Super Earth has issued a new major order to players in Helldivers 2, instructing them to set up and deploy Termicide on each of the barrier planets that separate it from the Terminid swarm. This has always been the plan ever since the game was initially released. However, players are now having reservations about the potential repercussions of spraying the chemical Termicide across entire planets.
It makes sense. We’re effectively bombarding these planets with bug spray and are hoping that it’ll kill off everything we don’t want to be there. If we trust Super Earth and take it at face value that this will work, which all loyal Helldivers should, then everything is fine. Some Helldivers are stepping out of line, though, and they’re getting a lot of flack for it.
Helldivers 2 players are rightfully questioning Super Earth’s logic with Termicide
A recent post with hundreds of comments on the Helldivers 2 Subreddit saw user Chaste_Venus spark a controversial conversation. “I mean come on. Look at this stuff. It’s like agent orange but green and for bugs, not plants. But there is no way in hell that we don’t see crazy repercussions for bombarding these planets with Termicide.”
A few other players have had similar thoughts. After all, we’re not just spraying for bugs on crops here, we’re covering entire planets in a toxic gas. Some of us are also wondering why scientists aren’t able to activate these Termicide Towers, but the seemingly expendable forces of Helldivers are.
Of course, we should be careful about what we say, because some players are taking this seriously in an entirely different way. User ThatDree snuck into the comments and shocked me a little with their comment. “Your comment was sent to your Democracy Officer for further investigation. [ WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE ?]”
Then, user Mogzarella got us all back on track. “The ingredients in the termicide are liberty, freedom, and democracy. Anyone who’s spent time in the Umlaut Sector knows the bugs hate that. You’re forgetting it’s called the Ministry of Truth. They would’ve researched this exhaustively and would never lie to us. Leave the thinking up to the scientists and get back to smashing those bugs Helldiver!”
All jokes aside, what I love about this incredible thread is how players are roleplaying together. I didn’t see this in Destiny 2‘s community when it was at its peak, so I can’t imagine how much better the experience in Helldivers 2 is going to get if players are this invested already.
I believe that Chaste-Venus is onto something with the Termicide possibly having repercussions on these worlds. Bugs on Earth have become immune to pesticides over the years we’ve been spraying them, meaning farmers now have to call in other bugs to deal with them. If we did this in Helldivers 2, I imagine we’d end up with an even bigger problem, such as Hive Lords.
Even nothing comes of the Termicide usage, the fact that we all think something will shows how good the storytelling in Helldivers 2 is. While it’s not a narrative masterpiece, it effectively communicates the broad strokes of a story that we fill in with conversations and imagination. Hopefully, we’re wrong about the surviving Terminids, though.
