Helldivers 2 players return to site of their greatest defeat, as a new Major Order demands the liberation of Malevelon Creek

helldivers 2
(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)

In late February, Helldivers 2 players suffered their greatest defeat so far in the game's simulated Galactic War, as the community's favourite planet Malevelon Creek fell to synthetic armies of the Automaton faction. Now, players are flocking back to the celestial heart of the game, as a new Major Order demands democracy be returned to the steamy, perpetually twilit jungle world.

"Several weeks ago, our citizens watched in horror as Malevelon Creek fell to the Automatons," begins the order, before honouring the "millions of valiant heroes" who perished attempting to defend, and scorning the Automatons who have since been plundering the planet's "exceptionally rich" rhodium deposits. "This travesty will be allowed to continue no longer," the order continues. "Take vengeance for the fallen. Honour our heroes. End the theft of valuable minerals. Liberate Malevelon.

Malevelon has been the community's favourite planet pretty much since Helldivers 2 launched, quickly garnering affection for its dusky 'Nam vibes.  Players who fought on Malevelon even gained their own moniker, referred to by the rest of the community as 'Creek Crawlers'. After the planet's defence mission failed, with the war's focus shifting elsewhere, Creek Crawlers doggedly kept fighting, aiming to retake control of the world from the robot menace.

Now, it appears the Creek Crawlers' faith has been rewarded. When I started writing this, Malevelon Creek stood at. at 90.8% liberated. When I finished, it was at 91.2%, which is impressively fast by Helldivers 2 standards. Having just failed to liberate another Automaton-controlled planet—Tibit—seizing the Creek would be just the morale boost Super Earth needs.

The fervour over Malevelon Creek is a testament to how exciting Helldivers 2's approach to live-service gaming is. Indeed, barely a day goes by without something fascinating happening in the game at the moment. Developer Arrowhead recently introduced Mechs, Quasar Cannons and Heavy Machineguns to players' already extensive roster of weapons, while bug forces have been bolstered by flying Terminids and rumours are swirling about aerial Automaton gunships and snipers from an as-yet unencountered alien race. Moreover, after discovering the game's Galactic War is DM'd by a single guy called Joel, a fake Joel began hacking the game to assist players by dropping unreleased vehicles from the sky.

Contributor
Read more
helldivers 2 urban legends
It was down to the wire, but Helldivers 2 players are celebrating after giving the Illuminate the galactic boot on Calypso (Update: They're back already)
Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 continues its streak of turning missteps into in-game lore: After a major feature was paused for 24 hours, Super Earth says 'nothing out of the ordinary has happened'
Still image from "found footage" of Helldivers 2 game master Joel.
Helldivers 2 game master Joel offers a look back on the first anniversary of the galactic war
Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 galactic war timeline: Every major event that's happened so far
helldivers 2 angel's venture
A black hole just annihilated a beloved Helldivers 2 planet, and now it's on a direct course for Super Earth
Crashing servers, flame wars, and a 60-day path to redemption—the utterly chaotic first year of Helldivers 2 has been a democratic doozy
Latest in Action
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
Monster Hunter Wilds' new gyro controls are a fantastic option for disabled and able-bodied players alike
Commander Shepard in Mass Effect 3.
Mass Effect's Jennifer Hale, who played femshep, 'saw no line' before she recorded them for Bioware's flagship trilogy: 'It was all cold reading on the spot'
A hunter hefts a massive Mega Barrel Bomb in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds players can't stop blowing themselves to smithereens with its rollable barrel bombs
A hunter poses with a large hammer as their palico cheers nearby in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds weapon tier list
Naoe looking at the wrist blade in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Ubisoft backflips, says Assassin's Creed Shadows will support Steam Deck at launch, but I doubt I'll actually want to play it there
character creation in Monster Hunter Wilds
The best Monster Hunter Wilds mods
Latest in News
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers
Sony, which is making a Helldivers 2 movie, is also making a new Starship Troopers movie, but it's not based on the Starship Troopers movie we already have
Assassin's Creed meets PUBG
Ubisoft is reportedly talking to Tencent about creating a new business entity to manage Assassin's Creed and other big games
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
'It really truly changed my life in every possible way': Lady Dimitrescu actor says her Resident Evil Village role was just as transformative for her as it was for roughly half the internet in 2021
Storm trooper hero
Another live service shooter is getting shut down, this time before it even launched on Steam
Possibility Space concept art.
Possibility Space owners sue NetEase for $900 million over allegations it spread 'false and defamatory rumors' of fraud at the studio that ultimately forced it to close