Payday 3 had a pretty rough first year of existence, if we're being honest. Slowly, and with great difficulty, the developer Starbreeze managed to make it to the first anniversary on a positive note. Now, studio heads look back and discuss th??e state of the game on day one.

In a recent interview with PCGamesN, Payday 3's community lead Almir Listo and lead producer Andreas Penninger explained what happened early on. "Our energy was like ‘we’re a rock band, and we’re coming onto the stage, and we’ve got a new album.�And the whole stage just collapsed and everyone left," said Penninger. "When you have a launch like we did �a disastrous launch, where nobody is able to play the game �there is no place to hide. But it’s important that we don’t use the technical issues as an excuse because we clearly missed the m??ark from an experience point of view as well. The game just felt unfinished. It was a bad experience for our players," Listo c?ontinued, setting the tone for the rest of the interview.

Payday 3 is on the road to redemption, but it's not quite there yet

The really interesting bit to highlight ahead of everything else about Listo and Penninger, specifically, is that they were recently promoted to the position of effective game directors for Payday 3. This helps contextualize their interview with PCGN further still, and underlines the impor??tance of them looking back at what's gone down in the past year.

"It’s hard to make ?videogames, and it’s particularly difficult to follow up on the kind of success that Payday 2 was," said Listo. "To draw the exact right learning from a ??ten-year production is challenging, but also every game project is different from another one. I think a lot of small things built up."

As for Penninger, he had a similar, albeit slightly different point of view: "A lot of the problems were due to the fact that we didn’t do ??our due diligence well enough," he said. "We built Payday 3 while trying to understand what we wanted, in parallel. It ended up being a product that people didn’t resonate with. I think we were a bit confident from the succe??ss of Payday 2 that we ended up making decisions too quickly."

According to Listo and Penninger, Starbreeze is no longer dead-set on pushing forward certain unpopular changes that came about during the switch from Payday 2 over to Payday 3. Armor functionality, specifically, is a popular topic with the community, and Starbreeze didn't want to budge on the matter until somewhat recently. Now, that is behind us, and Listo claims a different take on Payday 3 is already underway.

"Something we’ve learned is to try and understand the community, understand what made Payday 2 successful, and then to try and translate that into a more modern context," said Penninger. Listo continued with a shortlist of objectives for Payday 3's second year of content: "One is to improve the e?xperience and make the game better and ?better. Two, it’s regaining the trust and respect of the community. And three, it’s to tell a great story."

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Now that we know when Payday 3 is coming out (September 21, if you needed a reminder), a lot of you?? PC gamers are going to be wondering whether your system will handle it. It's a modern FPS, after all, but as it turns out, the hardware spec doesn't appear as though it'll be too much of a struggle for most rigs.

According to the game's Steam page, Payday 3 won't push the boat out, especially in terms of graphics. If you're just aiming for the minimum requirements, you'll need at least ??an Intel Core i5-9400F (or the AMD equivalent) and 16GB of RAM. You should also get by with no more than the 4GB power of an Nvidia GTX 1650.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIUlQGVsr-I

Obviously, the recommended specs are a bit hi?gher, but even then they don't seem too bad. For the CPU, you'll be wanting an i7-9700K, and you'll be able to get away with an Nvidia GTX 1080 (or, again, whatever Team Red's version of that is??).

The full Payday 3 PC system requirements

No RTX card required

For a AAA shooter published by the likes of Deep Silver, you'd be forgiven for thinking the PC requirements would be much higher. It's probably worth saying that Payday 3 is still in development, but?? there's no reason to suggest what's listed on Steam will change. As it stands, most graphics cards from the GTX 1000 ser??ies onwards should suffice.

Given that, according to the latest Steam hardware survey, there's a heavy mix of GPUs, these system requirements should be within easy reach of a lot of you. Th?e aforementioned GTX 1650 accounted for the most usage for June (5.67%), and there are a few PC gamers who are said to be using 3000 series products, so it should be a breeze to run th??e game for many.

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'Further information will be announced at a later date'

Back when it dropped in November on PC I said that Overkill's The Walking Dead doesn't really know what it wants to be, and it seems as if publis??her Starbreeze Studios doesn't either.

After an overwhelmingly tepid response amid a currently low playerbase (following an early shuffle into the fray due to the strong staying power of zombies and The Walking Dead brand), Starbreeze has "postponed" the release of Overkill's The Walking Dead on consoles. Originally the plan was to u?pdate the game steadily on PC, add more episodes, then ease into an early February launch on PS4 and Xbox One with enhancements and fixes.

As I said a few months ago there is a chance that Overkill could cour?se correct and make things right by the time the console editions arrived, but now that plan is in jeopardy. According to?? the publisher in a direct statement, "Starbreeze AB is currently evaluating and reviewing the performance of the game on consoles."

While they stopped short of outright cancelling it, the writing is on the wall after their recent financial troubles. Launching what could be a potential failure may be more trouble than it's worth after the company only recently filed ?for reconstruction. With the console launch just several weeks away they had to say something, but a nebulous "postponed" rather than a new window is never good.

