It’s all good and well being the good guy and saving the day. Sometimes though, all you want to do is hold up a bank and escape with sacks of cash. And no series of games quite fulfils this desire like Starbreeze Studios’ Payday series, which has seen allowed you rob a whole array of things for years. Now, the Swedish studio have just unleashed Payday 3, the next bad lad simulator.
First thing’s first it’s worth saying Payday 3 is an only online title. You can’t run it solo, with bots or the like, offline. This shouldn’t have been a huge issue but the game’s first few weeks after launch were a well-publicised nightmare.
Server Down, Hope Lost
When the game’s servers failed due to the massive influx of players the lack of an offline mode suddenly became a huge problem. Getting into games being down to luck and then staying in it was very much dependent on how the wind was blowing.
The saga was a strange situation. Payday 3 was released day one on GamePass, so they had to know there would be a lot of people wanting to try it out. In fairness, Starbreeze held their hands up and have improved servers tenfold.
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However, Payday 3‘s server can still be flaky at times. At least you can now regularly get into a game, team up with your mates and enjoy its brand of being a crook. Mostly.
Back Pay
The game itself is a strange one. Payday 3 makes a number of welcome improvements, including upgrading the visuals. Yet, for every step forward it takes, Payday 3 seems to take three steps back.
Steps back like being extremely light on content and having an odd progression system. And this is just the tip of its issues iceberg that has sunk the game.
Storied Past
Payday 3 takes place after the ending of Payday 2. The gang went separate ways and left their lives of crime. But only until they are double-crossed and lose all of their money. And this wicked turn causes them to return to their old crooked ways.
Moving the action from Washington to New York, where Dallas, Chains, Wolf, and Hoxton along with Payday 2’s Joy, and new member of the team, Pearl, fight to get back their riches as well as a bit of revenge at the same time.
It’s not a bad tale though does ape heavily on Hollywood-themed heist movies a lot more than the past titles. There are definitely one too many clichés in there. But beyond a briefing between heists and a bit of in-game dialog, the story tends to take a back seat as hell is unleashed.
Down to the Co-Op
Payday 3 features eight heists just now. All eight can be played in four different difficulties. The four difficulties change elements of each heist. These changes mostly force you to go in with a stealthier mind set rather than all guns blazing.
The overkill setting is the greatest test of your crew’s skill and, to be fair, there is no feeling quite like pulling a job off and getting away with the green. It’s just that once you have done all eight heists it all gets a bit repetitive. And none of the eight are multi-day jobs, sadly.
The heists themselves are a nice mix of robbing banks and jewellery stores, to taking down armoured cars and pinching priceless art work. The only issue is there just isn’t enough of them especially compared to the past games.
GOAT Thieves
Get in and out fast enough, and you’ll bank some cash and XP to level up your character and weapons. Oddly, the payout system favours a smash and grab over a a clean sweep as he quicker you are, the more you’ll earn. This can be very confusing.
Weapons handle well and there is a beefy arsenal to unlock. Shotguns, submachine guns and assault rifles are all on the menu. And there’s loads of unlockable bits to bolt to them to help you out along the way.
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You can also customise your character a little; picking their outfit and mask, as well as making a few personal touches to them to really standout on the job.
The skill tree of Payday 3 is a lot more open, and more pick ‘n mix than before. You can now spec your character for each job, though you’ll likely find a build that works and stick with it.
Uncooperative AI
On both sides, AI is thick as pig poo. Cops just stand around doing odd things. And your AI team mates – which you’ll get if you can’t get a full game going – do pracitically nothing but stand with some moments a bit of light shooting. In fact, the only thing they are in any way useful for is picking you up if your downed.
Payday 3 looks good as you travel around the less pretty parts of NY. Everything has a grimy vibe, and it works. Sound is good from each of the crew, having a fun accent and dropping one liners in the heat of a firefight, to the thumping soundtrack kicking in when the poo hits the fan mid heist.
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Payday 3 aims for a more refined vision of the series, but it stumbles and falls due to a number of issues. It’s extremely light on content, has dreadful AI and servers that still burst into flames if you look at them the wrong way.
There is a real kernel of a good game in here. One that does move the series forward. But right now it’s held back by criminal design choices and weak decisions overall.