Helldivers 2’s latest update seems to have gone smoothly, with player counts that haven't been seen since June - and this is from a balance patch no less!

Helldivers 2 has received a new patch that completely overhauls the game's difficulty, weapon balance, and loadout variety. It looks like Arrowhead is enjoying it.

It's worth noting that SteamDB shows a 24-hour peak of 68,000 players. That's a lot on a Tuesday. It's now dropped back down to 25,000 players, but I'm willing bet that it's because people have to sleep or go to work.

These are huge numbers for a simple balance update. Escalation of Freedom saw new enemy types, objectives, and a maximum of 61,000 players before the game dropped to a comfortable (but not dead) average of 20,000 to 10,000.

The community's response appears to be positive at first glance. The subreddit for the game has been flooded with praise. My favourite is this perfect use of one of Avatar: The Last Airbender's most memorable scenes.

Are we at "We're so Back" levels again? Helldivers from r/Helldivers

"I keep one-shotting Bile Titans using my recoilless gun and every time the trailer just keeps playing in the back of the head," writes one player, adding: "I'm at peace." CivilBreak137, a user in a separate thread adds: "Most enjoyable experience I've ever had playing Helldivers." Every time I died, it was because I made a mistake. It wasn't something stupid like being tapped on the head.

Steam reviews are also largely positive. They may not be as numerous as the ones that piled on the game following Sony's PSN interference, but they are still a lot more positive. Looking at the user reviews that are being rated as helpful, it's clear that there is a strong feeling of 'we're back!' There are a lot of negative reviews, mostly from players who are still angry about Arrowhead's treatment in the past.

It's nice to see democracy’s bravest soldiers happy for a change. Helldivers 2's journey has been a bumpy one, with servers collapsing under the weight of hundreds and thousands of players, historic review bombings and controversy every week.

It will take some time before we see if Arrowhead reverts to old habits, but for now, it seems that going for buffs and not nerfs paid off. Arrowhead only needs to add a new difficulty level for the masochists, and bring back the Illuminate in order to turn the Super Destroyer into a great game.