Helldivers 2 Design Director Niklas Malmborg has confirmed that Arrowhead Game Studios has plans to expand on vehicle gameplay in a future update. Although it sounds like nothing is planned for the immediate future, it seems as though vehicles in Helldivers 2 could be looking at an overhaul at some point. It does feel as though vehicles are underutilized in the game at the moment, so this presents a unique opportunity for Helldivers 2 going forward.
Vehicles were first added extremely early in Helldivers 2‘s lifecycle. The first vehicle was the mech, which had the potential to really change the meta of the game. However, the fact that Helldivers 2‘s Exosuit mechs were only available once per mission, until they either ran out of ammo or were destroyed, meant players were pretty limited in their time with them. This was certainly disappointing for those who wanted to see vehicles take a more front and center role in Helldivers 2‘s gameplay loop. Right at the end of 2024, the Fast Recon Vehicle (FRV) was added to the game, offering a completely different kind of vehicle gameplay. This was more of a transportation vehicle, and it was interesting to see Arrowhead experimenting with something fresh.
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Helldivers 2 Developer is Exploring Options for Vehicle Gameplay
In the new Democratic Conversation posted to YouTube, Design Director Niklas Malmborg was asked about whether there are any plans to make the Exosuit mechs “last longer in the field,” whether that be having the ability to resupply or repair the mechs on the battlefield. Surprisingly, Malmborg took the question a little more broadly, instead commenting on the studio’s plans for Helldivers 2 vehicles in general. “We have plans. We are looking at extending vehicle gameplay. People remember from playing the first game we had loads more vehicles,” Malmborg said. “Not saying we necessarily will bring back all of them, but it would be fun to bring back some of them and extend how much you can do with vehicles, and all the nooks and crannies of it. Like, can you reload stuff, can you repair stuff. Not guaranteeing that you will be able to, because they kind of work like a temporary buff… But we are definitely experimenting a bit with that… There’s a lot of people in the studio that also want that kind of stuff, so if we can make good gameplay with it, we will definitely look into it.”
Malmborg stopped short of confirming exactly which vehicles from the original Helldivers could be planned for a return, but it’s certainly interesting that the developer has the desire to make it more of a central point in Helldivers 2. Importantly, Malmborg clarified that he’s refusing to make any promises at this point in time, as it will only happen if Arrowhead can make something fun from the concepts. Players in the comments had their own suggestions for how this could work, including the possibility of an Exosuit Rearm Helldivers 2 Stratagem, which would work exactly like the Eagle Rearm. There are a bunch of ways that Arrowhead could explore the possibility of expanding vehicle gameplay in Helldivers 2, from improving existing ones to adding new ones. It will be exciting to see what route, if any, it takes on the matter.
Heading into the new year, it’s going to be a very exciting period for Helldivers 2. The game’s performance issues are improving rapidly with each update, and the developer has done a great job fixing the game from where it was even a few months ago. There’s always the possibility of new content, with one recent Helldivers 2 leak indicating that an old foe is returning from the original game.
- Released
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February 8, 2024
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
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Arrowhead Game Studios, Nixxes
- Publisher(s)
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Sony Interactive Entertainment, PlayStation Publishing
