strike? Punch in a short directional code, throw the beacon and wait for the sky to deliver. That little pause, inputs flying while bugs close in, is where the tension lives. Turrets, support weapons and vehicles round it out, and teammates can reload and repair for each other mid-fight.
A galactic war that everyone fights together
The campaign is not a static list of missions: the war for the galaxy is community-driven, with players together pushing fronts across a universe of worlds to liberate. Planets open up as regions are won, and each one you unlock rewards a new stratagem or experience points. Missions follow a tight loop: land, complete objectives, call in support, then fight your way to the shuttle. On top of that, the Dive Harder Edition adds Proving Grounds, a mode with challenging missions and unique modifiers, plus a new loadout system with random and favorite options when you cannot decide what to bring. With three enemy factions and 15 difficulty levels each, there is a long road of unlocks ahead.
Built for four, on one couch or across the internet
This is a game that wants you side by side. Up to four players can play local co-op on one screen or online, and the design pushes you to actually work as a team: everyone shares one camera, so the squad moves as a group, watches each other's backs and pulls fallen teammates back up. Full friendly fire is on at all times, which means your airstrike is also your friend's airstrike, whether they asked for it or not. That is the joke and the tension in one: half the memorable moments come from saving a friend at the last second, the other half from deleting them by accident. Public lobbies fill reliably, so you can join a squad even without friends online.
Can you play it solo?
Can you play it solo?
Yes, but with a caveat. The game is built around co-op, and the higher difficulties really expect a squad. Solo play is doable at the middle difficulties, and there is a story-flavored mode for one player, but the mission loop, the shared decisions and the friendly-fire comedy all shine brightest with other people. If you plan to play mostly alone, expect a tougher, quieter ride.
What is the Proving Grounds mode?
It offers challenging missions with unique modifiers, so runs play out differently from the standard planetary missions. It sits alongside the galactic campaign rather than replacing it, and comes bundled with all four previous expansions: A New Hell, Masters of the Galaxy, Turning Up The Heat and Democracy Strikes Back.
Do you need to know Helldivers 2 to enjoy this?
Not at all. This is where the series started, a top-down twin-stick shooter rather than a third-person one, and it stands on its own. If you know the sequel, you will recognize the loop of dropping, completing objectives and extracting, plus the satirical tone, but nothing here assumes you have played it. Plenty of people came to this one first and had no trouble.
