Payday: The Heist was a near-perfect answer to Left 4 Dead. Gone were the hordes of zombies, and instead we had some of the freshest-feeling co-op gameplay across a wholeꦅ host of complex, challenging heists. Payday 2 elevated the formula by taking it into the service-game space, with a huge number of shorter heists, weapon and skill upgrades, and an endless stream of new content to enjoy.
But by the end of its life, Payday 2 was feeling bloated. It had focused on ‘more’ over ‘good’, making a game that had a decent core but was impenetrable for newcomers. That’s exactly why Payday 3 is both a worthy s💎uccessor, and a bit of a letdown. This is the best Payday has ever felt, but is far sparser in ways that makes it a tough sell for thos෴e moving over from Payday 2.
Payday’s core concept hasn’t changed since 2011. A team of four crooks go on a crime spree against procedurally generated waves of cops. It borrows a lot from Left 4 Dead, with an AI director that controls the pacing of enemy and item spawns to maintain tension, and special cops that require teamwork to take d𝓀own. But instead of playing entire campaigns, Payday is a short, quick burst of brutality: rob a bank, get out. Repeat. Add to that character upgrades to help specialise your role in the team, and more objectives than simply surviving, and you’ve got the basics of Payday.
Payday 3 introduces a few new refinements to the Payday magic. Movement has been gre𒅌atly improved, with sliding and vaulting over ledges now a key way to take cover or find alternate routes around the map. It would’ve been nice to see this movement taken even further, as you frequently get stuck on ledges that should be climbable but aren’t, but it still feels badass when you slide under a hail of gunfire into cover.
Stealth has also been hugely reworked from Payday 2. You can com🥃plete any mission in Payday 3 completely silently, but doing so requires an immense amount of teamwork and situational awareness. One wrong move, one guard unaccounted for, or one tricky camera, and your cover is blown - it’s time to put the mask on and go loud.
Payday 3 adds differing degrees of security to areas in the map. You’re fine to waltz around in Public areas, but in Private and Secure sections you’ll either be escorted out by the guards, or put in handcuffs until your teammates can save you. The clever thing is that these can be used as distractions if needed – one player gets escorted out by a guard, while the rest slip past to g✅et to where they were meant to be watching. Stealth feels much more cohesive now, with fewer instances of your cover being blown for reasons you and your party will never be entirely sure of.
Character customisation has also been reworked. Instead of the bizarre slot machines of Payday 2, every upgrade and cosmetic has been neatly grouped together in menus that make far more sense. You’ll still need to grind up your level to unlock the good stuff, but Payday 3’s take on upgrading your character is far more legible. You won’t♍ feel like you’re throwing points at the spaghetti junction of UIs hoping that something might be helpful, maybe – you know how you’re building your character, yo꧟u know which perks will work for it, and you know exactly how to unlock them.
The 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:heists themselves are fantastic, too. They feel more substantial than the bite-size missions of Payday 2, and are full of alternate routes to uncover or backup pla𓄧ns to fall on if you cock it up. Some are better than others, of course; the Nightclub level feels too labyrinthian to ever be enjoyable, but another in a storage facility splits the team in a creative and interesting way.
The problem is there just isn’t enough of it. While Payday 2 became a monstrous ball of Content, Payday 3 feels empty. If you play it mission-to-mission like an average FPS, you’ll be done wiᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚth it in just a couple of hours, and that’s even if you watch through the rambling story told via slideshows that requires deep knowledge of the Payday lore – something only the most invested care about. If you want to play it more like a service game, the removal of Crime.net makes finding games trickier, and you’ll be stuck playing the same few missions over and over.
P♒laying with public players is also rough. It’s a co-op game, of course people will be annoying, but that emphasis on stealth and planning makes Payday a uniquely frustrating game to throw yourself at the internet’s mercy for. All too frequently I had entire teams drop out if our cover was blown, and with no in-game voice chat to speak of, and a pinging system that feels stiff and abstruse to use, there’s a very high chance you’ll be failing stealth runs most of the time.
Right now, Payday 3 is a foundation. The heisting itself is better than it’s ever been, with quality of life changes, more confident level designs, and improved stealth mechanics that make it stand above Payday 2. But in making the jump to it, you’re also giving up the years of updates and general stuff Payday 2 offered. If you’re a newcomer to the series, or a laꦰpsed crook coming back to it, this is a great jumping on point. If you’re already invested in the series, you might find it difficult going back to basics.
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language 🐼
- Developer(s)
- Overkill Sofဣtware
- Publisher(s)
- ꦿ Starbreeze Studios, Prime Matter
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4 🌃
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ꧋ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚer, Online Co-Op
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Xbox Series X, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Xbox Series S
- Much-needed quality of life updates to the Payday formula.
- Excellent mission designs.
- Streamlined upgrades and character customisation.
- Matchmaking and playing online can be rough.
- Way smaller than Payday 2.
- The story feels pointless.