Payday 3 Early BETA Review

It’s Payday, but better!

The release of Payday 3 is quickly approaching, and I was lucky enough to get access to the limited beta over the past weekend. As an avid fan with over 166 hours in Payday 2, I was happy to play-test the new game and share my experience with the masses.

If you’re new to the franchise, this is the perfect game in the series to jump in on. Payday 3 is cross-play, with online multilayer and linked accounts. I played through Steam, though many people in my matchmaking lobbies were playing through Xbox. The game still has traditional classes: enforcer, fugitive, ghost, technician, and mastermind. There are tons of gun customization, perks, and cosmetics, and you can’t forget about the microtransactions and in-game currencies. 

Beta Review

The only available mission was No Rest for the Wicked, set at the Secure Capital Bank, a standard bank heist set in New York. You could do everything stealthily, rob the place without any alarms, or go in guns blazing and hold the fort until the thermite melted into the safe. 

On my first time loading up the game, there were a few graphical glitches in the lobby, with players’ models either not loading or loading in an A pose. The UI and ready option also seemed fussy, but I got into the game rather quickly, not waiting more than a few minutes. Once in the lobby, I picked up my controller to play, and it worked without issue; I also had no frame rate issues (link PC components and spec).

Likes

I enjoyed the new game mechanics that allow you to take a human shield and move hostages from room to room; this makes stealth easier when you can put bodies into a closet to stay inconspicuous. I also enjoyed the quick restart option, which I used a few times because I accidentally tossed a grenade and literally blew our the cover. The gunplay also feels fantastic! It feels familiar but more polished and enjoyable than the previous game. Lastly, I really enjoyed the new lock-picking mini-game. Instead of simply holding down the interact key, there is a quick time event to keep the player engaged and raise the stakes on an already high-stakes game. 

Dislikes

There wasn’t much to dislike besides minor graphical glitches that will surely be ironed out by the release date, September 21, 2023. I know the previous game had issues with hackers and people tapping into the code to break the game, spawning infinite cash and destroying players’ natural progression. I hope to see some implementation of anti-cheat software or something along those lines. Seeing if you can do a job cleaner and faster makes it almost infinitely replayable; see if you can be my score or $550,000 on normal difficulty on the first heist.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I am overly excited about the full release of Payday 3. Thank you to the devs for allowing me early access. Can’t wait to run every mission on every difficulty and 100% this game.