HELLDIVERS™ 2
HELLDIVERS™ 2
Game
Game2024
Utopia Must Fall
Developer Pixeljam
Defend humanity's last surviving metropolis from mysterious alien machinations in this challenging base-defense arcade shooter. Featuring rapid upgrade progression, procedurally generated attack waves, dark humor and laser-sharp aesthetics. From the Steam store page
315 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 3, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
94
LovedLoved
226 positive · 15 negative
95% range 90–96%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 226 | 15 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 35 | 0 | 21 |
| Mastodon * | 5 | 0 | 9 |
| Lemmy * | 2 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Overwhelmingly Positive
1,188 of 1,243 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
94% recommend · 211 yes, 14 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 225 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Overwhelmingly Positive (1,319 of 1,384 positive).
Players praise the game as a modern take on classic arcade shooters like Missile Command. [1][2][3] Many highlight its unique visual style, atmospheric music, and satisfying gameplay loop. [4][5][6] Some reviewers criticize difficulty scaling and enemy health creep as frustrating. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [8]
The aesthetics are cool, but I don't particularly like the progression system. You are rewarded based on performance within a stage by meeting certain objectives. Play perfectly and you get bonus upgrades allowing you to scale your power faster, and thereby have a better chance of doing well the next stage. On the other hand, do poorly or get a couple suboptimal stages at the start and you fall immediately behind …
- [1]
This is honestly one of my favorite games ever. I grew up in the arcades. I turned 10 years old in 1980, right when the arcade boom happened. One of my favorite games was Missile Command. I played Missile Command again recently and I liked it but got kind of bored after 5-6 games. The game Utopia Must Fall came up on Steam as a recommendation based on games that I enjoyed. This is exactly the type of game that …
- [4]
Utopia Must Fall is a thing of beauty. Bleak, terrible beauty. Pristine neon beauty. This is a game that asks me to do one thing. Just ONE thing. "Don't let anything touch the city in the middle". And I know that I will fail. I MUST fail. And that is all part of the beauty. From the moment the endearing retro credit screens give way to the imposing main title and a wash of synthwave Mussorgsky crushes me with the …
- [7]
I adore this game, sank a lot of time into it and highly recommend to anyone but I despise how bad the health creep can ramp up. I'd rather be genuinely be beaten by the procedural waves than have the fun sucked out of the day 40+ waves because I have to focus fire enemies for up to 20+ seconds while managing a full screen of projectiles and I can't fire a nuke to help get some breathing space because of 2 …
- [6]
The greatest mashup of missile command, asteroids, galaga, space invaders, centipede ever made. Very satisfying gameplay loop, great visuals, sound design, and overall atmosphere. The game has an incredibly high skill ceiling. There's always something you can improve and optimize to get to the next level, make it one week further, and get a new high score. If you like the oldschool score-based arcade games, do …
Summarised from 34 of the 299 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Utopia Must Fall sits at 94% positive across 241 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 315 · most liked first+ UTOPIA MUST FALL - The Industrial Update Is Live + store.steampowered.com/app/2849680/... Featuring: 📊 Interactive Skill Tree 🚀 Automated Battle Drones ⚠️ Limited Opportunity Events 🏙️ New cities to fail at defending And more... Don't sleep on this, the game seriously slaps now
positive · AI labelView post →Utopia Must Fall is a cool game. Freshly updated and fully available:: Itch -> pixeljam.itch.io/utopia-must-... Steam -> store.steampowered.com/app/2849680/... Vectrex -> we wish
positive · AI labelView post →This is honestly one of my favorite games ever. I grew up in the arcades. I turned 10 years old in 1980, right when the arcade boom happened. One of my favorite games was Missile Command. I played Missile Command again recently and I liked it but got kind of bored after 5-6 games. The game Utopia Must Fall came up on Steam as a recommendation based on games that I enjoyed. This is exactly the type of game that appeals to me. The routes for winning and strategy make it like Missile Command but…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am mostly just leaving a positive review because I ultimately want this dev and this game to succeed. That being said, this game has some serious flaws and it seems like they may never be addressed at all. The GOOD: + There really isn't any game like this out there. It has a unique visual and play identity, and there just isn't anything else that scratches this particular itch in all of gaming. + The enemies are (mostly) unique and interesting to engage and work together in really…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Utopia Must Fall is a thing of beauty. Bleak, terrible beauty. Pristine neon beauty. This is a game that asks me to do one thing. Just ONE thing. "Don't let anything touch the city in the middle". And I know that I will fail. I MUST fail. And that is all part of the beauty. From the moment the endearing retro credit screens give way to the imposing main title and a wash of synthwave Mussorgsky crushes me with the weight of my one futile task, even as I stare upon the ruins of Utopias already…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The incredible UTOPIA MUST FALL has a big performance upgrade and now Steam Deck Verified. >UTOPIA MUST FALL is absolutely one of the best arcade-styled base defense games made in modern times, and now it's massively better with a new update. > >Previously covered here on GamingOnLinux as I loved it so much, and another recent article on the Beta for this new release that's properly out for everyone now.