Overkill's The Walking Dead [Starbreeze]

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Also look at H1Z1

At this point I have no idea how Sony's Day's Gone is going to fare. We seem to be reaching peak zombie, with The Walking Dead TV series slowing down and the low financial results for H1Z1 and Overkill's The Walking Dead. Wait, didn't?? that last one just launch on PC and isn't it still set for a 2019 console release? Yes, yes it is.

Speaking on the launch, PC publisher Starbreeze explained that they're basically reworking the entire way they look at funding their games division due to recent losses. Part of the problem is that the $10 million license fee from 505 Games for the console editions of Walking Dead won't be counted for their fourth quarter earnings, w?hich significantly dips their financials.

Starbreeze Chairman Michael Hjorth spoke to the issue, stating: "Initial sales revenues from Overkill's The Walking Dead are lower than forecasted, primarily because the share of sales in low-price countries, such as China and Russia, is significantly higher than expected. This is disappointing, of course, but we have a base to work with in regards to the number of games sold. We have a pulse of concurrent players, which is essential to future performance within the framework of our Games as a Service concept. The team is working at full capacity to deliver improv?ements to the game and new content, and Season 2 will be starting soon."

So yeah, they're soldiering on with a more frugal outlook to essentially avoid insolvency, and are counting on the $10 million bucks from 505 to propel them in 2019. If you happen to play Overkill's The Walking Dead it isn't quite...dead, at least not yet.

Starbreeze is reviewing costs and foc??using on core business [Starbreeze]

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Secret secret, I've got a secret!

With some games, finishing the campaign is just the beginning. You can get the "ending," but is that really the end? For Payday 2, players have been searching for the past five years to unlock its super secret ending and the journey has now completed. YouTuber General McBadass has uploaded a step-by-step guide to unlocking this hidden ending for ever??yone to replic??ate.

If you don't want the ending spoiled, I'd suggest not watching the below video. A quick summary is that you'll need to put together a disk full of runes, then grab a medallion and play nine specific keys on a keyboard. After that, you'll boot up the White House mission with other players tha??t have completed the same steps and will be able to remove a highlighted painting to access a lower vault.

Doing so will lead you to ?codes that need to be decrypted while demons attack you (just?? go with it). A character known as "The Dentist" will explain some backstory and then needs to be shot. Finally, you'll place gold bars on specific floor tiles before the game fades to white and the ending scene plays.

However people came to this conclusion is beyond me. I've never been one for ARGs, so I'm just baffled people were able to put obscure clues together to reach this ending. At least the final mystery of Payday 2 is now solved just in time to check out Overkill's Walking Dead game...

After five years, players have reached Payday 2's secret ending [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

[Payday 2] How to unlock the Secret [General McBadass via YouTube]

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Fun in the sun

Reservoir Dogs, a ?movie where some men argue about tipping and then almost all of them die, is the film that started Quentin Tarantino's ascent into prominence. Nearly 26 years later, a very popular video game is paying homage.

Payday 2 just added a free Reservoir Dogs-themed heist. The clowns and jokers of the Payday gang are headed to Tinsel Town to try their hand at ??robbing those banks. The add-on comes with a Union 5.56 rifle, an Alabama Razor melee weapon, and ?three masks.

But, and this is truly what's important, developer Overkill created Payday's version of the infamous ear scene from Reservoir Dogs:

It's okay! It's got some music that probably skirts paying royalties to Stealers Wheel, and it's kinda weird seeing some Sam Fi?sh?er-lookin' dude in the chair. But, still, it gets the point across. That guy's losin' an ear.

Because w??e all wanna see it now, here's the origina?l:

Reservoir Dogs Heist [Overkill Software]

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Shoot and loot

OVERKILL's co-op bank heist game, PAYDAY 2, will be hitting the Switch on February 23, 2018 for Europe and February 27, 2018 in North and South America. You'll be a??ble to grab the game either digitally or physically or perhaps both if you're crazy. The Switch port will feature local co-op with up to four Switch consoles, so you and your friends can play even when the internet decides to stop cooperating.

PAYDAY 2™ coming to the Nintendo Switch System in Febru??ary [Starbreeze Studios]

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Batter up!

This past weekend, Overkill Software held a livestream reveal event for its long coming Walking Dead game. The game will follow the template of previous Overkill games, PAYDAY, and be a four player cooperative shooter. You'll obviously be facing off against zombies instead of pol??ice and the game takes place in a post apocalyptic Washing D.C.

Taking a cue from Borderlands, there will be four selectable characters with different skill trees and abilities to use. The first character, Aidan, was given a cinematic trailer that barely shows off anything about him. If nothing else, it does give us a glimpse of how D.C. might look in the final vers?ion.

The game is still heading to PC, PS4 and Xbox One and is?? targeting a release for late 201?8. You can sign-up for updates from the official website, if you so choose.

OVERKILL's The Walking Dead [Official Website]

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Bowies in Space

10 Chambers Collective, a new studio made up of former Overkill Software devs, showed off footage of their sci-fi first-person shooter GTFO tonight.

