In Payday’s cops-‘n’-robbers fantasy world, SWAT groups reply instantaneously to blown heist makes an attempt. They pile into banks and museums with license to shoot on sight, after which they pile up in hallways as you and your crew of superthieves gun them down whereas shuttling riches right into a getaway automobile. You possibly can play Payday 3 like that—a wave shooter with stealing-related chores—however I favor the more durable stealth method, and my crew and I got here so shut to pulling it off earlier than I blew it.
Payday 3 would not stray removed from the decade-old Payday 2. The co-op ranges I previewed noticed me and three heistmates case a constructing, discover a means in (entrance door, weapons out is an possibility), after which full a sequence of semi-randomized duties to find and take away its valuables. In Safe Capital Financial institution, the loud means into the vault includes accumulating luggage of thermite from the roof and burning a gap by means of the second ground. The quiet technique is rather more sophisticated, and contains the traditional heist film transfer of sticking a financial institution govt’s face right into a retinal scanner. That was the very last thing I did at the start went sideways.
My crew of thieves was made up of Payday novices, together with me, and one Starbreeze developer who patiently tried to indicate us Payday 3’s deeper stealth system. Two stealth makes an attempt ended as a result of one other participant by chance threw a grenade, one of many loudest issues an individual can by chance do. One ended as a result of a civilian noticed us climbing a hearth escape and known as the cops. Twice in a museum degree I crossed a laser beam whereas attempting to show off the laser beams. And one time a guard caught me attempting to choose a lock within the foyer of the financial institution and cuffed me. Not precisely Ocean’s Eleven stuff.
You possibly can’t be right here
New for Payday 3 is the flexibility to make use of civilian hostages as human shields and “negotiate” by releasing them in change for tools deliveries or extra time between assault waves. That is solely an possibility once you put your Level Break-style masks on and go loud, and on regular problem it did not add a lot for me, however it might be extra tactically related on more durable problem ranges.
The a lot greater new resolution in Payday 3 is whether or not or to not masks up in any respect. When aiming for stealth, now you can infiltrate safe areas as a civilian, which considerably limits what you are able to do, however removes plenty of the chance of being caught: As an alternative of a SWAT raid, you simply get a agency talking-to, at the very least if the remainder of your crew stays out of sight.
For our final two stealth makes an attempt on the financial institution degree, my crew and I walked unmasked to an employees-only aspect door by the car parking zone—you already know, like typical financial institution clients—waited for a guard to look away, after which picked the lock and entered. Issues didn’t keep that simple, and I used to be instantly nabbed by a guard. As he escorted me out, he noticed one other of us conspicuously crouching behind an open locker door—a four-year-old’s disguise and search approach was their best choice within the second—and cuffed him. As the remainder of us stood round scratching our heads, our information masked-up and shot the guard with a silenced pistol. It is nonetheless technically stealth.
If no weapons come out, being detained could be a good factor: The following time I used to be being escorted out by a guard, I swiped the safety badge off his belt, which might open doorways for me later. After being deposited within the financial institution foyer, I walked proper again to the car parking zone and into the aspect entrance. It is foolish, however I like the stress between sustaining believable deniability or masking up. As soon as your masks is on, there is no taking it again, however the crew can divide itself between masked and unmasked gamers.
Staying cool
After a grenade accident, we voted to restart, and our ultimate try began out completely. We entered the identical means and adopted a cable to the second ground to search out the large energy change that disables a part of the vault’s safety system. After that we needed to hit the right image on a safety gate to open it, and these are the sorts of issues Payday 3 randomizes so you’ll be able to’t simply memorize areas and options—certainly one of us needed to discover a pc monitor with the image we wanted.
Whereas that hunt was on, I remembered one thing our chief identified throughout a earlier run: that if I entered the door labeled “safety” and in some way brought about the digicam feed operator to cease doing his job, we would not have to fret about being noticed by safety cams. Hoping to redeem myself with some additional credit score, I picked the safety room lock, entered, and immediately panicked: one, as a result of a civilian noticed me decide the lock and began freaking out, and two, as a result of I hadn’t considered what I used to be going to do subsequent.