neutral · AI labelView post →Have been playing Utopia Must Fall. If you look at this game and think it looks cool and you'd like it then I'm pretty sure you will because it is well-made and really fun. store.steampowered.com/app/2849680/...
positive · AI labelView post →<me, looking at who made Utopia Must fall> "what the fuck @pixeljamgames.bsky.social ?! OMG!" You might know em from Dino Run but I'm comfortable calling it their best work by a wide margin. They're now the Utopia Must Fall people. Fucking amazing score-game. store.steampowered.com/app/2849680/...
positive · AI labelView post →The aesthetics are cool, but I don't particularly like the progression system. You are rewarded based on performance within a stage by meeting certain objectives. Play perfectly and you get bonus upgrades allowing you to scale your power faster, and thereby have a better chance of doing well the next stage. On the other hand, do poorly or get a couple suboptimal stages at the start and you fall immediately behind the curve, with no real shot of catching up. Later in the game the enemies turn…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The incredible UTOPIA MUST FALL has a big performance upgrade and now Steam Deck Verified https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/10/the-incredible-utopia-must-fall-has-a-big-performance-upgrade-and-now-steam-deck-verified/ #UTOPIAMUSTFALL #SteamDeck #Gaming #Linux
neutral · AI labelView post →I bought this game because it was recommended by the Nova Drift dev and had a similar art style. The art style is great, but this dev could learn a lot from how Nova Drift handles difficulty and build diversity. My main problem with the game is how it scales difficulty. While later days introduce more complex enemies and send more enemies at once, enemy health increases rapidly. It seems to be the main form of difficulty scaling. Within the first week, even buying every weapon upgrade, an…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Utopia Must Fall is a great game...but I just see shapes when I close my eyes now...
positive · AI labelView post →Utopia Must Fall gets a big upgrade, remaining a top-tier modern arcade shmup https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/06/utopia-must-fall-gets-a-big-upgrade-remaining-a-top-tier-modern-arcade-shmup/ #UtopiaMustFall #IndieGames #PCGaming
neutral · AI labelView post →I like the negative review that said "In this game you have to play the same two weeks over and over." It would be like negatively reviewing a racing game and saying "In this game you have to race other cars over and over" or "In this game every time a race ends, you just have to start over in a whole new race"
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played the prior version of this game a LOT. At first it was a retro impulse -- I'd wondered whether any indie devs were using vector graphics and what they could do with them on a modern computer, and I was delighted to find a game combining Missile Command, Asteroids, Centipede, and Galaga. As I explored the tech tree and tried the different "paths," I just got sucked into the game for its own sake. It never felt like a game that was still in alpha. I got good...And then this recent…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Why? Why Utopia Must Fall? ..because the aliens are going to bombard New Tokyo relentlessly until it does, that's why. Utopia Must Fall is a blend of some seriously old games, like Defender, Asteroids, and Space Invaders, with a wireframe aesthetic that brings me back to 1992. The player's role is to defend the city (aka Utopia) from a daily barrage of increasingly effective destruction-bringing aliens. To do this, you'll have a gun. Like, a city gun. One of them. Don't worry, though,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Oi! There's a new beta of Utopia Must Fall available now. If you've bought the game on Steam* you can check it out by opting into the beta. Works on Steamdeck now too! * = It's on sale right now and costs less than a pint of beer, and I'm skint because everything else is expensive, please buy it.