It looked suitably futuristic and thankfully sh?ied away from pre-recorded team audio. The game wi??ll be a four-player cooperative experience and will see players setting up traps and tackling all kinds of outlandish creatures in what looks like an effort to rob banks in space. That could be neat.

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The beta is live for Vive owners

Payday 2 is getting virtual reality support next year, but if you'd like to try that out now and you have a Vive, that's an option. The first beta for Payday 2 VR went live today. Here's how to opt in:

• Find Payday 2 in your Steam library and right-click - select Properties.
• In the Properties window - select the tab called "BETAS."
• In the drop down menu in the BETAS tab - select "open_vr_beta" and close the window.

Once activated, you'll be coming in fresh with a new save file. Overkill recommends a "GTX 980 or better" to run the game and has a how-to-play guide covering the new controls. Based on the trailer, ??this lo?oks even better than I was expecting. The basic premise of heists in VR just works for me.

It would be nice to see alternate movement options for folks who can handle unrestricted locomotion in VR, but Overkill is off to a good start here. The fact that this is free for Payday 2 owners and VR and non-VR players can team up together is commendable. This stuff usua??lly comes at a premium.

PAYDAY 2 VR is now finally live [Steam]

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Free for Payday 2 owners

So, this is a good idea. Overkill Software is working on Payday VR for a beta release later this year, and as shown in this debut trailer, it'll support co-op play with the existing version of Payday 2.

Outside of what you can glean from this HTC Vive-centric video, the studio is promising to deliver "all your Payday content in VR" and says it will be "available to all Payday 2 owners."

We've seen cross-platform play between the various headsets -- Ubisoft, in particular, has been great about this -- but I don't know that I've ever played a VR game cooperatively with non-VR owners. For all the baggage associated with the Payday name? these days, I have to?? say, this is a nice move.

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Hand it all over

About two years ago, I fell in with a bad crowd. A gang of thieves that would conspire together to rip innocent people off and ??goad each other into more and more brazen and dangerous crimes. It was a grea??t time. At our peak, we were working on a new heist every night and amassing a fortune in ill-gotten loot.

But, all things pass. Eventually the thrill of the chase dulled, our escapades became routine instead of daring, and one-by-one our attentions waned and we drifted on to other things. I still think back fondly to those nights of Payday 2. With the release of Payday 2: The Big Score, a bundle of the Crimewave Edition along with a??ll the previously released DLC packs up to the end of 2015 (you still need to buy DLC from this year separately) and some new updates, I wanted to see if I could recapture that old magic. Sadly, while this massive pack provides a brimming dufflebag worth of content, it fails to address the problems that have plagued the base game since launch. 

Payday 2: The Big Score (PS4 [reviewed], Xbox One)
Developer: Overkill Software
Publisher: 505 Games
Released: September 8, 2016
MSRP: $49.99 for bundle with full game, $39.99 to upgrade from Crimewave Edition

Getting back into Payday 2 was a little r?ough for me. When I stopped playing the PC game, I had a fully developed character and a reliable crew of Steam friends to call upon when I was in the mood for a heist. Re-starting from scratch on PS4 (there is no way t?o transfer your progress between platforms) and playing with randoms instead of trustworthy partners in crime drew just how much of the game is gated by grind into stark relief.

Payday 2 is a game with surprising depth. When you get into the later missions and work with competent teammates who are into it, you can get into some straight up Thomas Crown Affair business. Complicated shenanigans like hacking security networks, jamming radios, and expertly lifting scads of loot out of a crowded building without raising an eyebrow are all possible and thrilling capers. These are tense, complicated heists that require communication, excellent teamwork, and can still spin into a frantic firefight at the drop of a hat if even one person slips up. At its best, Payday 2 is a hell of a multiplayer game.

But, you have to work to get to all that cool stuff. Until you clock in enough time to climb the various class skill trees, perk decks, and unlock all the neat gun attachments and gear you need to pull a professional job, you have to slug it out in the gutter. For the first several hours, you're mostly bumbling around breaking windows, pistol-whipping hostages, and cursing out your drill as it sputters to a stop yet again. Low-level characters might be dressed like the professionals in Heat, but make no mistake, they share more in common? with the Wet Bandits than anyone else.

I'm not saying the old smash and grab isn't fun (I mean, pistol-whipping), but it can be repetitive and shallow as those “early” hours drag on. I remember thinking the slow start was a disservice to t??he game three years ago, and it's a sham??????????????????????????e Overkill hasn't figured out a more engaging way to welcome new players since then.

The loot and progression system of Payday 2 was a bit of a mess when it originally came out and it's only become more snarled over the years as additional systems have been bolted on. Character skills are gated behind class trees that specialize in one aspect of heisting or another (Masterminds control hostages and keep ?the crew going, Enforcers are heavy hitters and vault rippers, Ghosts specialize in stealth and high-tech gadgets, etc.). Each tr??ee requires a messy combination of skill points (gained by leveling), cash, and prerequisite points spent to unlock. Once you reach level 100, you can essentially prestige to a higher infamy level to unlock unique cosmetics and titles at the cost of all your cash.

