He Helldivers universe It's not too complicated. Its lore is not too deep, the inspirations in Starship Troopers, Warhammer and Dungeons & Dragons are more than obvious, and obviously there is a very clear satire of the sociopolitical system of the United States, at least the one that Hollywood has shown us in its films.
Helldivers 2 is a marvel without needing to delve too deeply into its universe. We are a soldier without special qualities, another cog in Super-Earth's army, whose only mission is the total and mandatory democratization of anything/place that is beyond its borders. Everything can be resolved with an orbital attack, bombardment, gunfights and fire.
Currently, the universe of Helldivers 2 It's not a big deal… but it grows as stories emerge. Developers and players create the story with each campaign. And one of the most striking, detailed sections that grows the most day by day is all the propaganda regarding the galactic war. It serves to publicize the video game, but at the same time it is a meta-propaganda of the universe.
Helldivers 2 blurb: artistic wonders returning from the past
Arrowhead Game Studios has shared several announcements and posts from Helldivers 2 with a very marked style. Have you ever seen the propaganda related to conscription from World War I onwards? If you don't know what I'm talking about, maybe I can illustrate it with the poster called “I Want You for US Army” (aka Uncle Sam's Poster), created in 1917 by James Montgomery Flagg. It had a huge impact and became part of popular culture.
This is the most recent propaganda poster of Helldivers 2. It was shared by the official video game account a few days ago to announce the official arrival of the Mechas. “The EXO-45 Patriot Exosuits are in full production at the Tien Kwan factories. Ready for battlefield deployment soon!” he says the announcement tweet. He has a very characteristic style.
Just take a look around Reddit, Instagram and Twitter to find dozens of similar posters and advertisements. Not long ago we saw that Helldivers 2 It looks great on an old television and could very well be a classic advertisement. Since then, I have compiled videos and images to show you why I am so fascinated with this secondary section of the video game.
OldSloppy Posters (Reddit). Click to see the original post
The following posters were shared by Galactic Armory (Twitter, left) and dj_swizzle (Reddit, right). Although they do not have the animated style of the previous ones, they pursue the same objective: the recruitment of new Helldivers in the style that we have seen in the United States films. The Liber-Tea pun has become a common joke among fans.
Galactic Armory and dj_swizzle posters
The design of the posters are varied and do not always have to do with recruitment. The artist Jackwdowell shared on his ArtStation a design (left) that returns us to the style he mentioned above. This is a call to helldivers to combat the Automata.
As for the poster on the right, shared by No_Examination5404 on Reddit, it is a Tactical Shield unit, which is a very helldiver way of calling condoms. It has a warning in the lower area: dispensing with its use may cause the birth of a new cadet after 9 months.
Posters by Jackwdowell and No_Examination5404
I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that the story of Helldivers 2 is being written literally day by day. User Unknown-Name06 shared the poster titled “Spill Oil” and with a caption that reads: Pity is betrayal. Liberate Malevolon Creek.” This was a canon game event that occurred a few days ago, when we helldivers lost the planet, affectionately nicknamed Robot Vietnam, to the Automata.
The propaganda image of the right is simply wonderful. Reddit user Proud_Lie_8135 shared it a few hours ago and it goes like this: “Enjoy the taste of freedom with a fresh cup of Liber-Té! Get ready today!” This is another meta-propaganda so that more players reach Helldivers 2. I take my hat off. It's one of my favorites because of the retro style of it.
Unknown-Name06 and Proud_Lie_8135 posters
Posters by OllieHoff, REPLICATOR071 and myoeni on Reddit
Reddit helldiver Chimera87X is another veteran of the Malevolon Creek fall. He shared another poster to commemorate the event. We can say that there was a certain consensus among the community to call the event “Spill Oil”, because the fight was against machines. “Defend the line with your life,” reads the subtitle.
The poster on the right (54NCH32 from Reddit) is somewhat different, but it is not too different from the advertisements that we can see on the screen of our ship in Helldivers 2. It is a pamphlet that details an optimal combat strategy against Terminids and Automata: mounted cannon + protection shield. The tactic works amazingly when executed with colleagues.
Posters by Chimera87X and 54NCH32 on Reddit
The last image comes with a bonus, but I can explain it. He first poster belongs to winkree (Twitter). It is titled “Freedom and Sacrifice” and shows a heroic helldiver calling for a stratagem. It refers to when a soldier sacrifices himself so that the impact kills as many enemies as possible. The beauty of center belongs to TheEverdrift (Twitter) and I can only applaud until exhaustion. Finally (and as a bonus), the user Marpaparp manufactured two patches to show that she was a veteran of Malevolon Creek and that she uses the stratagems of the eagles (hunts).
Carteles de winkree, TheEverdrift y Marpaparp
Posters are just the beginning of all propaganda Helldivers 2. The introduction of the game itself is a propaganda advertisement (very good, by the way) for us to join the helldivers body. It reminds a lot of the one we saw in Starship Troopers. Furthermore, on the ship we can see news about how the fronts of the war are progressing and how a series of videos called BraschTactics about combat tactics.
And speaking of ads inspired by Starship Troopers, here's a recreation of the movie's propaganda with helldivers. LayzuhCatz, author of the video, says in the description that he was indeed inspired by the 1997 film to create this wonderful 30-second reference. At his feet!
To end this democratic post, AlphabetMeat shares a video on Reddit with the following title: “I put Helldivers footage over a US Army recruiting video. Run towards Helldivers chaos!” To no one's surprise, the audio of the actual recruitment announcement fits the video game like a glove.
After a week (more) collecting material for this post, it is very clear to me that the Helldivers 2 community is wonderful. Arrowhead Game Studios He has a great success on his hands and I hope he is able to maintain it over time with more content, events and creations like these.
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