Helldivers II is a PvE game at its core, and while it doesn't encourage PvP elements, it does allow them somewhat in the friendly fire you can deal to your teammates. Whether it's showering the evacuation ship in a field of mines or just punting someone so hard they go flying off a cliff, there are a lot of ways to ensure you need to reinforce your teammates earlier than anticipated.
Friendly fire can be fun, but some do find it controversial, as it can be used for trolling pretty easily. Unfortunately, if you're not a fan of this feature, it's not going away anytime soon. Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Johan Pilestedt said that the feature is intrinsic to the game's believability.
"The most important thing when we make games is believability. Things should be consistent in the game world and therefore, we must have friendly fire," he told PlayStation. "If your bullets can kill enemies, and the enemies can kill you, then logic dictates that your bullets must also be able to kill your friends. This kind of design is inherently systematic, where we create a rule set that applies to everything in the game world, with minor exceptions."
"What this does, and maybe most clearly noted by friendly fire, is create a complexity to the gameplay where players have to actively think during combat sequences - not in a "solve the puzzle" way but instead in a very primal creative problem solving way. Also, the chuckles that happen when you accidentally carpet bomb your friends allows for a playfulness that in reality would be a tragedy - but within the self bounds of games we can explore the dark humour of these situations. And finally,, the friendly fire element makes the players a true interactable part of the game world that plays a great part in positioning and helps with team play."
Do you agree with Pilestedt?