Helldivers 2 was a superlative experience in 2024.

I’d played Helldivers back when it released last decade, and I thought it had some interesting ideas—especially the stratagems, which have been upgraded in the recent iteration of the game.

Stratagems are combat techniques that, to deploy, you have to enter Contra-type inputs with the d-pad. This results in some mayhem because you need to call in a weapon or revive a teammate while running away from enemies while, also, typing in the code. It leads to many-a-last-minute Hail Marys that turn the tide of the battle…and unforgettable deaths.

While I liked the first game in the series, it wasn’t something I put a ton of time into. Thus, I wasn’t going to pick up the sequel. However, I had a friend at Sony at the time who got a code and wasn’t interested in using it, so I got it—and fell in love.

The main draw of the game, for me, is playing with friends. Each mission is fertile soil for stories to grow. Last minute extractions. Throwing an orbital strike on a teammate’s position, hoping to help them take out bugs or robots but, instead, killing the teammate. Putting a bullet in an explosive barrel and launching your teammate halfway across the map. The magic of this game is that it makes friendly fire fun. Accidentally killing your teammate is half the hilarity—especially amongst my group of friends.

Helldivers 2 made it to #3 on my 2024 top games of the year list, an incredible feat given I tend to gravitate toward single-player games, I am not enthusiastic about Sony’s live-service push, and this wasn’t even a game on my purchase radar. (Since then, I’ve supported the game and its devs by picking up warbonds, this game’s version of a battle pass.)

I look forward to how Arrowhead, the developer, iterates on the game over the coming year. Given their ability to reflect on the state of the game and spice it up with in-game and out-of-game narrative, I have a feeling there are a lot of good times in store in 2025.