Payday 2

 PC
User Score
4.0

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 3970 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,313 out of 3970
  2. Mixed: 450 out of 3970
  3. Negative: 2,207 out of 3970

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  1. MacGregor
    Oct 16, 2015
    7
    A few days ago I would have given this game somewhere around an 8 and recommended it. But now Overkill decided to "reward" it's loyal playerbase that spent the last 2 weeks doing in game challenges by implementing a Stat-boosting weapon skin system shamelessly copied from CS:GO. Despite promising not to implement microtransactions 2 years ago. Don't buy this game until theseA few days ago I would have given this game somewhere around an 8 and recommended it. But now Overkill decided to "reward" it's loyal playerbase that spent the last 2 weeks doing in game challenges by implementing a Stat-boosting weapon skin system shamelessly copied from CS:GO. Despite promising not to implement microtransactions 2 years ago. Don't buy this game until these microtransactions are removed.… Expand
  2. redporper
    Oct 16, 2015
    6
    Once proud franchise destroyed by microtransactions. $200 for the entire game, all the DLC for the right to buy even more stuff in game. Chests you can't open without spending $2.49 each.
  3. wuff
    Aug 13, 2013
    7
    Payday 2 is without a doubt a large improvement on the first game, it does everything better but still falls short out of being a real standout shooter that the concept should be.

    The content is there, you have roughly 30+ mission to complete with AI or other players, a huge amount of guns and upgrades to unlock, customizable masks, talent trees, a hideout to decorate and several    Payday 2 is without a doubt a large improvement on the first game, it does everything better but still falls short out of being a real standout shooter that the concept should be.

    The content is there, you have roughly 30+ mission to complete with AI or other players, a huge amount of guns and upgrades to unlock, customizable masks, talent trees, a hideout to decorate and several difficulties to choose from.

    The missions have far greater variation, from bank jobs to attacking rival gangs, assassinations, cooking meth or escaping the FBI after an ambush in the getaway, none feel the same.

    You can tackle most missions differently to suit your playstyle, you can try to be sneaky or go in all guns blazing and the success of each approach is can be affected by your loadout and talent choices, thankfully you can reset your talents at any time.

    The biggest let down and real atmosphere killer are the visuals. The world is completely static, there is no movement in trees, no objects have physics, the engine feels dated,I can't help but imagine how amazing this game would be on the Cryengine.

    The audio does it's job well, the music is once again excellent, creating tension and thrills where it is needed. The SFX are good but lack the quality of other FPS.

    Is payday 2 worth it? If you're a fan of the first one then it is a big YES, if you're new to the payday franchise then it is just yes.    … Expand
  4. ERB
    Aug 13, 2013
    7
    An absolutely excellent game.The story is great,the graphics look good,and especially the game play or the shooter is awesome.This game is a lot of fun.I mean I played this game 4 times in a row and still I keep playing this because it is addicting and fun.So far this year this is one of the best games I played this year.So this game really deserves a high score.Good game!I like it.
  5. moslin
    Aug 23, 2013
    5
    Im glad to see the metascore decline and more negative user reviews reflecting the direction this game and its developers have taken. The game was released with very little content, false advertising was used. Some of the maps are very short and reused and theres not many EPIC heists as the first game. The game has a host of bugs still and Crime net is a bit undesirable. You selectIm glad to see the metascore decline and more negative user reviews reflecting the direction this game and its developers have taken. The game was released with very little content, false advertising was used. Some of the maps are very short and reused and theres not many EPIC heists as the first game. The game has a host of bugs still and Crime net is a bit undesirable. You select missions that appear on a map of a DC metro area rather than just picking what you want. Its a fun game but it feels grindy the point of the game is to farm for experience to gain new levels to access new perks and to get Loot card drops for weapon mods and masks and materials to customize masks that all cost money and you cant customize a mask again after its already been touched. Not that many exciting weapons either and limited slots for weapons and masks.

    The mission variety isnt as stellar as I thought it would be and the worst offense is they plan to complete the game with 5 Dlcs you have to pay for. They sure learned some nasty marketing tricks from David Goldfarb who use to work at EA games notorious for these types of Practices.

    Sorry David, and Almir... the game is not finished by any means. This could of been such a memorable game that would last me well over 100 hours of gameplay. Still The game has given me many hours of enjoyment and beats most 60 dollar games but it didnt live up to the hype.

    I expect the Dlc will take more than a year to be finished releasing and will all be overpriced.    … Expand
  6. Eckaji
    Oct 20, 2015
    7
    This is an alright horde game with with the option of completing some jobs in stealth. It has a lot of DLC, some of which is directly designed so that if you buy it then special enemies that were either there at the start or added later with previous DLCs in mind can be killed with ease. Some would say this is P2W and they'd pretty much be right, but if you look beyond the DLC (you don'tThis is an alright horde game with with the option of completing some jobs in stealth. It has a lot of DLC, some of which is directly designed so that if you buy it then special enemies that were either there at the start or added later with previous DLCs in mind can be killed with ease. Some would say this is P2W and they'd pretty much be right, but if you look beyond the DLC (you don't need to buy DLC jobs to play them, you just can't host them) then you might just find a fun co-op game.

    In short, buy this game when it is on-sale and be the cool kid that doesn't buy a single DLC.    … Expand
  7. Staki9
    Sep 10, 2013
    6
    PAYDAY 2 could have been a perfect game, but some evident laziness (or outright incompetence) on the part of the developers in some areas stopped it from reaching that point.

