TL;DR: Do not buy this game. It is not the same game that was incredibly fun, that the whole world was playing, that had the stories of Malevelon Creek and Frend. This is a pale shadow. I will update this review if it ever regains the life it once had, but don't wait for it with bated breath. Go play Earth Defense Force if you want to feel like a supersoldier fighting aliens. That feeling is dead here.

I am currently editing this review with a cooler head and some distance from any patches, and I have come to realize that Arrowhead has nerfed something far, far worse than any weapon.

Arrowhead has nerfed and is killing the community.

I was amazed when I first started playing this game. It didn't matter that I was bad, I was having fun. It didn't matter to my teammates that I was bad or new, they were willing to give tips and enjoy the ride. It was a rare community where the concept of "get gud" was almost entirely absent. Enjoy the game on whatever difficulty works for you. Have fun. We dive together.

Now, there is a divide in the community. On the one side, you have the players, a full *checks recent steam reviews* 57% of the community, that is tired of the nerfs, tired of the bugs that aren't getting fixed, tired of the ragdolling, and tired, most of all, of the devs repeatedly saying they've "heard the community" and continuing to nerf, continuing to ignore bugs, continuing to allow the ragdolling. On the other side, you have the new class of elitists that insist all the negative reviews are "crybabies whining that their favorite weapon got nerfed" and that those who don't like the nerfed guns or consider them weak only do so due to "skill issue". That wholesome, welcoming community? It's dying. All the people who are just there to have fun are leaving due to it getting removed, and all the people remaining are becoming increasingly elitist and "get gud". It's tragic.

I know how this will end. I've seen another game fall to it before. It's deja vou. The nerfs and questionable balance changes come thick and fast. Some of the community gets upset and leaves, and the rest thinks they're overreacting. Then the next patch happens, and more people leave, fed up with the balance changes, and the rest of the community thinks they're overreacting. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Every patch, fewer players logging in. Every patch, more veterans finally fed up and leaving. A game I loved died to this. And I am living it all over again, only in a much shorter timescale.

Please. Please, Arrowhead. We aren't playing Rainbow Six Siege. You can stop trying to imitate them. This game used to be a more realistic version of Earth Defense Force. Now the weapons might as well be tickling the bugs on later difficulties. Please, Arrowhead. Bring back the Helldivers 2 I loved.


Arrowhead, for the love of god please STOP NERFING EVERYTHING. You want to know why the breaker incendiary was 30% of all bug missions?? Cause it was DECENT. Not OP, not unbalanced, DECENT. And now it's worse. Why??? I am still using the liberator 90% of my games. It's not cause it's OP or unbalanced, it's cause it's DECENT and NOTHING else I've unlocked is. This is a PVE game! You don't need to finely balance everything until friendly fire doesn't matter! Let us kill bugs! Let us scrap automatons! Somehow flamethrowers are both garbage and LESS REALISTIC??? It's NAPALM! It STICKS TO PLATING! It doesn't BOUNCE!!!!!!

Tip for the future: if you see a weapon or stratagem used in a massive percentage of games? GOOD. You DID IT. You made something FUN. Don't nerf it, try buffing one of the many garbage weapons to a fun state. Shockingly, not only will you start seeing greater weapon variety, you'll see greater weapon variety AND get more player goodwill.

TL;DR: Do not buy this game. It is not the same game that was incredibly fun, that the whole world was playing, that had the stories of Malevelon Creek and Frend. This is a pale shadow. I will update this review if it ever regains the life it once had, but don't wait for it with bated breath. Go play Earth Defense Force if you want to feel like a supersoldier fighting aliens. That feeling is dead here. I am currently editing this review with a cooler head and some distance from any patches, and I have come to realize that Arrowhead has nerfed something far, far worse than any weapon. Arrowhead has nerfed and is killing the community. I was amazed when I first started playing this game. It didn't matter that I was bad, I was having fun. It didn't matter to my teammates that I was bad or new, they were willing to give tips and enjoy the ride. It was a rare community where the concept of "get gud" was almost entirely absent. Enjoy the game on whatever difficulty works for you. Have fun. We dive together. Now, there is a divide in the community. On the one side, you have the players, a full *checks recent steam reviews* 57% of the community, that is tired of the nerfs, tired of the bugs that aren't getting fixed, tired of the ragdolling, and tired, most of all, of the devs repeatedly saying they've "heard the community" and continuing to nerf, continuing to ignore bugs, continuing to allow the ragdolling. On the other side, you have the new class of elitists that insist all the negative reviews are "crybabies whining that their favorite weapon got nerfed" and that those who don't like the nerfed guns or consider them weak only do so due to "skill issue". That wholesome, welcoming community? It's dying. All the people who are just there to have fun are leaving due to it getting removed, and all the people remaining are becoming increasingly elitist and "get gud". It's tragic. I know how this will end. I've seen another game fall to it before. It's deja vou. The nerfs and questionable balance changes come thick and fast. Some of the community gets upset and leaves, and the rest thinks they're overreacting. Then the next patch happens, and more people leave, fed up with the balance changes, and the rest of the community thinks they're overreacting. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Every patch, fewer players logging in. Every patch, more veterans finally fed up and leaving. A game I loved died to this. And I am living it all over again, only in a much shorter timescale. Please. Please, Arrowhead. We aren't playing Rainbow Six Siege. You can stop trying to imitate them. This game used to be a more realistic version of Earth Defense Force. Now the weapons might as well be tickling the bugs on later difficulties. Please, Arrowhead. Bring back the Helldivers 2 I loved. [h2] Original Review Follows [/h2] Arrowhead, for the love of god please STOP NERFING EVERYTHING. You want to know why the breaker incendiary was 30% of all bug missions?? Cause it was DECENT. Not OP, not unbalanced, DECENT. And now it's worse. Why??? I am still using the liberator 90% of my games. It's not cause it's OP or unbalanced, it's cause it's DECENT and NOTHING else I've unlocked is. This is a PVE game! You don't need to finely balance everything until friendly fire doesn't matter! Let us kill bugs! Let us scrap automatons! Somehow flamethrowers are both garbage and LESS REALISTIC??? It's NAPALM! It STICKS TO PLATING! It doesn't BOUNCE!!!!!! Tip for the future: if you see a weapon or stratagem used in a massive percentage of games? GOOD. You DID IT. You made something FUN. Don't nerf it, try buffing one of the many garbage weapons to a fun state. Shockingly, not only will you start seeing greater weapon variety, you'll see greater weapon variety AND get more player goodwill.