There is currently a very funny, kind of sad dust-up over Helldivers 2, in which self-proclaimed “anti-woke” gamers have previously heralded it as a rare game where they believe “politics” does not play a factor. Their faith was been shaken by an Arrowhead community manager they believed they found to be (gasp) progressive who was then subsequently harassed, but their head-scratching reading of Helldivers 2 as a “non-political” game is worth examining.
The only thing that makes sense is that these players have the shallowest of surface-level readings of the game. You are a patriotic soldier serving Super Earth. You must kill bugs and evil robots trying to hurt your brothers-in-arms and innocent citizens. There are no storylines to insert progressive causes into, everyone wears helmets so no “forced diversity.” Therefore, no politics.
Of course, this is…wildly off the mark, as Helldivers 2 is about the most blatantly obvious satire of militaristic fascism since the film that inspired it, Starship Troopers.
I mean, the game is really on the nose with its parodic elements, how could they possibly not see that? Just talk to the supply officer ladies in the back part of the ship.
They are full of gems like “the bot society is wholly built on war. If they ever won they wouldnt know what to do“ (paraphrased), or the ministry of truth which ensures all citizens are properly
indoctrinatedinformed, or the ministry of economy which makes sure resources flow to the “most deserving”.Because actual fascists are hearing shit they agree with. Yes, it’s over the top, but they’re also too stupid to understand satire. If they had the critical thinking skills to realize they were being made fun of, they wouldn’t be fascist in the first place. A fun little catch 22.
And the loading screen tip (I think?) saying that the bots are socialists
Poe’s law
Doesn’t really apply outside of text. It’s entire tone of the cutscenes is very blatantly satirical