It’s an thrilling time to be a Helldiver, as Arrowhead recently added city maps, a scout vehicle, and a third enemy faction to the game. Initially, it looked like the story of the Illuminati’s return to the galaxy would be one and done, told over the course of a weekend. The Illuminati arrived immediately after the announcement at The Game Awards and struck at Calypso’s planet, and the Helldivers barely defended Calypso with only a few moments to spare. Now the nefarious space squids have their sights set on another target: the black hole where Meridia once resided.
This requires a bit of explanation. The first two enemy factions in the game are the Terminids and the Automatons. The Terminids in particular have proven to be a popular enemy; even when Master Orders from Super Earth direct players to fight the robots, some players remain in Terminid space live your life Spaceship soldiers fantasies. Some time ago, the Terminid threat responded to this comment with a series of rapid and powerful evolutions. Super Earth intelligence identified one world in particular, Meridia, as a supercolony.
Arrowhead hosted a fun, limited-time event where players had to fill Meridia with Dark Fluid while holding off the Super Colony forces to pull off this daring stunt. It succeeded, turning Meridia into a black hole. There’s an ancient Chekhov’s Gun trope: if you show a gun in the first act, it better go off before the end of the play. It seems that Helldivers are now encountering the Arrowhead Black Hole – if you open a strange hole in space, it will attract the attention of the evil squids.
Now the Illuminati, unlike other hostile factions, have not occupied a indefinite part of space. Instead, they engage in hit-and-run attacks on Super Earth worlds, starting with Calypso and moving east. At first, there was nothing noteworthy about this pattern… and then fans noticed strange things about Meridia. The black hole is now more purple, brighter, and appears to be sucking in garbage at an alarming rate.
So far, the Helldivers have been defending Terminid territory from the Illuminati – an odd situation after months spent crushing the bugs – and spanking the squids back. With the conclusion of Operation Squid Game, which ended at approximately 4:30 p.m. EST on Friday, the Illuminati disappeared from the map once again. However, I don’t think this developing story is over yet. It seems obvious that there are some gaps in the Illuminati lineup, and I expect these will soon be filled with modern, terrifying bio-organic horrors. At least players can now purchase a vehicle as a stratagem and hit the road at any time. You must count your blessings when you are embroiled in a three-front intergalactic war for democracy.