    I understand this game is intended to be a CO-OP game, but that doesn't mean it should be boring and even frustrating to play alone. The missions are obviously designed for multiple people, playing them alone can    PAYDAY 2 could have been a perfect game, but some evident laziness (or outright incompetence) on the part of the developers in some areas stopped it from reaching that point.

    I understand this game is intended to be a CO-OP game, but that doesn't mean it should be boring and even frustrating to play alone. The missions are obviously designed for multiple people, playing them alone can leave you lugging 6 bags from point A to point B one by one as your AI teammates will not assist you with anything except combat. On the topic of AI, even disregarding the atrocious allied AI, the enemy AI is equally as bad difficulty levels are lazy and don't add anything to the tactics enemy AI use, they simply do more damage and are harder to kill.

    On a positive note, the game is remarkably fun with a few friends, even with the problems with enemy AI. It's fast-paced, exciting, and rewarding. The specialization skill trees are subtle enough to be reasonable and yet still feel like there's a difference in terms of your ability as any particular role.

    Do the cons outweigh the pros? I'm not one to decide that, but this game has glaring issues that should have been addressed prior to launch. However, for a $30 game, it's most likely well worth your money if you have a few friends to play with.    … Expand
  8. vannhiem
    Aug 27, 2013
    6
    This game is unfinished and lacks any real content. Stay well away. Once you get to level 10 there is nothing else. The game is blatantly missing parts. Game also reuses assets to as ridiculous level.
  9. JackLantern101
    Aug 29, 2013
    6
    Jesus Christ Overkill. great job messing everything up with your absolutely genius idea of Crime.net. No one can stand the game cuz of this idea. SCRAP IT ALREADY!
    And what the hell is up with the 100% completely random loot? You think players WANTED that kind of a system? What the ****?
    The game is not horrendous. The actual gameplay is great. But dealing with Crime.net to get into a    Jesus Christ Overkill. great job messing everything up with your absolutely genius idea of Crime.net. No one can stand the game cuz of this idea. SCRAP IT ALREADY!
    And what the hell is up with the 100% completely random loot? You think players WANTED that kind of a system? What the ****?

    The game is not horrendous. The actual gameplay is great. But dealing with Crime.net to get into a match is too damn tedious, and random loot destroys any reward incentive to work for or progress towards in the game.

    The community gave you so many great ideas and not ONCE did anyone EVER suggest something was wrong with the old match making system, OR that a completely randomized loot system sounded like a great idea. That's absurd to even think.

    What could have been one of the greatest games this year was destroyed by these two dumbass features. It was pretty unwise to "experiment" with your second game ever made. Look what you did! Great job guys!
    Stop trying to force this failure of an idea down our throats and telling us "we will learn to like it" and just replace it before the hype dies out and no one will give it a second try.
    Crime.net absolutely SUCKS.
    Random loot systems absolutely SUCK.
    Fix it.    … Expand
  10. Waffleyz
    Aug 29, 2013
    5
    This games gameplay is fun and glitchy. The cop ai iss funky as sometimes even walking through walls and having eyes in the back of their heads

    The games creators skipped on a ton of content that they are going to use for DLC. Currently theres about 9 heists, 3 of which take place in the same bank, and are basically identical.
  11. pc999
    Aug 14, 2013
    5
    I loved the first Payday but in this game they introduced lots of problems.

    1- Bad, small and short levels/heist, with to many screens in between, quite repetitive and few objectives; 2- Worst matchmaking/hosting system I ever saw, you cant even freely choose the game you are hosting, you need to wait till it appear on the system, and wait, and wait...; 3 A somewhat broken    I loved the first Payday but in this game they introduced lots of problems.

    1- Bad, small and short levels/heist, with to many screens in between, quite repetitive and few objectives;

    2- Worst matchmaking/hosting system I ever saw, you cant even freely choose the game you are hosting, you need to wait till it appear on the system, and wait, and wait...;

    3 A somewhat broken rpg/customization system;

    4 unfinished product without some of the announced features (still promised), to many reused assets (even for a indie) and missing enemies (classics from the first, also promised for soon);

    5 Many small things that arent right or small bugs;

    The game have lots of potential, improvements on gameplay, enemy tactics, new stuff/skills, more stealth and planning options, random events/geometry, but lost the great level/heist design and simplicity to start, plan and gear up for a game of the first.    … Expand
  12. SIDEKICKMAN
    Aug 23, 2013
    6
    The game did not ship with all of its promised features and constant updates of over 800 megabytes make it impossible to adapt to the game. Until Overkill can flesh out the undeniable problems that were both present in the beta and not fixed for the finished game.

    PC players of the game are facing poor support from Overkill who refuse to acknowledge to "17 Heists, 30 Stages" promise,    The game did not ship with all of its promised features and constant updates of over 800 megabytes make it impossible to adapt to the game. Until Overkill can flesh out the undeniable problems that were both present in the beta and not fixed for the finished game.

    PC players of the game are facing poor support from Overkill who refuse to acknowledge to "17 Heists, 30 Stages" promise, safehouse customization, and more. Instead, the developer would rather make certain officers even more difficult to kill and release an update that broke multiplayer.

    In addition to these technical flaws, Overkill still has not made a singeplayer mode that is playable. In fact, a recent update made it even more difficult than it already was. Instead of a full team of four, you get two AIs. In addition to the smaller team, the AI cannot pick up loot bags (which the police can), open safes, steal generic loot, place bags, or use any semblance of intelligence to assist you. This state of "offline mode" is completely criminal, especially since the Multiplayer seems to be broken on a regular basis.

    Even after all of that, the game still manages to entertain some vague aspects of cooperative play. You can coordinate with you team, capture hostages, and actually orchestrate the heist.

