I hate Hoxton Breakout

[Dat Jonx]

It's too much on crime.net and nobody wants to play another loud heist.

[Ikarus_dV]

HB is imo the best map. Loud only, decent length, no bags, no meth lab with ages to wait for cooking and day 1 and 2 are quite different from each other. Also best place to test most new builds or weapons.

[Tito Shivan]

Originally posted by Pyrofish:

Don't feel cheap for Shadow Raid DW
Stealth is a ♥♥♥♥♥ for some of us, be happy you can do it haha

On the other hand, the guys who ECM rush it..

I've never found the fun on ECM rushing, to be honest.

[Tallin]

HB is my favorite loud map to solo. On Overkill it's just the right amount of challenge due to insanely stupid bots (never come when called, attack the swat vans, never take cover etc...) that it almost feels like playing a good DW round with friends challenge wise.

[Heavenly Schizo]

Originally posted by Tito Shivan:

Originally posted by Pyrofish:

Don't feel cheap for Shadow Raid DW
Stealth is a ♥♥♥♥♥ for some of us, be happy you can do it haha

On the other hand, the guys who ECM rush it..

I've never found the fun on ECM rushing, to be honest.

Same here. "Lets stealth Bank heist!" and all they do is slaughter all civs and place an ECM.

[True Shovelry]

Originally posted by Pyrofish:

Originally posted by Tito Shivan:

Like when i solo Shadow Raid DW...

Don't feel cheap for Shadow Raid DW
Stealth is a ♥♥♥♥♥ for some of us, be happy you can do it haha

On the other hand, the guys who ECM rush it..

Kill the 4 murkywater guards in the warehouse.
Be on the roof at 5:00-5:10 to block the helicopter from bringing more guards.
Kill or tie the 3-4 civs that enter the warehouse.

Now you have free reign in the warehouse and if not DW you can shot all the cams out too. Then spend a good 10-20 minutes just moving all the loot out solo.

[PlebNC (UK)]

I think the problem is less "the heist isn't fun" and more "HB is the most effective grind". At this point it's basically the new First World Bank only you just need to complete it rather than mess around with tile puzzles. It's a really good heist ruined by people too focused on reaching the level cap quickly. Ironically, when they get there they'll be the first to complain there's nothing else left to do.

[Malidictus]

To try and put it into perspective, I feel Hoxton Breakout offers nothing except the very basic essentials of Payday 2 gunplay. Which is fine - gunplay in Payday 2 is pretty great and a lot of the reason I play this over other shooters. The problem is that JUST gunplay really can't carry a game for me. It becomes really samey after a while. I've always enjoyed Payday 2 the most when killing cops is a means to some greater end, some objective they're preventing me from accomplishing, some location they're preventing me from reaching, etc. Killing cops for the sake of killing cops is a fleeting kind of fun that grows really old really fast.

The same problem I have with Hoxton Breakout I also have with Watchdogs, by the way, especially Day 2. GOOD GOD is that Heist boring as ♥♥♥♥! Day 1 at least has the benefit of moving bags which forces me to be smart about how I move around, and there's that Turret which has proven a ton of fun to fight (the skybridge roof is a great spot to kill it from). But Day 2 is just dull. Move the bags to the warehouse, then sit on your hands and wait for 15 minutes. No incentive to move around, no meaningful objective to manage, nothing. Just camp one spot and kill cops. Or, as usually happens, get bored and run around looking for fights.

Payday 2 is a very repetitive game that's held together by the engagement that non-automatic gameplay provides. Finding the right engine, picking a good spot for the hostages, figuring out where you'll move the bags through, trying to survive while not letting cops to the drill. Objectives mask the tedium of what is otherwise pretty basic gameplay, and several heists in the game lack meaningful enough objectives to be entertaining. This, by the way, is what I thought "side jobs" would be. Secondary objectives on heists for us to balance against our primary objectives.

[Flashfall]

Originally posted by Pyrofish:

Originally posted by Tito Shivan:

I've never found the fun on ECM rushing, to be honest.

Same here. "Lets stealth Bank heist!" and all they do is slaughter all civs and place an ECM.

The only time I endorse ECM rushing is on Framing Frame day 2, feels more like a race against time to get to the boxes while dodging guards. Otherwise it does kinda kill the game.
Hox Breakout is definitely way overplayed though. I hate having to wait for the truck all the time, and even day 2 is a camping game, just in multiple spots.

It also annoys me whenever someone claims HB day 1 is Heat Street's successor, because the two are nothing alike, aside from streets. For the entire fight up to reaching Matt, there weren't any objectives holding you back, just a ton of cops whose bullets you couldn't dodge and hit like trucks on Overkill. It actually felt like a power struggle. HB day 1 and 2, more like wars of attrition.