Review In Progress | Payday 3 - The Job Has Gone Sideways

Robbing banks, getting paid. That was the motto for our motley crew of heisters. Something that millions of us know all too well having played, Payday: The Heist, and Payday 2 respectively. Now that it is fully out in the wild, is Payday 3 a successful successor, or is this crime empire a shell of its former self? As someone with an extensive amount of time spent in Overkill/Starbreeze’s second steal-em-up, as well as an early access tester of the mobile game, Payday: Crime War, I feel like my heisting resume fits nicely between the cash we’ll be stealing. 

I understood that reference…

A History Of Violence

Payday 2 launched all the way back in 2013, right before another rather famous heisting game from Rockstar Games (you know the one), and it was met with critical acclaim. Over the years, the team over in Sweden kept adding to its cash cow, giving the game an extensive library of additional content. If it wasn’t for Payday 2’s longevity with fans thanks to this support then it's not unreasonable to think Starbreeze could have gone under back in 2018 when it entered financial difficulty. Because of this, and the seven-year wait, it's safe to say there were a lot of expectations lauded on this game before it was even released. So has the team managed to live up to these expectations?

Ooooh, I don’t think those textures are meant to be there… or look like that.

Planning The Job

Through the game’s multiple betas and stress tests, the most common issue mentioned was the always-online aspect, straying away from the predecessor's option to play offline with AI, as well as in online multiplayer lobbies. The other major talking point among fans was the constant bugs and teething issues involving the new side-server account system, Starbreeze Nebula, which is designed to allow crossplay and cross-progression. However, even despite the beta build being about six months old, and Overkill insisting that a lot of problems in the beta would be fixed by the full release, these issues seem to have carried into the full game. These server issues heavily impacted my playtime, making reviewing difficult at times due to the servers going down entirely several times after it’s full release after it’s early access period.

Server issues weren’t the only problem I encountered, either. Glitched textures, audio issues, and a consistently inconsistent framerate (even on the low settings) Payday 3 has had some serious fundamental issues at launch. It’s unfortunate too, because when I actually did get to play, the game was incredibly fun, but this many issues at launch can’t be ignored. I can’t speak for the console experience, as I was playing on PC, however, it seems PS5 and Xbox have also been unplayable for even longer, with cosmetics from deluxe editions not even being accessible on PS5, as well as cutscenes having no audio, among other issues. Considering Overkill/Starbreeze were desperate to build back morale with console players, this launch was an awful stumble out of the block.

Mask up. It’s PAYDAY, Fellas.

OK, who invited the substitute teacher to the heist?

Looking at gameplay and the massive overhauls to stealth, I’m not sure how to feel about the changes as of release. Of course, there would be improvements and changes to gameplay after so much time in development, but some of these modifications make Payday 3 feel like it exists in a different series. Vaulting, new tech, like pocket cams and infrasonic mines, and overhauls to the special enemies were all very welcome changes and additions, allowing for more fluid gameplay, and enemies that actually feel dangerous, even on the lower difficulties. There have been moments when my friends and I got caught out by the much smarter police AI, resulting in some beautiful chaos. The new hostage and negotiating systems feel amazing, with negotiations feeling like something out of a heist movie, trading hostages for more time between assaults, or even supplies to keep fighting, and gunplay is miles better than what the old Diesel engine was capable of in 2013. Weapons feel beefy and real, unlike the Nerf gun level of damage on higher difficulties in the predecessor. Shooting feels gritty and much less arcadey, which could turn some players off from the experience, but I think it’s still an amazing change and very welcome.

However that being said, levelling weapons, skills, and your character, just adds to the grind for the sake of grinding. Forcing artificial replayability doesn’t feel enjoyable, and takes away from what’s on offer here. At least customisation is great, with options extending beyond masks, and into suits, gloves, and weapon camos, but even there, I feel it’s a tad light.

Stealth is a different story. The changes feel interesting and realistic at times, while at other points, they feel blatantly unfair to the player. While running the Gold & Sharke heist several times I ran into wildly different results doing the same thing interacting with the new systems. In both situations, I wasn’t masked up, but in one a guard escorted me out of the private area, and in the other they immediately started shooting.

Good luck, buddy.

There also seems to be a bias to stealthing, as in multiple heists, you’re locked out of the full cache of loot if you go loud, shoehorning the player into a set playstyle, which defeats the purpose of giving the player options when specing out their character in the first place. But overall, stealth is a huge improvement from Payday 2, even if I do miss the classic jank of shotgun corpse-launching, and guards seeing your head through a wall, resulting in the alarm being raised.

New York, New York, baby.

The eight heists available at launch all have their own themes, as well as a cohesive play order, if you’re more story-inclined. Gustavo Coutinho’s soundtrack is a pulse-pounding triumph with a more gritty feel, closer to the first game’s OST, rather than the electric and techno sound created by Simon Viklund in Payday 2. It’s an acquired taste, but I personally much prefer it to the second entry in this series. 

While Payday 3 has plenty good and plenty bad, the biggest problem is the amount of it that currently exists. I’m worried about the lack of content at launch. Sure, Payday 2 launched with only four more heists than this game, and the eight here feel like they’ve had more development time and interesting things to do within them than those in the predecessor. However, the open-ended freedom that made Payday’s 2’s levels so replayable isn’t here and that was part of the charm and long-term success of that game. Something has been lost here. Sure it’s Payday but it just doesn't feel right. 

Conclusion & Score

What are we stealing?

Payday 3 is a far cry from its predecessor, leaving a lot to be desired in some areas while thriving in others. It’s a decent start, but I worry for the future of this game, and Overkill/Starbreeze as a company. The issues at launch, as well as the aggressive grind and artificial replayability forced from throttling XP over offering different ways to approach missions, not to mention the confirmed additions of microtransactions later down the line, make Payday 3 feel half-baked right now. I want to give this game more praise because a lot of what is there is very good, but I can’t ignore these issues.

In its current state, Payday 3 is a solid game that unfortunately falls short of the hype, not helped by its troubled launch. A lot of the character from its predecessors has been lost somewhere in the seven years development, Payday 3 comes in at a solid 6/10. Once these bugs are fixed, and performance is improved, I’ll happily bring it up to a 7 or even higher, because I do think this game could achieve 8 or 9/10 rating upon reevaluation someday. But for now, if you’re looking for a true sequel to the critically acclaimed Payday 2, I’d say to hold off, or play through Xbox Game Pass if you’re unsure about picking it up.