You possibly can’t do something violent with out your masks on, and I hesitated virtually too lengthy earlier than slapping it on and choking out the guard. With uncharacteristic calmness beneath strain, I remembered to carry down a key to impersonate him over his radio so the opposite guards would not grow to be suspicious, one thing you’ll be able to solely do a number of instances (the precise quantity is dependent upon the problem degree). Then I casually walked again out the safety room door, grabbed the panicking civilian, sure them up and stuffed them within the safety room. Ta-da. Earlier than rejoining the crew, I spent some time peering by means of the safety cams and marking guards—it did not appear to assist my crew a lot, but it surely’s a enjoyable function to play.
Key second
After we bypassed the safety gate, the subsequent step was to search out an govt and borrow his eyeballs for the retinal scanner. That was no downside, partially as a result of by this level my crew should’ve had half the financial institution’s workers tied up and out of the way in which in a server room, so I had free reign to walk into the man’s workplace and seize him.
Whereas I held Mr Financial institution Man’s head as much as the vault controls, our chief hacked his pc, which revealed a listing of potential vault keypad codes in my HUD’s goal tracker. My UV gentle illuminated fingerprints on a number of the keypad numbers, and after the retinal scan I used to be imagined to enter the code that included these numbers. Besides… I did not know to search for a listing of codes on my HUD, so an embarrassing scene ensued the place our chief saved telling me over Discord that there are 4 choices on the display, and I, assuming he was referring to the manager’s pc display, could not perceive why he would not inform me what the 4 choices had been. Even unintentional grenade man was most likely exasperated by the change.
Earlier than I figured it out, a civilian lastly noticed us and known as the police, the financial institution went into lockdown, and the vault grew to become completely unopenable. We needed to change to the thermite plan, roughly beginning the extent over.
Information is cash
Regardless of the randomization of specifics, success in Payday relies upon rather a lot on expertise, aka understanding what the hell you are imagined to do. Within the museum heist I additionally tried, a sure pc tells you which of them reveals comprise the work you are after, a particular scanner distinguishes essentially the most helpful portray from its faux, and a USB key in a hidden vault deactivates its safety system. If you and your crew have that purchasing listing from the beginning, you’ll be able to divide and conquer with out all of the irritating fumbling round.
What’s left is, ideally, a number of the enjoyable type of bumbling stealthiness: dropping by means of a skylight onto the sting of some geometry to keep away from falling right into a laser grid, scrambling right into a air flow duct to cover from a guard, frantically hiding tied-up civilians in aspect rooms. When our chief spontaneously slapped on his masks and murdered a guard who was about to name for back-up, it actually felt just like the second in a heist film the place the greenhorns understand they’ve made a horrible mistake.
As a co-op shooter, then again, Payday 3 did not do a lot for me throughout my demo. The enemies had been doltish, standing in clumps and doing little or no to keep away from being shot (some pre-release AI kinks had been talked about). I loved flanking the dudes with bulletproof riot shields, however that was primarily catharsis as a result of how usually I am suffering from protect customers in Rainbow Six Siege. At the next problem degree with actually-scary enemies, I can think about having fun with Payday 3’s capturing extra. I additionally solely tried a pair weapons, and did not have any cool abilities unlocked.
Now I am questioning how all that stuff I did not see—together with the opposite heists—will elaborate additional on Payday 2. Payday 3 ditches that sport’s growing old engine in favor of Unreal, which Starbreeze says allowed it so as to add new traversal choices, as one instance, but it surely’s a conservative sequel with none large heisting development to report. Possibly that is the appropriate concept, on condition that Payday 2 stays certainly one of Steam’s most-played video games. Do not mess with success?
Payday 3 will probably be out on September 21.