positive · AI labelView post →Did a big score in Utopia Must Fall, Berserker run :3 I love dis game, my wife has good tastes
positive · AI labelView post →Utopia Must Fall (Steam) w/ 2 more games is $4.95 on Fanatical Build your own Retro Revival Bundle buff.ly/qol0cNY #ad add more games to save more (~$1.65 per game)
neutral · AI labelView post →There have been two games ever that I have negatively reviewed because of difficulty. This one hurts a lot more than my 'Forts' review because this is a REALLY interesting, fun, and ultimately great game. Difficulty becomes a problem, not when a game is too hard to fully complete, but when the difficulty prevents access to large amounts of a game or significantly hinders player enjoyment. To elucidate my point, the most common achievement for the game is to defeat the first boss. This has a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Okay, okay, set the way-back machine Mr. Peabody. If Space Invaders, Geometry Wars and Missile Command had an illegitimate game-baby it would be this awesome piece of code. Definitely a one-more time type of experience.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I adore this game, sank a lot of time into it and highly recommend to anyone but I despise how bad the health creep can ramp up. I'd rather be genuinely be beaten by the procedural waves than have the fun sucked out of the day 40+ waves because I have to focus fire enemies for up to 20+ seconds while managing a full screen of projectiles and I can't fire a nuke to help get some breathing space because of 2 alternating voids which are also incredibly tanky. I do love the challenge of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Visuals are unbelievably good, with incredibly atmospheric music and sound design to match. Shooting feels weighty. The tech tree is limited enough to give the game a very discrete identity, but still has a few gimmick options that dramatically alter your playstyle, if that's what you're looking for. There isn't a huge amount of content, but what's there is downright brilliant. Very very easy game to get completely sucked into.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you look at this game and think "yeah that looks cool, I'll probably enjoy that" then please get it because it IS cool and really fun. Like some kind of hyper Missile Command (arcade) game. Lots of cool upgrades and variety on runs I'm finding. But basically it's just really well-made. Get it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Initially fun, but too difficult, you will basically be playing the same 2 weeks over and over again like others have mentioned. Gets old fast.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The truly excellent Utopia Must Fall has a new Beta with Steam Deck support https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/10/the-truly-excellent-utopia-must-fall-has-a-new-beta-with-steam-deck-support/ #UtopiaMustFall #SteamDeck #SteamOS #PCGaming #Gaming
neutral · AI labelView post →I guess I'm gonna stream for a bit now This time I'm gonna start playing a bit of Utopia Must Fall from @pixeljamgames.bsky.social and then start coding a new resource monitoring app for the in-game computer! www.twitch.tv/hanpeki #solodev #gamedev #indiegames #indiedev
neutral · AI labelView post →My favorite game @ GDC this year was Utopia Must Fall, a gorgeous vector graphics lightshow made with the Pixeljam v99 engine. It’s endlessly replayable hypnotic flow state brain candy and the soundtrack goooes. Fans of Jeff Minter and Dave Theurer need to check this one out.
