Payday 2
Overkill Software · Shooter, RPG, Action
Overview
PAYDAY 2 is an action-packed, four-player co-op shooter that once again lets gamers don the masks of the original PAYDAY crew - Dallas, Hoxton, Wolf and Chains - as they descend on Washington DC for an epic crime spree.
Read moreShow less
The CRIMENET network offers a huge range of dynamic contracts, and players are free to choose anything from small-time convenience store hits or kidnappings, to big league cyber-crime or emptying out major bank vaults for that epic PAYDAY. While in DC, why not participate in the local community, and run a few political errands?
Up to four friends co-operate on the hits, and as the crew progresses the jobs become bigger, better and more rewarding. Along with earning more money and becoming a legendary criminal comes a character customization and crafting system that lets crews build and customize their own guns and gear.
Key Features
- Rob Banks, Get Paid – Players must choose their crew carefully, because when the job goes down they will need the right mix of skills on their side.
- CRIMENET – The dynamic contract database lets gamers pick and choose from available jobs by connecting with local contacts such as Vlad the Ukrainian, shady politician "The Elephant", and South American drug trafficker Hector, all with their own agenda and best interests in mind.
- PAYDAY Gunplay and Mechanics on a New Level – Firing weapons and zip tying civilians never felt so good.
- Dynamic Scenarios – No heist ever plays out the same way twice. Every single scenario has random geometry or even rare events.
- Choose Your Skills – As players progress they can invest in any of five special Skill Trees: Mastermind, Enforcer, Ghost, Technician and Fugitive. Each features a deep customization tree of associated skills and equipment to master, and they can be mixed and matched to create the ultimate heister.
- More Masks than Ever – PAYDAY 2 features a completely new mask system, giving players the ability to craft their own unique mask with a pattern and color of their choice, resulting in millions of different combinations.
- Weapons and Modifications – A brand new arsenal for the serious heister, covering everything from sniper and assault rifles to compact PDWs and SMGs. Once you've settled for a favorite, you can modify it with optics, suppressors, fore grips, reticles, barrels, frames, stocks and more, all of which will affect the performance of your weapon. There are also purely aesthetic enhancements - why not go for the drug lord look with polished walnut grips for your nine?
- Play It Your Way – Each job allows for multiple approaches, such as slow and stealthy ambushes or running in guns blazing. Hit the target any way you want, each approach will provide a different experience.
- A Long History of Additional Content – More than 70 updates since release, including new heists, characters, weapons and other gameplay features like driving cars and forklifts.
From the game's Steam store page.
THE GAMEQ VERDICT9,998 reviews analyzed
What players are actually saying
1. Summary
PAYDAY 2 is a 2013 co-op heist shooter, and plenty of its reviewers still call it one of the best co-op games around. They praise robbing banks, casinos and drug labs with three friends, choosing between a clean stealth run and a loud shootout, and a skill and perk deck system deep enough to keep people building for hundreds or thousands of hours. The soundtrack gets love of its own, the base game sells for about a dollar during sales, and many reviewers say outright that it beats its sequel. Reviews from late 2025 onward also describe patches that rebalanced enemies, shrank the install and added new content, often thanking the new team behind them by name.
Money and stability draw most of the complaints. DLC comes up in more reviews than any other complaint: dozens of packs, many core weapons sold separately, a monthly DLC subscription that reviewers date to September 2025, and licensed packs that can no longer be bought at all. Crashes, desync and failed lobby joins appear in reviews from every period, and the 64-bit engine update, which reviewers date to August 2026, brought a new round of stutter, display bugs and broken mods before later patches fixed some of it. Bots are weak, so solo play is a grind, and new players say the game explains very little. Reviews that raise these problems often end with the same advice for newcomers: buy it on sale, bring friends and be careful with the DLC.
2. What keeps coming up
What players praise
Co-op heisting with friendsHigh
Friends come up more than anything else when reviewers explain why they recommend the game. They describe planning a job together, splitting roles, yelling about the drill and laughing when the stealth plan collapses in the first ten seconds. Short reviews boil it down to "fun with friends", and longer ones make the same point in detail: the game "thrives on communication and cooperation", as one put it. Some returning players picked it up again on a cheap sale with a group of friends, often after playing it years earlier on Xbox 360 or PS3. Without a crew, as the complaints below show, the experience drops sharply.
Big heist variety, played stealthy or loudHigh
Players praise the sheer number of jobs, from jewelry store smash-and-grabs to multi-day bank jobs, the White House and the meth lab, with randomized layouts that keep repeat runs from feeling identical. Ghosting through a map or going loud is a choice reviewers bring up again and again, and a clean stealth run is described as the high point of the game. A few long-time players want smaller, more grounded heists again, and some say newer maps are one-day jobs that feel rushed; those complaints are about the newer maps rather than the size of the list.
Deep builds and customizationHigh
Skill trees, perk decks, a huge weapon list with attachments, and the mask, outfit and glove editors keep veteran players experimenting. One player summed it up: "I mostly played solo but still got 600 hours out of it. Great progression and customization." Reviewers enjoy both the min-max builds and the silly ones (the giant spoon melee weapon is a running joke). The complaint attached to this praise is power creep: "Most of the weapons you can buy feel pointless because there are others that are strictly better in every way." The same reviewer says some perk decks are overshadowed in the same way.