    However, in the games current state and Overkill's attitude towards development, it will be an accomplishment if they can finish the game and fulfill the promises they made to their fans- even more so if the game can be stabilized.    … Expand
  13. MagSun
    Oct 1, 2014
    5
    After a longer break from this game I've started playing it "casually". Of course, this game is still quite repetitive to grind your way to level max or now to "Infamy" levels, the DLCs cost quite a bit (but got most of them during steam sales quite cheap) and with "The Dentist", Heists have pre-planning, allowing you to mess that up, too, but it is AWESOME! After all this time playing andAfter a longer break from this game I've started playing it "casually". Of course, this game is still quite repetitive to grind your way to level max or now to "Infamy" levels, the DLCs cost quite a bit (but got most of them during steam sales quite cheap) and with "The Dentist", Heists have pre-planning, allowing you to mess that up, too, but it is AWESOME! After all this time playing and still not level max, it is still fun to play 2-4 maps an evening stealthy or loud. The greatest f*ckup in this game is the "connection lost" problem. You've played for an hour on the higher difficulties and get nothing from losing the connection before the final "Payday".

    IF you play this game only to be level max, complain about high DLC prices and -- in compare to this -- crappy gameplay, you should definitely get the last few CoD games.

    Final comment on: "200k for a bigger Magazine!?"
    >> Yes, that is called "Balance buy once items" or did you like to have useless spending money or buy every item like a "consumable" (Bullets, Magazines, Drills, etc.)? Better think about "the Police releases the criminal for a hostage with all his guns, ammo and sh*t.    … Expand
  14. Evil_Smurf
    Oct 16, 2015
    5
    Is it a good game? Well, I did have some enjoyment with it but it can get repetitive / boring quite fast. Which is also a reason why DLCs are regularly releases (usually guns/skins, and some maps) but they are quite costly for the value you pay. Still, I bought a few DLCs (usually in a sale) and even then, I felt I paid a little too much for the added content (which only provides a few newIs it a good game? Well, I did have some enjoyment with it but it can get repetitive / boring quite fast. Which is also a reason why DLCs are regularly releases (usually guns/skins, and some maps) but they are quite costly for the value you pay. Still, I bought a few DLCs (usually in a sale) and even then, I felt I paid a little too much for the added content (which only provides a few new hours of fun before getting stale/ repetitive again).

    But now, the developpers added micro-transactions (because why not...) despite repetively stating in the past they would never do so. So, I am done with this game. It was already too expensive (due to regular DLC releases) to my taste for the enjoyment I had and now, it is simply too much. I shall move on.

    Do I receommend this game? Not anymore. It can still be fun in its own right but for it to stay that way, you need a bunch of DLCs and the total cost exceed the value of the game. There are a lot of better games for cheaper / similar prices.    … Expand
  15. C_Ya_Jack
    Oct 16, 2015
    6
    Well..PD2 has changed to Pay2Win or show like so many other games. During the Crimefest event they added microtransactions for drills to open up Safes that drop at end of Heist. So back in 2013 Almir said no to microtransactions..until now. With 28 DLCs and I own them all and over 1800 hours playing I know what the game is and it always has bugs of some sort. DLC are one thing- youWell..PD2 has changed to Pay2Win or show like so many other games. During the Crimefest event they added microtransactions for drills to open up Safes that drop at end of Heist. So back in 2013 Almir said no to microtransactions..until now. With 28 DLCs and I own them all and over 1800 hours playing I know what the game is and it always has bugs of some sort. DLC are one thing- you sort of know what you are getting, but in a safe - you have a CHANCE at 7-9 items..which you have no idea what which one...you might own them already. Will they make trading the safes at some time? Idnk, but probably not since it does not help Overkill When they update the game - the Modders of Hoxhud or Pocohud have to change their things to make the game 110% more enjoyable. Without them the game is sort of lame....they should have been incorporated a long time ago. Guards can walk through walls, fall through the floor to the next, jump up to the 2nd or 3rd floor ----Wow what power they have - that we do not. Some of the units you fight that do not have armor, but are basically harder to kill than most things- Cloakers and Tasers take way too much damage before going down...even head-shots do not kill them with 2 shots with a normal gun...that would in any other game. Sheilds can move and make you climb on top of their shields....which is really crazy when you see it. Bulldozers -3 different types have been introduced over the last couple years (Green, Black and Skull)...are the beasts to kill...Face plate shooting is paramount in quick kill. Different weapons are always introduced in the 28 DLCs that cost $4.99ea..so yeah, over $139 if paid retail for them. Wait until sale is on though...70% off.
    Co-op players are varied- you can buy the weapon packs and DLCs and get the better guns, but now they added the Pay to buy the drill to open a safe drop - $2.50 each. So now they want more money...on a game that is about to be out of date. They have 1980's computers still on desks, signage from 2013 or 2014 still on the game. Not great graphics at all...only 6 basic car models throughout the game. except on Car Shop..that you can only drive in one heist..and they are not good. Basically the same 14 type people with same old clothes in every heist...doing the same boring things. Once you have the patterns down and the guards patterns - the game is easy - on DW stealth that is.
    Many things could make the game better, but in Summer 2016- Payday 3 is supposed to be out...so I do not see much more coming to PD2.    … Expand
  16. Bmane
    Aug 16, 2013
    6
    Payday 2: over-hyped repetitive grind-fest, or a remarkable fun and enjoyable game? Read on..