positive · AI labelView post →So, the store page says the release date was Sept, 2024. and after unlocking everything that can be unlocked, the final upgrade is a "Thanks for Playing". It looks like "Early Access" is still plastered on this game. I'm gonna guess, its never gonna get finished, which is unfortunate. I was legitimately having fun.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good fun just getting into flow state trying to keep tougher and tougher waves from wiping out the city. Really enjoying how the technologies and enemies are evolving each patch through early access. Came here after seeing Datasette release the soundtrack. Stayed to stop the alien invasion.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The greatest mashup of missile command, asteroids, galaga, space invaders, centipede ever made. Very satisfying gameplay loop, great visuals, sound design, and overall atmosphere. The game has an incredibly high skill ceiling. There's always something you can improve and optimize to get to the next level, make it one week further, and get a new high score. If you like the oldschool score-based arcade games, do yourself a favor and try it out!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Missile Command / Beachhead meets Asteroids / Space Invaders / Galaxian / Galaga / Defender (well, more Stargate I guess) / Major Havoc (DON'T THINK I MISSED THE SPINNERS IN THE 4TH WEEK GEOMETRICS) in Hyper-Neon Color-Quadrascan graphics (Space Duel, Tempest, Black Widow, Tac-Scan, MAJOR HAVOC AGAIN). Upgrade tree is set but your choices per day are randomized to an extent. NO META PROGRESSION. Every game is a new quarter. It gets HORD in the 3rd week; be miserly with your nukes…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An enjoyable and highly replayable base-defender arcade game, combining wonderful vector-style visuals from the likes of Asteroids and Tempest, with the gameplay concept of Missile Command. Unlike Missile Command, you have a singular base/city to defend, and also an auto-firing railgun to help out. The twist is that your city can be upgraded over time depending on how well you perform after surviving each day, allowing you to improve the city's shield, railgun, missiles, and more. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The incredible UTOPIA MUST FALL has a big performance upgrade and now Steam Deck Verified.
neutral · AI labelView post →This game has been amazingly fun, atmospheric, and beautiful ever since I first played it about a year ago. I'm not good at setting up controls on steam deck, so I was holding down the steam button to activate the right track pad to play it (I think that's correct, what I was doing). But since the new update (currently on beta channel for the game) regular controls work great. I've been playing this game locked at 90fps on my OLED Deck and seemingly locked at 180fps when I've docked my Deck to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Highly recommend getting Utopia Must Fall on steam rn, as the game just had a big update, it's currently on sale, and it's due to have a price increase in 2 weeks Go get it right now, it's sick as fuck store.steampowered.com/app/2849680/... #indiegame #shooter #utopiamustfall
positive · AI labelView post →This mostly simulates impotence and existential dread. No clue how to even proceed after the first boss, it seems entirely random; I made it to boss 2 once. Most enemies are faster than any of your (upgraded) guns and those fucking jellyfish-type enemies that just cloak and teleport in can kill any of your drones by simply thinking about it. Often these things are upgraded so much that even when you concentrate your fire on one of those for the entire time it's uncloaked, that's not enough to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →2 main issues~ - the wave balance and scaling (sometimes it's fine but... often times will feel unfair near wave 15~20 and up) - for a 'rougelite' it need way more options and some upgrades are simply just not worth it. aside from you weapon... the runs feel very much the same.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you like tower defense, if you like big upgrade trees, if you like crazy explosives and if you like good acade fun. If you said yes to any of these this game is for you. Get it you won't regret, I need more updates to this so good!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →its got the bones of a good game, but as is, I don't know if I've has as much fun as I should've. The difficulty feels like it scales too hard too quickly, maybe I'm jsut bad, maybe bullet sponges aren't fun, and maybe swarms of bullet sponges aren't fun. except the first three days, I feel like I can never do enough damage to kill anything in a timely manner. I feel like I just take unavoidable damage from many sources. I'm not usually a bad player at games like this, but playing this game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very cool game! Feels like Missile Command in the best way possible. It's always fun to pick up and play and there's always going to be a lot of variety between runs and playstyles. Looking forward to the full release. Pick up this game ASAP!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Utopia Must Fall beta update is pretty great. Some of the options feel way stronger than others, but maybe it's just what suits my play style better. Still experimenting. This game is still really engaging for a rather simple concept.
