They did it. They said it was impossible, and that all the odds were against them, but the bastards did it. Over the weekend, Arrowhead Game Studios passed down the final phase of Operation Swift Disassembly, a major order that tasked Helldivers 2 players with wiping out the robot Automatons for good. Despite projections suggesting it would take longer than the allotted time though, players completed the objective. The robots are done for. We’ve won half this war.
When Helldivers 2 first launched, players faced off against the alien bug Terminids—until the Automatons suddenly invaded the other side of the galaxy, prompting a two-pronged war effort. The Automatons quickly gained a reputation for their ferocity, especially on the jungle planet Malevelon Creek, which was later dubbed “Robot Vietnam” by the larger community. Ever since, the Automatons have been locked into a tug-of-war with the forces of Super Earth. At one point, the Terminids nearly broke through to Super Earth at the center of the galaxy, because players were too focused on Malevelon and the Automaton threat on the other side of the war.
Things changed when Operation Swift Disassembly came around. Arrowhead, seemingly aware of players’ fixations on the Automatons and the planets they held, leaned in and made it an in-game objective to concentrate all forces on the robot threat. Before long, Super Earth was liberating Automaton planets, including the crown jewel, Malevelon Creek. Since its liberation last week, a holiday in remembrance of the war effort has been decreed and capes were awarded to honor the fallen. Swift Disassembly didn’t end there though, and going into the weekend, Arrowhead gave one final order: liberate the planets Tibit, Durgen, and Maia to annihilate the Automatons once and for all.
Helldivers 2 players—who are keen to the mind games of Arrowhead and its developer Joel, who controls the flow of the galactic war—expressed their reservations at the promise of peace. After all, liberating Malevelon should’ve dealt the Automatons a killing blow, and instead they bounced back with new enemy types. A similar thing happened when players were told to contain the Terminids, who then clapped back with flying bugs we hadn’t seen before. Nonetheless, Helldivers 2 players deployed en masse and got the job done.
Now, if you look at the galactic map, there’s zero Automaton presence to be found. It’s as if we’ve turned back time to the first week of Helldivers 2’s lifetime. It’s a beautiful (but suspect) sight. As of this writing, players have moved onto the next major order, which calls for the liberation of three Terminid planets, two of which have already been freed in record time. Hellmire, which is susceptible to bugs and fire tornadoes, will likely be freed within the day, if not a few hours, allowing Super Earth to corral the Terminids and raise them “in spacious enclosures.” Sounds to me like Super Earth is getting a little too big for its britches, and that’s going to bite them in the ass sooner rather than later.
And then of course, there’s the rumored third enemy faction, the Illuminate, who’ve yet to show up in Helldivers 2. Considering the absence of the Automatons, as well as the pacification of the Terminids, now would be the perfect time to surprise players—as Arrowhead is obviously a fan of doing—with a third (maybe even fourth) invasion to upset the peace they’ve fought so hard for. There have been signs of them around, so it’s just a matter of when they’ll show up rather than if they will. No matter how you slice it, things are looking too good for Super Earth now, so proceed with caution.