The guard rounds the corner right as you move to start picking the lock. He looks you up and down, notices your suspicious choice of clothing (ballistic vests are so last week) and goes for his sidearm. Your team tenses up as you throw on your mask and try to stop him from alerting the patrons on the other side of the door.
If he does, an alarm (and the police) are not far away.
The heist is on.
With the advent of the recent Steam Autumn Sale, I took advantage of some of the savings to create a backlog of games right as my holiday break began. I reasoned that I needed some diversions for the days ahead, so I picked up a few titles - among them, Far Cry 3, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Starbound and Payday 2.
To my surprise, Payday 2 has given me the most enjoyment so far.
It's all about the money
Payday 2 like it's predecessor Payday: The Heist is a first-person shooter, but with a twist. You're not some kind of military superhero or apocalyptic world-ending event survivor. You're not fighting for the U.S. government, against an oppressive regime or for your own survival.
You're a professional heister.
During the course of the game, you'll shoot at (and be the target of) police. You'll run into a room wearing a grotesque mask, screaming at everyone to get down on the ground. You'll crack safes, safety deposit boxes, and server rooms wide open. You'll run to an escape vehicle with a heavy but expensive bag of loot.
And along the way, you'll either strike it rich or die trying.
To say Payday 2 feels a lot like an actual heist is almost certainly inaccurate. But it definitely feels a lot like the heists you and I actually know about - the ones you see in movies. And that is a Hell of a situation to be a part of.
Temptation
You see, Payday 2 isn't about destroying every enemy you come across. It's not about good versus evil.
It's all about those dead presidents. And you will be tempted to risk your life to get them.
You get a certain amount of money just for completing the basic objectives of a heist, whatever those may be. But you almost always have the chance to get additional money somehow, and that additional money is what you will be obsessed with.
How dangerous does the police presence have to be to decide against re-entering the bank for that last bag of gold? How long will you stay in the bank's vault as you attempt to pick open safety deposit boxes for extra cash?
So far, money has been the prime limiting factor for my character progression. I always want more. And by creating that demand, the game makes you want to take risks. It even ups the stakes by providing missions that you can only attempt once - and, if you fail, you lose the money you spent to get the initial contract.
Of course, the rewards are also better.
The game also offers a random reward at the end of every heist - it could be extra money or experience, a modification for a weapon, a new mask to wear, or custom colour or pattern options for any of your current masks.
Insider info
The game does a good job of replicating the chaos of a movie heist. On top of that atmosphere, it layers a level progression system that is fulfilling and makes characters distinct from one another based on the choices of their players.
The Ghost is a stealth specialist, for example, while the Mastermind grants bonuses to their team, can heal them, and is great at getting bystanders under control.
At its core, this game is a co-operative multiplayer game. If you don't want to play with other people, you'll find the team AI to be sub-par at best. An AI player will basically always be inferior to an actual human, so I recommend finding a group of people online. This game is best experienced with friends, though - and Steam offers a 4-pack which provides substantial savings over buying individual copies.
I've heard complaints from some people that the community is bad, but every experience I've had has been positive - and I've never had a full group of four people that I knew personally.
The gun-play is really solid, and military enthusiasts will find highly customizable weaponry based on real-world models.
To keep things from getting too predictable, the heists have random elements that affect how you approach the job. Some obstacles are there on one heist, and not the next. Sometimes there is a guard patrolling a route where there was not before. Sometimes a bystander is hanging out in the alleyway right outside the window you want to open.
Even though you'll see the selection of maps often enough, the game still feels fresh.
A unique experience
Payday 2 is a unique beast. It isn't really a stealth FPS, although stealth is viable and it is entirely possible on most heists to get through it without alerting the authorities.
It feels almost like a first-person, multiplayer Hitman in the sense that the heist is really about the choices you make. You can choose to carry concealable weaponry and wear inconspicuous clothing to maximize your stealth advantage and disable alarms. Or you can instead go quick and dirty, eliminating guards and triggering alarms.
Most of the heists I've been on were a combination - stealth as far as possible, and then all-out shooting the rest of the way. But I've had heists without a police response at all, which happened because the team was working together to avoid alarms, cameras, bystanders and loud noises.
The Haul
Payday 2 improves on its predecessor and is worth a look for any fan of FPS, especially cooperative multiplayer FPS. I recommend picking it up for PC if possible, as it is updated more frequently.
