Helldivers 2 doesn’t have a traditional campaign; instead, the story is told through military campaigns and orders sent from Super Earth. Each Major Order advances the story, with both successes and failures leading to new developments. Some threats manifest and sit there for months, like the galactic spore cloud known as the Gloom. But others are urgent enough that they must be immediately stopped, like the Meridian Singularity.
After weeks of tension, the Helldivers have stopped the Singularity and saved Super Earth. Of course, Arrowhead has sprinkled narrative hints in the mission text that suggests that things may be getting much worse for us in the near future.
If you load up Helldivers 2, you’ll notice something interesting: the Illuminate have vanished off the map entirely. The most recent Major Order result text reads:
Failure
Dauntless efforts by the Helldivers fell short of mission targets. But the righteousness of our cause has yielding an unequivocal victory nonetheless. Though construction of the Repulsive Gravity Field Generator did not meet all design metrics, the bold action was taken to activate the device in its mostly-completed state.
Center of Science confirm that the Meridian Wormhole has slowed to a halt. Furthermore, all Illuminate incursions have abruptly ended, and the enemy has disappeared. The victory of Managed Democracy is undeniable.
The last few Major Orders have been centered around the battle between Helldivers and the Illuminate, with Super Earth working to build up a solution to the wormhole that destroyed Angel’s Venture and two other planets while the Illuminate did their best to sabotage that effort. Unfortunately, the Repulsive Gravity Field Generator suffered a “catastrophic implosion”, but those who died will be honored with “a heartfelt, stirring memorial” over the crater. Now, players have to hold key strategic planets across the galaxy to shore up defenses in the wake of our back-and-forth battle with the Illuminate. One such Order had us collect millions of Voteless corpses. “Thanks to the Helldivers, our Federation is one step closer to a deeper understanding of mind control. Which is, of course, useful solely for developing defenses against mind control.” Reassuring!