    Payday 2 has turned out to be a tremendously successful game. Pre-orders were almost sold-out everywhere while post-sales hit the roof, turning it into a instant commercial success for the small studio. Beta feedback has been positive on some fronts, and post-launch reviews have given the game    Payday 2: over-hyped repetitive grind-fest, or a remarkable fun and enjoyable game? Read on..

    Payday 2 has turned out to be a tremendously successful game. Pre-orders were almost sold-out everywhere while post-sales hit the roof, turning it into a instant commercial success for the small studio. Beta feedback has been positive on some fronts, and post-launch reviews have given the game a high-rating from some of the mainstream critics.

    However it seems Payday 2 is now suffering post-launch blues, and has fallen into that developer trap. More on that later.

    One of the reasons why Payday 2 has been so successful on launch is that it is, indeed, a really fun co-op game. There is no denying it. From that adrenaline rush you get pulling a bank job to the joy of managing to do just one job on full stealth. Payday 2 is surely best played with friends for maximum enjoyment, and isn't the sort of game you want to play with just random players.

    So, why am I rating it a measly 6, then? Well, here's the thing; Payday 2 is a satisfying game on launch, and even after a day or so it still remains a satisfying game, but after the 3rd day you start to notice the faults with the game that creep out at you. It's this very reason why the game has been so successful with critics, and I would imagine they would review it a little differently further down the road.

    To say the game suffers from repetitive play is an understatement. You soon realize that the pace of the game is slightly off whack. It turns into a massive grind-fest due to everything costing money. Fancy that red-dot sight you got in the lootbag dlc? Well, it costs in-game money to attach it to your gun! How about mask customization? Well, that costs in-game money as well. Leveling up? In-game money. Practically anything you do with your characters involves money.

    Now, this wouldn't be so bad if the payouts were a little more balanced, but unfortunately the games current system forces you to grind repetitive missions with little room for change, making even grinding a bore fest.

    Now, lets talk about that dev trap I mentioned earlier. I've seen this in other games, so I'll sum it up. A developer designs a game. It has a good concept, good working mechanics (crime.net, class/skills), a wide range of variety in assets (guns/mods) along with excellent customization (masks/guns) and the core concept relies heavily on repeated plays of maps. However, the developer only designs a few playable maps (7 or 10 I believe minus the safe-house). These maps are relatively small, with the so-called 'huge dynamic changes' as marketed being rather small and not worthy of note. Since the core concept of the game itself relies heavily on the maps themselves, the game becomes a tedious repetitive experience once you repeat the maps.

    At this stage some things become apparent; there is only one bank map. There is only one map featuring stores. There is only one map featuring a jewelry heist. There is only one map of each specific genre of heist. Granted, there is supposed to be 30+ heists in the game, but they all take place on the same maps. It turns into a *steal X item profit* on the same maps, over and over again, with little changes that don't add anything to the game. A vault may be somewhere different. There may be 3 guards around the back instead of 2. All these changes are indeed welcome, but marketing it as huge changes isn't appropriate.

    Playing the same maps over, and over, and over again, wouldn't be so bad if the actual heist mechanics were done right. Unfortunately, that's another area that they didn't design so well. Drills take a large amount of time, so much so that you just end up not drilling after awhile, it becomes a case of "I just can't be bothered to wait 3-4 minutes for this bloody thing", not even taking into account of how many times it breaks down. Repeat this process several times and even the most harden players will start getting bored.

    Payday 2 does do some things right. Crime.net example is a good mechanic, while it suffers from shoving repeated heists down your throat, the idea itself is good and would work really well with more variety of maps/heists. The safehouse seems like a stale introduction, but it seems like Overkill has some plans for this later on, possibly in the form of some dlc.

    However, unless Overkill is planning on introducing rather large map-packs in his DLC plans, I can't see Payday 2 playable longevity lasting long. Only after 3 days of playing I can tell you its become tiresome to play some of the same maps again, with the dreadful repeated soundtrack.

    Payday 2 could have been so much better, but unless your a hardcore grindfest kinda player, you will soon grow tiresome of this rather enjoyable but flawed co-op.

    Summary:

    Graphics 6/10
    Soundtrack 4/10
    Sounds 6/10
    Gameplay 5/10
    Re-playability 4/10    … Expand
  17. Aldrenean
    Nov 20, 2013
    5
    There is a fun game here, if you can find it. You will need three friends who are capable of clear communication and four microphones. Without these things your options are random matchmaking or AI teammates.
    The AI is laughably incompetent and will literally only shoot at cops when you are under siege. They will not carry bags, steal money, take hostages, etc etc etc. So playing the    There is a fun game here, if you can find it. You will need three friends who are capable of clear communication and four microphones. Without these things your options are random matchmaking or AI teammates.
    The AI is laughably incompetent and will literally only shoot at cops when you are under siege. They will not carry bags, steal money, take hostages, etc etc etc. So playing the game solo is basically impossible, except on the easiest of levels or with the most advanced equipment.
    As for randoms, you will occasionally get a decent game, but the vast majority of players never seem to use voice or text chat. The only communication tool the game provides is a single all-purpose button, no voice call-out menu or anything like that. Matchmaking missions tend to devolve into 4 people doing their own thing in the same map, kind of like Monaco but much, much less fun.

    There are other problems: progression is trickle-fed like a heroin drip, with the almost never avoided pitfall of leaving new players with almost nothing. The starter rifle and pistol are wildly inaccurate, and the game mechanics make it ridiculously difficult to pull off a heist without alerting the police while at low level. I appreciate a satisfying skill tree and item progression, but restricting new players into only playing the game one way is not the correct way to do it. So far my time with the game has resembled Left 4 Dead more than Monaco, Hitman or Thief.

