Helldivers 2 behind-the-scenes video showcases the intro's lost rap number

Did you know Helldivers 2 nearly had a freestyle rap number in its introductory cutscene? Well, you can finally see it for yourself thanks to a behind-the-scenes video on the intro’s creation.

The video was published to YouTube on April 9 by Goodbye Kansas Studios, a VFX and animation studio that’s worked on plenty of other video games, including Alan Wake 2 and The Outer Worlds, as well as some big name TV shows like Netflix’s live-action One Piece.

Goodbye Kansas Studios is who you need to thank for Helldivers 2‘s fantastic intro, which serves as an in-universe recruitment video for joining the war effort and perfectly sets the tongue-in-cheek tone of the game. While its behind-the-scenes look doesn’t go into too much detail on how the intro was made, it caps off with an almost out-of-nowhere rap number by a trio of Helldivers. The animation obviously isn’t complete, with it missing textures, and the rap itself is very short, but it’s so charming and cheesy that you’d wish it was included in the game.

In case you weren’t aware, Craig Lee Thomas, the actor from Helldivers 2‘s intro, revealed in a PC Gamer interview in March that he had filmed “hours of improv” during his filming sessions. This included the aforementioned rap number, which was apparently cinematic director Fredrik Lofberg’s idea and something Thomas was asked to do midway through a take.

Frankly, it seemed likely this would remain locked on a hard drive somewhere, never to see the light of day, so consider yourself lucky that it made its way online after all. Maybe it’ll become a new anthem for players as they dive into battles against the Automaton forces, which have quickly returned after they were seemingly eradicated.