Payday 2

Payday 2
Developer(s)	Overkill Software Starbreeze Studios
Publisher(s)	505 Games
Distributor(s)	Valve Corporation
Designer(s)	Ulf Andersson
Composer(s)	Simon Viklund Gustaf Grefberg
Engine	Diesel 2.0
Platform(s)	Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date(s)	August 13, 2013 Windows[1] WW August 13, 2013 PlayStation 3[2] NA August 13, 2013 EU August 14, 2013 Xbox 360[2] NA August 13, 2013 EU August 16, 2013
Genre(s)	First-person shooter, tactical shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, co-op
Distribution	DVD-Rom, Blu-ray Disc, download

Payday 2 is a cooperative first-person shooter video game developed by Overkill Software. It is the sequel to Payday: The Heist. In the game, players plan and carry out various heists and robberies by using a combination of teamwork stealth and firearms. Gameplay has been heavily improved and expanded since its predecessor, with a number of new abilities, as well as a reworked stealth mechanic.

Gameplay

Payday 2 is similar to most first person shooters, but instead of running-and-gunning, more emphasis is put on the cooperation of players. Most heists begin with the players in "casing mode" where they are allowed to walk around the map without raising suspicion. This gives the players a tactical advantage, being able to infiltrate the location without suspicion and potentially disabling security systems from the inside.

Towards the end of most maps, the players must escape with their ill-gotten gains. When a player carries a bag of loot, this adds weight to the carrier, slowing them down and tilting the camera. The player is able to throw the loot to the ground to regain speed, or towards another player to pick up and carry instead.^[3]

Money looted from heists is used as currency to buy guns and gun modifications, as well as items that may help on future heists, such as the codes for window shutters to prevent the player being shot through them. Heists also provide experience points, which upon leveling up unlock more guns to purchase as well as skill points, being able to spend those skill points on perks with an appropriate sum of money. To that there are four skill trees, "Mastermind", "Enforcer", "Technician" and "Ghost", each featuring a customization tree of associated skills and equipment to unlock and they can be mixed and matched as per the player's preference. The four skill trees are listed below.

Perk Trees

• Mastermind

Provides perks for dealing with people, such as providing extra cable ties to take hostages with (hostages can be traded to allow teammates to spawn after dying) and being able to talk down a guard or police officer into surrendering or fighting for the criminal team. Provides the medical bag equipment (a placeable medical kit).

• Enforcer

Combat specialist gives perks such as increased ammunition carried and heavier body armor. Provides the ammunition bag equipment and the primary weapon OVE9000 portable saw (equipment allowing players to open A.T.M.s and doors more easily).

• Technician

Enhances the interaction with tools and explosives, such as having better drilling capabilities to enhancing body armor. Provides trip mine explosives (upgrades to shaped charge) and sentry gun equipment.

• Ghost

Focused on stealth and silence, this tree provides perks for doing heists without being noticed. Provides the ECM emitter equipment.

The game includes "Crime.Net", a heist interface. Heists may be a one-hit job or be part of a series of crimes related to a single heist. The characters actions have impact on later heists within a series. For example, in the heist "The Elephant: Framing Frame", the escape vehicle is less likely to be chased and crash in the next phase if the player or players have performed the previous phase without being seen.^[4]

Reception

Reception
Review scores Publication Score PC PS3 Xbox 360 Computer and Video Games 8/10[5] Eurogamer 8/10[6] Game Informer 8.25/10[7] GamesRadar [8] IGN 8.0/10[9] 8.0/10[9] Joystiq [10] [10] [10] Official PlayStation Magazine (UK) 7/10[11] Aggregate scores GameRankings 77.50%[12] 70.00%[13] 80.00%[14] Metacritic 79/100[15] 74/100[16] 75/100[17]
Awards Publication Award Golden Joysticks 2013 Award Best Multiplayer[18]

Payday 2 has received generally positive reviews from critics. Payday 2 has received the 2013 Golden Joystick Award for Best Multiplayer.^[18]

Sales

Payday 2 is Overkill's first game to have a boxed retail release. The director of Payday 2, David Goldfarb, stating that "Payday 2 has become just too big to reserve release on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network alone." Reports of strong sales in its first week causing shortages led 505 Games to work with retailers in distributing more copies of the game.^[19] The game will still be distributed through the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live and Steam services as planned.^[20]

On 8 August 2013, just under a week before launch, Starbreeze Studios confirmed that the game was profitable from pre-orders. Covering all the cash invested by the publisher 505 Games. All new profit will be divided between the studio and publisher.^[21] Starbreeze Studios president Bo Andersson-Klint said:

"Today Starbreeze has once again demonstrated that our strategy of focusing on our own properties is correct. Not only have we managed to deliver a desirable product in Payday 2 but also executed a promotion that few companies of our size can. We now look forward to the royalty income that can secure the company's development of its own IP in the future. That Payday 2 generates revenue for the company six days before the release is of course very unusual for games of this size and strengthens the long-term nature of our strategy."^[22]

The game has sold 1.58 million copies as of September 2013. 80% of those sales were digital.^[23]

References

External links

• Official website