But, that's not all. There is also your Perk Deck to consider. These are sets of escalating passive perks that you can unlock with converted experience points. Several of these bonuses are q??uite good, but you can only equip one perk deck at once, meaning you'll probably want to cultivate a few different decks and switch between them as missions call for it.

Weapons can be purchased with cash, but often carry level prerequisites so new players can't just rush the most powerful weapons out of the gate. They also take up inventory space that while generous, eventually runs out and needs to be expanded with yet more cash. Attachments and mods (of which there are a dizzying array) are earned as random rewards in post-mission item drops, or through DLC side-objectives (the biggest of which are the Gage Courier drops which can essentially be farmed ?to fill out an inventory of decent attachments). The random unlocks can make filling out your dream kit quite a grinding slog, so paying attention to the farmable mods is highly recommend.

Similarly, masks, materials, and patterns are unlocked through random drops and then assembled with cash. Thankfully, The Big Score comes stocked with a?ll of previously released DLC and event-themed masks, so there are plenty of options to choose from the start. But, perfecting the garish chrome-pink off?-brand Cobra Commander mask of your dreams will still take some time.

The downside of all this complexity is that you practically have to take an extension course to figure out how all the different parts come together to build a decent character. The upshot is a massive variety in character builds, weapon choices, and tactics. There is a lot to play with and customize in Payday 2, even if much of it requires a ??grind that wouldn’t b??e out of place in a free-to-play game.

The Big Score contains almost all of the previously released DLC and item packs up to the start of 2016 that were sold piecemeal to PC players. There is no shortage of characters to choose from, including cameo characters like John Wick, Jacket from Hotline Miami, and Bodhi from Point Break (sadly the lame one from the 2015 remake and not Patrick “Dirty Dancing” Swayze). There is also a wealth of levels and heists to take on, including goofy levels that were previously tied to limited-time events, like the Halloween “Lab Rats” mission that shrinks the crew down to the size of Micro Machines scurrying around the counter of a meth kitchen. It's great to have these options, but also a little bewildering if you haven't been paying attention to the past three years of Payday 2's ongoing development.

Speaking of those three years, The Big Score is unfortunately showing every single one of them. While not exactly a graphical showpiece even at launch, the flat en??vironments and locked 30 FPS really stand out on the PS4. It's also disappointing that the A.I. teammates are still slightly dumber than a cinder block with a concussion. Three years to work on them, and A.I. teammates still just stare at sacks full of priceless gems, completely uninterested in helping you haul them to the getaway van, or stand beside an overheating drill without even attempting to unjam it. Most of the missions are functionally impossible without some teamwork, so these lobotomized bots and the option to play solo might as well not even be in the game. It's shameful that such a basic element has been left in this sorry state.

I also have to mention the buy-in price for the bundle. If you never picked up the Crimewave Edition for either of the current-gen consoles, $49.99 isn't a bad price to just jump in and play with the majority of DLC that's been released. However, if you're a long-time fan who picked up Crimewave when it first came out, and God forbid some of the DLC, the $39.99 upgrade bundle is just insulting. At this point we're all used to seeing early adopters getting screwed over, but this seems like a particular low-blow for fans who have stayed with?? the game. 

Payday 2 when it first launched was a flawed game with a lot of heart. It was slow to start, subjected players to a punishing grind, and despised would-be solo players. But, it ?also featured some fantastically imaginative missions, great opportunities for nail-biting teamwork, and solid gunplay.

Three years on and re-re-released, those flaws are harder to ignore and those qualities not as impressive. Despite dozens of DLC packs, expansion missions, and bonus characters, the core problems with the game have been left unaddressed. Overkill spent three years bolting on fancier spoilers, lights, and hubcaps when what it really needed was an overhaul of the jammed-up transmission. There is still fun to be had with Payday 2, the high points of the game are still fantastic, but at this poin?t it's hard? to justify trudging through all the annoyances and hassles to get to them.

If you never got the chance to strap on a mask and make some dirty money, The Big Score might still be worth checking out. If you're a seasoned criminal wondering if it's time to get back into? the life, you won't find much to pull you back in.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game prov??ided by the publ??isher.]}

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To be 'expanded' with 'more content'

Payday studio Overkill Software's The Walking Dead shooter has been delayed until 2017.

The news came buried alongside an ??announcement regarding a new alliance between South Korean developer Smilegate and Overkill's parent company Starbreeze Studios.

Among other things, the deal involves Starbreeze bringing Smilegate's popular shooter CrossFire to western shores, while Starbreeze titles like Payday 2 are localized for Asian markets.

"Overkills’s The Walking Dead will be expanded with more content where an Asian version will be d??eveloped for simultaneous launch with the western version," Starbreeze said of the agreement. "To maxim??ize the new opportunities, Starbreeze, 505 Games and Skybound have decided to release the game in all markets during the second half of 2017."

Overkill's The Walking Dead was announced in 2014, though very little has been said about the project since then. Here's hoping the extra time in the oven will help the title turn out better than did Activision and Terminal Reality's abortion of a game The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct.

