General Information
It was not a fantastic start for the latest Payday game as it launched with a plethora of issues. This ranged from broken matchmaking, server crashes, bad optimization, and even some missing features. I was given a review copy when the game was released and it was not the best experience. The first issue was not being able to start a single-player match. Payday 3 requires you to be online, even in a match that only has you and AI teammates. I had to wait an unusually long time for a private match to create a server which is frustrating when I just wanted to play by myself. The next issue was the horrible performance on a high end desktop. Frames were dipping below 60 fps at 1440p with even DLSS enabled. It was not a pleasant experience with inconsistent frame times.
Payday 3 has now been out for a few weeks now and I am happy to say that the game has improved for the most part. The matchmaking issues have been fixed and performance has improved. While I was not having great performance, it is many times better than when Payday 3 launched. It took some time but they eventually made the game playable.
After all these issues, let's get into the review. Payday 3 plays exactly how the title sounds and very similarly to how its predecessors played. Your task is to survey a location, work your way to a valuable target, and attempt to escape with the valuables. It's an addicting formula which excuses why there isn't much differentiation from past games.
The original crew is still here from back in Payday: The Heist with Dallas, Chains, Wolf, and Hoxton making the return. Narrated through a glorified slide show with nice VFX, each heist is given a backstory and plot. I can't really say that it's a very engaging story and I would expect most people won't even go through it as you can pick any heist without going through the correct order. That said, there are only 8 heists to pick from and while there is a nice variety, it feels a little short. Maybe this could all be forgiven when you find out that Ice T makes a cameo and has a mission.
A big focus in the new gameplay in Payday 3 is stealth. In the previous game, it was not very forgiving and required a lot of finesse. This latest installment makes stealth a more compelling gameplay route. When a guard finds something suspicious, instead of immediately triggering an alarm, all the guards will go into a "Searching" phase where they will more aggressively search for you. Many of the heists can be completed in stealth without having to shoot your way through hoards of police. I had a fun time playing heists by myself, focusing on completing them using stealth it reminded me of how I play Hitman.
When you get caught by a guard, it isn't game over. You can kill the guard and stuff the body in a hidden area. Even when caught by civilians, you don't have to resort to killing them quietly as you can tie them up and get them to stay on the ground without making any noise. Playing with randoms online is a dice roll and you don't know if the players are competent in their stealth abilities. I even had an instance where my only teammate was just following me around and literally cheering me on while I did all of the objectives. There is no voice chat and you can only rely on text-based communication which is not ideal.
When a heist goes wrong, it's a constant shootout till you are able to exfil, and its very exhilarating even when its disappointing that you got caught. Teamplay means more than ever when constant rounds of police and SWAT are engaging you from all directions. The crew needs to work together in order to survive and efficiently move money bags. This isn't a gun simulator when shots have an arcadey feel but it is fun. Enemies do absorb quite a few shots but they do die quick enough before it feels like a chore. I do have to commend the AI as they are very good at surrounding you and blocking your path. They give the right amount of stress of barely making it through waves while also keeping it satisfying to make progress through them.
When you have a good squad, money will quickly start coming in with huge payouts in every heist. When first starting out, everything is locked as you need to level up in order to unlock things in the store. This does feel like an artificial way to force you into replaying heists as it does take a considerable amount of time to level up but it does give you a reason to keep playing. There is a skill tree that allows you to pick some perks that will improve some aspects of your character and just like the store, you need to replay heists in order to gain the ability to unlock more. This really emphasizes the limited selection of heists the game has right now but each heist does have a good amount of variety and randomness so that it doesn't feel like a chore.
For a game about stealing valuables, Payday 3 is only $40 in a world of $70 games but don't let that fool you. While there is a lot of replayability here, I cannot say there is enough content that $40 is a steal. The graphics show the difference between this game and bigger AAA titles as even though it is visually pleasing, there is nothing jaw-dropping or amazing to show off. That said, you don't need a big price tag to be a fun game. The limited amount of heists here deliver fun and exciting experiences that are well-paced. While I wish there was more content and a better single-player option, this game is pretty much exactly how I would want this sequel to be. It is just unfortunate that the buggy launch is still affecting the game weeks later.
