Everywhere I go, Malevelon Creek follows. It is in every other Helldivers-related post I see on Twitter, Reddit, and TikTok. When I first played Helldivers 2, the game was synonymous with this image of soldiers in some barren desert laying waste to killer bugs. Now? Now all I see is that damn jungle and those godforsaken robots.
Since the days it was first dubbed “Robot Vietnam” thanks to its jungle-like environs and traumatizing difficulty, Malevelon Creek has risen in stature to become Helldivers 2’s most famous battleground. In honour of that meteoric rise, and the immense narrative that players have managed to spin around the planet, Arrowhead Game Studios has decreed that April 3, 2024 is “Malevelon Creek Memorial Day.” No, you did not read that wrong: Super-Earth has approved a day in remembrance of the countless sacrifices Helldivers 2 players have made for the Creek. As an additional gesture to commemorate those who paid the ultimate price, players will receive a special cape they can don to remember their fallen brethren. Now if they could just give us double XP as some form of hazard pay, I’d be happy as a clam.
Malevelon Creek has had a hell of a journey since its early days as a throwaway joke. Players simply refused to give up on it, even though successful mission completions rarely affected the planet’s liberation meter. Some players, who have taken the bit much further than I ever would, basically live there, exclusively taking missions on Malevelon Creek and adopting the name “Creek Crawlers.” These players took it the hardest when the forces of Super-Earth lost Malevelon to the Automatons, but they were also the ones who immediately doubled down when another offensive was launched on the planet.
The Creek was locked in this brutal back-and-forth for a long time until, earlier this week, players finally took a decisive win and freed the planet for the first time ever. It was a sight to behold, but the victory celebrations were short-lived. Soon afterwards, cloaked ships appeared over Automaton-held planets and within the day, the robots deployed gunships and huge walkers in retaliation. First, the bugs started flying and now this? You just know Arrowhead is gearing up to deploy that third enemy faction to throw some salt in the wound.
So suffice to say, the least Super-Earth could do is host a party for its beleaguered forces and throw some capes their way. They’ve got it real bad down there.
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