Arrowhead Studios’ Helldivers 2 has already proven its mettle in the crucible of the Steam charts, having successfully recruited tens of thousands of players already. Though it’s a straightforward shooter at face value, Helldivers 2 is actually loaded with advanced features, and its FPS mode is one of them.
Indeed, you can play Helldivers 2 from a first-person perspective if you wish to do so. Well, kind of. The system works in much the same way as it did in the older Metal Gear Solid games, where your in-game avatar can aim down the weapon’s sights from a first-person point of view. This isn’t just a neat little option you can fiddle around with, however: it’s a genuinely useful tactical advantage, and you’re going to want to keep it in mind as you gun down the enemies of Super Earth.
Helldivers 2’s first-person mode explained
You can aim down your weapons’ optics by tapping the middle mouse button while aiming your weapon on PC, or by hitting ‘R3’ on PS5. The specifics of your weapon’s aiming module will, of course, vary from one gun to the other. Marksman-tier weapons usually come equipped with scopes, while automatic firearms come outfitted with holo-sights or red dots of some sort.
Indeed, the vast majority of Helldivers 2‘s weapons come with an integrated optic of some sort. Whether it’s a close-range or long-range sight, all of these attachments are extremely useful in their respective combat niches, as they allow you to get a better sense of the given encounter from your character’s perspective. Further, using Helldivers 2‘s first-person view also makes aiming that much easier, and you can switch between over-the-shoulder aiming and FPS mode willy-nilly, to boot. The obvious downside, of course, is that FPS mode is best used purely for aiming, and isn’t all that handy for moving around the map, as it locks your avatar into slowly walking everywhere.
The really interesting bit is that your avatar is extremely well animated in first-person view as well as the third. All of the weapons’ reload animations are snappy and satisfying, and you can even use the game’s Max Payne-style dodge move without leaving first-person mode at any point in time. It’s quite unexpected stuff, really, to the point where we feel that a genuine, non-aiming FPS mode could work great in Helldivers 2.
Perhaps that’s something Arrowhead Studios might explore sometime down the line, given that Helldivers 2 is one of Sony’s flagship live-service offerings at this time. The obvious expectation is that there’ll be loads of content coming to the game down the line, and who knows, a dedicated first-person mode might be on the docket as well. In the interim, we’re more than happy with the ability to use our guns’ sights, if nothing else!
