Helldivers 2 Is Frustratingly Unstable and Buggy

[poetic_justice_]

Despite updating the game, Helldivers 2 is unstable and crashes frequently. Loading screens (especially dropping in the Hellpods) get stuck, and force restarts. If multiple players join a match simultaneously, one player can become stuck in the defrost pod and unable to join the group until the 30-second Hellpod timer times out. One of the biggest frustrations is clearing a difficult mission with a good team, only to have the screen go black and the progress wheels spin endlessly when the team is extracting to the main ship. Fortunately, I did not lose samples, but I lost connection with good players before adding them as friends (yes, I know about the 'Recent Players' feature). Considering the game was published by Sony themselves, I am surprised at how unstable it is.

 

Numerous trophies also have bugs. Helldivers 2 does a lot of things right, and when it works, it is very fun. However, it still has a ways to go in terms of optimization and server support for PS5 players.

[x49ersblitzkreig]

If that is how it is then I wonder if they ever make a PS4 release how buggy that will be.

 

(Yes ik that they don't plan on a PS4 release but I can still hope they change their minds)

[FocusDR]

I bought the game late and it was performing very well for me. Up until maybe 3 days ago. I’ve had 7 crashes today and I’ve been online for 7 hours (god that’s embarrassing typing that out haha) 

 

getting very annoyed now. It’s a shame because I LOVE this game. 

[poetic_justice_]

On 2/27/2024 at 4:05 PM, x49ersblitzkreig said:

 I wonder if they ever make a PS4 release how buggy that will be.

 

(Yes ik that they don't plan on a PS4 release but I can still hope they change their minds)

One reason I do not believe Arrowhead will make a PS4 release is because the game occasionally uses peer-to-peer support; one player's PC or console functions as the "server" for everyone playing. With dozens of bugs, explosions, bullets, and body parts flying everywhere simultaneously, I don't think the PS4's processor could handle the load. Arrowhead is trying to get more dedicated servers running for the game, but looking at the overall life cycle of current-gen consoles, we are already halfway through the PS5's "life". Looking forward, Arrowhead is most likely more concerned about keeping Helldivers 2 alive into the next-gen PS6 cycle rather than making it backwards compatible with the PS4. This is only my personal opinion on the matter, and perhaps you are right to have hope. However, seeing how EA handled BF2042 (PS4 version is not cross-gen compatible with PS5), I suspect it will be the same for Helldivers 2.

 

 

13 hours ago, FocusDR said:

I bought the game late and it was performing very well for me. Up until maybe 3 days ago. I’ve had 7 crashes today and I’ve been online for 7 hours (god that’s embarrassing typing that out haha) 

 

getting very annoyed now. It’s a shame because I LOVE this game. 

Yeah, averaging one crash every 1-2 hours has been common for me from the outset. At least the game stopped dropping to 2 FPS resolution when I became host.

[EightBitArtist]

ive never had a straight crash. ive been on a infinite loading screen a few times, but thats about it.

 

if you think the game is buggy though, have you tried fighting some of the automatons instead? 

Edited February 29 by EightBitArtist

[ThatDrunkGuy]

I'm glad it's PS5 only, and hope more games follow suit.

 

Just loaded up for the first time with a buddy tonight, and it was a great experience. I was a bit worried based on what I read here and there. We had zero crashes or other issues, and connected to full teams through quickplay with no wait. Was there a recent patch or server fix, or was I just lucky?

 

Fun game, and I love that you can turn up the volume to 11!  Hahaha, old school joke in there. I thought I'd miss the top-down from the first game, but 3rd person makes it a bit more intense. 

[Wicked--JD]

During my platinum run of this game (Game time about 20 hours.)

 

I only encountered 1 bug.

During 1 mission with Automatons I was completely locked out of doing any actions

- Couldn't fire my guns.

- Couldn't call in Strategems.

- Couldn't throw grenades.

- Couldn't melee.

I had to rely completely on my teammates to finish the mission.

 

During the other 99 missions I did, I encountered 0 bugs/crahses/unstable moments.