    The biggest technical issue is the insane hard drive bloat. The game originally required less than 10gb of space. With the latest DLC, it now takes up just under 25gb. That is bigger than GTAIV, RAGE or RO2. This is completely ridiculous, and could well make the game unplayable for someone who bought it thinking the officially listed requirement of 10gb was accurate.    … Expand
  18. SaintJames012
    Nov 5, 2013
    6
    Before you read this I want to point out the fact that this score is based off playing the multiplayer SOLO, no friends and playing with randoms. This game is fun for the first couple of hours playing with randoms, until you realize the payday community is filled with a bunch of pricks. Basically you will see level 50-60s in a level 1 mission then boot you for being to low a rank. PeopleBefore you read this I want to point out the fact that this score is based off playing the multiplayer SOLO, no friends and playing with randoms. This game is fun for the first couple of hours playing with randoms, until you realize the payday community is filled with a bunch of pricks. Basically you will see level 50-60s in a level 1 mission then boot you for being to low a rank. People will expect you to know what to do right out the gate, and will quit at the slightest hint of the mission not going their way. Also if the host of the mission quits, and they will, the game will shut down completely, and you will lose all the cash, xp, and gear you should have gotten. The missions are also very repetitive. All bank jobs are of the exact same bank, the only difference is what is inside the vault. You will see the same problem repeatedly throughout the game. With friends the game gets an 8/10, but if you play this solo with randoms it gets a 6/10… Expand
  19. ce111
    Jul 31, 2014
    7
    This is a great game...if you have friends to play it with you. The mission's I've played with pugs have to be some of the worst in my entire experience. You can get kicked for nothing and people leaving games at a whim is becoming an epidemic. But if you have some buddies to play with, the game becomes 100% better. The jobs are recycled but you can go for harder difficulties which offerThis is a great game...if you have friends to play it with you. The mission's I've played with pugs have to be some of the worst in my entire experience. You can get kicked for nothing and people leaving games at a whim is becoming an epidemic. But if you have some buddies to play with, the game becomes 100% better. The jobs are recycled but you can go for harder difficulties which offer greater rewards but more risk. Pulling off an incredibly hard job is a great feeling. So if you have a couple friend who will play this game with you then its definitely worth it. Otherwise I'd suggest giving this game a pass. There is a single player mode but no real story to speak of and the AI is awful. More often a hindrance than a help.… Expand
  20. Fr3nchee
    Sep 2, 2013
    5
    A review from a virgin Payday player.
    This game is quite literally "ok", not great, not crap. First the good points: The varying placement of items and such around the level is a nice touch, the jobs that pop in and out of existence, the online with 4 other users is nice because of the speed the job can be achieved with as well a substantial rewards. However this game leaves a lot to be    A review from a virgin Payday player.
    This game is quite literally "ok", not great, not crap. First the good points: The varying placement of items and such around the level is a nice touch, the jobs that pop in and out of existence, the online with 4 other users is nice because of the speed the job can be achieved with as well a substantial rewards. However this game leaves a lot to be desired of it. Offline isn't even worth playing, the AI are beyond awful, apart from shooting they cannot pick up bags and help nor can the be sly once the heist is started. They won't do anything but stick to a 1 metre radius from you which means they will not hold an area unless you are at the centre which makes going back and forth to pick up each bag (because they won't do it) even harder than it needs to be. Then the reward is tiny in comparison to online. Not only that but the reward is split into an "overseas account" (which essentially you cannot touch ever as far as I can tell, I may be wrong) and a pocket money style account which is about 5% of the overall amount earned from the heists. This means it is utterly useless if you want to upgrade your weapons, it took me over 5 hrs of gameplay offline to collect enough for a silencer, which leads me to the next downfall, the add-ons are given to you at random, well I say given, unlocked and then sold at random, I'm yet to be able to customise masks and yet people who are just starting have fully customised ones because they were lucky enough to get a random mask upgrade which was the actual mask (which is very rare in my experience). However none of these are worth avoiding the game for, these are my reasons for avoiding it. Customisation of your "safehouse" is mentioned right at the beginning of the game, you would be able to use the money you have earned to customise. However this is not actually a feature and thus the money stored away is utterly pointless. I have $18million (that's not much if you play online) stashed away but I cannot use it for anything (including buying equipment). This is because this feature was given as a pre-order bonus... it baffles me to think, that was the reward for buying a game. Developers are getting lazier and greedier. Finally the thing that rubbed me up the wrong way and makes the rating so low is that this game would be a 10 (if patches for small details are to arrive) in my book, this game is perfect as a multiplayer game to play with your friends, get the lads round for beers and a gaming session... put the disc in "oh this looks cool" "so there are 4 characters, do we get to choose which ones we want?" OH WAIT! NO SPLITSCREEN!!! This game would be the game of the year for me if it had splitscreen, I'd even forgive just 2 player splitscreen but a 1 player game with 4 main characters is beyond stupid. Online fails to give the same rush of you and your mates shouting at each other in the same room, "You need to blow that safe" "I'm down" "Grab that jewelry!" (This doesn't work if you need to explain over the headset where it is). I know this is done to sell more but I can tell you in my friends group out of 4 (not including me) wanting to get the game, only 1 decided to buy it, do you want to know why? because they wanted a game that meant they could invite their mates round and play, like fifa, COD, Minecraft and many others. Playing over the internet is just not as fun not to mention if you're internet is a little temperamental it becomes a burden. This game is more of a DLC for a full game. it basically is a few set missions that needs you to play online to remotely enjoy it and doesn't allow you to play with mates. This game makes my head hurt, it's the perfect 4-way splitscreen game for you and friends except that it's not possible to do what this game was designed for. So it if you don't mind not being with your friends then yeah it's an average wave of police that you shoot!
    I wanted this game to be amazing but it just falls far too short of a completed game. Hopefully splitscreen will start to reappear in games.
    Why are TVs getting bigger yet 10 yrs ago you could get 4 players on one tine 15" and now you can only get 1 on a 50"? What is wrong with you developers, you'd sell more making it fun than forcing people into it... Please understand this game feels rushed but the mechanics are interesting but not complete. It just has so many let downs in my opinion. The idea of the game is lovely but the outcome is "Meh" as soon as GTA comes out this will die away because it lacks the finished feel of a great game.

