[Review] Payday 2

[Lunix I]

Payday 2 is a cooperative first-person shooter video game developed by Overkill Software and published by 505 Games. The game is a sequel to 2011's Payday: The Heist. It was released in August 2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. An improved version of the game, subtitled Crimewave Edition, was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in June 2015. A version for Nintendo Switch was released in February 2018.

Two years after the events of the previous game, a new gang comes to the Washington, D.C. area to perform another heisting spree. The player takes control of one of the gang's twenty one members and can perform heists alone, or with up to three teammates. The player can participate in a variety of heists, including but not limited to robberies of banks, shops and armored cars, and producing and distributing narcotics. The game differs on the previous by allowing much more customization of the player (aesthetically and gameplay-wise), somewhat improved graphical interface and experience, more variety and playability in levels, and has reworked stealth mechanics.

The game consists of a variety of 'heists' that a player can opt to either carry out by themselves, with the AI, or as part of a multiplayer game. There are heists such as bank robberies, drug trafficking runs, rigging an election, or stealing smuggled nuclear warheads. Some of the heists put a large emphasis on stealth, often leading to bonus experience points and money on completion.

While the game has no set linear campaign, each heist takes place around the same time that it was released in the real world. In addition, some other plot details are presented through web comics, trailers, and the 'FBI Files' website.

When a player reaches level 100, they can opt to raise their "Infamy" level, up to twenty five (as of 5 March 2015; there are only five levels of Infamy on PS3 and Xbox 360). Becoming Infamous grants a player access to special skill trees and items and gives them special poses in lobby screens. However, raising one's Infamy level causes them to lose all of their spending money and experience, and a sum of $200,000,000 is deducted from their offshore account until they reach Infamy level 5 (going 'Infamous' after this point is free)

In this ending, the gang breaks into a secret vault hidden underneath the White House. After decoding a series of ciphers and completing a puzzle that unlocks the vault door, the gang enters a large open chamber that houses a machine called the "Ark of the Watcher". However, once they make it inside, the Dentist arrives. He demands entry from outside of the vault door, with Bain and Locke held at gunpoint and a bag full of Mayan gold. The gang open the door for him, but manage to kill the Dentist before he has a chance to shoot Bain and Locke. The gang then proceed to take the gold and place it into specified slots in the Ark. Bright lights suddenly shoot from the machine, as the entire room lights up. Bain then thanks the gang for all that they have done, before supposedly dying.