Helldivers 2 fans convinced The Illuminate faction is already here
Arrowhead Game Studios has been incredibly consistent with its post-launch content for Helldivers 2, giving players constant threats that could jeopardise their efforts to bring democracy to the wider systems.
Now that the Helldivers faction's freedom fighters have earned their mechs, players are looking to the future for ways to liberate the cosmos, even in the face of hefty weapon nerfs. And now, it looks like a new (or old) threat is coming to the game - but the propaganda machine says that everything is fine.
Players report attacks from The Illuminate in Helldivers 2
Wannabe Helldivers have taken to Reddit to report that they’re experiencing attacks and reconnaissance from The Illuminate, a faction of enemies that first appeared in 2015's top-down Helldivers. The faction is made up of teleporting, tentacle-faced, long-distance fighters, best identified by their bright blue beam weapons.
You'd think that players would know if they were targetted by these beams, but while naysayers in the comments try to convince us they're not real, players are sharing videos that show themselves and teammates fired upon by The Illuminate's signature blue beams. One Helldiver has even been killed by one.
Even if The Illuminate faction hadn't been leaked via datamines, these attacks tease their imminent arrival as the third big threat. Even though it seems pretty obvious that a returning threat is here to make the lives of fighters harder, the CEO of Arrowhead Game Studios seems to want Helldivers to keep calm and carry on.
Arrowhead CEO keeps the propaganda machine working
Despite players having some pretty solid evidence that the signature blue beams are indicating a return from The Illuminate, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt thinks players should keep an eye on their objectives instead. "Blue beams aren’t real, it can’t hurt you," he says. Well, alright then.
As Helldivers tool up for another enemy type to deal with aside from Terminator-inspired robots and Starship Trooper-esque Terminids, there's no official work on The Illuminate's debut. The company's heads clearly don't want you to worry, and we'd better trust them. After all, the Ministry of Truth hasn't led us astray before, right?
