Turns out Helldivers 2's bugs are constantly tracking you down and sneaking up on you because they can literally sniff you out

A line of enemy Terminids in Helldivers 2.
(Image credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment)

If you've ever been in the middle of playing Helldivers 2 and wondered how one of the pesky terminids managed to track you down when it should never have seen you, there's a reason for that – they can smell you. 

Well, isn't that a horrifying thought? The concept was discussed during a chat between content creator OperatorDrewski, game director Johan Pilestedt, and head of product testing Patrik Lasota, who spoke about whether or not stealth is a mechanic that the developers plan on expanding upon in the future. 

In response, Pilestedt said: "It's not really that we have stealth gameplay, it's just that everything just has to make sense, like all the enemies, they have hearing, sight, [...] some have an approximation of smell within a close radius."

Expanding on this, it was revealed that some enemies "that are very sensory aware," such as the Stalkers, can literally sniff you out if you're close enough, allowing them to "detect you no matter if they can see you."

In other news, in the last few days, we've finally been given access to the long-awaited Helldiver 2 mechs after successfully liberating the factory planet Tien Kwan. Fighting to unlock the mechs wasn't a twist many of us saw coming, but galactic game master Joel certainly knows how to keep us on our toes. Even so, we were able to unlock them four times faster than the devs expected, so bravo for that. 

While the Exosuit has quickly proven to be a popular Stratagem, some Helldivers have begun turning against certain other Stratagems that they're convinced are out to get them rather than the terminids or automatons. Honestly, after seeing the havoc that Mortar Sentries can cause, the thought of them secretly being automatons themselves doesn't seem entirely unreasonable.

If you've just started out in Helldivers 2, be sure to check out our top Helldivers 2 tips to help you spread Managed Democracy further. 

Catherine Lewis
News Writer

I'm one of GamesRadar+'s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.