Arrowhead Game Studios has released a major new update for Helldivers 2. This new update has been dubbed Machinery of Oppression, and essentially kicks off a new chapter for the co-op shooter. The primary threat, this time around, revolves around the return of the Cyborg sub-faction, and Helldivers have been tasked with diving into the grim streets of the cities in Cyberstan to put an end to the budding collaboration between the Cyborg Legion and the Automatons.
Cyberstan is littered with massive factory cities, through which players will have to fight against hordes of Automatons and Cyborgs as they also deal with inhospitable landscapes powering the machines’ war efforts. The main goal for players with this update is to destabilize Cyberstan enough to ultimately stop the production of more Cyborgs. Along with this, the Automaton defences also have to be dealt with.
Things won’t quite be easy, however, as the returning Cyborgs are composed of three distinct types of enemies: the Agitators, the Radicals, and the Vox Engines. The Agitators command Automaton legions in the field, and tend to be heavily armored and capable of making tactical decisions for entire squads. The Radicals focus more on close-range combat, and have a tendency to rush at Helldivers from all sides. Vox Machines are massive war machines piloted by high-ranking Cyborg officers, and are armed with dual laser cannons, rockets, and laser gatling guns.
Missions taking place on Cyberstan also come with much greater risks than other planets. There is a brand new Galactic Reinforcement Counter, which means that the entire battle for the Automatons’ home planet can only be fought by a limited number of Helldivers. If the counter reaches zero, the Battle for Cyberstan will be considered completely lost. To deal with this, the studio has noted that players should pay more attention to keeping themselves and their squad mates alive by bringing in defensive stratagems, and using stims appropriately.
Earlier this week, Helldivers 2 director Mikael Eriksson had spoken about the Machinery of Oppression update, referring to it as the “most ambitious” update that the studio has developed for the co-op shooter so far. He also noted that the Battle for Cyberstan will see further expansion with “many ambitious plans”.
“We still have many ambitious plans on how to expand on this even further, but for this time, the Battle for Cyberstan will be the most ambitious one yet, with a new type of meta gameplay,” he said. “So it would be much more clear now for players what the consequences would be depending on how they choose to tackle this. So they can attack the planet from many different angles, and it would be very obvious when players get there, what the consequences are and what’s at stake.”
To help players out with more defensive options, Arrowhead Game Studios also recently released its Siege Breakers Warbond, which brought in defense-oriented armors and close-range weapons.
Helldivers 2 is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The title has been quite popular since its release back in 2024. A recent report has indicated that it has sold more than 20 million units so far.
