Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Great multiplayer"

With the fast approach of huge video game titles, coming in mere weeks, such as Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. A few games are being overshadowed by these blockbusters. One to take notice of is Payday: The Heist created by Overkill Software. Payday is the game everyone has thought about but never brought the idea to life. Well now it is here for all to enjoy.

Payday: The Heist is a 1 to 4 player cooperative first person shooter game available on PSN (Playstation Network) for $19.99. The main goal is to pull off different heists with your teammates, either AI (Artificial Intelligence) or friends online, and get out alive. It features six heists from robbing a bank, getting double crossed, and even a prison break. Some of these heists are inspired by the great Hollywood movies such as Heat with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Most of these heists are not just cut and dry missions. You have objects and goals you need to make first before you can even get to the vault. Making these heists fun and challenging to the highest level.

The Heists:
The six heists all have their own story and objectives. Each heist has attributes that you either love or hate depending on your game play. The heists are as followed in the game; First World Bank, Heat Street, Panic Room, Green Bridge, Diamond Heist, Slaughterhouse.
First World Bank deals with getting into the vault and getting out alive. It is the classic bank robbery story with finding the bank manager getting the key and getting into the vault. Though it may sounds easy the cops don't make it any easier when you are trying to get saws running to cut through door and get to the vault. This heist seems more like a tutorial on how to play the game which is fun and stressful at the same time.

Heat Street is, you guessed it, from the movie Heat. Now of course they cannot use the same names or anything that would be copyrighted. But the core story and small scenes are all there to take control of and get revenge. Rather than settling down in one spot, this heist keeps you moving and always on the alert from every angle. This one will keep you looking over your shoulder until you get out of there.

Panic Room expands on the bank scene with holding down a gang bangers place to get into their "panic room" full of money. So once you eliminate the gang inside, you have to deal with the cops after that. This heist is more camping in one place but not the same room. The building has five floors and a roof that are all constantly being infiltrated with cops. If you stick to one room, you will find yourself surrounded from top to bottom and left to right.

Green Bridge is a sequence of stopping prisoner transports on a bridge to find one guy and extract him via balloon cord as an airplane flies by. Hmm haven't I seen that with a guy in a black suit with a pointer ears???? This heist is sure to keep you annoyed and surrounded. It is one of the more challenging heists that test your communication skills and marksmanship as cops send assault forces in every direction. Expect to run out of ammo more than once in this one.

Diamond Heist is not for the novice. Once you move up in the heists, your difficulty moves up as well and you cannot lower it. This heist is all about brains and how to control the situation of certain events that don't go your way. You start with the codes to the vault and make your way around the place in a stealth manner shutting down camera boxes. Once you make it to the vault and input the codes, nothing happens. That's when the real fun begins and from there on you play it by ear.

Slaughterhouse is the last heist for a reason. It is so dang hard. It is nearly impossible to beat on single player with the AI. It revolves around a transport with a supply full of gold and you made a plan to intercept. All goes well until the truck gets stuck in an unusual place. It flips through a roof then gets stuck by some wires and is hanging from the ceiling. After you get the safe out you have to cut through it. It is in a slaughter house which makes for some good coverage for you and the cops. This one is really going to make you struggle.

The Weapons:
There are a wide range of weapons and upgrades that are too many to write about here in this article. So I'll give a quick overview of the starter weapons and their upgrades.

B9-S is the weapon you always start out with. It is almost like Goldeneye's PP7 with the silencer. It's powerful in close range on low armored cops. You would pretty much use this weapon at the beginning of every heist but leave it behind once things start to get crazy. The upgrades deal with accuracy and power to the weapon. It will not kill in just one shot so expected multiple round to push out.

AMCAR-4 is your standard automatic assault rifle with great accuracy and power. Though don't use it at every turn because ammo does become scares if you become trigger happy. The upgrades deal with more ammo, stronger barrel, and a reflex sight. These are not easy to acquire but are very rewarding once you gain these upgrades.

Other weapons include Mark 11, Locomotive 12 G, Crosskill .45 and more.

Over all this game have hundreds of un-lockable achievements and upgrades. The number one aspect of this game is unpredictability of each level. Say you are walking through a hall way and a guy jumps out of a door and shoots you. Replay the same level and same hallway, that same guy will either not appear or come out of another door. The constantly changes and is never predictable. This gives the game replay value very high. Once you have completed every heist, you will want to go back and replay them on a higher difficulty every time. Though the animations are not the best, this game is a must own for online players. It will keep you going for days.

Read the full review with photos and trailer at http://aaronalldaffer.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/payday-the-heist-review/