neutral · AI labelView post →The graphical style and core gameplay is really fun. I like the upgrades and the ability to change things here and there. Vaguely reminds me of The Space Game and its neon enemies. There's a lot of potential here. But the gameplay loop doesn't offer a lot of new after surviving until week 2/3 a few times. There just isn't a lot of depth to the tech tree or ways to play differently. Especially without metaprogression.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a next-gen arcade shooter. I thought Novadrift was great, but this surpasses it by far. Back to the days of Asteroids, when vector drawing technology was used. Go go go pixeljam. you did it well!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🎮 2025 Game #53: Utopia Must Fall Very well-made arcade bullet hell with a retro/neon inspired vibe. The gameplay is frantic and fun with a ton of upgrades to unlock - and that is just in Early Access. I look forward to the full release! 7.5/10 #IndieGames @pixeljamgames.bsky.social
positive · AI labelView post →Utopia Must Fall is so good. If you like old arcade games, it is worth it. Vector graphics, updated Missile Command style game is the best way to describe it. I purchased for full price & got my $$$ worth!
positive · AI labelView post →Very fun modern take on missile command. The Rougelike options are fun, the Vector emulation is fantastic, and the jokes are quite funny. It's a better experience with a mouse than with a controller
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think the game is neat but it got stale after a few hours. It felt like i was doing the same thing and dying at around the same spots.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is one of the most polished games I've ever played. I feel like a pyschopath because of how many hours I've sunk into it. It's endlessly enjoyable and the best $9 I've ever spent.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have enjoyed NOVA DRIFT over 440hr, and become much anticipated this game. It is Very much fun! Good to play with one hand, a cup of beer for another hand. I think it would be better if the zoom in-out key can be allocated to left or right mouse button, for one hand play. Watching fire works of enemies on zoomed-in screen is fantastic. Thanks for the good game. I very much anticipate upcoming updates!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →great game, if you likethe atari missile command, youll like this, its essentially that on steroids and its great. allows all sorts of builds with versatile tech tree and banger music :3
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A very fun arcade roguelike game. Theres a few reviews complaining about the difficulty, but thats one of it's main draws for me. You can't win by just shooting the closest enemy, theres simply too many with too much health. To suceed, you need to prioritise your targets. How much of the rotating square do you need to kill so you'll be safe for long enough to kill this other enemy? Do you kill the yellow ships now, or wait until they form up and drop bombs, then shoot the bombs to detonate…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →feels like a combo of several retro games made to be more interesting, lost of weapon options and mechanics to mess with
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Although early access the gameplay loop is very enjoyable. On SteamDeck gven this is a mouse / track ball oriented control it works best with trackpad for the firing and touchscreen to set off the nukes. The biggest issue at the moment is the optimisation as it sucks very hard on the battery. 50% in 40 mins. Hopefully the Devs will look into that. UPDATE : awesome new update... Well done Devs!!! Battery drain fixed and now full deck support ... Though I still like the trackpad.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you enjoy classic retro arcade games like Galaga or Asteroids or Centipede I recommend checking out Utopia Must Fall. It nails the vector graphics aesthetic and it is a fun game to play. I am looking forward to trying out this new update!
positive · AI labelView post →new game added to the list: UTOPIA MUST FALL store.steampowered.com/app/2849680/... save all of humanity in this super fun juiced-out arcade shooter absolutely DRIPPING with style. NEW UPDATE OUT TODAY
positive · AI labelView post →I'm really, really enjoying Utopia Must Fall. I find myself coming back to it as a really good in between, "I just want to play something for 30 minutes" sort of game. A cross between Nova Drift and Missile Control with emulated vector laser graphics 👌
positive · AI labelView post →Utopia Must Fall is an awesome new arcade game and has a free demo and you should play it. From the creators of Dino Run. store.steampowered.com/app/2849680/...
positive · AI labelView post →I never thought I'd ever care about Paris with any ounce of my being in my entire life but here we are
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is hard as balls but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ its good, its also fairly simple and very easy to pick up but very tricky to master, a rather casual game on the surface but good lord does this game really bare its teeth as it goes on. Perhaps my most favourite things about this game is how well it captures how hopeless the situation humanity is during the alien invasion by having the buying nukes option suddenly be unavailable after a few days due to the international market being destroyed by the alien…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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