[poetic_justice_]

Speaking with other PC and PS5 players in Helldiver 2 matches, there is a range of experiences with Helldivers 2's stability. Some players have the good fortune to avoid crashes altogether while others deal with them frequently. My PC friends stated they have had more issues than I have. The unexpected popularity after launch overwhelmed Arrowhead's servers, which initially forced the studio to use peer to peer hosting for some matches. It has been almost four weeks since that time. Numerous patches and the increase of server support have helped stabilize online matches, but despite the three positive experiences listed here (one of which was a single session), calling Helldivers 2 "completely stable" at this point is premature. As of this time, HD2 is on version 1.000.013 and I experienced another two crashes last night. In one instance, the host crashed and the remaining three of us were unable to move, redeploy, or continue without restarting the game. In the second instance, only my game crashed and my friends were able to reinvite me to the match after I restarted the game. In another match this evening, I spawned and had no strategems I could deploy. Another teammate had the same experience. After death and redeploying, he was able to access his stratagems. I did not die that match, so I don't know if this would have resolved the issue.

 

I am glad the three other people here have not experienced these problems, and hope new players are not plagued by technical issues. However, as an FYI to the PSNP community, Helldivers 2 does have technical issues and there is a chance you could be affected by them. 

[ThatDrunkGuy]

That's a bummer, but good to hear they are fixing and patching often. I ended up behind an invisible wall twice tonight...lol once while on the ship where I had to leave and come back(me and a buddy joined another at the same time and I got stuck). The other one was against a wall when an orbital dropped, had to cook a grenade to respawn.

[RAGEKlTTEN]

Yesterday, I entered the ship to extract and despite having moved inside it, a charger managed to kick me, my screen flashed black, and suddenly I had been transported to who knows where but I was “outside the combat area.” The ship left. Tons of samples, including pink, lost. 40 minutes mostly wasted. Was not happy. 
 

Not to mention the number of times I get stuck in the ground or stuck between objects. The only way to get free is to have someone melee attack me (that’s if I don’t get killed by bugs first). 
 

I constantly have issues getting into my friends’ ships. Lobbies become bugged wherein if someone leaves, no one can make it in to fill that slot.

 

I also constantly encounter an issue where after being reinforced either my primary or secondary weapon will be inaccessible.

 

It’s infuriating to be reinforced in a safe spot only to have 3 chargers randomly appear when you step out of the pod and being ragdolled left and right because you don’t even have the opportunity to stand up.

 

Then there is the input delay… that really tilts me. I shouldn’t have to hit reload 3 times for the game to finally listen. Same with stims sometimes.

 

I agree, when the game is functioning smooth, it can be fun with a good group. But I find it incredibly frustrating most of the time due to all of the issues. Shame, I had really expected to fully enjoy this game, but I’m at a point where I will be glad to have the plat and be done with it.

Edited March 4 by RAGEKlTTEN

[AgentSmiz]

Had no crashes or anything big but have had a couple of "stuck in the geometry" styles glitches. Mostly involving Bile Titans, strangely enough. Three reinforcement pods all going to the same spot (right through the titan) was always asking for trouble in one way or another. Managed to either crawl or get knocked out of these.

Does seem to be a "your milage may vary" problem as not everyone is affected in the same way. Good news is that the devs are really quick on getting patches and fixes done, for a studio of their size. Hopefully it gets to the point where everyone has a mostly bug free or very minor issue experience because this game is honestly some of the most frenzied fun I've had for a while.

I'm a little bit more tolerant of bugs in a game like this - a unexpected massive hit from a small studio - than I am with there still being some major ones in GTA Online.

 

[poetic_justice_]

UPDATE Version 1.000.201.6782

 

With the latest patch, the game has again become unstable. I understand players want to protect Arrowhead as the underdog, the small studio that developed an unexpectedly massive game. However, this newest patch broke more than it fixed. For those inclined to attack me personally, keep in mind this is not about the isolated experience of one person. This instability is affecting many others.

 

Yesterday, upon extracting with four people, our fourth player was unexpectedly dropped during the final "Pelican-1 returning to ship" cutscene. Despite completing the mission and extracting, because of the crash, he received nothing. The final tally scene only showed three Helldivers extracting and gave the trio full credit with five stars. 

 

During missions, players are being dropped or have their games crash during critical battles. Sometimes they are able to rejoin the mission, but many times they cannot. This is particularly frustrating during the second and third missions of a three-mission operation, since dropped players lose any additional medals they would have gained.

