Payday 2: what team VG247 thinks
Payday 2 reviews are dropping now. Here's what team VG247 thought of Overkill Software's steal-em-up.
I'd usually do some sort of opinion blog or write-up of a new game in time for reviews dropping but thanks to a plethora of reasons - being too busy, the yearly gamescom-planning scramble, turning 30 - I haven't had time to play Payday 2 long enough to give it a fair appraisal.
So because it's a co-op game I suggested we mix it up and pool our personal opinions on what we've played of Payday 2 so far, because I realise we're all playing it on different formats and at different skill levels. That way you can get a neat overview of what each of us thought from our own unique perspectives.
But before I hand over to the team, make sure you check out our PayDay 2 review round-up here and have a gander at Sam's 'Let's Play' videos that show him and a rather 'sweary' Pat bumbling their way through two heists:
Now then. What did we all think? Take it away Pat...
Pat: "I've loved PayDay 2 since first playing it at E3 this year. It's an intensely stupid computer game in my hands. My natural shooter instinct is to shoot people. It seems obvious to murder when walking with a gun, so every time I see a YouTube video of people squeezing every drop of ice from the jewellery store with nary an alarm ringing I'm all like, "Oh." That doesn't, however, mean my repeated bloodbath isn't fun; if you're daft enough to be a civilian in a shoot-out you logically deserve to die.
"While it doesn't have the same immediacy of Left 4 Dead, the rarity of "contained" four-player online shooters means PayDay 2 deserves a slot in any Steam library. If you're PC, online, talking rubbish, know more living organisms than your cat and like to shoot whimpering men up the bum, this is for you. Do it."
Sam: "The ingredients that make up the excitement factor of Left 4 Dead have been put into a bank heist game. Yep, that immediately means good things. The unique factor of each heist makes it even more appealing to do it the stealthy/correct way, although you’ll always play with some moron who just decides to fire a 120db shotgun round into the air - but this definitely adds to the entertainment value.
"Sneaking around the FBI headquarters to steal a server of data while silently taking out guards and CCTV cameras is just enthralling, remove your pants type stuff. (Jesus dude! - Dave) Finally pulling off a bank heist without setting any of the alarms off is enough to make you want to fist bump the air, run up a flight of stairs and simply party like its 1999 again. I get the sweats every time it goes right. Why are you reading this? You should be playing it now."
Dave: "I'm playing PayDay 2 on my Xbox 360 because my PC is wank. It does co-op brilliantly and in a way I haven't experienced since Left 4 Dead, thanks in part to the sheer urgency of it all. Take the bank job for example; your thermal drill takes four painful minutes to crack the vault, while outside wave after wave of increasingly armed and aggressive cops pile up outside, showering the building in searing hot lead. It's nuts.
"Once the safe is open you have to fill bags with money and carry them through the gunfire to your getaway vehicle. Meanwhile you have to help up your downed mates while trying not to die yourself. It's a similar brand of confusion and adrenaline that I got from Left 4 Dead's escape missions, and that's a game I played relentlessly back in the day. Overkill has just hit all the right notes that make co-op games so damn enjoyable.
"Sam also told me that you can also do entire heists without breaking stealth and I couldn't believe it until he showed me a clip of him doing it. The fact that you can coordinate so well as a team to make this happen is brilliant. However, I love the scrappy nature of the shoot-outs and that mad dash to the getaway van so much that I just start unloading my gun like a maniac whenever the opportunity arrives. I'd make a shite robber that's for sure."
So there's our thoughts. What do you think of Payday 2 so far? Let us know below.
Payday 2 launches on Steam August 18 and