Do you ever wake up thinking “I wanna rob a bank today”? No me either but that doesn’t mean it’s not an activity I would love to give a try on the Xbox 360, as we frequently get to virtually partake in things we wouldn’t normally be able to. Well now you can thanks to the recently acquired (by Starbreeze Studios) Overkill Software who has developed Payday 2 which is a sequel to Payday – The Heist (which was PC and PS3 exclusive). As this is now a full retail game how will it cope as a FPS in a saturated market and will the co-operative emphasis give it the edge to fulfil its potential?
So if you don’t know, Payday 2 is essentially about a criminal gang, consisting of four members (Dallas, Hoxton, Chains & Wolf) and their mastermind behind each plan Bain, as they attempt to pull off numerous heists. Considered the best in the business no job is deemed too tough for them to handle as they aim to finish each one with a massive payday.
Unlike the majority of campaigns or story modes in video games this is not linear at all; with simply a map of the area known as CRIME.NET you will be able to see the job contracts pop up at intervals so it can be very random as to which ones show. They all have varying difficulty settings and although it is different to have a more dynamic campaign progression, for me this feels like you don’t really get anywhere nor do you feel there is much of “story” except the introduction to who you are and what you do. This is not necessarily a bad thing but when a game has nothing else to offer except this mode then you have to hope that it hits the mark in providing quality gameplay in this mode consistently.
Heist can be made up of single day robberies to multi-day major jobs that can bring in a shed load of cash. The one day jobs I have dabbled with have been the likes of stealing from a few shops in one area and then escaping. Once you arrive in an area it’s up to you and your gang to case out the area before putting on your mask to execute the task at hand, you set up your tools to unlock safes or doors and hold out till they have gained you access. When I say hold out I mean stand next to the world’s slowest drill and kill wave after wave of police intervention which turns the game into a glorified horde mode which is not something I could honestly say doesn’t become a little samey.
Those that take a few days have a little more edge as the following days in that mission can change depending on how well you do on the objectives. For example we missing finding a piece of Intel on day 2 which meant we couldn’t deactivated an explosive on day 3, meaning a much smaller cash reward and more chance of dying. Let me add that it isn’t just stealing but also escaping and sometimes searching however the routine for each level goes through the same pattern of it mainly being a mission to shoot your way out.
Both offline and online CRIME.NET work the same except for you being lumbered with A.I. team mates in offline. As the saying goes, as much use as a chocolate fireguard, however they are worse in that they add nothing to the team, just standing around and getting downed a lot. This made offline practically a write-off as you can scrape through on your own for the easy ones but tougher levels you’ve got no chance. I find it is best to try covering all angles and getting civilians or guards under control to make sure no one raises an alarm. This is impossible with clumsy A.I.
But surely that means when online it is an adrenaline fuelled co-op masterpiece when all four players are humans! Sadly, no. The amount of jobs I joined where micless gamers got themselves shot down or sabotaged the mission with a lack of communication were rife. So much so I was about to throw in the towel and call it a disaster, then after persistence I found one full room of mic users meaning I could finally experience the way it is undoubtedly meant to be played. Much better and more enjoyable when you have organisation as you can handle the toughest situations easier, especially when a Juggernaut style enemy tries to sabotage your heist.
Now I have to mention the customisations and skills it allows you do make to enhance the fun factor, starting with the Inventory. Having a decent selection of rifles, shotguns, pistols and SMGs means you can decide whether to be up close and personal or pick off from a distance. Equipment is the key item here as you will need the team to share responsibility in carrying different ones, there’s no use in having four Doctor Bag (health packs) carriers if you run out of ammo.
As usual weapons and armour are unlocked via levelling up your Reputation however the modifiers to make these better e.g. Sights, Suppressors will be unlocked at random during the end of mission randomly generated piece of loot so you could be getting items of no use to you for quite a while. Even the cool customisable masks need you to be lucky to gain all the components for creating a new one.
The Skill trees are based on an Enforcer (force and violence), Ghost (stealth), Technician (the tech guy) and Mastermind (a leader that will pull things together and keep you all alive... maybe). The progress of the upgrades seem a little odd as to me some of the best skills are the initial ones in each tree and to get to anymore useful ones it will take a whole load of hours.
I found it difficult to rate this game as the successful side of it relies on communication and real players. From waves of enemies making it like horde (no matter how intelligent they can be when trying to scupper you it becomes boring), same general pattern for each level and the lack of being able to use most of the money you earn (you basically get thousands to spend on buying weapons whilst millions lie in an account unable to be touched) to the appalling offline attempt and the online soloists, it is just a hard game to make the most of. It is an arcade version of robbing a bank, whereas in reality the game is stealing your money, avoid unless you have three other friends with this game, in which case rent it.
