Is Helldivers 2 fun? Yes. Helldivers 2 scores 8/10 for fun. Four-player chaos with orbital strikes and friendly fire is a blast from the first mission. Crashes and a slow premium grind keep it from a 9 or 10.
Where this score comes from: Steam player reviews, last checked against the 300 most recent English reviews in September 2026. Helldivers 2 on Steam
Helldivers 2 went through a rough stretch. Balance changes that gutted favorite weapons and a messy fight over PlayStation account requirements drove a lot of players away, and this page used to score it 1/10 because of it. The game people are reviewing right now tells a different story: new players are having a great time, and even long-time players who complain keep coming back.
Yes, and it gets fun fast. You drop onto a planet with three other players, call in airstrikes, and something goes wrong within minutes. A teammate walks into your orbital barrage. The extraction ship lands on someone. That chaos is the game, and it works almost every session. Players in their first 20 hours are overwhelmingly positive, and fun, friends and chaos are what they bring up most.
The core loop is short and satisfying: pick a mission, finish a few objectives, fight your way to extraction. Most missions fit comfortably into an evening. Stratagems, the weapons and support you call down from orbit, keep giving you new toys at a steady pace. The shared Galactic War, where the whole player base pushes the front lines together, gives each mission a little extra purpose.
Friendly fire is the secret ingredient. Every mistake is funny, every close call is a story, and it makes even simple missions feel unpredictable.
Two things. First, stability: crashes and bugs are the most common complaint from recent players, and losing a mission to a crash right before extraction stings. Second, the long game. Players with hundreds of hours are much more critical. They point to balance changes that weaken popular weapons, and to Warbonds, the premium unlock tracks, which take a long time to earn without spending money.
Those complaints are real, but they mostly show up long after the fun has hooked you. That’s why they cost it points here without dragging it out of the green.
Solo: Playable, and some players enjoy it, but it’s clearly built for a squad of four.
With friends: Much better with friends. Friendly fire turns every mission into chaos, and players who drop in with strangers say it’s still decent fun on lower difficulties.
Yes, especially with friends. The fun shows up in the first mission and keeps showing up. Expect the occasional crash, and don’t feel pushed to buy the premium currency. If you want the same co-op energy with fewer technical hiccups, Deep Rock Galactic is the 10/10 to try next.
Want something in the same lane? Space Marine 2 scores 9/10 for fun, and Warframe scores 7/10.
See where it lands in the most fun co-op games.
Helldivers 2 scores 8/10 on immediate fun. Four-player chaos that's fun from the first drop. Crashes and a slow premium grind cost it a couple of points.
Crashes and bugs. Slow premium grind.
One question: did it deliver immediate fun? Graphics, story depth, difficulty and critical acclaim are ignored. Pick-up-and-play accessibility is rewarded; anything that makes you wait for the fun to start is penalized.
How we score: We don't care about graphics, story depth, or critical acclaim. One question — did it deliver immediate fun? We reward pick-up-and-play accessibility and penalize anything that makes you wait for the fun to start.