Starbreeze and Smileg?ate in long-term strategic partne?rship [Starbreeze]

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This costing $7 really gets my goat

Remember last year, when Payday 2 developer Overkill introduced microtransactions to its game, despite promising it never would? Remember the long trail of blunders and screw-ups it made after that? Well it wants you to forget all that, and instead buy the new DLC based off of uh… Goat Simulator.

The trailer above sure is somethi?ng. It has a goat! A goat doing silly things! That was funny before, right???!

Anyway, The Goat Simulator Heist includes a new two-day heist, one new shotgun, four new melee weapons, four masks, four patterns, four materials, five new achievements, two new songs by Simon Viklund, and one cheesed off fanbase. Again.

I’m sure t?his DLC appeals to somebody out there; it’s memes after all.

But here’s the thing: paid DLC is fine by me. Microtransactions, while easily abused, are also alright with me. Having both of those things in a game that already costs money (and has lots of paid DLC already) is triple-dipping on a community that is tired of being squeezed for cash at every? turn.

Add in the fact that this paid DLC is based on an almost two-year-old joke, ??and I reckon it's safe to say that this entire thing is, in my oh-so-humble opinio?n, taking the piss.

We’re at the point where Overkill could have started 2016 strongly to begin to make up for its past mistakes… and then paid Goat Simulator DLC happens instead. Fab.

The Goat Simulator Heist will be available on Jan?uary 14, costing $7.99. 

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DLC is coming for Xbox One and PS4 too

For a lot of people, Payday 2 is a fantastic game. Pulling of the perfect heist with a bunch of friends, unlocking new tools and guns, and more often than not quoting lines from Heat while you do it, Payday 2 is a hell of a lot of fun… as long as you&rs??quo;re not on console.

The Crimewave Edition released on Xbox One has had major pr??oblems since launch, b??eing nigh-on broken for some people. The biggest problem reported is the inability to connect to CrimeNet, which is how matchmaking and picking which heists you want to do is managed.

For a co-op game, ??not being able to actually play with anyone is a pretty major problem, and it’s been like that ever since it launched back in June.

Add to that the fact PC has been getting regular updates that both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 haven&rs?quo;t, including new heists and new characters, and you can see why some people are pissed at developer Overkill right now.

Overkill has now released a video and a post on reddit to acknowledge the problems, and to confirm they will be fixed. For Xbox One, the entire matchmaking system is going to be simplified and reworked. While they want the fixes to be released as soon as possible, at the very latest they're aiming f??or it to be out before the end of the year:

To the talking point of the video: we're focusing this specific video on the Xbox heisters because of the issues connected to matchmaking that you are experiencing. We are currently working on a radical change - a full remake of the matchmaking sy??stem which will si??mplify the way you join games and improve the matchmaking. This is a solution that is built from the ground up, as the previous matchmaking system we have for PS4 and PC doesn't work well with your platform.

Right now this is our number one priority. Our ambition is to g??o live with the new matchmaking system and additional fixes within the coming weeks, and no later than the end of the year. Does that mean that we want to release it on 3?1st of December? Absolutely not, we want to get it done ASAP.

As far as the currently PC-exclusive conten?t goes, Overkill is current??ly trying to figure out how to give that to console players too:

Regarding the first update / DLC release on both platforms, we are currently reviewing how much content we will get you guys in the first update. Our ambition is that you will get all the content that the PC version has, but because we have to make builds and submit them to each platform, we have to do a cut-off at some point.?? We're looking into where that is exactly, more information regarding this and what content we're talking about in the coming weeks.

Six months after launch seems an incredibly long time to fix a game-breaking issue like the Xbox version of PayDay 2 has if you ask me. Seems like the sort of thing that should've been caught and fixed before ??launch, or at least in a day ?one patch. Not half a year later.

Oh well, nice to know it hasn’t been completely abandoned. Payday 2 is a great gam?e, so it'll be good for more people to finally be ab??le to play it.

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Insert some pun ending in Jailhouse Rock

Don’t blink, or you might just miss Overkill release some new content for Payday 2. Whoops, there goes another... and another... Sod it, let’s just look at this newest one: The Golden Grin Casino.

With swanky as hell music, promises of a taking Elvis hostage, and copious gambling, The Golden Grin Casino is the last heist to feature ‘The Dentist,’ played by Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito. It will also introduce a new playable character who sounds deci??dedly Russian, but my language skills aren’t perfect.

The Golden Grin Casino will be released on June 25. The Crimewave edition of the game, which includes the last year’s worth of DLC, is being released on June 16, so whether it will include this heist isn&r??squo;t entirely known just yet.

The post Payday 2’s next heist takes on Vegas appeared first on Destructoid.

I'm holding out for Tony

Overkill Software has teamed up with Dennaton Games for Hotline Miami-themed DLC for Payday 2, which rele??ases tomorrow on Steam for $6.99. Here's more info in the mean time.

Besides the screenshot above, there's a mini website for the collaboration to look over -- it features weapons that'll be instantly familiar to Hotline players and some back story.

This new mission will put Payday 2 one step closer to finding and resc??uing ??Old Hoxton.

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Releasing September 30

Overkill Software and Dennaton Games are teaming up for Payday 2 DLC based on Hotline Miami.