 

For me personally, yesterday the game crashed four times in four hours: three times during missions, and once while simply being inside someone else's ship. The last experience was new and particularly troublesome. Unlike missions containing dozens of independently moving assets, the ship bridge interior only contained four players. When the host initiated an FTL jump, the game crashed. The game has never been that unstable.

 

In addition, joining Quickplay after the patch became problematic. Before the patch, joining Quickplay put me in a match within thirty seconds. After the patch, the game searched for over two minutes on multiple attempts without finding a host. Attempting to join partially filled matches with 1/4 or 2/4 players would immediately respond with "The match you are trying to join is full." 

 

Yes, new ranks, icons, and stratagems are great, but those mean little when the main game is unstable and players cannot connect or remain connected.  You know what would matter more to veteran players than a new rank or new Malevelon Creek cape? Game stability. Not being dropped during mission 3. Not having the game constantly reset our weapon loadouts. It is frustrating to save medals for a new weapon, purchase it, equip it, have the game crash, and then deploy on a mission only to find the default combo weaponry Liberator/P-2 Peacemaker/G-12 High Explosive Grenade present. Arrowhead needs to do better.

 

Like thousands of others, I won't stop playing Helldivers 2. At least, not today. However, does game instability concern me? Yes. Did I play Helldivers 2 less than normal because of it? Yes. While Arrowhead is doing many things right, not covering the basics of game stability and player connection made me take a step back. Helldivers 2 released on February 8, 2024. It's been roughly two months since launch, and yesterday the game crashed during an FTL jump with only four players on a ship bridge. This problem wasn't present at launch; it is present now. This is regression, not progression, and it is one way to slowly begin eroding a fan base.

 

 

 

Edited April 8 by poetic_justice_

[DaivRules]

9 minutes ago, poetic_justice_ said:

Helldivers 2 released on February 8, 2024. It's been roughly two months since launch, and yesterday the game crashed during an FTL jump with only four players on a ship bridge. This problem wasn't present at launch; it is present now.

Luckily for most video games, there is an even bigger group of people who don’t play new games within the first months, and generally year, of launch so that all the bugs can get found (and hopefully fixed) by early adopters. That group is waiting for the price drops and signals of stability. 
 

There have been patches, so Arrowhead is clearly trying. It’s not as if they went radio silent at launch and didn’t acknowledge the early stumbles. 
 

Its going to be occasionally rough for another month or two and likely smooth sailing after that. 
 

 

[poetic_justice_]

In my experience (level 66, 135 hours), the game is worth playing in its current buggy, unstable state. When I began this thread after February’s launch, this was the state of the game:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At that time, Helldivers 2 was not worth playing. Since then, the game has significantly improved. Helldivers 2 is worth a gamer’s time if the player is willing to accept that one game out of three will have a game-altering bug and (at a minimum) one game out of ten will disconnect or crash someone in the party.

To be clear, Arrowhead hasn’t just made early stumbles. They continually stumble (like Operation Swift Disassembly in early April 2024). The company apologized for this last week.

 

https://www.gamesradar.com/as-helldivers-2-fans-call-for-bug-fixes-over-new-content-director-apologizes-for-the-sloppy-mistakes-weve-made-as-of-recent-and-knows-we-can-do-better-as-a-studio/

 

Arrowhead’s willingness to admit their mistakes is one reason why the studio has gained the respect and trust of the Helldivers 2 community. Arrowhead CEO Johan Pielstedt admits they are stumbling, though fortunately for players, Arrowhead generally stumbles in a positive direction. What is concerning for me (and others) is Arrowhead’s focus on warbonds, major orders, cosmetics (new ranks, icons, capes, etc.), and tweaking damage has taken precedence over stability. Yes, patches in March-through-early-April brought new weapons/armor/stratagems/modules/etc., but they also took the game backward in allowing players to stay connected online. 

 

https://www.gamesradar.com/helldivers-2-players-say-theyd-give-up-a-warbond-to-give-devs-more-bugfixing-time-but-its-not-that-simple-skipping-a-warbond-is-a-huge-company-decision/

 

https://www.gamesradar.com/helldivers-2-game-master-joel-works-to-fix-inconsistent-liberation-results-but-lacking-in-game-communication-tools-is-the-bigger-problem/

 

Helldivers 2 is a fantastic co-op game and I want it to succeed. Online stability and reliable peer connectivity are crucial to that. New cosmetics, warbonds, and stratagems are great but not essential for online matchmaking, player-to-player communication, or maintaining player connectivity during a three-mission operation.

