I was planning on putting this forward for the next TESTie Times, but the Steam Summer Sale ends on the 4th and there's never been a better time to buy.
NOTE: Payday 2 is free to play until the end of the Steam Summer Sale
Payday 2 is a game like no other (barring the first in this 2-game series of course), wherein you and three other career criminals are put into the powder-free nitrile gloves of four actual career criminals to knock over banks, rig elections, and mule coke for a ruthless drug lord. While my time with the first iteration was minimal (I hadn't the average beast of a gaming PC I have now), I thought the concept was different and refreshing.
Payday 2 expands on that concept and does it very well. Starting off, there's little that you are able to do. At least little that you can feel ready to tackle. What I would call "introductory heists" are very straightforward and allow you to get a feel for how you want to play it. Whether keeping things quiet with minimal violence or by smashing and grabbing, cleaning crews be damned—the choice is yours and you'll find your preference as you play.
Granted, there are a few missions that are exclusively quiet or exclusively loud, but as with all the heists none are necessary to complete, nor need to be completed in a certain order. You can avoid the missions you want and there'll always be time to hone your skills for the ones you do. As you play, you'll earn money, XP, and skill points.
Money is used to buy weapons and masks you can customize to your hearts content. Skill points are used to to customize your abilities. XP also goes towards points to build your Perk Decks, which are secondary sets of skills you can use to either expand your abilities or enhance those you've already built. There are several skill trees with varying utilities. And to complete some of the more complicated heists, you're going to need a varied collection of skills amongst your team. It may take some time to get a good handle on what you'll need and when, but when you do it's very satisfying to be able to pull heists like a pro.
If you're a veteran of the game, no doubt you'll know that some time ago they hit a very rough patch in terms of consumer relations. Most infamously was the Hype Train debacle which warranted a humorous parody interview and the departure of many fans. Later they introduced loot safes which could only be opened with keys you had to pay for with real money. This inclusion of microtransactions came with a vault-load of overturned reviews and waves of players leaving, myself included.
However, with the coming of the 100th update, Overkill has rended the chains of 505 Games and with them the dreaded microtransactions. It's a fantastic time indeed for the old and new, with a pretty $5 (USD) price tag, 75% off DLC, and the ability to try before you buy 'til July 4th. I highly recommend giving it a test drive if you haven't, and if you turned away from it for their previous practices then I encourage you to take it for another spin and get a good whiff of the remodeled interior now that the dead raccoon has been scraped from the engine.
NOTE: Payday 2 is free to play until the end of the Steam Summer Sale
Payday 2 is a game like no other (barring the first in this 2-game series of course), wherein you and three other career criminals are put into the powder-free nitrile gloves of four actual career criminals to knock over banks, rig elections, and mule coke for a ruthless drug lord. While my time with the first iteration was minimal (I hadn't the average beast of a gaming PC I have now), I thought the concept was different and refreshing.
Payday 2 expands on that concept and does it very well. Starting off, there's little that you are able to do. At least little that you can feel ready to tackle. What I would call "introductory heists" are very straightforward and allow you to get a feel for how you want to play it. Whether keeping things quiet with minimal violence or by smashing and grabbing, cleaning crews be damned—the choice is yours and you'll find your preference as you play.
Granted, there are a few missions that are exclusively quiet or exclusively loud, but as with all the heists none are necessary to complete, nor need to be completed in a certain order. You can avoid the missions you want and there'll always be time to hone your skills for the ones you do. As you play, you'll earn money, XP, and skill points.
Money is used to buy weapons and masks you can customize to your hearts content. Skill points are used to to customize your abilities. XP also goes towards points to build your Perk Decks, which are secondary sets of skills you can use to either expand your abilities or enhance those you've already built. There are several skill trees with varying utilities. And to complete some of the more complicated heists, you're going to need a varied collection of skills amongst your team. It may take some time to get a good handle on what you'll need and when, but when you do it's very satisfying to be able to pull heists like a pro.
If you're a veteran of the game, no doubt you'll know that some time ago they hit a very rough patch in terms of consumer relations. Most infamously was the Hype Train debacle which warranted a humorous parody interview and the departure of many fans. Later they introduced loot safes which could only be opened with keys you had to pay for with real money. This inclusion of microtransactions came with a vault-load of overturned reviews and waves of players leaving, myself included.
However, with the coming of the 100th update, Overkill has rended the chains of 505 Games and with them the dreaded microtransactions. It's a fantastic time indeed for the old and new, with a pretty $5 (USD) price tag, 75% off DLC, and the ability to try before you buy 'til July 4th. I highly recommend giving it a test drive if you haven't, and if you turned away from it for their previous practices then I encourage you to take it for another spin and get a good whiff of the remodeled interior now that the dead raccoon has been scraped from the engine.
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