After the successful post of the first game review covering Dota 2, there’s no time to stop. The next game review will be of…
PAYDAY 2 is a cooperative
FPS game released on the 13th of August this year. It was developed
by Overkill Studios and is a sequel to the first, known as PAYDAY: The Heist.
It has improved on its
predecessor by having better visual graphics, gameplay mechanics, and gunplay
than the first, and also gives players new abilities that also help to improve
the gameplay experience. All of this, along with a diverse amount of weapons,
equipment and masks makes this a truly solid game.
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| Gameplay picture |
Four players, comprised of
either friends or random players in a lobby, are tasked to perform audacious bank
heists and robberies, and when this is successfully done, the players receive
their “payday”, namely, the loot stolen from finishing any of the 12 heists
that are currently available in the game, and a huge chunk of the loot is sent
to an offshore account (for that retirement party woohoo!), and the remaining
is given to the player for him/her to spend on new weapons or masks.
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| A successful heist! |
In the first PAYDAY, there
was a need for teamwork among the four players in order for them to pull each
heist off. In PAYDAY 2, this is no different, and in fact is emphasized even
more than the first, and it is in this teamwork element mixed with the gameplay
elements that make this game unique from the other first-person shooters.
A level-up system is
utilized in this game. Players gain experience from successfully pulling of
heists, and depending on the scale and difficulty of the heist, they may be
rewarded substantially more. When enough experience is gained, players level
up, and are rewarded with skill points (elaboration below) and on certain
levels, unlock new weapons.
Skills are also present
within the game, and they are divided into four classes known as Mastermind,
Enforcer, Technician and Ghost. These classes have six tiers each. Each skill
has a “basic” effect (having a small/moderate impact) from spending 1 point (or
3 in higher tiers), and an “ace” effect (having a high/substantial impact) from
spending 3 points (or 6 in higher tiers). As the level cap currently is 100,
players are given only 120 points and it is up to them to use these points
wisely, and is for them to choose what they wish to specialize in.
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| The four different classes. |
The different classes (and
thus, skills) mean there is usually some uniqueness to every player’s
character, one guy might be the demolitions expert (Technician class), blowing
up doors and safes but lacking in other areas such as lockpicking and evasion
(Ghost class). Another guy could’ve mastered everything within the Mastermind
class (pun intended), gaining unique abilities such as reviving downed
teammates just by shouting, but lack the tankiness that the skills in the
Enforcer class provides.
And that about raps up the
introduction of this review (unlike the last time), now it is time to delve
into what makes this game good (or bad)!
