Twin-stick shooter Helldivers gets free weekend and difficulty upgrade

Helldivers, the twin-stick shooter from Magicka creators Arrowhead, is free to play this weekend on Steam, and has just received a major update that adds ultra-hard difficulty levels and tough new enemies.

It's free until tomorrow 10am PST/1pm ET/5pm GMT (the clocks go back in the UK overnight tonight—don't forget!), and if you like what you see, it's on sale for $9.99/£7.99, which is close to its lowest ever price.

If you were a Magicka fan, it might be worth checking out, and the new update offers something for returning players, too. You can now play on three new difficulty levels: An Exercise in Futility (lvl13), The Definition of Insanity (lvl14), and the Inner Circle of Hell (lvl15), which all sound equally horrible.

You'll fight against three new challenging foes, including Shadow, a hunter that can camouflage itself and release spores that lure other enemies to the area. You'll also get your hands on the new MGX-42 Machinegun, a one-use weapon that you chuck away after spewing out its 300 rounds. 

You can check out a gif of the weapon in action below, and click here for more details on the update.

Samuel Horti

Samuel Horti is a long-time freelance writer for PC Gamer based in the UK, who loves RPGs and making long lists of games he'll never have time to play. 

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