Still the heist game to beatMedium
Many reviews, a lot of them a single line, call PAYDAY 2 better than PAYDAY 3. Longer reviews say no other game does co-op crime as well, and several players arrived after bouncing off the sequel.
Cheap to start and runs on almost anythingMedium
Some recent reviews mention buying the base game for around a dollar, 85p or under ₹50 during sales and getting dozens or hundreds of hours from it. Players also note it runs on old laptops and low-end PCs. A few reviews add that you can join DLC heists hosted by a friend who owns them without buying the pack yourself.
Recent fixes and quality-of-life updatesMedium
From late 2025 onward, a few reviewers say they switched old negative reviews to positive because of the new patches. Players say the updates fixed enemy spawn rates, removed medic units that could heal each other endlessly, added borderless windowed mode and, by reviewers' accounts, brought a new heist update called Under the Hammer; one review adds that Wolf's voice actor came back to record lines. "Game balance is finally moving in the right direction" is how one updated review puts it. Another gives the engine overhaul a thumbs up "just for optimising the game size from 88 GB to 35 GB." The 64-bit engine update itself split players (see below).
The soundtrackMedium
The music, which reviewers credit to Simon Viklund, and especially the assault tracks, is praised in reviews of every length. One player wrote: "Honestly I just play for the music. Not even a joke." Even a long negative review from 2015 says the soundtrack "still deserves praise".
Where players are split
Difficulty and the special enemiesMedium
Cloakers, snipers, Bulldozers, Shields and Tasers produce many of the game's best stories and many of its complaints. Plenty of players enjoy the fear of a cloaker kick and the climb through the difficulty levels; others call the top tiers bullet-sponge spam, with enemies spawning in front of them and snipers lining every roof. A few reviews single out the jump from Death Wish to Death Sentence, and a few veterans say the lower and middle difficulties barely differ or that strong builds make the game too easy. Players who liked the balance patches from late 2025 say spawn rates are fairer, while players who enjoyed the old challenge say they miss it.
StealthMedium
Many players have their favorite moments in stealth, and plenty of frustration collects there too. Complaints include guards spotting players or hostages through walls, desync that makes NPCs act differently for host and clients, and random public lobbies where one player ruins the run.
The 64-bit engine updateMedium
Reviewers call the engine overhaul Diesel 3.0 and say it was released after an open beta and rolled out on August 13, 2026. It split them. Supporters praise the smaller install, DirectX 11, better frame rates and borderless mode. Detractors report stutter after long sessions, broken borderless and resolution settings, new crashes, and the loss of the legacy branch: "Using diesel 3.0 you'll play the game for about 20 minutes and then it will stutter like crazy, unplayable." Linux players lost their native version: "Linux port removed as of August 13th 2026." Mod users complained that the update broke most of their mods. Some players later reported that a follow-up update fixed their performance, but complaints about stutter and display settings continued into September 2026.
ModsMedium
A lot of veterans play with mods: overhauls such as Restoration Mod and Eclipse, quality-of-life fixes, VR improvements and joke reskins all get recommended. Several reviewers say the game needs mods to be stable or balanced, and players who depended on mods were among the angriest about the engine update: "The new engine update basically just killed most of the mods made, for what? a couple more frames?"
Playing with strangersMedium
Some reviewers describe a welcoming public crowd that helps low-level players learn heists. Others report being kicked for low level, high level, a different play style, or skins that the game wrongly flags, and hosts who quit mid-heist and wipe everyone's progress. Several reviewers advise finding a regular crew.
Grind and achievementsLow
Leveling, infamy and the very long achievement list keep some players hooked for years. Achievement hunters, though, say some achievements require DLC, some depend on packs that are no longer sold, and each new update adds more. Others find the grind repetitive once the levels are done.
VR modeLow
A smaller group plays in VR and praises the amount of content and the ability to join non-VR friends. Others call the controls poor, with complaints about missing joystick turning and motion sickness.
What frustrates players
Paid DLC everywhereHigh
DLC comes up in more reviews than any other complaint, from new players and long-time fans alike. Reviewers count dozens of packs, and some put the total at over $100 or even over $200. What angers them most is gear sitting behind paywalls: "Snipers are DLC, like all of them." Players list many weapons, characters and some perk decks as locked, and one wrote "im okay with dlc weapon but when u need dlc to upgrade your weapon is beyond greedy". New players describe the store page as overwhelming and hard to sort out. The usual advice is to buy a bundle on sale, skip most packs, or try the subscription. A minority openly recommend DLC unlockers instead.
Crashes, bugs and an aging engineHigh
Crashes come up in reviews from every period. Players report crashes mid-heist, on loading screens, and repeatedly on specific maps; a few name the White House heist, sometimes as the thing blocking the game's secret ending. Soft-locked objectives, hostages that stop responding and desynced enemies are other recurring bugs. Some long-time players treat the jank as part of the charm ("It's unbalanced, poorly optimized, and if I open the game it's likely to crash automatically." opens one positive review), while others are less forgiving. Before the August 2026 update, the 80 to 88 GB install size came up as a side complaint.
