Writing a review for this game is incredibly difficult for me. PAYDAY 2 has been part of my life for seven and a half years at this point, growing in size and scope through the years as I have grown and developed as a person. There have been high points and low points in its lifecycle; there were times where I loved it with all of my heart, others where I hated it with every atom of my body. Through it all though, it has remained my favourite co-op shooter out there, and easily ranks as one of my favourite games of all time. As a heads up, this will mostly be a personal review rather than one that covers all of its mechanical bases.

PAYDAY 2 is exemplary when it comes to showing that graphics do not matter that much; it looks incredibly dated by modern standards, but that really doesn’t matter when it is so fun and satisfying to play. It is exemplary when it comes to weapon feel, map design (for the most part, stares at bomb forest, the alesso heist and goat simulator), weapon and map variety, freedom of approach in many cases, build diversity, soundtrack; you name any aspect of this game, PAYDAY 2 almost certainly gets it right and then some. The only things it gets wrong is that it runs on quite possibly one of the worst game engines known to man, and that money is not actually worth that much later in the game, as you’ll have accumulated so much yet have nothing to spend it on. In the grand scheme of things however, these negatives hurt the game minimally.

PAYDAY 2 is also the most involved I’ve ever become with a game’s community. The good majority of my friends list has been built from incredible people I’ve met playing this game; toxicity and hackers obviously exist, but the game has been rather kind with my experiences overall. I helped write one of the game’s most popular guides attempting to cover every achievement it contained; this was never completed fully due to the beast it became in that department, but it was a testament to how much I enjoyed it during its prime time, trying to help others out in a game I very much enjoyed. The forums and the hype cycle for each event have further created many positive (and some negative) memories, coming home and staying up late waiting for the next major drop. This all culminated in a really great ending to the game in 2018, finishing the secret, obtaining the final achievement, saying goodbye to it and uninstalling at a perfect time, for what I believed the final time, where I afterwards had to direct my energy towards more pressing matters in real life.

It was the end, or so we all thought back then.

I don’t feel as passionate about this game as I used to. None of the post-secret updates have contained content as exciting as much of what came before, yet I still come back to it out of obligation to experience it all and keep the game at 100% completion. I understand why it had to be revived, but personally I wish active support for it died with the secret ending. PAYDAY 2 was and is still great, but I think its time has long passed, and PAYDAY 3 is long overdue.

If you’ve never played this game before, you’re in for a treat. The staggering amount of content and opportunities this game provides is unlike most games out there, and coming from someone who bought most of the DLCs on release, you will get your money’s worth more than ten times over with the legacy collection if you start loving it too. Play it solo, with your friends, or go in to potentially make new, long lasting ones.

To twist the words of one of my favourite songs as a teen, thanks for the memories, they were pretty great. 10/10.

Writing a review for this game is incredibly difficult for me. PAYDAY 2 has been part of my life for seven and a half years at this point, growing in size and scope through the years as I have grown and developed as a person. There have been high points and low points in its lifecycle; there were times where I loved it with all of my heart, others where I hated it with every atom of my body. Through it all though, it has remained my favourite co-op shooter out there, and easily ranks as one of my favourite games of all time. As a heads up, this will mostly be a personal review rather than one that covers all of its mechanical bases. PAYDAY 2 is exemplary when it comes to showing that graphics do not matter that much; it looks incredibly dated by modern standards, but that really doesn’t matter when it is so fun and satisfying to play. It is exemplary when it comes to weapon feel, map design (for the most part, stares at bomb forest, the alesso heist and goat simulator), weapon and map variety, freedom of approach in many cases, build diversity, soundtrack; you name any aspect of this game, PAYDAY 2 almost certainly gets it right and then some. The only things it gets wrong is that it runs on quite possibly one of the worst game engines known to man, and that money is not actually worth that much later in the game, as you’ll have accumulated so much yet have nothing to spend it on. In the grand scheme of things however, these negatives hurt the game minimally. PAYDAY 2 is also the most involved I’ve ever become with a game’s community. The good majority of my friends list has been built from incredible people I’ve met playing this game; toxicity and hackers obviously exist, but the game has been rather kind with my experiences overall. I helped write one of the game’s most popular guides attempting to cover every achievement it contained; this was never completed fully due to the beast it became in that department, but it was a testament to how much I enjoyed it during its prime time, trying to help others out in a game I very much enjoyed. The forums and the hype cycle for each event have further created many positive (and some negative) memories, coming home and staying up late waiting for the next major drop. This all culminated in a really great ending to the game in 2018, finishing the secret, obtaining the final achievement, saying goodbye to it and uninstalling at a perfect time, for what I believed the final time, where I afterwards had to direct my energy towards more pressing matters in real life. It was the end, or so we all thought back then. I don’t feel as passionate about this game as I used to. None of the post-secret updates have contained content as exciting as much of what came before, yet I still come back to it out of obligation to experience it all and keep the game at 100% completion. I understand why it had to be revived, but personally I wish active support for it died with the secret ending. PAYDAY 2 was and is still great, but I think its time has long passed, and PAYDAY 3 is long overdue. If you’ve never played this game before, you’re in for a treat. The staggering amount of content and opportunities this game provides is unlike most games out there, and coming from someone who bought most of the DLCs on release, you will get your money’s worth more than ten times over with the legacy collection if you start loving it too. Play it solo, with your friends, or go in to potentially make new, long lasting ones. To twist the words of one of my favourite songs as a teen, thanks for the memories, they were pretty great. 10/10.