

There’s a great sense of tension in stealth heists because one thing going wrong can bring in opposition that you’re not prepared for. It’s a much different dynamic than the usual stealth flow in games. This means that your stealthy ‘run’ might mean charging into a bank and taking everyone hostage so they can’t raise the alarm, or using jammers to interfere the alarm while you and your crew rush through a secure facility before the signal comes back. The stealth mechanics are interesting because the stealth routes don’t mean “You can’t get spotted” but rather “You can’t let the alarm get raised”. It means that you can’t get into route routine because there’s always something you’ve got to keep an eye out for. Most heists have parts that change each time you play it – these could be the layout of some rooms or the routes that guards patrol. Another thing that keeps heists fresh is the randomisation of some elements. Some of these options can make a heist feel totally different across multiple playthroughs. An example of this is a casino heist that allows you to spend money on things like alternative escape routes or bribing staff to assist you during your raid. Some of the heists that were added in as later content on the PC version are much more involved than the earlier ones and allow some interesting customisation in how you approach them. There’s a mix of heists that can be done stealthily and ones that have to be done guns-blazing, so you have options in how to play.

You could be breaking into a bank vault, stealing a rare artifact from a museum or infiltrating an FBI safehouse to take out someone who ratted you out. Payday 2 sees you and a crew of AI or fellow humans taking on dozens of different heists. Unfortunately, the Switch version of the game does have some issues that prevent it reaching the heights of the PC version, but that’s not to say that it’s a bad game. I was always hearing about matchmaking issues and missing content, and I was hoping beyond hope that the Switch port wouldn’t suffer a similar fate. I wasn’t sure how to respond to the news of a Switch port though because, while portable Payday sounded amazing, the game’s developers have a murky history with console ports. Its mix of bombastic action and tense stealth was so much fun, and the constant stream of updates and DLC meant that I could keep playing it forever. I’ve sunk hundreds of hours into Payday 2 on PC.