    Conclusion:
    Single player: utterly useless (google it, that's everyone's opinion)
    Online: ok, fun but no more than any other online co-op, you'd rather be with mates.
    with friends: would much rather be out having a pint if we can't be in the same place while enjoying ourselves.
    Customisation: looks good, I have all sorts of add-ons which needs parts that are part of a lucky dip and I'm yet to get hold of hence no idea.    … Expand
  21. player6587
    Oct 11, 2014
    6
    This game is nice in graphics and gameplay. but what i like the most is the realisticness.but what i DON't like is those DLC!!!!! you can only play 3/1 of the gamemodes but the other 3/2 is purchased!
  22. kramed
    Nov 20, 2013
    7
    As a big fan of the movie Heat, Payday 2 is unique FPS worth playing for a week or two. First impressions I had were it has a bit of a learning curve and is really geared towards players that like unlock systems (aka Battlefield). I personally like to be able play a game and not be disadvantaged for not having played for 50 hours but I must say Payday is a refreshing change to the FPSAs a big fan of the movie Heat, Payday 2 is unique FPS worth playing for a week or two. First impressions I had were it has a bit of a learning curve and is really geared towards players that like unlock systems (aka Battlefield). I personally like to be able play a game and not be disadvantaged for not having played for 50 hours but I must say Payday is a refreshing change to the FPS genre. I do enjoy the settings and maps. The graphics and game dynamics are also quite good but I found the game is limited by its absolutely horrendous matchmaking and server joining system with the grindfest to unlock any of the cool in game items. I think I will have gotten my moneys worth out of this game at the 10-15 hour range and then drop it forever. Pick it up on sale and dont bother with the DLC. If the host has the DLC you can play, you just cant host games with the DLC maps.… Expand
  23. MaxPay
    Sep 21, 2013
    6
    In short: Payday 2 has it's charm, as well as it's issues.
    PROS: Concept, fun co-op, sound, skill-trees, dynamic map parts, shooting, level of customization.
    CONS: AI, lag, no host migration, losing connections, random loot, partial hitboxes, forced dynamic shadows, sound bugs, no cloaker. If those issues were fixed, would give it an 8. With 10 more heists and overkill 145+ difficulty,    In short: Payday 2 has it's charm, as well as it's issues.
    PROS: Concept, fun co-op, sound, skill-trees, dynamic map parts, shooting, level of customization.
    CONS: AI, lag, no host migration, losing connections, random loot, partial hitboxes, forced dynamic shadows, sound bugs, no cloaker.
    If those issues were fixed, would give it an 8. With 10 more heists and overkill 145+ difficulty, it's a 9. Such a shame it's not there, at least not yet.    … Expand
  24. quantumnerd
    Nov 11, 2013
    5
    This game doesn't really deserve all the praise being heaped on it. It's a fun game-- you, four friends, a heist, plenty of things to shoot, and different ways to complete missions. What's not to love?

    Well, to start, it's grindy. Very grindy. I still don't have the silent drill after many hours of play in the technician tech tree. And I still don't have good mods for my weapons,    This game doesn't really deserve all the praise being heaped on it. It's a fun game-- you, four friends, a heist, plenty of things to shoot, and different ways to complete missions. What's not to love?

    Well, to start, it's grindy. Very grindy. I still don't have the silent drill after many hours of play in the technician tech tree. And I still don't have good mods for my weapons, because they only drop randomly. And you can't trade. And you still have to pay ingame cash for them after they do drop. Yep, that's double-dipping in terms of extending the length of the game. And it goes past that-- there are only a few missions, it's only worth it to play on Overkill difficulty due to only those missions giving enough experience and money, and contracts are very expensive. That means that either you grind for more mission money after being a charity for the three other guys in the party by buying the mission contract, or you wait for an Overkill mission to pop up on the jobs map. And after you get into a mission, hope that you connect, because you'll normally be stuck in a connection loop, or find "lobby full" when you try to join someone else's game. And after you join the game, you have a high chance of being kicked thanks to the uncommunicative and elitist community. Not high level enough? Kicked, even though there's A FILTER FOR THAT they chose not to use. They just want to be dicks to you? Kick you right before the mission ends so you won't get XP or money. But let's assume you get a working, nice crew together. Now you don't know if everyone wants to do the same thing, or has the proper loadout. The game was advertised as one where you'll call up a friend with specialties to perform a specific job. In reality, you don't have that many friends, and never will. You have to rely on randoms. Can you advertise a lobby as a stealth only lobby? Can you make sure you have skills A, B, C and D before you go in? No. You can't. So even if against all odds you get a sane game, you might not have the right team compo. And then there's random other issues. For one, there just aren't a lot of mission types. There are only really about 8 mission types in the game (probably why they have to try so hard to stretch content out). Guns don't sound right, and the shooting feels bad. The soundtrack is kind of awful and repetitive. If your final team member doesn't go to the extraction point, then the rest of you can be shot while he dawdles and then you'll fail the mission (downed members anywhere, including in the extraction point, prevent extraction). There's no proper offline practice mode, because you'll lose ingame currency if you buy contracts in offline mode, and lose money for killing civilians in offline mode.

