Payday 3 Preview - More of the same, but in a good way, maybe…

In terms of visuals, Payday 3 will not have many differences compared to its predecessor. The development team has expressed that they do not want to reinvent the wheel, so Payday 3 seems to be an upgrade to maintain what Payday 2 has already established.

Now, after 10 years since the release of Payday 2, Starbreeze Studios is preparing to complete Payday 3. It is expected to be released on consoles and PCs on September 21.

Sometimes, all a game needs is a simple idea, and Payday is a perfect example of that. It is certainly not a game you play for its deep story or blockbuster cinematic scale, and its shooting mechanics, although good, cannot be called groundbreaking. However, the fun and addictive nature of its co-op heist gameplay is what makes Payday worth saying "Okay, just one more round." Before experiencing Payday 3 last June, I went back to Xbox Game Pass 2 to reinstall Payday 2 and relive the experiences I had with it many years ago.

So, when Pha Dao was invited by Starbreeze and Plaion to experience Payday 3, I took this opportunity to understand what Starbreeze has planned for the heisters, and it is not surprising that Payday 3 is more about repetition than innovation, which I think is all it needs to be.

Firstly, it is important to note that Starbreeze is not aiming for a revolution here. They know the strengths of Payday and what players want: more of the same.

Essentially, the game takes place after the events of Payday 2, with the four heisters (Chains, Hoxton, Dallas, and Wolf) returning to New York after being forced into retirement by old enemies. Starbreeze's developers stated that they chose New York as the setting for the game because it is the "capital of capitalism" and believed there are plenty of valuable things to steal.

Of course, hearing the background alone is not what we are most interested in. The gameplay of Payday 3 is the main focus. Choosing New York makes more sense as Starbreeze wants to expand the world of Payday, promising to create a more diverse and complex environment with numerous NPC characters and bustling traffic. This helps increase the realism in the gameplay setting, while also heightening the tension as the player's suspicious actions easily attract attention.

In the first heist mission I played with the developer, we took on the task of robbing a bank - Secure Capital Bank. The main objective was to break into the vault and take as much cash as possible. Just like in previous Payday installments, a successful heist always requires a well-planned and thorough approach to recon and identify threats.

However, when the stealthy plan did not go as expected, our three-person lobby had to switch to a relatively powerful and aggressive backup plan. That involved using firearms to fend off the police forces. My heist crew used thermite charges to burn through the vault ceiling, to complete the heist objective. Those who have played Payday will find it quite familiar, reminiscent of the frequent drill malfunctions in Payday 2, once again affirming the challenging nature of this game series.

After the thermite charges destroyed the vaulted ceiling, the next mission was to collect as much cash as possible and escape. This task was not easy, as carrying bags of money slowed down movement speed and faced heavily armored special forces.

Overall, Payday 3 seems to offer a similar gameplay experience to its predecessor, with some improvements and additions to enhance the heist experience. It may not be groundbreaking, but for fans of the series, it should be a welcome continuation.

Despite pouring several bags of money into the getaway vehicle, greed led the group to continue taking more money. The result was that we almost failed because the police actually had more attacks and appeared much more strategically. In particular, Starbreeze invested in the way the enemies spawn, no longer randomly appearing like in version 2, this time we will see the police rappelling from rooftops to shoot back at you, or jumping out of police vehicles. They even set up roadblocks to prevent you from escaping. This makes the heist experience both more realistic and more Hollywood.

The second heist we carried out was at Surphaze Art Gallery, where our mission was to steal some expensive paintings, and this time we attempted a more stealthy approach. The developer of Payday 3 said that the studio hopes one of the biggest differences between Payday 2 and Payday 3 is that this game encourages more stealthy approaches rather than just going in guns blazing.

In this heist, the improvements to the stealth aspect of the game were showcased when one of our robbers was detected in a restricted area. Instead of immediately resorting to violence, being spotted in a restricted area can simply be resolved by not moving and returning to a public area. Starbreeze calls these mistakes "small errors" and they won't affect being detected in stealth if the player corrects them in time.

This idea is great because it doesn't ruin the efforts of the entire team if one of the four members makes a small mistake before resorting to using weapons. Of course, being caught in a safe zone triggers an alarm and requires putting on masks, but the best part is that the game interface will let you know which zone you are in at any given moment.

And that's the basics of the gameplay of Payday 3. So how about the gunplay? Gunplay in Payday 3 has improved compared to its predecessor, but it still lacks the excitement that top first-person shooters like Call of Duty or Battlefield possess. During the playthrough, I used rifles, shotguns, and sniper rifles, and while they were all fine, none of them made me feel truly powerful or more inclined to use them. Players also have the option to use Overkill weapons, specifically grenade launchers. It's pretty badass, but the explosion effects don't quite match up yet.

I have to admit that there is a small part of me that hoped Payday 3 took inspiration from classic stealth games like Hitman or Splinter Cell to add more depth to the stealth aspect. Simply stealing keycards or something similar still seems a bit shallow. If there were options like shooting out lights or taking out guards to disguise and change security cameras for other thieves to easily infiltrate, for example, it would be better. Perhaps it would be okay. But I understand that Payday 3 is purely an FPS game and it can't venture into immersive sim territory. After experiencing this demo version of Payday 3, I understand why Starbreeze is modest about where it stands. They choose to play it safe with their current strengths to maintain them, rather than risk implementing other ideas that could potentially ruin the gameplay.

In general, Payday 3 feels like it's trying to become a fully upgraded version of Payday 2. However, with Payday 2 being released for so long, the standards for FPS games have significantly increased, and the demo version of Payday 3 only gives a moderate sense of potential.

On top of that, I still don't know much about the skill tree system or how grinding in this game will work, as the developer said they can't share more and can only know if they are truly effective based on player feedback.

There is a possibility that the game will have a beta version for players to experience before its official release, but with what Starbreeze is doing, Payday 3 may be a fun co-op FPS game in its way, rather than trying to compete with other top shooters on the market later this year.