In a game as unabashed and devoted to the irony and humor of science-fiction civic duty and militarism, it doesn’t get much more on the nose thanHelldivers 2’s Spread Democracy missions. Spread Democracy tasks players with calling in ascending, extendable flag poles as patriotic fanfare ambiently and triumphantly plays, with the challenge being how players must remain in the flag poles’ vicinity and defend themselves against hordes of bots or bugs. However, the mission itself and the act of ‘spreading democracy’ is hardly as triumphant as it could be inHelldivers 2.
Flag pole installation occurs in arbitrary corners of a map and doesn’t currently lend itself to any particularly memorable moments, especially if the terrain is level and impossible to plan meaningfully or strategically around. Sometimes visibility is a little hindered by whatever’s near, but the environment is rarely enough of a dependent variable to be captivating or noticeable.
That’s not to say Spread Democracy missions can’t be tense or difficult, and yet they lack a crucial element that could draw them forth to the front of the pack and ensure that they’re one of themost popular mission types inHelldivers 2.
Few mission types have had settings as dynamic or engaging as Evacuate High-Value Assets and thesince-retired Deploy Dark Fluid, and that’s a shame. Indeed, a purposeful change in scenery for where these flag poles ascend could be the key to making their atmosphere and ambiance epic and cinematic.
Evacuate High-Value Assets still reigns supreme as a mission type inHelldivers 2and Spread Democracy adopting its tower defense-like setting layout could be a massive boon. It would be exhilarating to scale a tiered or sloped landscape with multiple layers that Helldivers could mount a tactical defense from when they begin the flag installation and hordes begin arriving in bot drops or bug breaches.
Spread Democracy would be even more organizational and plan-driven if it had this terrain, too, because a big aspect of the mission type is that players must traverse a whole map to reach these flag installation points in the first place. More time spent on the planet procuring hard-earned resources would make the desire to hang onto these samples far greater if players defended them atop rocky precipices and the like while bots or bugs climb to thwart them.
Meridia’s Deploy Dark Fluid mission was extraordinary for the fleeting amount of time it was aroundand an irrevocable part of its success was its climactic ending made superb by the claustrophobic hill players held out on. Backed into this corner, players had no choice but to mount whatever defense they could against shriekers and any other bugs that hadn’t been squashed.
But, because Spread Democracy’s primary objective takes place in an unassuming patch of the landscape, it’s easy enough to flee, nuke the site, and regroup if players need to before returning to the flag and triggering its slow installation meter.
It’s maybe more immersive having these flags sprouting up in nondescript areas as a way to show thatSuper Earth is trying to reclaim desolate, hostile wastelands, but narrative immersion can and should absolutely be taking a backseat to gameplay and what could make otherwise droll and repetitive missions a slog to hop back into. Spread Democracy is a quicker mission due to its simplicity, particularly if players are unafraid of being annihilated by nukes like an Orbital Napalm Barrage to clear the flag site before moving in freely, thoughHelldivers 2could certainly benefit from having the flags’ position be somewhere perilous, such as a cliff that players can bottleneck and hot-gates bugs and bots on.
