Malevelon Creek, or as it has gained the title from Helldiver 2 players, “space Vietnam” has succumbed to Automatons, the game’s robotic forces. It didn’t happen by chance though, everything was planned. And like a dungeon master, someone was pulling the strings behind the galactic war. For the first time, players saw a retreat order in the game.
The game has been out for weeks and has already raised the server capacity after realizing how long the queue of players has been until now. Over 100K concurrent players are active in the game at the time of writing with the game reaching its all-time peak at 458K recently. Games like GTA V and Starfield have already fallen victim to it and god knows how many are there in the line.
Everything Was Planned It Seems in Helldivers 2
Among the appealing features is that the players get to develop the narrative as they advance in the game. However, little do they know that they have been observed like The Watcher from Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, unlike the MCU character, this ‘Watcher’ is controlling things while players engage in battle with acid-spitting bugs.
In an interview with gaming website PC Gamer, Johan Pilestedt, Arrowhead CEO, revealed that they have placed an individual called Joel as a Game Master. And he takes his work seriously. Johan explained,
There have been some sudden moments where maybe one planet was too easy or one was too hard and [Joel] had to get up in the middle of the night to give the Automatons a bit of reinforcements so the players don’t take [the planet] too quickly.
Additionally, the game is likely to see Mechs entering the battlefield as the game advances to make battles more striking and visually appealing to the audience. A leaked video on Reddit showcased a player using a Mech in the gameplay which left the viewers awe-strucked. It remains to be seen how the Game Master Joel is planning things out for them.
Hope For Malevelon Creek Isn’t Dead Yet
Automaton taking Malevelon Creek made many sad given the attachment they had developed for planets. But that’s what the team is observing which will allow them to implement more of what users might seek. According to Pilestedt,
We look at the individual planets as, ‘There was a planet that we made, that was good fun,’ and we have made so many of them. But the community’s attachment to each planet is significant … So one of the things we’re looking at internally is how can we reconsider these planets to become more of a character going forward?
Players may not see it but they might get a chance to retake Malevelon Creek. Or they may get a whole new planet to develop a new relationship with its environment. While the Game Master Joel is at it, players will hopefully get to see an edge-of-the-seat experience.
How do you think Joel is controlling the Helldivers 2 narrative? Tell us in the comments.
