I'm pleased to see that Helldivers 2's strategy of creating an overarching, narrative-driven campaign is already working. Just like people grow attached to their roombas, wanting them repaired rather than replaced, the player base has been growing fond of certain planets, despite all tactical evidence pointing to signs that things are hopeless—personally, I think that rules.
No planet is a better example of this phenomenon than Malevelon Creek, a dense jungle shrouded in twilight in the Severin Sector, at the edge of deep Automaton territory. The vibes are immaculate, and they've led to some genuine mythology surrounding the planet—don't believe me? Here's proof.
@superearthbroadcast
Despite the current major order being a defence campaign, a dedicated quadrant of players—affectionately known as “Creek Crawlers”—has been doggedly fighting to liberate the planet, rubberbanding between percentages in the zero decimal range to around 20%—I'm even seeing players report it was over the halfway mark at one point. But the Creek didn't start out that way.
When the major order shifted from squashing bugs to breaking bots, Malevelon Creek was one of the first planets to fall in a doomed defence campaign known as the “Massacre of Malevelon Creek.” The helldivers who were used to squishing bugs weren't prepared for the Automaton's heavily-armoured units, entrenched defences, rockets, and mines. While I'm not sure if rumours of a higher difficulty on the Creek are substantiated, it sure felt that way.
Since then, Creek Crawlers have had a somewhat unhealthy (but metal as all hell) obsession with the Malevelon. When a planet's defence fails, it ticks over into 'liberation' mode. If that fails, the planet is lost—and it's in this liberation mode that Malevelon Creek has sat for days, a holy grail for soldiers with their boots on the ground.
There've been other, more reasonable, far more easily obtainable defence targets with their own charms (I've quite enjoyed my deployment on Draupnir) but the Creek has remained. A white whale with a heart kept beating by chants of “Spill Oil.”
Last night, just as the defence of Mort—a planet in the Xzar sector—was reaching its Zenith at a knife's edge, a few solemn voices announced in the game's discord that the Creek had fallen. As an aside, Mort has also been dubbed “Squirrel Planet.” Like the squirrel Mort from Madagascar. Yeah, I don't know either.
This loss led to a, uh, normal and measured response from the Helldivers 2 community at large.
We lost it… from r/Helldivers
The mourning period was short-lived, however, as the Creek became accessible for liberation once more—at least, I can deploy there at the time of writing. But who knows how long it'll last, and whether a brief forced respite from a gloomy planet deep in Automaton territory will make the Creek Crawlers take stock, and redirect their bloody efforts elsewhere. Especially since the Major Order is still two successful defences down—with a mere day and change to make up the difference.
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