    So why am I giving this game a 5? What's there good about it? Like I said, it's a four player co-op heist game. It's still pretty fun to play with friends. It might be the only thing your friends will agree on. But friends make everything tolerable-- the game is still pretty bad.    … Expand
  25. UnbiasedOne
    Aug 16, 2013
    5
    *NOTE: THIS REVIEW IS FOR RELEASE 1.0.0*

    After months of playing the first one dry I was more then ready for the second. There are many many more missions and tons of upgrades and weapons. You get to assign skills. However, that's all it has going for it. The severe disappointment is the layout for weapons, upgrades and skills. It is terrible. Each time you level up you get 1 skill    *NOTE: THIS REVIEW IS FOR RELEASE 1.0.0*

    After months of playing the first one dry I was more then ready for the second. There are many many more missions and tons of upgrades and weapons. You get to assign skills. However, that's all it has going for it. The severe disappointment is the layout for weapons, upgrades and skills. It is terrible. Each time you level up you get 1 skill point, for ever 10 levels you get an extra 2. However it costs skill points AND money to upgrade and the price is absurd. Money is nothing like the first. You get two different accounts one goes into an Offshore account and the other is money to spend, on average for every $100,000 you get only $6,000 you get to spend depending on the difficulty.

    The inventory is just as bad. If you unlock an upgrade and have it equipped to a weapon, now you want to remove that upgrade then add it again, you have to PAY AGAIN for it. WHY!? If it's in your inventory why pay for something you already have!? Worse yet you cannot sell spare upgrades! Different armor is new you have a vest that can take 2 hits before your health starts dropping. The better the vest the more hits. While armor does regenerate after time it is worthless on harder difficulties. Flack Jackets which can take 5 hits can only take one on VERY HARD, or OVERKILL, it can only take 3 on HARD and all 5 on NORMAL.

    Difficulties depend on how much money and experience you get. The more experience, the more you can level up. Some missions you get a jackpot (again difficulty and conditions) with over $200,000 spending money and 10,000 experience. Most missions you average 900 Experience and $4,000 spending money.

    85% of the voice acting has been recycled from the first. The only new lines are from Bain and a few from the characters. Now the Co-Op, it is the definition of unstable. 75%-85% of the time you cannot connect to a game, will be dropped from a game, or loose connection to two or more players which shuts the match down. Safe house. What is the point of this? It does nothing. Payday 2 (as of v.1) is addicting but more aggravating then fun, I hope many many patches fix these issues.    … Expand
  26. Dovafox
    Aug 14, 2013
    5
    This game is a really good improvement since the first Payday game.
    In my opinion, they rushed the release. The release made it hard to play with your friends, play without crashing etc. After the first update, it was fixed.
    This game has an irritating civil AI that doesn't listen to you at important times, and most likely aimbot SWATS. The weapon number are kind of low and wasn't    This game is a really good improvement since the first Payday game.
    In my opinion, they rushed the release. The release made it hard to play with your friends, play without crashing etc. After the first update, it was fixed.
    This game has an irritating civil AI that doesn't listen to you at important times, and most likely aimbot SWATS.
    The weapon number are kind of low and wasn't expected to be so few.
    After Level 31 you will never unlock more guns which is total BS.
    Heists are used in the same bank, store and it's kind of stupid to see things all over again.
    But this game is fun right? Of course it is. When you get to level 20, you will play on Overkill difficulty and you will realise how easy it is.    … Expand
  27. Korriban
    Feb 1, 2014
    6
    TL;DR at the end of this wall text.

    I had mixed feelings for this game, for a while I liked it a lot, but with the latest updates and DLCs I eventually made up my mind and uninstalled it. I've seriously grown tired of the company policy, they keep adding stuff and make the game harder without fixing bugs that are well known since the dawn of time. I'm going to explain... Don't get    TL;DR at the end of this wall text.

    I had mixed feelings for this game, for a while I liked it a lot, but with the latest updates and DLCs I eventually made up my mind and uninstalled it. I've seriously grown tired of the company policy, they keep adding stuff and make the game harder without fixing bugs that are well known since the dawn of time.

    I'm going to explain...

    Don't get me wrong, if we look at the gameplay/graphics/sound compartment the game is good, really good. You can customize your masks, your weapons, you can even build your carachter to be whatever you like and the music is damn good. All these things are major improvements over the previous chapter, well... except Hoxton speaking AmE instead of BrE.
    There are, however, some problems that, in my opinion, have been deliberately ignored, some of them are gamebreaking and are the result of poor judgement from the devs.

    I -FIRST- There are 21 missions, but many of them are staged in the same place, there are 5 bank heists that are simply identical, the only difference is the stuff you have to rob. You will play all these missions once and for the rest of the game you will keep playing the same 2 gamebraking heists: "Firesterter", that gives you a huge amount of money, and "Rats", that rewards you with a ridiculous amount of experience points. Since they are so rewarding they must be really hard to finish, right ? Well, Firestarter is quite hard, but Rats is so easy that you can finish it single player on the hardest difficulty in 5 minutes. So, you start farming these 2 missions until you get freaking bored and start thinking ... "why the devs don't give us more missions ?" There are already 3 DLCs, only one of them contains new missions; mission"S", yes with an ironic S, because you have to do the same thing in all of them, you can even consider them as one mission, only the map is different. Also, the game mechanic is always the same for every mission. 1. Open something with a drill, C4 or saw, 2. Grab what's inside, 3. Bring it to the escape point. No wonder this game is called "bag toss simulator 2014". At least Payday 1 had 2 missions with an hostage to escort; in payday 2 there is nothing like that, devs promised kidnapping mission but after 6 months nothing has come.

