Payday 3 Review

While they failed to impress critics, the first two Payday games found a niche of their own. Payday 2 has proven to be especially popular since its release in 2013, with fans staying dedicated to the co-op heist shooter for over a decade. 10 years after the launch of Payday 2, Starbreeze Studios and Deep Silver are finally releasing Payday 3, a follow-up that is lacking content and has had a rocky early access launch, though has some appreciated modern conveniences like cross-play.

Payday 3 offers cross-play and cross-progression out of the gate, which is great, but it also leads to some headaches that make setting up the game for the first time a bit of an ordeal, like the inconvenient always-online requirement and the extra account people need to even play the game. Players have to create a Nebula account and then link that account to their gaming profile, a process that is easy and straightforward in most cases, but one that doesn't seem to work right in Payday 3. After being told that the login credentials were incorrect multiple times, the only way to get it to work was to go back to the account linking page and disconnect the account. One of our potential co-op partners was never able to get past the login screen and gave up.

Once Payday 3 players force their way through the login screen, they are asked if they'd like to do a tutorial. As soon as players load up in the first tutorial, they will notice an out-of-place fog effect against the wall and a text box that won't scroll, setting the tone for how the rest of the game will go. The first tutorial is a simple combat tutorial and doesn't teach players much of anything that they will actually need to use to be successfully stealthy in the heists. Upon completion, players are sent straight to the main menu and may not realize that there are three other tutorials to check out that explain the game's more complicated mechanics.

Once players have completed the tutorials, they are ready to take on Payday 3's eight heists in any order they like. Players are "rewarded" for completing the missions in order with cutscenes that tell a bare-bones story through mostly static images and obnoxious dialogue, but they will only appeal to the most hardcore Payday fans. Everyone else can safely ignore Payday 3's story and won't miss out on much.

Payday 3's eight heists all offer players something a little different. The first heist has players targeting a bank, while another takes place at a jewelry store, and another is set in a neon-soaked nightclub. Payday 3 lets players loose and gives them the freedom to choose how they want to tackle each heist. Trigger-happy players can don their masks right away and go in guns-blazing, though trying to complete Payday 3's objectives stealthily is a lot more fun and rewarding.

While players have freedom in how they want to go about each heist, Payday 3 does attempt to offer some guidance to help keep things on track. The problem is the objectives are not always clear. Objective markers that are no longer relevant will sometimes stay on the screen, adding to the confusion.

Before players get a handle on how to go about their objectives stealthily, they will find that missions don't take long at all to devolve into violent shootouts with large swarms of police. These shootouts can be exciting at times, but they're bogged down by stiff movement and shooting coupled with lackluster enemy AI. The cops in Payday 3 tend to rush straight to the player, not caring much for cover or taking any other measures to try to stay alive, leading to comically large piles of dead bodies. On Normal difficulty, the cops are so ineffective that it's oftentimes better for players to simply ignore them and focus on securing their loot.

Partner AI seems to be a lot deadlier than the enemy AI, though their inability to do much beyond shoot cops and revive the downed player character is disappointing. Needless to say, the best way to play Payday 3 is in co-op with a full group. Playing Payday 3 with a full squad of real people makes the whole experience a lot more entertaining, but the trick is actually getting into a game with real people.

Payday 3's early access period has been riddled with issues that have made the game difficult to play with others. Matchmaking is abysmal at launch; it's incredibly difficult to get into a game with anyone real, leaving players stuck with bots for their heists. Matchmaking consists of clicking on each heist and hoping to find someone else that's playing on the same heist at the same difficulty. A quick play option or server browser would have been preferred, but these options do not exist at the time of this writing. The game is missing important multiplayer features in general, with the lack of voice chat also concerning.

Payday 3's launch state is rough, and that's putting it mildly. But that doesn't mean that there aren't things to like about the game. It's true that Payday 3's eight heists are a fraction of the heists currently available in Payday 2, but the ones included are all at least distinct from one another. Payday 3's maps are highly detailed with a nice level of destructibility that makes it fun to see how they're torn to shreds from the start of a heist to the end.

Completing heists in Payday 3 is how players get money, which can, in turn, be spent on weapons and cosmetics, of which there are a decent amount to choose from at launch, though again, a fraction of what's available in the previous game. Payday 3 has a variety of masks, suits, and gloves for players to purchase, with many that can be customized further with special designs and different color schemes. If all goes to plan, future updates should add more for Payday 3 players to unlock, giving them even more reason to grind away at their favorite heists and build up their cash reserves.

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.

Payday 3 launches September 21 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. Game Rant was provided with an Xbox Series X code for this review.