It's unclear what all is included here beyond a heist -- they can get away with offering the slimmest of details?? and we'll still be interested -- but the add-on hits Steam on September 30, 2014.

According to an FAQ, Overkill went for this "because we ... f***ing love Hotline Miami."

Works for me! There's a traile?r, too. Give it a moment and you shall be rewar?ded.

PAYDAY 2: Hotline Miami DLC - Trailer released! [Steam]

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'In 2016 Washington will fall -- what will you do?'

Payday creator Overkill Software is the next developer to try its hand at adapting The Walking Dead for videogames. The studio is currently working on a cooperative first-person shooter planned for release in 2016 called Overkill's The Walking Dead. (Thanks for keeping it simple!)

"I'm happy to say that it's the co-op game that all of the Walking Dead fans have been waiting for," comic series creator Robert Kirkman said. In a Q&A, the project has been described as an FPS "with elements of acti?on, role-playing, survival horror, and stealth."

Overkill also promised "some unprecedented crossovers" between the new game and its heist title Payday 2. For now, players of the latter game will be able to wield Lucille, the barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat used by The Walking Dead's Negan, in Payday.

Even without visuals to go on, I'm down for this. Overkill should be a good fit for The Walking Dead and bring us something we haven't seen properly done with the license yet.

[Thanks, Tucker]

The post Overkill? is making a co-op shooter based on The Walking Dead appeared first on Destructoid.

Gage Shotgun Pack

Payday 2 has its seventh bit of DLC, the Gage Shotgun Pack. In it you'll f?ind four masks, pa?tterns, materials, melee weapons, and shotguns. Twelve achievements, too. 

Call me old school, but I don't feel compelled to drop five bucks on a few new guns, patterns, masks, and melee weapons. Not when the existing ones work just fine. Adding new heists is one thing. This? Not a fan.

The post Payday 2 DLC adds more shotguns and monkey masks appeared first on Destructoid.

Watch you gold fillings

When Payday 2's Big Bank Heist is available for download on June 17, there will be a new mission contact in the mix. While he may be fresh to Payday players, he's a well-known and calculated voice in the crime world of other entertainment medi?ums.

Breaking Bad's Gustavo Fring will assume the role of The Dentist, an entrepreneur that figured out it's more lucrative to extract money from bank vaults than teeth from mouths. For a glimpse as to what he'll bring to the game, this live action short paints a? rather clear picture of his intentions.

The post Breaking Bad’s Gus plays The Dentist in new Payday 2 DLC appeared first on Destructoid.

Because there weren't enough clown faces in one place already

Another creepy clown visage is now available in the PlayStation 3 version of Payday 2, and one fans of Sony should be well familiar with. Sweet Tooth, the lovably psychotic burning clown thing from the Twisted Metal series, gets a nod in free DLC released toda??y which offers his face as another horrifying mask option for your character.

Sweet Tooth still gives me the willies. It's one thing to have a horrible clown, but when you have muscular (one might say, "ripped") clown, that's a whole other level of childhood insecurity being represented. And does it matter to the gents down at the pub how big the clown that kicked your ass was? Nooooooo! It's all just, "look at the little pansy lad, got taken to the c??leaners by a clown."

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Stands and delivers

Nobody could ever claim PAYDAY: The Heist wasn't a good idea. Tapping into every human's secret desire to be part of a?? beautifully orchestrated, flamboyantly daring theft of grand proportions was a masterstroke, and while the execution was spotty, the overall result was a ton o??f fun. 

Overkill is having a second crack of the whip with PAYDAY 2, clutching its clever ide??????????????????????????a jealously while surrounding it with much more content. A deeper leveling system, greater customization options, and a ton of new heists are all on offer.

The execution is, once again, spotty, but the result?? is, once agai??n, a ton of fun.

PAYDAY 2 (PC [reviewed], PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
Developer: Overkill Software
Publisher: 505 Games
Released: August 13, 2013 (NA), August 16, 2013 (EU)
MSRP: $29.99 

Dallas, Chains, Hoxton, and Wolf are reunited for a second string of amoral moneymaking, propelled by a variety of missions involving breaking and entering, classic bank robbery, and even simple property damage across a range of maps that, while often recycled, feature randomized elements to keep?? things interesting. Yet again, success hinges on teamwork as four players strategize, watch backs, and hold off waves of progressively deadly police forces. 

This time around, missions are picked up by accessing Crime.net, a virtual map that locates and displays all active online missions. There is an ?offline mode too, but the allied A.I. is so utterly useless as to render it an endeavor without meaning. Suffice it to say, you're going to need to go online if you've any hope of making out like a bandit.

Missions appear and disappear in real-time? as they become available, and range from simple one-stage jobs to longer, story-based crimes that take place over several days and are broken up into anywhere from two to seven stages. Missions are also graded by difficulty, allowing you to hop right into an easy job or ramp things up by tackling an Overkill mission. The harder the difficulty, the greater the enemy resistance, and the more likely an appearance of vicious special enemies, such as the annoying Shield or terrifying Heavy. 

