Helldivers 2’s best new feature is the simplest addition ever

After months of horrid nerfs, the latest Helldivers 2 update is here, bringing new features and countless buffs. However, after looking through the game’s latest patch notes, one new feature takes the show: the emote wheel.

The beauty of the Helldivers 2 emote wheel

While reworks of the best weapons and best strategems are nice to see, the new emote wheel is a genuinely useful feature for the multiplayer game. Since launch, players have only been able to equip a single emote to their Helldiver, despite being able to unlock dozens in the game’s Warbonds menu.

During a particularly stressful round of blowing up Hellbombs in Automaton camps, players couldn’t show off a range of emotions. With just one emote each, only four emotions could be displayed between a maxed out crew of soldiers.

With the new emote wheel, each player can now equip four emotes each. While basic, the new feature is a surprisingly huge improvement on the game’s social features, especially for those who don’t wish to talk to randoms online. Now, instead of choosing how to respect the flag of Super Earth, you can have your standard salute, your hug, your explosive handshake and another for the sake of variety.

Unfortunately, the new Helldivers 2 emote wheel does max out at just four emotes which does feel a tad restrictive. However, after having only one emote space since the game’s launch, this is a massive improvement.

The little things

The arrival of the emote wheel in Arrowhead’s shooter is evidence of one of the biggest issues with the game. Despite its awesome combat, unique gameplay and brilliant, satirical world, the game does lack a lot of little touches that other games have.

Nevertheless, the studio is still improving the game with new patches, and players are already returning to the game. With no other game quite like it, Helldivers 2 is in a position to be a continued success, unlike PlayStation’s other multiplayer exclusive… RIP Concord.

For more news on Arrowhead’s shooter, check out the studio’s plan to move to Unreal Engine for its next game. If that’s not your style, find out what’s going on with the in-game comms. (Spoiler: They’re busted.)

About the Author

Lewis White

Lewis White is a veteran games journalist with a decade of experience writing news, reviews, features and investigative pieces about game development with a focus on Halo and Xbox.