Malevelon Creek is burned into the memory of every true Super Earth patriot. Helldivers 2's dingy jungle planet became known as 'Robot Vietnam' as players banded together in their thousands to defend it from a massive Automaton assault. It was the first time the Helldivers 2 community picked up the game's live-service meta-narrative and ran with it, earning themselves the nickname 'Creekers' and a commemorative cape designed by developer Arrowhead to memorialise the event.
Now, the grizzled veterans of the creek are spinning up Hendrix's All Along the Watchtower in their Hellpods' holotape decks, steeling themselves for a return to this infamous battlefield. Having failed Super Earth's most recent major order, the Helldivers are currently being pushed back by the Automaton Incineration Corps—robot units that specialise in dealing fiery death to humanity. According to Arrowhead's most recent in-game update, the next target of the machines is "old industrial assets in the Severin Sector, where the Automatons first emerged."
The Severin Sector just so happens to be where Malevelon Creek is located. Of course, there are several other planets in the sector, so the automatons may not necessarily be marching back to robot Vietnam. But it's the timing, as much as the place, that has players speculating about a revisit to the old frontline.
The first battle for Malevelon Creek occurred in early April last year, which means the event is rapidly approaching its first anniversary. Indeed, when Arrowhead released the commemorative cape, it decreed April 3rd as 'Malevelon Creek Memorial Day'. What better way to recognise the anniversary than with another rumble in the jungle, this time with extra flame weaponry?
THEY'RE HEADING FOR THE CREEK! from r/Helldivers
Over on reddit, the Helldivers 2 community has been pondering when exactly the robotic hammer will drop. "Prediction, Bots invade Malevelon Creek on April 1st" divines one player, figuring the bots will attack on the actual day the Helldivers liberated the planet. Others speculate the bots will attack on memorial day itself. "On Malevelon Creek Day, the bots will begin their invasion to try to avenge their losses in the sector and cripple the morale of the helldivers... But we will stand firm!" declares SuperMarioGlitch64.
Not every Helldiver is thrilled about the notion of going back to Malevelon. "Returning to the Creek would be a terrible idea," writes Impressive_Truth_695, raising the seemingly unkillable spectre of Helldivers 2's difficulty balancing. "The Creek was so memorable because it was so difficult. All the buffs to weapons/stratagems and nerfs to enemies have made the game easy." Certainly, there's a sense that any return to the Creek would have to be pretty special. "Never thought I'd go back there…they better make Malevelon live up to its name… with the Jet Brigade, Incineration Corps, and new enemies" observes KaleidoscopeOwn7161.
Either way, we won't have long to wait until the devious designs of the automatons are revealed. In the meantime, Arrowhead has been making plenty of other revelations about Helldivers 2's remarkable first year. In a recent GDC talk, Helldivers 2's director Johan Pilestedt discussed how the studio was asked by the United Nations to give a talk on psychological manipulation, and explained how he received an abrasive call from PlayStation when he told players to wait to buy the game until its servers were fixed, saying they asked 'what the fuck I'm smoking'.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