Each mission is impressively paced, and far more varied than last time. In one stage, you'll be tasked with entering a mall and doing $50,000 worth of da??mage for a protection racketeer. Another involves robbing three stores at once and making out with the goods. One multipart stage involves robbing an art gallery, holding a position from cops after the escape van crashes, and finally executing a shady trade of goods before the police invariably show up. Oh, and yes, there is a mission where you have to break bad and cook up some meth. 

A good number of missions can be played either stealthily or noisily. If you go in, all guns blazing, take hostages and decide to smash-and-grab, you'll end up defending your location against timed police assaults before fighting your way out with your earnings. A quiet approach involves sneaking past cameras, knocking out opponents, pretending to be guards over a pager system (which is always amusing), and hoping to Hermes you don't get anybody too suspicious. It's more difficult to pull off a stealth win, requiring both practice and a mastery of special skills, but it's possible. I've not seen it done personally, but it's possible!

Players level up and earn spending money after each successful job, which can in turn be used to gain new skills, unlock guns, and customize masks. There are four skill trees to choose from -- Mastermind, which involves dominating enemies while supporting allies; Engin??eer, which uses vault drills more efficiently and can use mines or turrets; Enforcer, which is all about combat and shotgun efficiency; and Ghost, the handy stealth class that can sneak in and evade detection. 

Guns are all of the standard variety -- pistols, assau??lt rifles, shotguns, etc. -- but there's a heck of a lot of them, and all can be customized with parts randomly won at the end of a job. Masks are also a big deal this time around, the usual clown varieties added to with mummies, demons, and other ghoulish fun. Masks are also acquired as random "drops" and can be further customized with material skins, logos, and colors. With the skills, weapons, and masks combined, there's plenty of scope to create your perfect master criminal, and the encouragement to progress is there in spades. ??;

Everything costs money, though, and while you'll be earning buckets of cash at the end of each stage, it can disappear quickly. Unlocking skills takes both unlockable skill points and an injection of hot cash, with the dollar toll rising to hundreds of thousands in no time.?? This isn't usually a problem, but if you tend to respec a lot, as I did in the early goings, you'll find yourself playing catch-up as you don't get all your money back. 

Each heist is nicely designed, with a terrific sense of escalation, especially when the plan gets chaotic and things start to go wrong. The idea of risk and reward adds an extra level of dynamism to each job, as y??ou have to weigh going back for ??extra valuables against the army of SWAT specialists now standing between your escape van and goods you've left behind. You can also unlock assets (if you're hosting the game) that add extra benefits during the game, such as a hidden ammo cache or an inside man. 

PAYDAY 2 is just as fun, and measurably more involving, than the first game, but some issues get in the way of the amusement. Matchmaking could stand to be more efficient, as joining an existing game holds the match up for everybody, while the lack of any sort of host migration -- which shouldn't even be a consideration these days -- is a real pain in the ass. There are also a number of glitches and bugs that can occur, and the way stages simpl??y end -- as well as a number o??f missing features such as safehouse customization -- lead to a title that feels somewhat unfinished. 

Despite some of these flaws being quite egregious, Overkill has st?ill provided a massive laugh of a game, and it says a lot about the quality of what's there that potentially dealbreaking issues don't really manage to kill the overwhelming enjoyment I've been having with the thing. Matches are tense and the fantastic music keeps the blood pumping, while finally getting to within hopping distance of the escape van provides a sense of exhilaration rarely found in similar shooters these days. 

PAYDAY 2 is undeniably rough and needs a couple of updates to fill in a few blanks, but the thrill of robbing banks, smashing jewel cases, and cooking meth is too great for the asking price not be returned to the?? player in spades. If you're willing to work with a team and get involved in some delightfully chaotic situations, the world of poorly made drills and unnecessary amounts of violence is one well worth investing in. 

The post Review: PAYDAY 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Here's what you need to know going in

The North American collector's edition for Payday 2 is notable in that it's priced at a reasonable $59.99. That, and it includes a wearable mask, which is a pretty good bonus as far as these things tend to go. There's also a soundtrack CD, gloves (okay, that's a bit creepy), and a $100 bill wall??et. All told, not a bad offering for a game that looks as good as it does.

In this video, game director David Goldfarb overviews Payday 2 and how it's been expanded beyond the scope of ?its predecessor. The original game was a good start, but based on what I'm seeing here, th??is will be the real deal for those wanting a cooperative heist game.

The post Payday 2 Collector’s Edition comes with a real mask appeared first on Destructoid.

I really need to get Payday: The Heist. First that crossover with Left 4 Dead happened recently, which added the L4D scenario "No Mercy," and now it has its first DLC today after almost a year of being released. Oh, and would you look at that? Payday is this week's Midweek Madness over on Steam. How convenient;? it's only $4.99. If PC gaming isn't your thing, you can always pick up the game and its DLC on PSN for $19.99 and $9.99, respectively.

Anyway, back to the DLC. Wolfpack is a $10 expansion that adds new weapons by way of the auto-handgun and assault rifle, two new Heists, The Technician (a new class based on the character Wolf), the ability to play the DLC with your friends even if they don't own it, a raised level cap where "the sky is the limit," and much more. Yeah, that fourth one is the absolute best. It's always frust?rating to not be able to check out a DLC with your friends simply b?ecause the don't want to (or can't) shell out an extra $10.

