Helldivers 2 Community Mourns the Loss of 'Space Vietnam' Map Malevelon Creek — but the Fightback Has Already Begun

The Helldivers 2 community was left in tatters after fan-favorite planet Malevelon Creek, dubbed ‘Space Vietnam’ by players, finally fell to the Automatons.

The community reacted in horror overnight as they discovered Malevelon Creek with the dreaded ‘0% Liberated’ flag, and, even more devastating, a ‘Planet Lost’ retreat order. This made the planet inaccessible, and players have even reported getting booted from its surface mid-mission.

Malevelon Creek is widely thought of as Helldivers 2’s best planet. It sees players go up against Automatons — Terminator-style killer robots - in an atmospheric environment clearly inspired by iconic imagery from Vietnam war movies. Its eternally twilight forest biome is creepy, awe-inspiring, and, if you’re doing well, more than a little heroic.

But overnight, Malevelon Creek fell in a surprise twist in the ongoing meta narrative that makes up Helldivers 2’s Galactic War. Here, Super Earth and the alien enemy wrestle for control over entire sectors of the galaxy as players battle to complete operations (sets of missions) and positively contribute to each planet’s liberation status.

Here's a snippet of the reaction to the fall of Malevelon Creek:

— 『ʀᴀᴢᴏʀ』 (@Razor_VRC) February 27, 2024

we lost malevelon creek pic.twitter.com/nGGmPzd9vi

— Sara (@Sarapocalypse) February 28, 2024 — Shadz (@Shadzey1) February 28, 2024

Malevelon Creek fell... it was all for nothing... pic.twitter.com/YJxvE6jFZS

— B0l (@Bolverk15) February 28, 2024

Meanwhile, on what's left of Malevelon Creek... pic.twitter.com/32p3ZKTMB8

— Chillton 🪶 (@The_Chillton) February 28, 2024

malevelon creek fell less than an hour ago o7 pic.twitter.com/G7OzP8n4re

— sen (@tailsinge) February 27, 2024

⚡️BREAKING: HELLDIVERS EVACUATED THE EMBASSY ON MALEVELON CREEK, TOTAL HELLDIVER PULLOUT ANNOUNCED ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/NLw0JovKwf

— Winters 🐺👻|| VIdiot (@Thee_marked_one) February 28, 2024

It truly is the saddest of days #HelldiversII #HELLDIVER2 pic.twitter.com/IUf8sRkugu

— Helldivers Alerts (@HelldiversAlert) February 28, 2024

However, as of this morning, the fightback has begun. IGN has verified a tiny percentage pushback on Malevelon Creek as players work to wrestle control away from the Automatons. Malevelon Creek is playable once again.

The fightback has begun.

Helldivers 2’s galactic war is a single, ongoing meta narrative fans have had fun role-playing with since the game's explosive launch. Currently there are no meaningful rewards directly tied to the liberation of sectors (all players get 12,500 Requisition if eight defend campaigns are won against the Automatons, but that's not much of an incentive), so it’s all just a bit of fun. And it’s not entirely clear that players truly control this narrative through their actions, with developer Arrowhead ultimately pulling the strings as the live-service develops. Still, perhaps more than any previously lost planet, the fall of Malevelon Creek really hurt.

Now Arrowhead appears to have sorted out Helldivers 2’s server issues, it has time to return to its original post-launch plan, so hopefully we’ll get an idea of what to expect in terms of new content soon. If you’re playing, be sure to check out IGN’s comprehensive Helldivers 2 guide.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].