On Friday it was discovered that Tyler Robinson, arrested for the alleged killing of Charlie Kirk, had inscribed messages on the casings of several bullets found at the crime scene. One of those read "Hey fascist! Catch!" accompanied by an up arrow symbol, a right arrow, and three down arrows, a reference to the code to call down the 500KG Bomb stratagem in the cooperative shooter Helldivers 2.
Here's a good explanation of the known gamer references in the things he scratched onto bullet casings (though the song Bella Ciao has been appropriated by Groypers). But the full arrow sequence was quickly recognized as something else: a combo from Helldivers 2 for calling the Eagle 500kg Bomb stratagem. The world of Helldivers - which evokes Robert Heinlein's book Starship Troopers and the subsequent movie - concerns fascism thematically; developer Arrowhead has characterized it as a satire where players fight for a fascist state.
Tyler Robinson, apprehended last night in connection to the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, allegedly left engraved bullets at the crime scene that were covered in a furry meme, references from the video game Helldivers 2, and an extremely online taunt. In an FBI briefing this morning about his arrest, Utah Governor Spencer Cox described the sequence of events that led to the capture of Robinson, 22, who was turned into the police by his father.
Helldivers 2 has a way of bringing players together, especially now that Xbox Series X|S gamers can join their PS5 and PC allies in the battle for Super Earth's survival. While Helldivers 2 players have requested an in-game social hub like the tower in Destiny, that won't be coming anytime soon. But it may be a feature in Helldivers 3.
As a game that's constantly evolving, Helldivers 2 is no stranger to hotfixes and patches. In fact, a new update has just gone live, and it is designed to quickly address several issues that have cropped up in the game since the start of the Into the Unjust event in the game. This new patch focuses primarily on game-breaking issues causing hard crashes, as well as buffs to the new gear introduced in the Dust Devils warbond.
Sadly, it seems there also isn't a weak point up there that'd allow players who manage to do this to take out the Leviathan from there and then try to survive the rapid descent that'd ensue.
âWith the latest major order requiring folks to casually kill 2.5 billion Illuminate, every helping hand on Super Earth's side is a welcome addition.â