When comparing HELLDIVERS vs Borderlands 2, the Slant community recommends HELLDIVERS for most people. In the question“What are the best LAN party PC games?” HELLDIVERS is ranked 42nd while Borderlands 2 is ranked 91st. The most important reason people chose HELLDIVERS is:
The whole game can be played in local or online co-op with up to three other players. Each stage is procedurally generated and feature certain objectives that need completed. Of course, the objectives need executed while hordes of enemies swarm you. This is what makes for the intense action as there are so many enemies to be found coming at you at all times, add in extra players and the action becomes quite turbulent thanks to the friendly fire mechanic. There is no way to turn off friendly fire which means everyone who is going in guns blazing may upset the other players meaning everyone will need to keep a close eye on all of the action taking place in order to succeed.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Intense co-op play
The whole game can be played in local or online co-op with up to three other players. Each stage is procedurally generated and feature certain objectives that need completed.
Of course, the objectives need executed while hordes of enemies swarm you. This is what makes for the intense action as there are so many enemies to be found coming at you at all times, add in extra players and the action becomes quite turbulent thanks to the friendly fire mechanic. There is no way to turn off friendly fire which means everyone who is going in guns blazing may upset the other players meaning everyone will need to keep a close eye on all of the action taking place in order to succeed.
Pro The scoring system greatly encourages teamwork
When playing co-op, once a level is completed there will be a score rewarded to the players. Luckily this score is not based off of kills, which means players can focus more on objectives instead of going lone wolf for kills. the scoring allows for more teamwork to happen, which is great as that is what co-op should be geared more towards, cooperation.
Pro Enemies go all out during extractions
At the end of each stage the player/players must order an extraction vehicle. Once called the players must ward off an onslaught of enemies for 90 seconds. Only one player needs to get on the extraction vehicle, which means all out mayhem as each player can just start unleashing their most devastating weapons. This is quite a fun part of the game as each player can just go all out.
Pro Requires more tactics over other twin stick shooters
Ammo is limited in the game, meaning the player needs to make each shot count. On top of this, where an enemy is hit matters as well, so center mass is the best place to shoot them, of course this is not always easy. Due to the fact that ammo is limited and placement of shots matter it is up to the player to try and figure out the best methods for not running out of ammo and shooting each creature. This requires patience and planning, something that is often missing from run of the mill twin stick shooters.
Pro Heavily influenced by the film Starship Troopers
The main story of the game plays out a lot like the theme in Starship Troopers, where the world is united in exterminating an alien race on other planets. The humor found in the movie as well as the action are to be found in this game as well, which is all a bit over the top but all in fun, of which the game is. So for all of those that are fans of Starship Troopers, this game should offer a bit of nostalgia for them.
Pro Actual couch co-op that can also be played online
Those playing on local split-screen can play online with others at the same time. This way even if playing locally with a friend, both can experience online play on the same machine and screen.
Pro Complimentary classes that are great for teamwork based co-op
The varying classes and play styles are designed to work together and promote co-op play. One player may be a tank, with large guns and durable shields, while another may have medic abilities and a long-range sniper rifle. This makes for a scenario where each class compliments each other, which is a fun way to play together.
Pro Cl4p-trap for the win <3
Clap trap <3
Pro So much loot, that you will barely see any twice
Borderlands 2 makes it feel like Christmas every time you kill an enemy or open a chest. Whether it's ammo or health or a new and better weapon, whatever you find will reward your curiosity and pique your appetite for more. The potential to find the best loot in the most humble locations makes killing enemies and finding chests incredibly exciting and satisfying. While many loot-based games succeed due to this mechanic, Borderlands 2 surpasses the competition by delivering randomized goodies with unique appearances and stats.
The guns and items in Borderlands 2 have distinct visual features depending on their attributes. For example, a gun with a melee attack bonus might have a blade on it. The customization goes beyond pallet swapping (where the only difference is the color), which leads players to become much more attached to their guns than a bunch of polygons should make them.
You will also find tons and tons of different types of guns. Six different types of guns exist in the game. Each gun can be made by one of eight different manufacturers. Each gun is also made of five additional parts. All of which are generated randomly. With the many millions of combinations available, you never know what attributes the next gun you will find will have. This also gives a slightly different experience to each playthrough, because it’s entirely unpredictable what weapons you will find and when.