 

@Daivrules wrote, “Its going to be occasionally rough for another month or two and likely smooth sailing after that.”

 

In February, I thought that Helldivers 2 would be relatively stable by April. Instead, the game went backward to the point where the game crashed with four people during an FTL jump. Over the weekend of April 5-7, the game became so unstable it routinely crashed every second or third mission. This level of instability was not present even at launch when the game ran at 2-5 fps. I don’t expect non-players to understand how disheartening this was, but for Helldiver players, it was a brutal kick in the nuts. Two months after launch, we couldn’t find our friends, and when we finally did, we couldn’t stay connected. The game would crash, costing us everything we’d earned, not just for that one mission, but for all operation progress.

The increased crash rate in early April was directly attributable to Arrowhead issuing the Major Order for “Operation Swift Disassembly”. They did not consider the destabilizing effect their self-imposed bottleneck would create.

 

Most of the player base focused their gameplay on the three planets listed in the Major Order: Tibit, Maia, and Durgen. After the first two planets were liberated, hundreds of thousands of players concurrently attempted missions on the last remaining planet, Durgen. However, Arrowhead could not support this many players at once on a single planet; Arrowhead’s infrastructure could not support the load. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of players experienced crashes multiple times.

 

https://www.gamesradar.com/helldivers-2-devs-actually-expected-a-lot-less-players-to-move-to-the-automaton-front-but-a-full-70-of-the-games-community-was-fighting-the-good-fight/

 

To compound the matter, any planet’s liberation percentage only increased when players completed an entire two- or three-mission operation. Individual missions did not increase liberation. Cumulatively, players spent thousands of wasted hours on incomplete missions because they were dropped from the host on the second or third mission of an operation. This slowed global community progress.

 

Twinbeard, Arrowhead’s community manager on Discord, offered this solution: “Hang in there or perhaps let the game rest for awhile. A hotfix is coming, but not this weekend.” Translation: “We screwed up and don’t know when we will be able to fix it. Maybe stop playing our game during this Major Order since our infrastructure can’t handle the load we placed on it.” 

 

https://www.gamesradar.com/helldivers-2-dev-recommends-letting-the-game-rest-to-fix-frequent-crashes-as-over-230000-divers-fight-to-squash-the-automatons-this-weekend/

 

Does this instill confidence in Arrowhead’s ability to resolve their game’s instability? No. They machine gunned themselves in the foot. Are they trying to resolve the game’s instability? Yes. Do I think Arrowhead will eventually reach a point where 98% of the online matches remain stable and work as intended? Yes. When that will be, though, is unknown. 

Attempting damage control after the misstep of Operation Major Disassembly, Arrowhead released update 1.000.202/6798 on Tuesday, April 9.. Stability improved, but players were now being dropped from missions in new ways. For example, instead of the game crashing, players were unexpectedly teleported alone to the bridge of their ship in the middle of a mission. The game was no longer catastrophically destabilized as often, but players were still disconnected from their mission and their party in-game, creating the same negative result. Finding online friends remained problematic, with mission updates significantly lagging. Inaccurate online statuses continued to be displayed (e.g., friends were playing missions but the game displayed them as offline or in missions they had already completed). Was this a massive improvement? Improvement, yes, but massive improvement, meh. As per previous patches, the game stumbled two steps forward, one step back, and one step sideways.

As of Sunday, April 21, Helldivers 2 updated to release 1.000.203/6883. The game continues to lurch forward, improving overall stability yet simultaneously creating new instabilities. 

