1. Gameplay
Before you even consider buying this game, please do yourself a favor and keep this in mind: This game will suck for your first few missions. The “tutorial” in this game barely explains anything and there are a ton of subtle quirks that you must know in order to be competitive. If you decide to take the plunge and try this game out, run it at least once offline with AI players. This will be an extremely boring, frustrating experience, but you will learn the very basics of the game (like how to put your mask on to start the heist). Then try it online and stick close to the veterans. Even if you’re just killing cops, you can be helpful.  Helpful. The fact that I have to write a disclaimer like that for a game is a bad sign. Payday 2 is a fun game once you get going into the ridiculous “progression” system and get a good idea of how each mission functions. Unfortunately, the learning curve is practically insurmountable. I’ve played my fair share of video games, and trying to figure out how to be effective in each scenario is practically impossible. There were three main problems I had with the game. The first, as I have mentioned, is that the game has basically no tutorial and very little explanation as to how things work in the user interface. So a new player will walk up to a safe and see a bunch of symbols. Each symbol corresponds to a way to crack the safe. By default the player will be able to get into safes with a drill that takes a long time to use. Alternatively, the player might equip C4 to blow the safe open. But how does the player do that? By earning it through the progression system, evidently. But the game never explains that. Instead, I’m wondering what I have to do to get the circular saw or the EMP signal device or the C4 instead of using a loud, slow drill.  Those other symbols mean something. Second, the game has a ton of quirks that new players will have serious trouble picking up on. For example, the cops tend to be less aggressive in their assaults the more hostages the team has. Hostages can be tied down to prevent them from running away, but any civilian that isn’t rescued by the cop is, at least potentially, a hostage. Also, the game has a wave-like system. Cops assault in waves, but each wave gets stronger as time progresses. This is counter-intuitive for most gamers, since normally matches start out easy, get very difficult, then end after the greatest difficulty. Payday waves never end. So expert players will get in, do the job, and leave very quickly, giving them the easiest experience. New gamers will be sitting around for 10 to 15 minutes trying to figure out what to do, and will inevitably get overwhelmed by a superior police force. Thirdly, the game has a ridiculous “progression” system. The quotes there are intentional, because the game mashes together a bunch of different leveling and progression systems into the same game, but does very little to explain each one. The player can earn levels from experience points and can use those points (and earned cash) to buy skills. Leveling up unlocks new weapons for the player, which also must be bought with cash. But buying a weapon doesn’t give the player access to the attachments for that weapon. Attachments must be randomly earned by cards after completing a mission. These cards randomly assign an attachment to the player. Sometimes it’s for a weapon for the player is using, sometimes it isn’t. The whole system ends up being a complex method of confusing new players and preventing them from wanting to play the game for any extended period of time.  This needs work. Which is extremely unfortunate, because if a player can stick it out for a few missions, unlock weapons that are somewhat effective, learn the tips and tricks, and find some teammates that can actually compete, the game is a lot of fun. There’s an intensity and pressure tied to the ridiculous amount of cooperation necessary to complete a match. But once you successfully complete a job, it’s a great feeling. Better UI, better tutorials, a simpler progression system (preferably one entirely tied into the game’s cash), better offline AI, and a better way to pre-plan missions would make this game amazing. But, if you’re willing to be frustrated for the first few hours, this game is definitely worth a shot.
The true length of this game is difficult to calculate. There are a decent number of missions and new DLC coming out on a regular basis, but the length of this game is in its replayability. Even playing the same mission multiple times in a row can be a wildly different experience, and trying to master this game is nearly impossible. As I said before, if a player can get past the first few hours of intense frustration, this can be a great experience that lasts for hundreds of hours. If not, this will be an extremely short game.
I said everything in the “Overall Fun” section above. Anything more here would just be redundant. 2. Parental Notices
Violence is the most noticeable factor in this game, but even that isn’t much of an issue. Hits from all weapons will draw some blood but there is never any gore. This even goes for explosions caused by grenades.  If we're trying to be realistic here, there shouldn't be any blood. Getting tazed by cops can be a somewhat violent experience. The character convulses and fires all rounds left in the magazine.  Obligatory "Don't taze me, bro!" The one thing that keeps this rating from going any lower is the fact that the player will likely be killing so many enemies. Despite the difficulty of killing enemies and despite the fact that there are three other human players all shooting enemies as well, I usually manage to kill 50 to 70 enemies on a normal heist.  An army of SWAT can't bring down four criminals? Not a good sign for the general public. This is all there is for violence. All weapons work exactly the same way.  I won the quickdraw tournament, evidently.
There were some masks that could include extremely minor allusions to BDSM, but this was so minor that I would have missed it if another player hadn't chosen this one mask. As a result, sexuality is not a factor in this game.
Occasional missions will require the player to move cocaine or mix meth. However, these are definitely not the primary missions the player will complete. Moving bricks of cocaine is about as uneventful as moving bags of money.  There is only one mission that comes in as an exception. On the first day of the mission, the players are tasked with mixing meth from three different chemicals. It seems like a simple process but there’s a lot that can go wrong. 
Gambling is not a factor in this game. 3. Other Factors
There are no modding tools available for this game.
Religion is not a factor in this game.
There’s no way around it, this game makes Grand Theft Auto look like Police Officer Simulator 2015. You will play as four hardened criminals. You will break into banks, jewelry stores, warehouses, nightclubs, malls, etc. You will kill thousands of police officers. And, eventually, you will escape with the goods. You are the worst kind of scum that ever existed, willing to commit genocide to make a few thousand dollars.  Don't be that guy.
While this game can be frustrating, I found the online community to be extremely friendly. As long as new players follow in the footsteps of the veterans and don’t leave a match early, the veterans were all very helpful and everything seemed to go well. I was only kicked from one match early on, and that was likely because the match was supposed to be a private match with friends. This game can be tough to pick up and play early in the progression system, but all of the players were helpful.
Extreme sports are not a factor in this game.
Magic is not a factor in this game.
There are no additional factors in this game.
1 Comment
8/6/2019 06:09:43 am
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