Helldivers 2 Players Absolutely Hate Hellmire, And For Good Reason
Helldivers 2 players have strong feelings about the planets theyâre fighting to defend in the gameâs ongoing galactic war. First there was Malevelon Creek, which became a notorious hotspot for players, after it was dubbed âRobot Vietnamâ due to its flame-spewing robots, jungle setting, and significant difficulty. Despite the fact that Iâve described an abject nightmare, players developed a bit of a sentimental attachment to the planet, and its many subsequent rises and falls provided great dramatic fodder, not to mention material for the community to turn into memes. Malevelon Creek became a celebrated locale, and the developers eventually gave it a holiday. Now, players have developed an intense relationship with another planet, but things couldnât be more different.
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You see, Helldivers 2 players fucking hate Hellmire.
There has never been a shittier planet. Think of the worst possible place in the world, multiply it a few times, and sprinkle in some of your least favorite people, and you still wouldnât come close to the ire folks feel towards Hellmire. Hellmire sits clear on the other side of the galaxy from Malevelon Creek, which could not better encapsulate the vast difference in how players feel about the two. You know what they do have in common though? Fire.
Hellmire is a planet held by the bug-like Terminids, and youâd think they would have given up or died off just having looked at it. Hellmire, unlike most planets, is plagued by firestorms, which literally make the surface look like a visualization of Hell. Sure, itâs honoring its namesake, but could it be any less a pain in the ass? Itâs not bad enough that I typically drop into Hellmire on high-difficulty operations with overwhelming odds and bugs popping out of every possible hole in the planet, but I also have to worry about not catching fire on a world whose whole deal is the endless flames scorching it.
Places like Hellmire are especially harrowing because a balance change (which desperately needs fixing) recently made by Arrowhead Game Studios increased the damage of fire from all sources, making any drop onto the planet an even greater ordeal.
At the moment, thereâs a major order promoting the defense of a number of planets across the entirety of the galaxy. Hellmire is among them, and when I checked on its liberation status earlier today, it was at a paltry number. It was a number so pathetic (almost as sad as the number of players actively playing on Hellmire at the moment) that I donât even want to repeat it here. By comparison, another planet in the same system was well on its way to freedom and enjoying a healthy concentration of players. Meanwhile, the Helldivers reddit has been flashing with occasional calls to outright âglassâ the planet toâŠsolve?…the problem of its liberation.
According to the community, ânobody wants Hellmire,â and itâs hard to argue with the numbers. The general consensus seems to be very âfuck Hellmire,â which could spell a bit of a funny issue for the community and developers, since Hellmire is such a focal point of many strategic pushes. Itâs to the point where players are frequently joking about just hitting the bricks and abandoning the planet entirely, and it seems to be turning into a reality, which might throw a wrench in Arrowheadâs flexible war narrative.
Hellmireâs arduousness very much seems like the point of the planet, but it also feels like player sentiment, which has soured a bit in the last several months, has seemingly settled on Hellmire as its latest target. That, and itâs got to suck to eat shit to bugs and fire tornadoes repeatedly. Maybe weâll see Hellmire completely fall, or maybe weâll see Arrowhead adjust to the communityâs feelings and pivot away from it for a time. Hopefully, the studio fixes the fire damage to curb that whole side of the equation entirely. Iâm begging you, Arrowhead. My crops are on fire.
