Dedicated spreaders of Managed Democracy have started to report sightings of new flying Terminid bugs – possibly called “Shriekers” – but these reports have sparked a rapid pushback from Arrowhead’s CEO Johan Pilestedt, who has branded those players as “bug sympathizers”.
If members of the Helldivers subreddit are to be believed, there’s a new type of flying Terminid enemy in Helldivers 2, with user Projectpatdc sharing a rather surprising encounter, alongside other sightings by user Litnos.
Bringing official word from Super Earth, Arrowhead’s boss PIlestedt took to Twitter to say, “I’ve heard rumors of flying bugs in Helldivers 2. I want to officially refute such preposterous claims. Everyone knows that ‘Bugs can’t fly.’ And I’m not alone in thinking this. The Ministry of Truth agrees that this is propaganda from bug sympathizers that want to brainwash good people.”
So who are you going to believe?
One thing is for certain, though, and that’s the fact that flying enemies appear on the cover artwork for Helldivers 2. Just look to the background and you can see bugs with wings!
All of this ties into the canny way that Arrowhead has managed their game (since resolving the first few weeks of server meltdowns). There have been certain announcements from Arrowhead, such as that of the new Warbond battle pass that will be added to the game tomorrow, and there’s always patch notes to go with game updates, but they don’t tell the whole story.
There’s a jovial kind of secrecy, as certain things are hinted at or leaked ahead of time, such as in the run up to the big stompy mech suit that was unlocked last week after players successfully liberated a particular planet. Flying bugs are appearing right around the time that players have been charged with activating Terminid Control Towers that are supposedly intended to release toxic pesticides on a planetary scale to wipe them out.
What if that’s actually mutating the bugs, though?
Helldivers 2 has been one of the must-play games of the start of 2024, if you have a PS5 or gaming PC. In our Helldivers 2 review, I said, “A naked shower scene away from being an official Starship Troopers game, Helldivers 2 is gloriously daft fun when you can get a group of friends together to play. It’s just a shame about the matchmaking and crash bugs at launch.”
