After a brutal defeat at Malevelon Creek in early March, the Helldivers have apparently received some much-needed redemption. On Monday, Hell divers 2 players were given a grand order to free Malevelon Creek from the Automaton threat, and within hours they won.
The Grand Order gave players 24 hours to liberate the planet, which was still under the control of the Automata’s “illegal occupation” after the previous defeat. And a success would earn all players 35 medals – quite a reward for a short major order like this. The developers knew this would also upset the player base, with the following text:
A few weeks ago, our citizens watched in horror as Malevelon Creek fell to the Automatons. Millions of brave heroes died trying to defend it. For too long, the bots have maintained their illegal business, desecrating the memory of the fallen by rapidly depleting the planet’s exceptionally rich rhodium deposits. This travesty cannot continue any longer.
Take revenge and honor our heroes. Put an end to the theft of valuable minerals. Free Malevelon Creek.
Image: Arrowhead Game Studios via Polygon
Since that first defeat, “Malevelon Creek” has become a shorthand for trauma and loss within the Helldivers community – the community’s “Robot Vietnam,” as it has been called. I’ve seen videos of people breaking down (jokingly) at the mere mention of the planet. The original attack was rough, as players were swarmed by the Automatons. The humans were blown away by how different it was to fight them than the Terminids, and how difficult it was to destroy some enemy types.
The previous battle was one of the first battles with the Automatons after the game launched, and it was the first major loss of the player base after successfully ridding planets of Terminid insects. The game instructed players to return to Terminid missions after the failure before ordering them back to Automaton space last week. That resulted in the loss of Tibit, home to many production facilities in the Helldivers universe.
Major combat operations in Malevelon Creek ended approximately two hours ago. In the battle for Malevelon Creek, we are proud to announce that Super Earth and our allies have achieved victory.
April 1 will forever be a day of victory and remembrance. Hold the line, Helldivers! pic.twitter.com/kkachtigdQTCm9
— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@heldivers2) April 1, 2024
What’s next for Hell divers 2? Success is just the beginning another issued a grand order on Monday specifying that players must liberate three planets in the Severin sector: Malevelon Creek, Draupnir, and Ubanea (at the time of writing, only Ubanea remains under Automaton control). Players on Reddit have also seen what appears to be there huge cloaked ships about Automaton planets.
Although this all begs the question: is this real? It’s April Fools’ Day after all, and with the reveal that a gamemaster named “Joel” is changing the tide of war in real time, you have to wonder if this will blow up in everyone’s faces. And why did the Automata fall so easily this time? Was it because players now have strategies to succeed in those battles or did the developers do something to make them less challenging? As the major orders and events since then Hell divers 2The game’s launch was an indication: the developers love to have fun with the player base, and anything can happen.