The post Payday gets its first DLC today ?fo??r both PSN and PC appeared first on Destructoid.

_{[This is the final part in a series of five guest blogs from OVERKILL Software creative director Simon Vicklund about the forces that stand between you and incalculable wealth in Payday: The Heist, out today for PlayStation 3. Read previous installments [1,2,3,4] and stay tuned to Destructoid for our review!]}

Hi again! This is Simon Viklund of OVERKILL Software again, and I'm now at the final part of my five piece series about the law enforcers in our upcoming co-op FPS game Payday: The Heist. The game hits PSN (PS3) today and Steam (PC)? soon.

Now, I've saved the best for last - because today we're?? going to talk about the Taser!

This is the Taser. He's easily recognizable thanks to his wasp color palette - and believe me, this guy packs a mean sting! He also has maybe the most characteristic sound that warns you about his presence: No matter how noisy the gunfire is at the moment, t??he high pitch sound of his stun gun charging up cuts through - and when you hear it? you'd better be on your guard!

The taser has an AMCAR-4 carbine that he uses to engage enemies on a? distance greater than 14 meters (46 feet) - but it's when his target gets closer than 14?? meters that things get ugly, because that's when it's in range of his stun gun. The taser weapon shoots out two wires into its target and immediately sends electrical current through these wires to incapacitate the victim.

As a player, it's a very disturbing effect - believe us. The screen is tinted?? slightly blue, your aim starts to jerk around uncontrollably ?and you hear that loud, nasty click-click-click-click sound of rapid electrical shocks.

Randomness ensues as your trigger finger clenches and you uncontrollably empty your entire ammo clip: If you're unlucky you'll shoot an innocent nearby civilian. If you're lucky you'll shoot the Taser himself! Yep that's right, through some luck you can shoot yourself free. Chances are you will only have hurt the Taser though, so if you're freed you'd better act fast and back away from him or he'll tase you ??again!

If you fail to shoot your way out of the Taser's grip, you'll have to rely on your teammates to ?take out the Taser and save your soon-to-be fried ass. From the moment you start being tased, your friends have exactly ten seconds to take out the Taser (they'll have no problem finding you thanks to the characteristic sound) or you'll go into the incapacitated state.

The Taser is probably the most interesting enemy in Payday, simply becuase he adds so much suspense when?? you know he's around and then he also adds so much excitement mingled with terror once he strikes! If you can only remember one thing from this article, remember this: Always keep 14 meters between you and the giant wasp man!

Payday: The Heist is a downloadable co-op FPS game for PSN (PS3) and Steam (PC), and it's out today! Check out www.overkillsoftware.com, www.payday-theheist.com and our Twitter account "overkill_tm" for news!

The post You’re gonna get tazed in Payday: The Heist appeared first on Destructoid.

_{[This is the fourth in a series of five guest blogs from OVERKILL Software creative director Simon Vicklund about the forces that stand between you and incalculable wealth in Payday: The Heist, coming soon to PlayStation Network. Read previous installments [1,2,3] and stay tuned to Destructoid as we continue this series up to the release of Payday on October 18th]}

Hi agai?n! Toda??y we're going to talk about the Bulldozer. That's this guy.

He ??is called the Bulldozer because he can smash through any defens?e, demolish the opposition and crush all hope. The need to "tag" certain enemies so that your teammates can easily see them and help you in taking them out, is never more urgent than when a Bulldozer crashes your party!

After a drawn-out hostage scenario, you can almost imagine what's been going in the police f??orce's makeshift liaison central outside the bank: The law enforcement have brought EVERYONE: Police officers, FBI agents, SWATs... but nothing seems to be able to take down the robbers.

They're ready to give up, when someone says he just though of a way to kick the "brute force" lever up yet another notch: Bring in the most bad-ass individuals avail??able in the force, put 'em all in bomb suits and give 'em a massive shotgun - then see who's boss!

And trust us, when one of these guys steps into frame you'd best get walls and/or furniture between you and him as fast as humanly?? possible. This guy has no fear, and will walk up to you - or even run! (you'd be surprised by how fast he can move despite how bulky he is) - and unload his shotgun wherever it hurts the most. And he sure doesn't care if you're alone or backed up by your team!

What's nice is that if you're together, you can at least concentrate your firepower and wear the Bulldozer down quickly. Effective strategy alternative #1: Focus on the yellowish gl?ass around his face - that's the weakest point (you'll learn to love the sound of that glass breaking). Effective strategy alternative #2: Use trip mines! (As it turns out, the bomb suits don't protect the wearer agaisnt explosives all that well!)

Payday: The Heist is a downloadable co-op FPS game for PSN (PS3) and Steam (PC), and it comes out this month. Check out www.overkillsoftware.com, www.payday-theheist.com and our Twitter account "overkill_tm" for news!

Return tomorrow to re??ad about the special unit called th??e "Taser".

The post The brute force of Payday: The Heist’s Bulldozer appeared first on Destructoid.