 

RELEASE 1.000.203/6883 MAJOR BUGS (Not a Definitive List)

Bile Titans forcing Pelican-1 to fall through the landing zone, preventing player extraction

 

 

Players being unable to respawn in-mission

 

 

Explosion physics throwing players in directions with no scientific logic

 

 

 

 

 

 

Players losing control of their Helldiver and bugging out to “eye in the sky” view until their Helldiver dies

 

 

Game separating three person-parties into three separate-but-identical missions 

(8-Rocket Evacuate High-Value Assets Mission)

 

 

OTHER MAJOR BUGS IN RELEASE 1.000.203/6883 (NO VIDEOS)

Players prohibited from interacting with mission-critical equipment like terminals [no video]

Games freezing on Pelican-1 extraction screen and not loading back onto ship bridge [no video]

Continued game crashes, down from every second or third mission (early April) to once every ten missions (rate varies per player) [too long for video]

 

RELEASE 1.000.203/6883 MINOR BUGS (Not a Definitive List)

“Evacuate 20 Priority Citizens” Objective requiring more than 20 citizens

 

 

Game allowing two players to equip the same booster

 

 

Questionable Stasis Field Mechanics

 

 

The simple truth is no one knows when the game will reach a stable, bug-free state. The thread’s title remains accurate: Helldivers 2 is still frustratingly unstable and buggy. The ratio of frustration to enjoyment is shifting though, with “stable enough” mechanics becoming present in most matches. With release 1.000.203/6883, the game remains a mixed bag of good and bad experiences but has become mostly stable and mostly bug-free. 

 

I think the majority of players interested in the co-op third-person shooter genre could enjoy Helldivers 2 as it is. You will feel the frustration of completing three forty-minute missions only to be dropped on the final extraction screen, losing all samples and medals. You can also experience the joy of having a seemingly lost teammate survive the death gauntlet and dive into Pelican-1 at the last second. Helldivers 2 is a wild ride and has evolved into one of the best co-op shooters available.

[Mellenthin]

Reading through all of this makes me think of my love-and-hate relationship I have with Fatshark and their Vermintide franchise. So many balance changes and simply atrocious network stability over the years makes me question myself why I even bother with them.

 

With Arrowhead, it's so far different. Having played Helldivers without possibly a single crash, the information you're providing is definitely worrying.

 

With all my hours in gaming, I can without a fault tell that Helldivers 2 is something I could potentially spend hundreds of hours in just from watching the trailers and various gameplay on YT, but not as you portray it right now, Poetic.

 

A big thumbs up, though, for being as honest as you are - I value people like you a great deal. I'll buy Helldivers 2 sooner or later, and happily so, once they get their act together.🙂

 

Meanwhile, I wish you good fortune on the battlefield!😉

[Poindexter2291]

I took a month off from playing and booted up yesterday to play with some friends. There seems to be more tiny bug issues (and I don't mean bug issue as in we need to exterminate the bugs!) than ever before. When this game launched I criticized it a lot because it was literally unplayable; that first weekend I could barely get through to the servers at all. 

 

That issue has been resolved, and now the game is a lot more stable and has not crashed on me, but there are tons of little bugs in the game. Nothing to make it unplayable, at least not for me. They are small things like, fire damage isn't as high as it should be for non-hosts; armors for a long time were not actually providing armor ratings they stated; getting stuck/clipped into parts of the environment and not being able to move; items and players falling through the floor; stats not tracking correctly; etc. 

 

All of these are minor and would not prevent me from playing the game, but it is a bit frustrating when every game you play has some kind of issue.

 

I also find it annoying that every game developer sends out "rebalancing" updates weeks after a game came out and continuously thereafter. It seems every single game with any multiplayer component does this these days. From Software does this with every game. MMO's do this to rebalance gear and sets. Shooters do this to rebalance guns, loadouts, etc. 

 

How much of this is failure to test or evaluate these things before release... and how much is a reactionary response to a few people on Twitter/Reddit complaining about a game not being exactly what they expected, and a dev team changing the whole game every couple months to accommodate the complainers? I genuinely don't know, but it is annoying picking up a game for the first time in a few months just to see it's completely different (and not necessarily "better")

[mikem192]

Is helldivers 2 perfect, not at all but it’s really not that far off.
 

70 hours+ I’ve put into this gem and it is the only game I have ever played post platinum with as much joy as I was chasing them.
 

The devs are doing an incredible job with trying to keep up with all the issues, alongside improving the game consistently as they go. Does it crash at times, yea sure it does and it did for me again last night but it’s rare! No more or less than any other game out there 

 

People shouldn’t be missing out on this game because others moan more than it crashes. Even moaning about devs putting out balances as the game ‘PROGRESSES and GROWS with IMPROVEMENTS’! 
 

The devs IMO are a shining example of what all devs should be doing