Our picks, beyond the numbers
5 games like Helldivers 2 we would recommend for different reasons
Helldivers 2 turns a simple mission into a small catastrophe on a regular basis — a stratagem called in a half-second too early, a teammate caught in friendly fire, a bug breach that was supposed to be manageable. That chaos, shared with a squad rather than faced alone, is what we looked for in these picks, more than just another game with bugs or robots to shoot.
A few of these put you shoulder to shoulder with a squad against overwhelming AI, much like Helldivers 2 does; others swap cooperative defense for something closer to open conflict against other players as well. Here's where we'd send a Helldivers 2 player next.
ARC Raiders
Our first choice for raising the stakes
ARC Raiders sends you topside, solo or in parties of up to three, to scavenge loot from a world overrun by hostile ARC machines — and from other Raiders doing the same thing. Gear gets repaired and upgraded back at your workshop between runs, funded by what you manage to carry out alive.
We'd choose it for a Helldivers 2 player who wants that same tension against overwhelming machine enemies, but with a sharper edge: every other player you run into topside is a real threat too, not just the AI. That extraction-shooter structure of loot-and-leave gives each run a different kind of stakes than a scripted mission.
There's no stratagem system or friendly-fire mechanic here, and the human PvP threat changes the whole feel of a run from Helldivers 2's purely cooperative defense. Choose this when you want the danger of the machines plus the added tension of other players, not a straightforward co-op mission.
Earth Defense Force 6
For enemies on a genuinely absurd scale
Earth Defense Force 6 drops up to four players, as one of four soldier classes with a huge pool of weapons, into missions against kaiju-scale giant insects and monsters rather than Helldivers 2's human-scale bugs and bots. The sheer number and size of what's coming at you is the whole joke, and the whole thrill.
We like it for the player who wants Helldivers 2's squad-based mission structure against overwhelming odds, but turned up to a more over-the-top, B-movie scale — giant ants and robots the size of buildings instead of bug swarms you can actually see the edges of.
There's no stratagem calldowns or friendly-fire system shaping how your squad plays, and the tone leans much further into campy spectacle than Helldivers 2's satirical-but-grounded war. Go in for the scale and the chaos, not for a close match to Helldivers 2's specific systems.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II
For melee-first squad combat
Space Marine II puts you in an Ultramarine fighting Tyranid swarms with melee and ranged combat split across seven classes, each with their own perk trees. A separate three-player co-op mode called Siege leans into pure PvE survival, where points earned mid-match buy reinforcements to hold the line.
We'd point a Helldivers 2 player here specifically for the shift to melee: chainswords and close-quarters brutality against swarming enemies give the same overwhelmed-but-holding-the-line feeling a completely different physical texture than Helldivers 2's ranged, stratagem-driven fights.
Its campaign is a more structured, narrative co-op experience than Helldivers 2's mission-select format, and there's a separate competitive PvP mode that Helldivers 2 doesn't have at all. Choose it when melee combat against swarms sounds more appealing than another stratagem-heavy firefight.
Far Far West
For a stranger co-op setting
Far Far West casts one to four players as bounty-hunting robot cowboys taking Sheriff contracts in a weird, magic-infused Wild West, fighting waves and bosses with six-shooters and spells, then upgrading gear and customizing your cowboy and steed back in town between runs.
We like it as the wildcard pick for a Helldivers 2 player who wants the same mission-based, co-op PvE structure but is ready for a completely different tone and setting — contracts and bounties instead of a galactic war, gunslinging magic instead of stratagem calldowns.
It's still in Early Access, with the developers planning roughly a year more of development before a full release, so expect a smaller, still-growing game rather than Helldivers 2's fuller campaign. Pick this for the setting and the promise of what it's building toward, not a finished alternative today.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite
For a tighter horde-shooter squad
Aliens: Fireteam Elite puts up to two human players (with AI filling any remaining slots) through four campaigns fighting Xenomorph swarms across LV-895, holding defensive positions until extraction — a smaller squad than Helldivers 2's four, with seven classes and a perk system to customize your Marine.
We'd recommend it to someone who wants Helldivers 2's horde-against-the-odds feeling in a tighter, more straightforward package — no stratagems or friendly fire to manage, just a smaller squad digging in against swarming Xenomorphs.
The smaller two-player cap and absence of any friendly-fire or stratagem system make it a simpler, less chaotic experience than Helldivers 2. Choose it when you want the horde-shooter tension without quite as many systems to juggle at once.