    II -SECOND- The DLCs of this game gave me cancer. I bought one and it really was a waste of money. All I got was 4 more masks (that need to be dropped except for 1) a few new guns (all useless except one or 2) and the above mentioned "4" missions (with a chance to spawn a random hard-as-hell mission once in a blue moon). This was the first DLC, the second one was a punch in the eye and a spit in the face for every gamer; the devs made the game considerably more difficult with the update, almost unplayable at the highest difficulties, overkill difficulty is ... overkill ok, can't argue with that, BUT they included grenades in the DLC, which you have to pay for, while the infernal difficulty is for free, I see what you did there dear devs. Now, with the third DLC they included a new special enemy for free (increasing the difficulty again) along with the stuff you have to pay for. So... I have to say that this is enough, I know DLCs are optional and If I don't like them I shouldn't pay for them, but here... you're kinda forced to buy at least the granade DLC. Ok, I have to add this bit, the only free, "original" (yes that's irony again) mission is a bank heist, the "GO Bank" ... which is a copy-paste of a map from CS GO.

    III -THIRD- At the end of each mission you get a reward, a random item that can be one of the following : weapon part, mask, mask pattern, mask colour, money, exp. Money and exp are totally useless since the amount given and the drop rate is very low; mask colours, patterns and masks are ... well, some are good while others not so much, so this is ok, i guess. Now, weapon mods are something frustrating, the droprate is so high that you will end up having more mods than weapons, masks, patterns and colours combined. Also, the chance to get an item you want is very, very,very low since there are thousands of items in the game.

    OK enough writing...

    For the TL;DR ppl out there.

    1. Lack of balanced and new unique missions
    2. Almost laughable content inside DLCs; make money policy.
    3. Mmorpg farm / grind style, frustrating drop rates

    NOT worth the price of 30€ let alone 45 (30€+ 3DLCx5€)
    Bought at 17€ + 1DLC 3€ and I kinda regret it.

    This game WOULD BE at least 7/10, it has a lot of potential but the way it gets updated is irritating. It could be much much better if the devs focused on the important things, but for some reason they don't. I'm sorely disappointed.    … Expand
  28. Superficiality
    Feb 7, 2015
    5
    Robbing banks, killing cops, and killing innocent civilians? What message does this repetitive and uninspired game send to all the kids that play it? I hate how you have to do the same thing over and over again to get a new level and get new weapons. Very boring; I was extremely disappointed because my friend told me it was a thrill to play. After shooting at civilians in a bank I fell asleep.
  29. oilreg
    Sep 17, 2013
    7
    Besides the Fact that robbing banksters is fun, this is one of the best games when it boils down to teamplay required. The overall gfx are not too goo, but the overkill team is great with fixing and ptching things, a few weeks after release there is already the No. 11 update out, sweet!
  30. Generaltuber
    Aug 19, 2013
    7
    I've played this game extensively lately trying to make sure I write a good, honest review. I love this game, I really do. It's a great fun game to play and it really is the ultimate criminal virtual reality.

    With that said, there are some parts of this game that they could have spent more time on. The game looks decent but there are a few lousy textures. When you get up close the    I've played this game extensively lately trying to make sure I write a good, honest review. I love this game, I really do. It's a great fun game to play and it really is the ultimate criminal virtual reality.

    With that said, there are some parts of this game that they could have spent more time on. The game looks decent but there are a few lousy textures. When you get up close the floors, tables and a few other things aren't the sharpest. But, they work and they don't look appalling.

    For me, the real problem lies in the levels or the heist themselves. They're so much fun and I really enjoy them but after a while... well you've played all the maps multiple times. By the time I had 10 hours logged I had played every heist multiple times. Yeah, the level design changes a little bit, the vault will be somewhere different or the guards might change but over all, there are no major changes and it's the same lay out. I'm sure they will release more heist and different "maps" but they need to do it quick because the maps are already running stale along with the heist themselves.

    They did a wonderful job with customization. There are so many different weapon mods and perks to discover. You can fully customize your safe house which is a bit pointless but fun to do at the same time. There are a lot of new guns in the game all with unique weapon mods. The "perks" are absolutely amazing and are actually worth it. For $30, I recommend you pick up this game. Just make sure you have people to play with, the AI's are absolutely useless and it's not always fun to play with random people...    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

67
#67 Best PC Game of 2013
5
#5 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
6
#6 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 51 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 40 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 51
  3. Negative: 0 out of 51
  1. GRYOnline.pl
    Oct 9, 2013
    80
    PayDay 2 is one of the nicest surprises of the year. Overkill Software understands the atmosphere of gangster movies and wisely improves these pieces of gameplay, that might have been disappointing in the first game. The sequel is better in almost every way - you can play a thief and enjoy good character development and shooting systems. I really hope, that PayDay 3 will be even better.
    Read full review
  2. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 5, 2013
    86
    Payday 2 is an excellent co-op shooter - a vast improvement over the first one. [Sept 2013]
  3. Hyper Magazine
    Oct 3, 2013
    80
    A unique and captivating multiplayer experience that rewards team work over personal glory. But make sure you bring friends for the true experience. [Nov 2013, p.62]
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