The worst has come to pass in Helldivers 2. Despite the ferocious efforts of Super Earth’s finest special forces operatives, the squid-like aliens of the Illuminate menace have managed to achieve their latest objective: moving the Meridian Singularity — a colossal black hole created last year when Super Earth was forced to use it to destroy a Terminid supercolony on the planet Meridia — close to the world Angel’s Venture, resulting in its violent destruction. All that remains of the once-lush colony is its molten fragments, the orbit of which you can visit by charting a course for it on your ship’s galaxy map.
To accomplish this, the Illuminate invaded numerous Super Earth colonies and harvested Dark Energy from them, using it as fuel to pull the black hole — itself created with Dark Fluid the Helldivers recovered from the faction during the First Galactic War — towards Angel’s Venture. The most recent Major Order saw the Helldivers valiantly fight the Illuminate on every front to try and prevent it from accruing enough Dark Energy, but tragically, they were unsuccessful in stopping enough incursions.
“Angel’s Venture has been torn apart by the Meridian Singularity. This is an incalculable loss,” wrote Super Earth High Command in a somber in-game notice. “Finally the Illuminate, hiding behind their mask of intelligence and sophistication, have revealed what they truly want: carnage. The President of Super Earth has announced a Galaxy-wide mourning period of 24 hours.”
But while we mourn this “solemn reminder of the desolation Tyranny leaves in its wake,” it’s crucial to note that there’s been an even more troubling development. The galaxy map shows that the Illuminate isn’t stopping at Angel’s Venture; on the contrary, the Meridian black hole’s trajectory actually has it lined up with several other Super Earth-controlled planets, and even our beloved Super Earth itself. Therefore, I have no doubt that the squids will soon once again begin to pull the singularity towards the center of our territory, and that Lady Liberty’s finest will be driven to fight tooth and nail for every inch of ground taken.
Concerningly, the first world under threat from the black hole after Angel’s Venture will be Moradesh. Moradesh is where Super Earth scientists deployed Dark Fluid from in order to create the singularity that destroyed Meridia in the first place, and if it’s torn apart by it, too, I fear the Dark Fluid stored there will either enlarge the black hole or speed its movement up, making it harder to stop it from reaching and obliterating the other planets in its path.
Things are, indeed, looking pretty bleak. Some good news, though, is that Helldivers 2’s new Double-Edge Sickle just got a big buff in a recent patch, and if you ask me, it’s easily one of the best weapons to use against the Illuminate. With enough rapid heavy-hitting firepower to shred through hordes of Voteless, their Overseer commanders, and the faction’s towering Harvester walkers, it’s the perfect tool to have ready as the fight for Super Earth’s survival begins.
Helldivers 2 stands tall as one of the best PC games and best PS5 games to play if you’re into co-op shooters, intense sci-fi action, goofy physics antics, and goofy satirical writing. It’s typically $40, though you can often get it for less if you shop around for discounts. Right now, the best one is CDKeys’ sale that shaves nearly $15 off the price, allowing you to get the bombastic title for well under $30.
