Get the details below, via Arrowhead Game Studios social media and community manager Katherine Baskin.
About
The time has come, Helldivers. The War has changed.
These are dark times for freedom loving citizens everywhere. Our galaxy grows cold from the embrace of old enemies returning and darkens with the threat of new horrors emerging.
We must now stand together in Super Earth’s light and oppose these sinister tidings. These Omens of Tyranny.
The Illuminate Return
Missing for almost a century, the Illuminate will challenge our recruits more than the other factions they have faced. They are advanced, highly-intelligent beings wielding powerful technology that appears to average citizens like a kind of dark magic.
At the end of the First Galactic War, the Helldivers worked together to eradicate the Illuminate. We believed we were successful, and for nearly 100 years, we have lived in relative peace, holding the Terminid and Automaton threats at bay. Thanks to our continued recruitment and training of new Helldivers, we have held these two fronts with complete, unmitigated success.
But now the Illuminate have emerged seemingly out of nowhere. Even though we don’t know the true origin of the invasion, we have no choice now but to suppress three factions in the Galactic War.
The Illuminate are spreading through mind control, abducting citizens of weaker dedication to democratic ideals and brainwashing them for a dark purpose which is still yet unknown to us. These mind-controlled citizens have been twisted and corrupted into a menace we call The Voteless—Super Earth’s own people turned against the principles of Democracy and fair elections, losing their ability to vote entirely.
The intentions behind the Illuminate invasion are still unclear. Right now, they remain as smaller bands of insurgents, staging attacks, building mysterious structures, and abducting citizens before disappearing again.
It’s up to us to stop them from getting their totalitarian tentacles any deeper into Super Earth’s domain.
The Fight at Our Doorstep
“Omens of Tyranny” is bringing the fight into the streets, with new mission areas inside Super Earth’s many colonies.
Our colonies are being ravaged by these invaders, turning our once bright and sunny streets filled with smiling citizens into dark ruins, overrun by Voteless and Illuminate. Arm yourselves with your trusted tools of destruction and rid our colonies of this scum.
But it won’t be easy. Gone are the wide-open spaces that Helldivers are accustomed to fighting in. Cities mean closer quarters, dark alleys, and forked paths where one wrong turn means meeting a horde of Voteless to liberate. You’ll need your best and brightest squad to navigate them carefully.
Go Easy on the Gun, Chief
With all these new developments, there won’t be time to take driver’s ed. courses, Helldiver. A Fast Recon Vehicle “FRV” will now appear in the colonies, ready to plow through the Illuminate at high speed.
Keep following the Major Orders issued by Super Earth High Command and you will get the keys to your very own FRV–a brand new, top-of-the-line manual transmission reconnaissance and combat vehicle. The whole squad can ride together, and your passengers can even lean out of the windows to lay down some suppressive fire as you shift gears and speed to your next destination. Just one question left: Who’s driving?
There’s more to discover yet, and we can’t wait to get you back into the fight.
The newest major update for Helldivers II, “Omens of Tyranny,” featuring the return of the Illuminate faction, is now live! High Command has ordered all Helldivers to report to their Super Destroyers—it’s time to give these squids hell.
Introducing DualSense Wireless Controller – Helldivers II Limited Edition
Eliminate bugs, bots and squids with the Super Earth Ministry of Defense’s sleek new DualSense Wireless Controller – Helldivers II Limited Edition, sporting the iconic yellow and black armor paint scheme.
The DualSense Wireless Controller – Helldivers II Limited Edition will be available in limited quantities for $84.99 / €84.99 / £74.99. Pre-orders start on December 20, 2024 at participating retailers, with launch on February 6, 2025. The exact launch date and availability for the controller may vary by country/region.
Starting Friday, December 20 at 10:00 a.m. ET in the U.S. and 10:00 a.m. local time in the U.K., France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Portugal, players will be able to pre-order the DualSense Wireless Controller – Helldivers II Limited Edition exclusively through direct.playstation.com.
Watch a new set of trailers below.