Joining friends and lobby desyncMedium
Players describe failed joins, mismatched game versions, lobbies where the host cannot start after everyone readies up, and teammates who can't see each other. "Every 3 matches or so, I have to restart the entire game because I cannot join an active game or the host simply cannot start the match when everyone is readied up." Players share the -steamMM launch option as a workaround, and some blame the move to Epic Online Services for crossplay. These reports run through the whole year and grew after the August 2026 update.
The DLC subscription and price changesMedium
Reviewers date the monthly DLC subscription to September 2025 and quote prices from $5 a month up, and reviews written that month were the most negative stretch in the slice (see below). Players object to a subscription on a twelve-year-old game and to a bundle price increase at the same time, which reviewers say was later rolled back. A smaller group sees the subscription as a cheap way to try all the DLC. Mentions of the subscription dropped off after early 2026.
Weak bots and a thin solo experienceMedium
Players who can't always find a crew say the AI teammates make solo play tedious. "Also the AI teammates suck and make solo play very tedious." Reviewers say bots won't do objectives, dodge or drop bags and can't be relied on to revive. A few negative reviews come from players who found the game boring alone, and some reviewers advise against buying it for solo play. A minority play solo happily.
Repetitive loops: drills, timers and bagsMedium
The broken drill is a running joke (one review describes the game as a story about four men who can't buy a drill that doesn't keep breaking down), and behind the joke is a real complaint. Players describe long stretches of waiting on timers, restarting jammed drills and carrying bags while waves respawn. Some say the loop gets boring after a few days, and some of them add that it stays fun with friends.
Steep learning curve and clunky menusMedium
New players say the game teaches very little. "The game is also really bad at explaining things to beginners." Reviews describe being dropped into heists with no idea what to do, menus and inventory screens that feel outdated, and a skill system that needs wikis or YouTube to understand. A few reviewers with only an hour or two in the game call it confusing or clunky.
Delisted licensed DLCLow
Packs tied to licensed characters (Scarface, John Wick, Hardcore Henry, Point Break) can no longer be bought. Players say this locks away characters, weapons and achievements, and in some cases content needed for The Secret ending, so new players can never complete the game legitimately. Some use this to justify DLC unlockers.
Accounts, cheaters and lost savesLow
A handful of reviews describe extra hoops: a weapon that only unlocks after joining the official Steam group or making a Starbreeze account, progress that didn't follow a Starbreeze account to a new PC, and saves lost when switching to Linux. Cheaters in public lobbies and an automatic cheater label that some players say hits innocent players also come up now and then.
Dated graphicsLow
Some players, especially newcomers, find the visuals old and the engine clunky. Others who mention the graphics call them fine for the game's age.
3. The player conversation
The tone is warm, loud and full of in-jokes. A large part of the slice is one-line reviews ("peak", "better than Payday 3", "I NEED A MEDIC BAG"), and memes about cloakers, the drill and the golden spoon are common. Those carry affection but little detail. The detailed reviews come mostly from long-time players, and some are edit histories: a negative review written after a monetization decision or a broken patch, then flipped to positive after later patches, sometimes flipped again. Newcomers who bought the game cheaply on sale tend to talk about fun with friends, confusion in the first hours, and surprise at the size of the DLC store. Veterans talk about balance, mods, the engine, and the history of the game's monetization.
Reviews written in September 2025, when reviewers say the subscription arrived, were the most negative stretch (73% positive). From November 2025 through March 2026, while sales brought in a wave of new reviews and the new patches rolled out, reviews held at 90% to 92% positive. A DLC repricing in April 2026 coincided with a small dip (88%), and after the August 2026 engine update, with the lobby and stutter problems that followed, August and September were down to 88% again.
4. What the developers could do
- Fix lobby joining and desync first. Players describe failed joins, lobbies that can't start and desynced teammates, and some say they can't get into a game with friends at all without workarounds.
- Keep stabilizing the 64-bit engine. Players credit the update with a smaller install and better frames, but stutter after long sessions, broken borderless and resolution settings, and crashes on maps like the White House kept appearing in reviews written after the rollout.
- Move core gear out of the paywall. DLC is the complaint reviewers raise most, especially that snipers, many weapons and perk decks are DLC-only, so folding basic gear into the base game, or consolidating the store into a few clear bundles, would answer it directly.
- Restore or replace delisted content. Players say the vanished licensed packs lock away achievements and parts of The Secret, which no purchase can fix.
- Make the bots useful. Solo players say the AI teammates can't do objectives or carry bags reliably, which makes the game hard to recommend to anyone without a crew.
- Add real onboarding. New players describe being thrown into heists with no explanation and menus that take hours to learn, and a few short-playtime reviews call the game confusing.
- Give mods a supported path on the new engine. Many veterans play with mods, and the update that broke most of them drew some of the angriest reviews from those players.