Pro Contains fun low-brow humor that can still be serious when it needs to be
Despite being an in-your-face action game with an ostensibly serious plot, Borderlands 2 features a fun-loving sense of humor. This is exaggerated in the sidequests, which feature some of the funniest and most creative writing. This helps the player dive into the main plot while also having the choice to go on sidequests that offer an expanded sense of humor.
The humor is often based on popular memes or lowbrow concepts, which should appeal to a wide range of players.
Pro Each playthrough is a different experience
Borderlands 2 is all about options. With near-infinite weapon options and six character classes, you can play the game multiple times and have a different experience each time. The classes have multiple skill trees that let you tweak your character’s moves and abilities to match how you want to play. This all adds up to a gaming experience that is difficult to beat for customizability.
Pro Stylish comic book like art style that breaks from the herd
The solid black outlines and bright colors make this game look great and stand out from other first-person shooters. The artistic style is similar to the art in comics, clean and bright and breaks with the trend of gray and brown in recent FPS video games.
Pro Runs well on low-spec hardware
It even runs well on a core2duo from 2007, and the comic look is timeless without looking outdated.
Cons
Con Things can get a bit repetitive
After a while of playing the game, it can all seem a bit "samey" in that really all you are doing is the same tasks over and over again. the repetitiveness of the game can get frustrating after a while leading to the game being ignored.
Con Joining co-op can be a pain
There is no way for everyone to just jump into a game, one player needs to host and then the others can be invited, but of course they already need to be on the players friend list, which may not always be the case which means more work to get everything together. A more seamless experience would be nice to see but sadly that is not how the co-op was designed.
Con Game gets difficult
There are 12 different classifications of difficulty in the game, as you progress the game gets a lot more difficult going all the way up to the twelfth difficulty. For some this may be too difficult and will end in frustration, so for those not looking for a challenge, this game may not be for them.
Con Gameplay can become repetitive
The best strategy is often to run away, take cover, shoot, and repeat. The AI doesn't do much to pursue you, which gives the player a significant advantage and makes patience vital. It can also lead to long firefights with little actual danger – a recipe for boredom.
Con Boring bulletsponge enemies
A lot of the enemies, and especially bosses, are just bulletsponges that require no different tactics in place to beat them.
Con There is little actual cooperation between players
Most of the "cooperation" in Borderlands 2 is limited to shooting the same mob. There are almost no skills or perks that integrate with other characters in a meaningful way (there are a few stat bonuses, but that's pretty much it).
Con Tedious to check gun stats
Being forced to check the stats on each gun you find in order to be able to compare it to the items already in your inventory can become tedious.
Con Limited visual customization of characters
For a game that is full of choices, Borderlands 2 is somehow lacking in visual customization options for the player’s character. There is no way to customize the characters’ faces or body styles; for the most part all that can be changed is the color of their outfit. This can lead to online games full of identical characters, which is not only confusing but also makes it difficult to feel any sort of pride or ownership over your character.
Con Unbalanced enemies
Whether by bugs or by poor design, you may be fighting weak minions at one moment and an enemy that's stronger than the final boss at the other, Crystalisks are almost immune to DLCs characters due to bugs, Pyrotrashers can instakill players just by spawning, the second boss represents a huge difficulty spike right at the beginning, some mini-bosses like Saturn can easily down the player in half the time that the final boss while having roughly the same HP.
Con More tedious with each run
Each time you try to play again in a new difficulty the game becomes even more grindy, slow and brutal.
After the first playthrough a lot of strategies and builds become useless and after the second one only the most OP synergies and builds have a chance to survive, so get ready to search up in google and grind for the most OP stuff you can find.
Con Overrated
It gets old doing the same thing over and over.
Con NPC always talk in the background or HUD
You can't have a funny conversation or nice conversation with your friend, you need to listen to a NPC scream, cry, rant on your ears all along.
Con Tons of jokes just don't land
Yes there are some good jokes that could make you laugh, but you need to hear 150 unfunny forced jokes to get there.
Con Potential lost loot due to sharing
Loot isn't reserved for each individual player when playing co-op, meaning the first person to get to the loot can take as much of it as they want. This can lead to contention between co-op players, which defeats the purpose of cooperative play.