Payday Series Review (Xbox, PlayStation & PC)

Payday blurs the lines between smooth operators and incompetent petty criminals in an attempt to conceive a level playing field for its fledgling vault smiths and wildcards, not with the intent to make a firm but fair experience, but to fool you into believing that anyone can stage a robbery. The sad reality here, however, is that only a fraction of aspiring thieves can flaunt the skills to execute a masterful act and live to tell the tale.  In my experience, most thugs either believed that they’re James Bond, or, failing that, Trevor Philips. If you put both in the same bank and ask them to work together to orchestrate a slick transaction, I almost guarantee there’ll be some friction between the two. But, thankfully, Payday isn’t always a hot mess; it’s often a smooth-running affair that involves careful planning, calculated analysis, and smooth execution. It isn’t guaranteed, but unfortunately, that’s often the case with online multiplayer games. Frankly, it’s best not to talk about the offline mode and the AI bots. Spoiler alert: they’re idiots. But more on that later.

Payday is a bit like Hitman, in that it presents you with a number of potential scenarios to consider before embarking on each of its daring heists. It tells you that, in order to escape with the loot and claim eternal bragging rights and cash clips, you must follow a series of calculated steps. It gives you the blueprint, and it provides you with the tools to stealthily execute a foolhardy plan. At the same time, however, it hands you an alternate approach: to throw caution to the wind and “wing it”—a route that primarily involves taking hostages, murdering innocent employees, and often wedging a knife in the back of your colleagues in order to flee with the weight of the loot on your hands. The question is, which choice makes for a better gameplay experience?

However you choose to slice it, the truth is, you’re always going to encounter a few snags in Payday. It is, of course, worth taking these words with a pinch of salt, mind you, as the experience largely depends on how you approach a heist, as well as who you decide to pledge your allegiance to. See, the series very much relies heavily upon cooperation and making a habit of openly vocalizing your ideas. In short, collaboration in Payday often leads to smooth transactions, whereas blind faith and distrust often culminates in lackluster performances with little for you to gain other than a target on your back and a significant decrease in your overall XP. And that, really, is where the offline mode fails to provide an immersive experience, annoyingly.

A co-op FPS at heart, Payday prioritizes ironclad strategies and smooth transactions, collaborative efforts and communication between players. It isn’t in the slightest bit mandatory, though as with most PvE series, the best experiences often involve teamwork and structurally sound plans, careful preparation and role-appropriate actions. To that end, the series brings a ton of great opportunities for you to explore, with troves of weapons and tools, getaway vehicles and routes to consider before, during, and after each heist. What’s more, as each contract has its own set of requirements, rewards, enemies, and objectives, it also requires you to think outside of the box, so to speak. Granted, it doesn’t always go according to plan — but that’s often half of the fun, weirdly.

For a series that harbors a good selection of heists and contracts, I’d say that there is a good amount of replay value here. Admittedly, there are only so many times that you can run the gauntlet with the same team before the experience begins to feel a little repetitive and predictable. That being said, with the opportunity to explore vast avenues with different cliques, as well as a lofty collection of perks, weapons and tools to unlock over a generously sized campaign, there are plenty of reasons for you to return to the foot of the vault and experiment with new tactics and teams. And that says a lot about a PvE series, truly, as not many other co-op games offer all that much outside of a one-track career mode with just a handful of tasks to complete. Granted, it isn’t the meatiest experience, though it does deliver a sufficient amount of maps to explore and rewards to collect.

While Payday doesn’t get everything right, especially when it comes to its gunplay and general gameplay mechanics, it does make for a strong co-op series that has a ton of creative elements and open-ended choices for players to dabble in. It isn’t a perfect saga by any stretch, and it does often fall short in more ways than one. That said, it has been more than capable of being a standout IP with a great sense of what it takes to be effective and evergreen. The point is, while you still have a ton of alternatives to consider, you won’t find another franchise that captures the same aesthetic and generational appeal as Payday. More to the point, it could be a lot worse. Heck, it could be Crime Boss: Rockay City.

Verdict

Payday might not be the most graceful heist-haggling PvE series in the vault, though it is one that immerses you in an underworld where, through teamwork and ironclad preparation, you can transform even the most ridiculous exploits into masterful acts of crime by fabricating the rules to accommodate your cravings for slick action and cash clips. It isn’t always the most authentic experience, and it does often suffer from various technical issues, particularly with its AI-driven bots and offline compatibility. That being said, I will stand by my word and say that, as a series, Payday has delivered a great catalog of PvE shooters over the years.

Suffice it to say that, if you are interested in bridging the gaps between Kane & Lynch and Crime Boss: Rockay City, then you needn’t dig any deeper than the vaults of Payday’s criminal underworld. If it’s a story-driven campaign that you’re looking for, however, then I’d suggest giving this world a wide berth.