The Payday franchise has grown quite the following since the release of the second game. The cooperative heist shooter continued to get content and blended a lot of sandbox gameplay elements into a confined space. With the announcement of Payday 3, anticipation was high as the game was slated for only the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC along with a Gamepass release and Crossplay. Once the release date came, however, the game was roughly unplayable due to the internet connection requirement and this lasted for some time. This growing trend is an issue, especially if early access is provided for an additional price and never granted. This is the main reason this review is late, but the wait was worth it for fans of the series.
The heists vary in Payday 3 and range from setting up robberies of stores to executing missions all in the name of pocketing money that can be used to purchase new weapons and items. Weapons and items are locked behind leveling up and completing specific challenges, which remains par for the course in terms of offering a grinding element for cooperative games. What works here is that playing Payday 3 doesn’t necessarily feel grindy, as there are multiple ways to address missions. Missions can be done completely stealth, but players will work with three other players to attempt to accomplish this. It sticks to the same formula as the previous games as players explore each heist map to add on to the experience or get money a different way. The idea is to avoid causing suspicion and getting the police called.
The series hasn’t always provided the best direction in terms of what to do on in the game, but more or less this comes with comfort and time. The first time I did the bank heist, I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do with just AI and it wasn’t until I played with other people did I get it. Using hostages in situations can come in handy as well as taking advantage of environmental factors that cause distractions. The game does offer a narrative of sorts, but nothing deep and it is more in the background as the actual heists and gameplay take center stage. The developers have added skills to be learned that can be unlocked over time while others can be researched. This does add something new, but these don’t make a large difference and will take forever to fully unlock, going back to the grind element.
What works best for Payday 3 is its core design element: the cooperative play with its fast-paced shooting mechanics. Cross-play across all three platforms has been added with matchups occurring in the varying difficulty levels in the game. This means that matchmaking is quick and players can jump in. The game does offer a tutorial for those that are new, and those with Gamepass will benefit the most from this. The fast-paced shooting ups intensity when enemies swoop in from all over and become more and more difficult to bring down. There are special units released from the police and each wave has more and more armor as more are released. To help combat, players have the option to put out armor, ammo and health bags or call in an Overkill weapon to wipe everyone out. The only issue with this Overkill weapon is that it isn’t delivered to you directly and you have to go find it. It doesn’t help in the heat of the moment.
Payday 3 gets a nice graphical uplift to the Unreal Engine 4 and while it’s not a shining piece of art, all assets are drastically improved from the previous game. Reflections on player models is much improved and so is the environmental lighting. The mission level that takes place in the club looks fantastic with the neon lighting. There’s no Ray Tracing in the game, but the PC version does offer DLSS and FSR options. What I do appreciate is that this game is well optimized for PC, no stuttering and gets well over 60 FPS in 4K on ultra settings. The occasional graphical glitch does occur especially with player model clipping through the environment, but the visual improvements are pleasant even though the majority of the game has a drab looking backdrop.
The voice acting that’s in Payday 3 is bad. This is only heard prior to each mission and it gets annoying. Hearing some of the comments during gameplay from police can get funny, but will get repetitive over time. The soundtrack is phenomenal for the most part as it matches the action and is beyond fitting for the game. Gunfire and explosions sound fine, but one knock is that no one online seems to be using voice chat. I’m not sure if this is disabled across the multiple platforms or not, but I haven’t encountered a match where anyone talks in a cooperative heist shooter. Compare this to Firewall Ultra on PSVR 2 where everyone talks with the same type of stakes on the line, it would be more important to communicate.
The connection during matches is surprisingly flawless when considering the issues at launch. Going along with the overall performance experience of the game, getting in and out of matches is quick and there’s no lag or connection drops. I was never booted during any matches and these can last around thirty minutes. It can be disheartening to spend a lot of time on a match to come home with nothing, and that does happen. The main issue, again, is with the requirement of internet connectivity to the servers to even ensure you may enter the game. Upon the time of writing this review, I can’t get in and this maybe due to maintenance, but that’s besides the point. More and more games want to require this to supposedly avoid pirating, but it feels like it’s more for ensuring there’s a player base on the servers for analytical purposes. This is further backed by the need to grind to get anywhere, but the grind would be somewhat less of an issue if players could play offline.
Closing Comments:
If you’re a returning player of the Payday franchise, you’ll like what Payday 3 offers with multiple heists and keeping its core gameplay design intact. Increased visual fidelity is a big bonus and adding cross-play to increase the player base allows for even quicker matchmaking when the servers are actually online. The first two weeks were difficult, but once in, the confined sandbox design of cooperative heist play is still fun and addicting. Going above those means and looking for something more will mean you will be introduced to the grind of unlocking skills and more guns, no matter how much money you make on a heist. When Payday 3 is clicking on all cylinders, it’s a proper upgrade to the previous game and you won’t care about the grind, but rather the fun that is had on each mission.
Payday 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Overkill Software that was released in September 2023.The game is set after the end of its predecessor, Payday 2, and features the original cast of characters from 2011’s Payday: The Heist.
