Fans of Helldivers 2 (a demographic that, as far as I can tell, makes up 68% of the planet) feel the spirit of Big Boss. In particular, they noticed that the game's movement and quite a few of its animations bear a striking similarity to 2014's Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes and its sequel The Phantom Pain. And you know what? They couldn't be happier about it.
Originally featured in a TikTok video by AnthonyCSNWhen looking at the games side by side, the similarities between the movement animations in Helldivers 2 and MGS5 are impossible to miss. From sprinting to crouching to diving, there's a little bit of Kojima in every step you take as you spread Managed Democracy across the cosmos.
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♬ Original sound – AnthonyCSN
But AnthonyCSN didn't get Helldivers up to speed. “This feels like Metal Gear Solid 5,” the TikToker said, “and that's a good thing.” He added, “[MGS5] had the best gameplay there was [Metal Gear] It's great that Helldivers remembers this at all, I love it.” This statement earned a democratic “Ooh-rah!” from the community, but it also caught the attention of game developers, and everyone agrees: good artists borrow, steal from great artists.
“I'm not kidding when I say that more games should just directly copy things that feel good from games they like and take them from there,” wrote the Obsidian studio's design director Josh Sawyer on Twitter. “Copying requires a lot of critical analysis and is extremely insightful, even if you throw everything away and start over.”
As an RPG veteran, Sawyer would certainly know. Dissect any classic RPG and you'll find a mix of narrative and mechanical inspiration from all sorts of forebears, be it D&D and Tolkien or Renaissance art and literature. The same goes for any genre. There was once a time when we called every FPS a “Doom clone.”
Other developers were quick to agree with Sawyer, even pointing out the mechanics they had envisioned for their own games. Pacific Drives Seth Rosen commented: “You can thank Return of the Obra Dinn for the way the Quirk diagnostic system works in Pacific Drive.”
Another developer, Timberline Games' Nathaniel Chapmanreplied, “The reality is that you're probably either the industry leader at something…or you're not, and you'll learn ten times as much copying a master than fumbling around in the dark.”
“Different isn’t always best,” agreed Tim Spencer from TT Games.
And so forth. Simply put, fans and developers are united – and rightly so, if you ask me – in praising Arrowhead for its willingness to do what works, even if it's not 100% unique, and others Encourage developers to do the same.
Well, there was one point of contention. Some viewers pointed out that the reaction to Palworld's release last month wasn't quite as positive, when a chorus of people wondered aloud when Nintendo's lawyers would launch a full-scale armed attack on Pocketpair's offices.
But Palworld's use of Pokémon-style mechanics and aesthetics was much more liberal than MGS5's elements in Helldivers' movement. I don't think that makes the negative reactions – or the false AI accusations – right, but I can understand why it has led to some sharpened pitchforks.
Nintendo is also legendarily argumentative, and I think a lot of the discussion surrounding Palworld was just about questions If The company would respond rather than announce it should. Perhaps the famous saying should be changed: Good artists borrow, great artists steal, and the best artists do both in a way that doesn't give Doug Bowser reason to sue you into an early grave.
