Another wave of Helldivers 2 controversies has caused the game to drop back into “Mostly Negative” recent reviews on Steam.
Helldivers 2 has been at the centre of multiple controversies since launch, not all due to Arrowhead’s involvement, including a recent enemy buff that was quickly reverted. The game has been review bombed for Sony’s region-locking issues, major nerfs, ongoing technical issues, and for multiple reasons including the Chinese player base.
At the time of writing, the popular multiplayer co-op game has been review bombed for its continued focus on new Warbonds over major gameplay changes. Since launch, the multiplayer game has received 23 Warbonds, which fans have grown tired of grinding for, with little in the way of gameplay overhauls.
This comes after months of promised major progression overhauls, upgrades to the game’s weapon upgrade system, and claims of “sequel-level features”. While the game has seen new enemies and locations, fans are still waiting for meaningful gameplay upgrades that bring the so-called “sequel-level features” to the game.
Additionally, with the release of so many new weapons in the game, many old weapons have been seemingly left in the past. Many weapons and stratagems from older Warbonds go largely untouched with new updates, and fans are starting to feel like the game is simply becoming a conveyer belt of Warbonds instead of anything meaningful.
“I don’t like it why is it so grindy for no reason,” one negative review says with almost 2,000 play hours. “And why is there no more in-depth customization on certain systems, on guns ,and even mechs? Is that normal? Why does it take 25k SC (SuperCredits) to remotely enjoy the variation?”
One of the major complaints surrounding the game at this point is the “endgame”, or rather the lack of it. After finishing ship upgrades, which doesn’t take that long, players are simply left grinding for unsatisfying weapon upgrades—which do very little—or simply grinding out Warbonds. And that’s been the case since launch, albeit launch didn’t have the admittedly unsatisfying weapon upgrade system.
Additionally, there’s the game’s technical state, which is admittedly better than it was last year. Helldivers 2 still suffers from major performance issues and crashes on PC, as well as glitches that block progression in missions. There are other issues, also, such as stratagems not working as intended, and more.
It’s worth noting that 2025 saw some major technical overhauls for the game with a massive reduction in file size and major performance stabilisation. Additionally, as far as gameplay goes, even those leaving negative reviews admit the tile is “genuinely one of the best co-op PvE shooters in recent memory”.
As for the game’s technical state, Arrowhead has confirmed that it is “investing” more into its internal game engine. When it comes to gameplay, some improvements have already been discussed such as giving players more uses for samples, and making Super Credits easier to earn on higher difficulties. With that said, there’s no word on any release dates for the aforementioned promised features as of yet.
