Recent reviews by insanitycentral

Fun silly game, the two biggest issues I had playing were that others would get kicked just before the end of a game for network error, and the other issue being not enough cheeks to spank. There is a progression, and can confirm that the 'loot boxes' are not micro-transactions, all earned in-game. You're also able to get a currency (again, free in-game from playing) to be able to buy specific cosmetics that you want.


Game is early access in the sense that

Feedback for the Devs: I would allow the option for host to be able to choose what the next game is, or allow host to set a vote option in menu between the lobby area and loading the next map. Random is nice, but even when not changing host, getting the same mode 3 times in a row is a bit frustrating when you're trying to see what all the game has to offer, or if friends you end up playing with.

I'm sure it's made to prioritize lower latency, but with the small current playerbase (SteamDB shows an all-time peak of 61) then you may want to have matchmaking span further out sooner in the 'matchmaking' process (which isn't unbearable, thanks to having a lobby to run around and spank-while-you-wait.)

Edit: As of May 5th at 11PM Central, Sony has tweeted that they will not make PSNs a requirement. However, since the announcement on May 3rd, Steam (either by their own decision, or likely from Arrowhead/Sony request) had updated the Store to not allow players in non-PSN regions be able to play the game.

My review will stay negative, and game uninstalled until either the store change is reverted (preferred option) or every single person who's locked out of their game is fully refunded, including any purchases of in-game currency.

Once the Studio and Publisher have made right with things, I will change my review to positive, but I will not remove any words from this review. I have slim (even for my optimist self) hopes that this review, and others like it, will be a reminder to Sony, Arrowhead, and every Studio and Publisher to not make poor decisions. The lesson isn't "don't get caught", the lesson is "don't be a piece of crap, and actually communicate with your players"

I do enjoy the game, genuinely, and I certainly was looking forward to more content and to experience a fun experience and story through a good live service game.


Though the business side of Arrowhead seems to be at fault for agreeing to the PSN account requirement as part of their publishing contract with Sony, this still falls on the 'community management' side of Arrowhead as well for the poor communication of this.


Under no part of the Helldivers 2 EULA (https://store.steampowered.com/eula/553850_eula_0) am I able to find any wording related to this 'requirement' when I searched the terms: "account","require", or "must". When I search (and found) the term "Playstation", 4 of the 6 results are identifying the various company entities that you're agreeing to the terms under, 1 of 6 is that use of software falls under their privacy policy, and the final is steps for opting out of arbitration.

I'm not a lawyer, and not claiming to be, though if the game's EULA doesn't specify that account creation on Sony's PSN network is a requirement as part of the licensing of this software, then I don't quite understand how Arrowhead or Sony can claim otherwise.


Yes, even if you look through internet archives of the game's store page (at least when it's not blocked by an error from age verification), there is an indicator on Steam of this 'requirement'.
I see this more as a good attempt from Steam to highlight this 'requirement'.
It's literally one of the few Orange/yellow things on a very blue, white, and grey screen.
Only thing more they could've done is add a popup at time of adding it to cart to notify each consumer.


That seems more effort than I had from Arrowhead, including in-game prompts.

Steam's effort to notify players of this 'requirement' is more than I found when joining Arrowhead's official discord yesterday and searched "PSN" in their announcements channel (which either hasn't been utilized since 4/15 or they've deleted anything more recent than that).

When searching "PSN" in the list of News posts and updates from Arrowhead, on Steam, I only find the term twice. As footnotes of "Legal disclosure" ramble for only 2 news and update posts of 29 total. (January 9th, and January 16th.)

I do have a PSN account, but it's an older one that I have done nothing more than change the password on, multiple times, because Sony has shown that they can't reasonably protect information they store on their servers.

Even Sony's own Privacy Policy on their website (https://www.playstation.com/en-us/legal/privacy-policy/ Security and Retention) includes "...we cannot ensure or warrant the security of such information." We as consumers should not have an expectation of Sony protecting any information they're hoping to get out of linking these accounts. They are correct in stating "There is no such thing as perfect security", but having data breaches every 2 years is not encouraging.


I don't actively use Twitter because my own personal reasons, so if Arrowhead has solely put out any information on that platform, I wouldn't have seen it.

I don't use Reddit for my own personal reasons, So if this was something that Arrowhead addressed or answered any questions or concerns there, I wouldn't have seen it.

I saw this 'update' the same as any player on Steam did, as a slap in the face, in the form of a news announcement.
A rug pull, for players/consumers that aren't allowed to make PSN accounts due to where they live.
A cash-grab for Sony, to try and earn money from player's data.


This change being announced as 'protecting' players and 'upholding safety and security' seems farcical given who Arrowhead is handing the keys over to. If Arrowhead's intention was to hand off in-game moderation to Sony, to lessen their burden as a Game Studio, I understand. However, your lack of communication and transparency on the matter is what makes these players/consumers feeling of betrayal, valid.

In addition to this negative review, as a form of protest, I will also be uninstalling until a reasonable correction is made. I may not be directly affected by this 'update', but I can't in good conscience support a game studio using their publisher as a patsy for their failure to communicate with their player-base.


EDIT TLDNR: Sony said (not did, yet) that they wouldn't proceed with the PSN requirement. Though because of the whole debacle, there are now players that are locked out of the game in Steam because country restrictions were added after the fact. Review stays negative until these players are allowed to play or they are all granted 100% game and micro-transaction refunds.

TLDNR:
Sony, you're not worth trusting with data. Your history of breaches either emphasizes either how easy of a target you are for others, or you collect enough info to be an enticing enough target.
Arrowhead, not only is this a crappy move, your 'community managers' behavior towards players expressing their distaste for this change is unacceptable.
Your game can be good as you want, but it means nothing if you're only trying to manage your community, not care for them.

Short, challenging (for both puzzles and for final level). greatart, fantastic music. Definitely would've been worth a few bucks.