Payday 2

[Melbosa]

So I know Mr. Analog has spoken to this one in the Fragapalooza 2013 thread, but I think it deserves its own discussion.

It was just released yesterday, August 13, 2013 and unfortunately those of us that were in the Beta had to start over leveling our Criminals.  But seems that either I am better than I was in Beta, or they lowered the difficulty a bit, as I went from LVL 1 to LVL 7 in less than 30 minutes with 3 other people playing with me.  In Beta it took 4 of us almost 5+ hours to get that far.

Pros
The game is very much Left 4 Dead where Survivors = Criminals, and Zombies = Cops.  But man it is so much more.  You start out casing a joint before executing your criminal activity during an "event" that they call it, which you have choices of doing around the city.  You can get tasers, silencers, automated turrets, trip lines, drills, c4, lock picks, clipping saws, and so much more.  You take hostages to trade for captured team mates.  You loop jewelry stores, banks, shops and even a Pear Store (think Apple).  You can end up doing single day events or multi-day events to earn cash and reputation (levels).  You could be a drug mule for coke dealer, or a assassin for higher to take out rival gangs or criminals.  This game seems to have it all for criminal element without going into the graphical or extreme end of the criminal spectrum (like rape and other extreme activities).  The criminals you are playing seem to have a bit of honour code, as you get penalized for killing civilians rather than tying them up.

Cons
Offline mode - i.e. Single Player - is pretty much useless.  The bots that make up your 4 man team are really only there to take bullets and dish them out.  They can't carry loot and you really can't control them.  The only thing they do for you is pick you up when you are down, otherwise they are just as useful as automated turrets on wheels.  The Offline mode is just the same as the co-op online mode, so all missions are available to both sides and reputation (xp) is saved to the same character regardless of mode (offline or online).

Overall I am enjoying the game play, and highly recommend it to most.  The costs are low for a retail PC game... $30 gets you into play.   Most start in the $60 range so I think this one is a great deal!

Your Thoughts?

[Mr. Analog]

I think I would like to play this game more but I'm having a hard time justifying the $30, mostly because the single player is kind of "meh".

This is a GREAT game in multiplayer but I found the character management and player matchmaking kind of clunky. Even at Fraga I had a hard time finding people locally to match with, and it wasn't for lack of people playing.

Also, it has to be said, as much as a progression system is a cool idea I think where something like L4D shines is that it keeps things simple and balanced, if you grind Payday 2 you will get better skills and guns which kind of makes me think a micro-transaction pay-to-win model is around the corner.

I'll pass probably.

[Mr. Analog]

Augh, there's something about this game that keeps me thinking about it.

I may end up getting it anyway

It's fun dammit, even with the retarded bots

[Melbosa]

I know right...

[Mr. Analog]

...it's installing now LOL