Despite those small story issues, Helldivers conquers its fair share of stars. For those with a team waiting, the delicious bits of gun-based carnage will far outweigh any and all feelings that come with the "oh, we're doing this again" doldrums, and even those without steady play friends will find...

Following their success with the Gauntlet reboot last year, Arrowhead has delivered another great 4-player co-op game in Helldivers, . While much of the core gameplay shares similar mechanics they've done a great job at using existing tech to make something different.

What do you get when you mix a healthy dose of Starship Troopers, a dash of Mass Effect, a small pinch of Killzone: Liberation, and a nice helping of Starcraft, and lay it down over a four-player co-op system? You get Arrowhead Studios' latest offering, Helldivers.

A well designed, challenging and entertaining shooter that's best appreciated as a multiplayer game. More variety in mission types would help it feel less of a grind, however. 4 /5

Few games simultaneously emphasize the comfort of co-operative multiplayer and the bitterness of defeat quite like Helldivers . The relentless top-down shooter throws everything but the kitchen sink at players and requires careful teamwork at all times.

A great co-op experience; both online and local; Stratagems; Friendly fire encourages teamwork; Galactic campaign; Cross-buy support

Stratagems; Lackluster cosmetics/perks; Very difficult

Helldivers doesn't quite capture the intensity and brutality of the many galactic battles we see in films like Starship Troopers or Aliens, but it makes a decent effort. From Arrowhead Game Studios (the makers of Magicka) comes a bread-and-butter top-down shooter that has a few kinks and twists...

Polished; content-heavy shooter action; Captures Magicka's essence in a brand new setting; Solid co-op fun

The gameplay gets repetitive in large doses; Abundant nickel-and-dime DLC; Solo experience is lacking

Helldivers is an entertaining cosmic shooter, if you're playing in a dedicated team. It's an experience that can be had solo, but is intended for a team of four, if those four will actually work together, and in my experience, that can't happen with randoms online.

+ Fun twin-stick shooter; + Enemies are challenging; and it can be tense; + Co-op design; when playing with mates

- Objectives are fairly boring; - Very repetitive; - Terrible story; - Playing with randoms sucks

"Repetitious gameplay and awkward controls make this a less of a ‘dive' and more of a crash landing"

A fantastic space-set twin stick shooter.

What do you get if you take a co-op shooter, mix in some RPG levelling, the over-the-top campy militaristic jingoism of Starship Troopers and removed friendly fire? You'd get Helldivers!

Random mission objectives; Campy; fun; over-the-top; Great multiplayer; Overwhelming enemies – in a fun way

Lack variety of mission objectives; Limited environmental types; Zero plot