Payday 2

Box Art
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Game Information
Release Date : August 13th (Windows) August 16th (Console) 2013
Developed By: Overkill Software
Publisher: 505 Games
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Players: 1-4
Rating: M for Mature


Synopsis (Wikipedia)

Payday 2, while very much the same as the original in base game-play, looks to improve on a number of flaws from the previous games in that it is a sharper and more polished experience. For instance, gun combat is improved, and the stealth mechanic from the previous game is given a larger emphasis, possibly making it a viable option in most of the 11 heists, though some are action-oriented from the beginning. Carrying loot is also modified, creating an actual loot bag which adds weight to the carrier, allowing for throwing the loot for a further player to pick up and carry instead. Carrying loot will also tilt the camera due to the added weight.

Cash loot from the game is no longer a substitute for experience points. Instead, it is used as cash for actually making purchases for character and gun upgrades, as well as items that may help on a heist, such as the codes for window shutters to prevent snipers from being able to hit the player while he remains indoors. There has been some debate as to whether this will result in the inclusion of micro-transactions, although David Goldfarb, the lead designer of Payday 2, quickly denied those claims.

New to the game is Crime Net, a brand new mission interface. Not much is known about its functionality, but it has been said that it will unlock certain heists depending on how a previous heist was finished. The "phases" system displays this in effect most accurately; players may under take longer missions, which are broken up into separate, story-connected levels called phases which can take place over a number of days. Depending both on a player's course of action, or a little luck in the random generation, the next phase may result in a different level altogether or possibly skipped entirely. Also new to the game are 4 skill trees, "Mastermind", "Enforcer", "Technician" and "Ghost", each featuring a deep customization tree of associated skills and equipment to master, and they can be mixed and matched as per the player's preference.

Campaign

The campaign of "Payday" is like no other out there. Instead of being only single player, it is mainly multiplayer, and instead of having a main walkthrough story line, you pick your missions and how the game turns out. As said before, the turn out of the game is based on you, and how you play, for example, if you do a mission fast and atrract lots of attention, then maybe later in the game you have to do extra, harder missions.

Multiplayer

Like I had said before this is a game is largely based on multiplayer. You can do everything offline but doing them with friends makes for a better experience. I have found a few problems with the way the multiplayer works though. first, due to the fact that the host can kick when ever he wants, I found that getting kicked right before the mission ends and you get your EXP, you get kicked. Second, when people join your game, it pauses while they are joining and takes awhile for it to start back up again so, I found that you can possibly wait for massive amounts of time before you play. Lastly, another not so major problem I had was always being matched with low in experienced levels, or people without mics, due to the fact that there are no search preferences.

Graphics

In my opinion, the graphics are good, but for the times, not great. This game has great color, things pop out at you and are easy to see. you have to remember this is a smaller Developer so not everything will be top notch. Compared to the first game in the sequel, these graphics are next-level. Although the graphics are pretty good, I have had some problems with frame rate on xbox and also some freezing that has been resolved by restarting my xbox.


Controls

The controls for this game are stand FPS game controls, with the exception of the right bumper and left bumpers. Those being grab/use your player specific tool such as drill and/or pick up/throw bag. I have yet to find any problems with the controls, but one flaw that I did find, was to many uses for single buttons which made the controls just a little bit confusing.

Rating

8.5/10

Ultimately, this is a great game. It can get pretty boring after playing for sometime, though. You should check it out if you're a fan of FPS and high intensity games.