Oh dear. Helldivers 2's latest patch – rolled out with the sole purpose of optimization, tackling issues, and making the fight for Managed Democracy feel smoother than ever – has apparently had the exact opposite effect for some, with players reporting worsened graphics and some zany visual glitches after the update.
Today's Helldivers 2 patch – created by Arrowhead in collaboration with Nixxes Software – was supposed to be the devs' "opening salvo in an ongoing campaign to improve performance across the fleet," and looking at the patch notes, you'd think that's exactly what had been achieved. "From upscaling technologies and latency-reduction features to various optimizations and stability fixes, this patch is built to help you stay on target when the battlefield gets chaotic," the devs explained today. Support for FSR 3.1.5, DLSS 4.5, and XeSS 3.0 upscalers was added, amongst other things.
Alas, looking at players' reactions on social media, not everyone is impressed. "DLSS implementation is AWFUL!!!" one Reddit player writes, reporting that "on DLSS Performance (720p to 1440p) smoke dissolves into 'pixels,' sub-pixel details is completely lost, in distance everything is low quality and shimmery, everything is also shaky and shimmers A LOT."
Another player in the replies shares a screenshot comparing DLSS native and quality, and they're not happy: "Tested on 5080, can confirm DLSS is shit, and we waited 2 days for this bullshit."
Comment from r/Helldivers
A separate post shares similar concerns about DLSS. "Upscalers are not implemented correctly and are essentially unusable," they say, sharing a series of screenshots showing how crusty objects in the distance now look for them. "It looks like the actual Helldiver model gets upscaled correctly, while the rest of the world doesn't. This feels like they're forcing on a buggy VRS while it's disabled," they say of one of the shots.
Upscaler implemnetation is uhhhh. from r/Helldivers
Obviously, worsened visuals are nothing to be cheerful about, but it apparently, it could – and can – be worse. Since the patch, a number of players have also shared pictures of a wild visual glitch that can only be described as an unintentional festive mode. From what looks like colorful fairy lights decorating the Super Destroyer to one Illuminate world mission truly living up to its name, it's safe to say that, uh, Helldivers 2 isn't meant to look like this.
Ma eyes!!! from r/Helldivers
The Scary button of doom and despair from r/Helldivers
What's wrong with my game from r/Helldivers
Arrowhead hasn't yet addressed any of these issues, so it remains to be seen how long it'll take to fix them. Ironically, this very update was actually slightly delayed as the devs were "waiting on a fix from our platform partners so that we can submit the patch," but it seems like it could have done with a bit more time in the oven.
The next Helldivers 2 Legendary Warbond is Warhammer 40,000, which is kind of perfect.
