Helldivers 2 Review Bomb Cape: A Brilliant Troll Move

Alright, here goes. So, Helldivers 2 crashes onto the scene in February 2024, like a whirlwind of explosions and excitement. Critics were all over it, tossing awards around like confetti. Best Ongoing Game, Best Multiplayer—you name it. Just a hiccup here and there with the servers wobbling, thanks to every gamer and their cat trying to jump in. Things were smooth-ish, until BAM… May 2024 rolled in with a plot twist about Steam players needing a PlayStation Network account. I mean, what?

Fans lost it, predictably. The Steam score nose-dived faster than my interest in dry toast—just plummeted. Sony, faced with a digital rebellion, hit reverse, like, two days later and said, “Just kidding, no PSN required.” Flash forward to May 11, and Johan Pilstedt, our Helldivers’ creative guru, was on Twitter (or “X,” whatever we’re calling it now) chatting about some “review bomb cape.” Bit cheeky, right?

Ah, 417 days post-PSN drama, and voilà, the cape is here, adding some glam to Managed Democracy — a term that feels both grand and confusing. Developers from Arrowhead Game Studios dropped this on social media, saying it’s a tribute to the players’ wild dedication. Might take a second for it to pop into your armory, but it’s coming. The cape, dubbed “Pillars of Freedom”—nice name, actually—is up for grabs for everyone, PlayStation and PC folks alike.

Oh, fun fact: it’s got a design featuring the infamous Steam review graph—red lines sprawling everywhere indicating the colossal wave of disdain following that initial PSN announcement. I guess it’s a case of making art out of chaos? Anyway, drama aside, players ended with not just a sigh of relief but also a shiny new cape. Not bad, eh?