One missing Helldivers 2 faction from the original 2015 title appears to be about to drop into the sequel amid its runaway success this month, with players convinced a secret broadcast is teasing that they are about to arrive.
After the Automaton front saw a sudden expansion in the wake of a fresh assault by the mechanized faction, keen-eyed players spotted an interesting headline tucked away in the news ticker of an in-game broadcast. While the main report focused on Super Earth’s response to the Automatons, the headline in question reads, “Rumors of Illuminate sightings are work of dissidents.” It’s one of the only mentions of The Illuminate—one of the major enemies in Arrowhead Game Studios’ original title— in Helldivers 2 but the fact they’ve been mentioned at all suggests the alien civilization could still find their way onto the star chart in the future.
While the Ministry of Truth may want to suppress the reports of Illuminate sightings, that’s no guarantee they aren’t without merit. For Helldivers who thought missions against the Automatons could get difficult, the prospect of The Illuminate’s return yields even greater levels of danger. In the original title, The Illuminate had units capable of teleportation, shield generation and even cloaking, all of which has the potential to be even deadlier when making the transition to Helldivers 2‘s third-person gameplay compared to 2015’s top-down experience.
The return of The Illuminate to Helldivers 2 could also be in a form separate from their original incarnation. While they share many similarities, the Automatons are an evolution of Helldivers‘ Cyborgs better suited for the new genre. Arrowhead could choose to do something like that with The Illuminate if they are planning to add them.
Nothing is certain for now, of course. However, the mention of them does offer a glimmer of hope for veteran fans of the franchise that one of the toughest enemies hasn’t been forgotten. A quick glance at the star map even shows plenty of room away from the Automaton and Terminid fronts for additional factions like The Illuminate to be added in later content updates.
Helldivers 2’s massive launch has already prompted Arrowhead to expand on its previously planned content roadmap, making such a major future addition all the more possible. “New threats” were even listed as one of the mysterious items players were told to look out for as the developer expands the universe.
For now, there’s still plenty to be done against the enemies of Super Earth in Helldivers 2. Today, a Major Order is still in place to fend off the Automaton threat (that is, if you’re able to log in through the game’s struggles with server capacity issues).
