Payday 2 was a kind of video games I performed quite a bit throughout my PS3 days. It was a easy sport with a easy premise and a good less complicated overarching plot. As you understand, I used to be largely a gameplay particular person when first coming into the extra superior aspect of gaming, so one thing prefer it match squarely in that slot. Positive, a narrative exists, however I can tune that out and go on a heist. Payday 3, however, leaves quite a bit to be desired.
![Payday 3](https://i0.wp.com/psxextreme.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/payday-3-money.jpg?resize=843%2C474&ssl=1)
Straight Outta Washington DC
Payday 3 sees the OG crew again collectively to proceed their lifetime of crime after a short bout of retirement. Rekindling your previous contacts and forming new ones throughout this time as you progress operations.
Whereas its precursor used Washington DC as its backdrop, we transfer onto a brand new metropolis to name residence — New York. With these new contacts, together with two new playable characters — Pleasure and Pearl — we’re greeted to one thing of a nostalgia hit. Besides we’re not, there’s no Safehouse to behave as a tutorial, as an alternative, we’re thrown right into a warehouse to relearn the whole lot.
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Optimization NOT At The Prepared
I used to be going into it with tapered expectations as I’m not an enormous multiplayer man. One of many largest drawbacks is the shortage of an offline mode, one thing that 2 had. That’s proper, this sport’s an at all times on-line multiplayer-skewed expertise. Now, I want single-player adventures that may be enhanced by multiplayer however aren’t required to play them. And certain, you don’t have to play in public lobbies, you may go along with invite-only or personal lobbies, however nonetheless, taking part in on-line has its drawbacks.
I performed it round launch and whereas I confronted no points, it did have lots of server downtime, maybe they didn’t count on as many individuals to hop on, however with an online-only sport, it’s best to count on a lot of persons are going to be on 24/7, particularly since that is the newest entry in a quite beloved — albeit area of interest — collection.
It does face the live-service problem of releasing a handful of heists with the promise of extra to come back.
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Police Assault
There’s a cause I used to be at all times a go-in-guns-blazing type of particular person when taking part in its precursor — I used to be horrible at stealth then, and I nonetheless am. I’m too cautious and virtually at all times overestimate how good the AI truly is at detecting my motion or illicit actions, resulting in getting caught fairly a bit.
General, Payday 3 performs precisely just like the others, scoping the realm, stealthfully planning out your assault, and masks up while you’re prepared. Not like 2, although, stealth appears extra viable as completely different areas of the map have an effect on how individuals work together.
Public areas are for the general public, so so long as you aren’t doing something illicit, then cops and safety gained’t hassle you. Non-public areas can have safety escort you out and warn you to not enter the realm once more. In the meantime restricted areas could result in a extra aggressive altercation.
I virtually at all times went in virtually instantly and began blasting safety guards, tying up hostages, and heading to the purpose as quick as I can, letting the AIs do the taking pictures.
Payday 3 is a noticeable enchancment in a good few areas exterior of stealth — the taking pictures feels much less janky, and the additions of some trendy actions like dash sliding are a welcome characteristic. It’s additionally nice to see the sport transfer on from the interior sport engine to be powered by Unreal Engine 4.
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Smells Like Bacon
Considered one of my largest gripes with Payday 3 is, total, the sport lacks sufficient innovation to strip the offline play. Maybe it’ll be a future replace, however we doubt that. It’s at all times appeared to need to be a multiplayer-focused sport and with this wave of live-service dribble, that is Starbreeze’s probability. The sport itself feels prefer it discourages you from utilizing the one workaround to soloing a heist.
When coming into an invite-only foyer and letting it run its course, you” be capable to play the sport with AIs. The issue is, it feels quite unfair while you depend on the AIs versus your Buddies listing or randoms seeking to play that very same heist. You might be the whole lot, you’re the one who stuffs the bag, you’re the one who units the traps, you’re the one who sends hostages out to bide time earlier than the police go in, weapons out. I do know this was the identical factor in earlier entries, however I want Starbreeze allowed the participant to mark and order an merchandise to be picked up.
Contemplating all of the enhancements made, together with making the gameplay loop extra rewarding due to the talent tree and all that, it doesn’t appear to be an excessively sophisticated request. In addition to, it might’t simply be new heists to maintain individuals engaged, generally you wanna hop right into a heist and play it alone to see what it’s like.
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Last Cost
Payday 3 is an enchancment to a triad and true system Payday 2 instilled — a system that retains you coming again for extra. It performs each side — wanting individuals to maintain stealthy whereas giving gamers the choice to make it harder by getting into weapons blazing.
Whereas I had enjoyable rekindling my love for Wolf, Hoxton, and the gang, it’s only a modernized rehash of the identical heist simulator we knew from a decade in the past. Pretty much as good it might be, it suffers from the live-service problem of a scarcity of content material and an unsure roadmap.
You should buy Payday 3 on PSN right here.