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Helldivers 2s co-op, sci-fi action is about as dystopian as you might get.
Whats Managed Democracy, you might ask?
Well, its a system where an algorithm decides how to allocate your votes.
If that sounds like it wouldnt result in a free or fair election, thats because it wouldnt.
Citizens of Super Earth - thatsHelldivers 2s human faction - live under an authoritarian regime disguised as democracy.
Super Earth is our own planet but given a veneer of futuristic prosperity.
Scratch the surface, though, and youll find something horrible.
Its a lot like Reeses Pieces, except, instead of a delicious center, youre left with Napalm.
Howd you like a taste of freedom?
yells my Helldiver as she unloads a heavy machine gun into a swarm of aliens.
Using dystopian sci-fi as a lens to examine our own world isnt new.
All the way through I wanted the audience to be asking, Are these people crazy?.
This is exactly the sort of question thatHelldivers 2asks of its players.
Thanks to propaganda and totalitarianism, the Helldivers just dont know any better.
When a Helldiver frantically yells Freedom never sleeps while healing themselves with a stimpack, they believe every word.
The irrational fervor of Super Earths citizens is as chilling as it is amusingly absurd.
Its clever, harrowing, and side-splitting all at once.
Its on us to be critical of how the powerful might use comfortable-sounding words to mask less-than-legitimate goals.
To Wolin, this trend is born from a rejection of political reason in favor of blind allegiance.
A great deal ofHelldivers 2s humor comes from just how unreasonable the people of Super Earth are.
Starships have overwrought names like The Ombudsman of Justice or The Spear of Family Values.
Even items in the in-game store have fake reviews curated by the Ministry of Truth.
Want some other games to try?
Check out our guides to thebest RPGsand thebest story games.
