In the golden days of tabletop RPGs, the games were run by someone known as a Game Master or Dungeon Master. His role was to design and then administrate a campaign for the players. This was a thankless job, he/she was often hated and made the butt of many jokes.
Then came the computer RPG and gaming in general. The “Game Master” became a preset group of variables the game design created, and the game was basically on auto pilot from there.
This has allowed for some great games, but to the actual player, the world can often end up feeling limited, not truly alive. The reason for this was that a “Game Master” is more than someone that makes a game and walks you through it. They would make changes on the fly, adapting to what the players did. This could involve throwing the players a softball if they became overwhelmed, or an inside curve when they needed the challenge taken up a notch. They made the game world come to life as it adapted and changed as the players interacted and not in a limited way.
So, with Game Mastering seeming to be limited to the world of Tabletop gaming or a few specialty computer games, the arrival of Helldivers 2 has been a breath of fresh air.
If you have been living under a rock, Helldivers 2, is a coop shooter that takes place in a fictional universe. Humanity is at war with everyone, and you need to kill them all. The premise of the game is simple and clean. It borrows heavily from the Starship Troopers Movies as well as the game Warzone.
However, what makes Helldivers 2 truly unique is a special feature known as Joel. Joel is one or maybe more than one person that has taken the responsibility of being Helldivers 2 Gamemaster. He does this BTW with the old meaning of the role. It seems like almost daily, Joel is tweaking things, throwing players curves to make the game work feel alive, and reactive to their efforts, not pre-scripted. This is an even more impressive feat when you think about how hard a GM had to work for a 5 or 6 player game, not imagine one with 5 or 6 HUNDRED THOUSAND or even more.
To be fair to the devs at Arrowhead Gaming Studios, they have more than a few people involved. They are actively leaning into the fiction of their world and engaging with their customer base from this perspective. The effect is amazing for an old school gamer like me to watch. A shooter that is in the end not that complex of a game, has an RPG feel that brings back memories of tabletop gaming.
I am not and never have been a big shooter fan so when my friends started asking me to play, I was skeptical. However, after a few hours I was hooked. The Devs direct interaction and the easy game play, combined with the crazy constant action and adrenaline rush has made this game a lot of fun.
This is a coop game, so no direct PVP. This might change but personally I hope not. The game play now is solid and PVPO always throws strange balance issues into game play. The coop allows for PUG play, but I have found that experience hit and miss, as with most PUG gaming, Helldivers 2 is for sure a much better game with friends.
For me the real feature of the game is the active participation of the Game Master and the rest of the devs. It takes this game to another level for an old RPGer like me. This is a lesson other devs should be paying attention to. The game’s depth and complexity can be hugely amplified by active changes to the game as the players effect the universe.
The key now is how long this holds out. The game is still new and fresh, so the constant tweaks and interaction makes things feel alive. How long, however, can the devs and (Sony) keep this going? How long before they tire, the player base tires or the devs financially move in other directions?
For right now however, I salute you Joel, the master of the Helldivers universe. You are doing great work, and I cannot wait to see what curveball you throw at us players next. Thank you, Arrowhead, for bringing the role of Game Master back to gaming in a big way.
The articles content, opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in SAPPHIRE NATION are the authors’ own and do not necessarily represent official policy or position of SAPPHIRE Technology.
