„99.9% liberated” Helldivers 2 review bombed as Equality-on-Sea frustration boils over

Defenders of Super Earth have begun a different kind of bombing campaign. Players of Helldivers 2 are taking out their frustration on the game’s Steam page, tanking the recent reviews down to “Mixed,” with only 67% positive reviews in the last thirty days. This is down a full ten percent from the all-time score, which still sits at “Mostly Positive.” These review bombings stem from the measurable in-game stats. Players can see how successful they have been in liberating or defending specific locations. Apparently, some players believe Equality-on-Sea is stuck at 99.9783% after the Helldivers have fought and died to repel the Illuminate invasion, and some Helldivers are not taking this well.

Helldivers 2 review bombed: Equality-on-Sea defenders realize they can’t reach 100%

The Illuminate recently received a major upgrade for Helldivers 2. This enemy faction was initially introduced at last year’s Game Awards showcase in December, but earlier this month, a new update introduced new enemies and weapon customization. As of last week, the most recent update takes the fight directly to Super Earth, tasking players with defending Super Earth’s cities from new Illuminate threats. The Heart of Democracy update is out now.

This whole situation began when players were able to rally behind a historic defense of the megacity Equality-on-Sea, located near modern-day China. While it’s not the entire story, it seems that a significant portion of the push to defend the East Asia location was inspired by real-world individuals local to the area. The Illuminate invasion of Super Earth’s capital, Prosperity City, was apparently stuck at around 60% defended, while Equality-on-Sea reached a peak of over 99.9%. When the player base realized they wouldn’t reach 100% and completely claim their city as Illuminate-free, frustration began to boil over, and that led to review bombing.

When browsing the Helldivers subreddit page, many users agree that Equality-on-Sea would never have reached 100% without the entire Illuminate fleet being eradicated. If the threat persists elsewhere on Super Earth, nowhere is completely safe. One user wrote, “We’re not even losing a city. We just can’t fully repel the invasion until the fleet is completely depleted.” While calling people “illiterate” seems to be a common refrain on the subreddit, it is telling that Helldivers 2 didn’t properly communicate the inability to reach 100% on some level.

Thankfully, at least this proves that the valiant defenders of Super Earth can rally together to defend their planet’s cities from invasion. Helldivers 2 is a live-service game, meaning it will continually provide new content to keep players engaged. It’s frustrating not to have a clean ending or conclusion to all that fighting to save Equality-on-Sea, but in some ways, this is the consequence of enlisting in the Super Earth military. For now, we will have to see how developer Arrowhead responds, how players react, and if any more new content arrives in Helldivers 2 this summer.

Helldivers 2

February 8, 2024

Rate It!

• Overview

• Arrowhead Game Studios
• Helldivers (franchise)