Payday 3 has a lot of promise, but this technical beta was a technical mess
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SHOULD I PLAY PAYDAY 3?
We'll need to wait until Payday 3 launches in full next week to see if it's worth it because this past weekend's open beta was kind of messy. Payday 3 is a first-person shooter about robbing banks for cash, infiltrating areas for intel, and shooting cops. While the game looks and feels fantastic, the technical issues plaguing the test version made for a frustrating and occasionally straight-up unplayable experience.
TIME PLAYED
I played Payday 3’s open beta for two hours. I managed to reach level nine and unlock two weapons, as well as a bunch of different parts for them. I’ve played nearly a dozen matches, with each one lasting ten to fifteen minutes.
WHAT’S AWESOME ABOUT PAYDAY 3?
• Heisting banks. Shooting cops, infiltrating banks, and stealing all the money inside felt as thrilling as it should. While the limited content available during beta didn’t give a full view of Payday 3’s scope, it was enough to make me want more.
• Smooth combat experience. For whatever it lacks in other areas, Payday 3’s controls and movement have been polished to near-perfection. Whether I was jumping over a window ledge or dashing around tight corners, movement just felt incredible, and shooting other characters was equally fantastic.
• Customization. Unlocking new weapons and tools over time gave grinding a lot more purpose, especially in a beta test with only one mission. I was able to freshen up gameplay using different loadouts and deck out my favorite guns with scopes and muzzles.
WHAT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT IN PAYDAY 3?
• Technical issues. It’s no surprise that the technical beta test of Payday 3 would suffer from so many technical issues. From lagging to disconnection and even crashing, I had a rough time trying to play the game. I barely went a single match without encountering a major problem that pulled me out of the game.
• No guidance. If you have no idea what the Payday franchise is about, this game is definitely not the first step you want to take into it—at least not during the beta test. This version of the game lacked any sort of tutorial to explain mechanics, so I just had to figure stuff out by myself. Thankfully I have some prior experience with the franchise, so it wasn’t too difficult getting the hang of things. Still, hopefully the full launch version will offer proper guidance to new players.
• Limited content. While this beta served as a way for the developers to test all the technical stuff in the game, I was a little disappointed by the lack of content. I was only able to access one replayable mission with four difficulty modes. At least I won’t have to wait long to experience more, as Payday 3 is currently set to launch on Friday, September 21.
• You can’t unready after readying up. I think the most infuriating aspect of Payday 3 is that once I readied up, there was no turning back to change my loadout. Sometimes I accidentally clicked the ready button without thinking or changed my mind and wanted to switch out the assault rifle for a shotgun, but I was already locked in. I desperately hope that developer Starbreeze fixes this functionality before release. Either way, I’ll be checking out the full version and will share an updated review with my thoughts once I’ve spent some time with it!
💬 Are you going to play Payday 3 when it releases or will you probably skip it? Tell me down in the comments!
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