Recent reviews by illuhst ♥

cmon

No one should argue this game had a rough launch. About a week of server issues which honestly was one of the most predictable issues the game could have possibly had after being confirmed as always online. While always online isn't preferable for anyone since the server stability improvements, myself along with my friends haven't had any server/connectivity issues. As it sits right now, So you don't have to read this wall of text, 7.5/10 - likely to get higher with patches/DLCs and QOL updates.

Pros; If you enjoyed Payday 2 the core game play loop you loved is still very much alive and well in Payday 3. In my opinion Stealth & Loud are improved. There are obvious changes to the basic mechanics which in my opinion made the game a lot more enjoyable and digestible. The Public/Private/Secure areas and the differing mechanics and strategy's are a lot more rewarding for knowing & understanding them.

Stealth is a lot deeper and more methodical. The more you play the more tricks you learn on how to manipulate the guard AI, cameras and civilians. The perk options for stealth seems you currently only have one build everyone is going to be using for the foreseeable future. I think with time more skill trees & equipment added the build diversity will flourish.

Loud is easily in my opinion the single-handedly most improved upon portion of the game. I was not a fan of loud in Payday 2. Bullet sponge cops mixed with (imo) poor gun-play just made it an easy second to stealth. I think the different loud builds could be fun, and while Payday 3 is lacking the 'comically funny/cool' builds Payday 2 had I think we'll get there in time just like I said in the aforementioned stealth section.

The perks are the second most improved upon feature. Researching a perk, which you can do in any order, at any level lets you start a stealth or loud build immediately allowing you to jump right into which ever you prefer. The skill tree could use some work, it's missing a few features (along with the rest of the game) from Payday 2. If you have played or seen "Crime Boss: Rockay City" you should know they allow you to carry 2 or 3 bags at once, which is being addressed soon with the addition of the announced "Transporter" skill tree.

The removal of Denuvo was a big pre-launch W we got but was quickly overshadowed by the always online server issues. Just felt like to b fair I should bring up them removing it at the community's request.

Cons;

Of-course #1 has to be the always online/no offline mode. having to rely on no server issues to play a private match with your friends is a LARGE downgrade & in my opinion, oversight on Starbreeze's part. Myself and I'm sure with a lot of others understand wanting them to have cross-progression & crossplay but when Payday 2 is still playable 11 years after it's launch and will forever be playable so long as you own a machine to play it on is a way more consumer friendly system I think. I'm hoping for a symbiotic relationship with an added offline mode along with what we have no in the future. I think they can make it happen if you disable crossplay which is something I think a lot of people would be open to doing.

Launch content is something else I think is a con but NOT because the content is bad, it's actually very good but with no date for the first DLC only having 8 heists at launch can make it very repetitive quickly. All of the heists but 1 is able to be completed stealth and all of them can be done loud. So whichever style you prefer you're covered.

The teammate AI is utterly useless! In stealth they just wait around, which like in Payday 2 is fine but they do have their uses, they can carry bags! Not the biggest plus but something is better than nothing when you look at loud. The AI in loud is next to useless, they do drop un-upgraded bottom of the barrel equipment which I guess is useful if you have the required perks to make mean something. I cannot imagine a world with a higher difficulty than Overkill with this AI, currently is you do a loud mission on anything higher than Hard they are dead weight. AI in Overkill loud missions are just brief distractions for the cops to shoot at, which is nice for the combined 12 seconds it takes for all of them to go down.

The 100% challenge based XP system in my opinion was a bad choice. Doing a 25 minute long stealth heist just to be rewarded with zero XP at the end is one of the most disheartening things I've experienced in recent gaming. I think having a base XP multiplier based on Heist/Difficulty/Bags and then the additive challenges is the correct way to go. Having challenges is a fantastic idea especially in the long run but as of now, with it being the ONLY way to level up is only going to make people challenge chase and get burnt out doing unfun lengthy weapon challenges for faster XP.

My closing thoughts are; If you have $40 to spare and liked Payday 2 I think we're past the launch debacle that was the always online server issues (could be wrong) and as Payday 3 sits it's a fantastic bang for you buck at $40. In todays current gaming landscape with unfinished and buggy messes priced at $70 on the regular having something that feels like they're trying, communicating and striving to make the game better for us consumers is great. If you didn't play Payday 2 or we'rent a huge fan I'd say watch/read updated reviews from someone you trust. If you see someone say the biggest con is/dont buy because of the server issue I genuinely believe we're past that and while we shouldn't forget it WAS an issue, we also shouldn't hold it against the game because right now because it's in the past (again, possible I'm wrong).

If you're like me and you loved Payday 2, and played and supported it all the way until Payday 3 launched I bought the Gold edition (Collectors edition wasn't available for Steam in the US), post launch you'll have to decide if the gold gloves and years worth of DLC included is worth your hard earned cash. For me, I think it was the easy choice. I plan on sticking with this game for the long haul and seeing what its future holds.

I mean it doesnt always work as intended, or does it? Glitch or feature? Who the hell knows, Overkill doesn't and I guess neither do we. Want to steal diamonds, cars, literal bombs with your friends? This game is hours apon hours of fun and almost endlessly replayable.

Bruh it's Uno do you really need a review? ♥♥♥♥ your friends over almost as much as Monopoly and have more fun because the game doesn't take 9 hours.

Great game for hours of fun, anyone who enjoys FPS games I would say to try this out. Competitive or Casual always fun.