Helldivers 2 dev says melee weapons are a 'plausible' addition but they won't be Star Wars lightsabers: 'we don't want to be Fortnite'
Helldivers 2 has emerged as one of the year's standout titles, not least because it's been supported post-launch in a highly unusual fashion. The distinctive element is that developer Arrowhead clearly prepared to go full-bore on the game's promise of an unfolding galactic war by having a whole bunch of significant additions and assets ready to go.
These are sometimes deployed 'secretly' into the game for certain players to discover before appearing for everyone, while sometimes their arrival is more expected, but the effect is that a fairly straightforward third-person shooting game (not a criticism) has and continues to show the capacity to surprise. Since launch Helldivers 2 has added enormous pilotable mechs (after their factories were liberated, of course), various new weapons, and of course the flying bugs that definitely didn't exist. Next? Who knows, but one thing is a widespread ask among players: melee weapons.
Helldivers 2 does have a melee attack and, though it can be useful against bugs in particular, it's more of a last resort than a major offensive element. But there are melee weapons visible in some of the promotional art, the original Helldivers included rifles with bayonets alongside energised sabers, and so over on the official Discord some players have been putting the question to Arrowhead (thanks, GR+). What's going on?
Community manager Twinbeard responded to the query. «What happened? Well, it's been a month, not a year [since devs mentioned melee]. It might still happen. As you know, we've been fairly busy the past month. Melee is still branded 'plausible'.»
Obviously democracy hath no truer expression than a giant hammer but, when responding to another question about potential crossovers, Arrowhead made it clear that players won't be spinning around like Yoda.
«We look at them with interest but also with a very large respect for the game fantasy and lore,» says Twinbeard. «As a couple of examples: Melee weapons could be plausible in
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