Terminid and Automaton, the two most feared enemies of every warrior Helldiver all face when participating in Arrowhead’s third-person co-op shooter. They are the cause that pushes Super Earth into an endless galactic war, with battlefields spread across the planets. Standing out among those battlefields is Malevelon Creek, a planet compared to the “Vietnam jungle” because of the brutality and fear of the mechanical “talking bushes”. After several days of tireless fighting, the Helldivers suffered a bitter defeat and were forced to make a tactical retreat from the planet, but it was not entirely their fault. Everything has been arranged, and the person behind this failure is none other than Joel!
Who is Joel? He is a developer at Arrowhead Game Studio, the studio behind it Helldivers 2. The entire galactic war with countless battlefields with wins and losses is the game’s way of storytelling to lead players into the cruel world of the “Hell Divers”. Major Orders from the Super Earth government will be issued in the form of daily or weekly missions, directing players towards certain goals, and in fact, the person behind those orders is Joel, the Game Master. unique to the game. He is the one responsible for the sudden developments of the intergalactic war, giving instructions from Super Earth, and deciding where to win and where to lose. A great power that can be compared to “God”.
Johan Pilestedt, CEO of Arrowhead, revealed Joel’s role in the plot of Helldivers 2:
“There is an employee (Joel) with the title of Game Master with the right to control the playing experience thanks to the systems integrated into the game. We develop the story through what is happening in the game.”
With such responsibility, Joel will set the difficulty of taking over a planet, sometimes even waking up “midnight to give the Automatons some reinforcements so the players don’t take over (the planet) too quickly.”
In other words, Joel is also the Game Master in a Dungeons and Dragons game on a much larger scale than usual. Pilestedt acknowledged D&D’s influence on the team’s approach to Helldivers 2’s galactic warfare, saying that “The studio wanted to recreate the cooperative, interactive storytelling of tabletop games” in their own game. After the failure at Malevelon Creek was received with interest by many players, the studio is preparing to turn many other planets into “main characters” in the upcoming period, speeding up the storytelling to create more interesting experiences.
What’s surprising is that players have accepted this way of storytelling extremely positively. Many sarcastic statements in the spirit of Helldivers 2 have been spread by players on social networks, expressing their love and how they “get into” the character. It’s no exaggeration to say, “Hell Divers” are everywhere on social networks.
Pilestedt also confirmed that the player’s fall at Malevelon Creek was intentional and shared that “As part of the roadmap, there are things we want to keep secret because we want to surprise and delight”.
Besides, Pilestedt also emphasized that his team only has “predictions” about how the fight will play out, and the final outcome will be left to the interactions between Helldivers 2 players and Joel. It can be said that this is an extremely flexible and interesting way of storytelling, making players feel excited about their interaction and influence with the battle in the game. Also, kudos to Joel for helping deliver one of the most compelling stories of the year.
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