PAYDAY 3 Reviews
A shallow shooter that doesn't offer anywhere near enough bang for your ill-gotten buck.
Payday 3 could be one of the slickest co-op shooters around, but it's mired by a grindy progression system and its always-online nature. It needs some time to cook before it's worth digging in.
Payday 3's cooperative heists are off to a strong start, even if the vault is a bit bare at the moment.
Despite having had a decade to come up with new ideas and heists this is a disappointingly hollow sequel that offers too few reasons for not just sticking with the last game.
Despite leaning a little too heavily on fan-servicing familiarity, Payday 3 proves there's still fun to be squeezed from its well-honed heisting template yet.
Payday 3's eight heists are as challenging as they are entertaining; the inevitable shootouts with the cops are frantic and fun, and the redefined objectives will make onboarding newer players easier than ever. At long last, Payday has become the Ocean's Eleven/Point Break hybrid its fans have always wanted it to be.
Payday 3's drastically improved heists allow for a level of freedom that is betrayed by challenge-based progression.
Hopefully, with time and consideration, Payday 3 can usurp its predecessor, but for now, that predecessor looms large over the new game’s launch. Even if the moment-to-moment gameplay has been improved, the soul of Payday is clearly in the systems that surround it, which is where this threequel is sorely lacking.
It offers shocking moments and its proposal is very attractive, but it is too outdated in the technical and sometimes the development is unnecessarily convoluted.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Payday 3 gets most of the important stuff right: the heists offer a nice variety and encourage players to experiment with different systems and mechanics. Customization is deep and will keep players on the hook for dozens and dozens of hours. But it’s hard to overstate the blunder that is the online foundation that this game was built on. It makes Payday 3 needlessly frustrating and was the cause of one of the most severe online game outages I’ve seen in a long time. Payday 2 was a game that grew into a co-op masterpiece in the years following its release, so I’m confident that Payday 3 will only improve as time goes on.
Starbreeze Studios and Deep Silver are back with the intention of winning back Payday 3 players with Syntax Error, the game's first expansion. However, the new features are not enough to catch the community's attention, especially because of the pack's high price.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Fun and spectacular, Payday 3 marks a decent return of the Payday gang by offering refined gameplay and several new features that are also quite interesting. However, the various positive aspects, such as the possibility of swapping hostages and completing most robberies silently, are contrasted by a small number of missions and a progression system that is too slow.
Review in Italian | Read full review
After a long time, Payday returns with its third main game. Payday 3 evolves the beloved saga thanks to its satisfying changes, such as improved AI and heists that are more than up to par. However, leaving aside the numerous bugs, the cooperative shooter falls far short in terms of content.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Payday 3 is designed around those emergent moments that only come with friends, when you're trying desperately to stay in control.
As any larcenist knows, all the best robberies begin discreetly before snowballing into a wild frenzy soundtracked to upbeat electronic music. Payday 3 does this with brimming style, before running away with the money.
Payday 3 has some good, complex levels to do your co-op heisting, but the matchmaking and levelling systems make it harder to have fun with other players.
Even though there is fun to be had in this server-snatching raid, there's more errors found here than just syntax. The heist itself may be short and fairly linear, but it's still an enjoyable addition to the main game with the cosmetics and weapons being a bitter-sweet cherry on top. It's always great to add to my crime-closet and upgrade my arsenal, but the extra cost does make it feel like maybe I'm the one getting robbed.
The joy of pulling off an elaborate heist is alive and well within Payday 3, if you've got the crew to back it up. Holding out against an unstoppable police force or sneaking around undetected to haul out as much cash as you and your friends can carry is a blast, but it's an experience that is severely hampered when queuing up solo. The mission structure and heist objectives are enjoyable, but carry risks of becoming repetitive when things go loud, which they often will when playing with strangers.
Not only can fans expect future Payday 3 updates to add more unlockables to the game, but more substantial content like new heists are in the pipeline as well. Future updates will likely iron out Payday 3's matchmaking problems and immersion-breaking graphical mishaps, resulting in a smoother and more consistently entertaining experience. With future updates, Payday 3 may even be a game that surpasses its predecessor, but it has a seriously long way to go. Those still curious should consider checking out Payday 3 through Xbox Game Pass instead of buying the game at full price.
To make matters worse the game didn’t work for like a week after its launch due to its reliance on an always online model. Server issues plagued users on all systems, some people weren’t able to redeem their items that they had paid extra for, it was just a mess. Oddly enough, I was able to play before launch which means I didn’t get to play with real people as I gave up trying to play the game after day 3 of it not working. While I never was able to compete a heist that didn’t devolve into a shootout, I am sure there will be those pros that can. As I type this the servers are still working and Starbreeze is reporting millions of players; and I wish them well but I am gonna take my cut and get off here. Hopefully next time their game is functional at launch.