![PAYDAY 2 [Online Game Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/518ekAdvF2L._SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg)
For my part I have been greatly enjoying Payday 2, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an objective-based co-op shooter with leveling and character customization. That said, the game was released very unfinished, and still contains some serious flaws.
==The Good==
Payday 2 is more heavily class-based and incorporates far more RPG mechanics than the previous game. While picking a class in the first Payday meant nothing more than selecting which column your next bonus would come from, each of the four classes in Payday 2 serves a distinct and important role in a heist. The Mastermind class has skills for crew bonuses, intimidating, and even controlling enemies and civilians. The Enforcer has many combat bonuses and is ideal for hauling loot. The Technician has better drills, C4 for blowing open doors and safes, and sentry guns. The Ghost is a master of stealth. When you have three other friends to play regularly with and each has focused on a different tree, the game reaches its full potential. Each player has their own role, leaving you feeling like a well-oiled machine.
Heists are of varying length and complexity, which is a nice change of pace from the uniformly long and complex heists of the first Payday. New realism factors, such as loot bags that the player must pack and carry to the escape vehicle, add more depth to the game, and I enjoy their addition. The developers have toned down the zombie-horde feeling of the assaults in the first Payday - you face fewer, smarter, tougher cops, and the game feels a bit less silly as a result.
Gunplay is excellent, and with a good amount of customizability with each weapon, not to mention that there are far more weapons than the first game. You can add sights, new grips, barrel extensions, suppressors, and other accessories to each weapon, affecting its stats and feel. I find the weapon customization engrossing, although weapon mods are given as random loot upon completing levels and can take forever to find.
There is a huge amount of DLC to extend the gameplay and keep things interesting after you tire of the core content. You don't have to worry too much about how the DLC will hit your wallet - frequent sales on Steam keep the DLC fairly affordable, not to mention that Overkill releases a good amount of free "community" DLC that everyone can access.
Overall it's a really fun game, but not without its problems.
==The Bad==
(Updated February 2014)
Payday 2 started out in an obviously unfinished state, with a slew of major patches in the first few months after release. Early adopters were basically buying into a beta. Since then, the game has improved dramatically and it's much easier to recommend it. Still, there are some downsides.
One problem that has stuck with the game since launch is that enemies do not have hitboxes on their arms and legs. This is stupid and inexcusable in a modern FPS. Crashes and network issues have been significantly reduced since launch, but still crop up from time to time.
Perhaps the biggest flaw in the game is the poorly balanced heist rewards. Each completed heist rewards players with cash and XP. In theory these rewards should be roughly proportional to the time and effort involved in completing the heist. In practice, it feels like Overkill spent some time carefully balancing the payouts on half of the heists, and then used dice to balance the rest. Some of the most difficult and time-consuming heists have atrocious payouts. Other moderately difficult heists have jaw-dropping payouts. Players who want the best possible time-to-payoff ratios are going to be doing the same couple of heists over and over and over, because the other ones aren't worth doing by comparison.
Lastly, Overkill has recently been adding a large number of playable characters to the game. Part of the original mood of Payday was the close bond between the 4 crew-members. Dallas, Hoxton, Chains, and Wolf *were* the Payday gang. Now there are 8 different selectable characters, and it dilutes the character dynamics. A trivial issue to most people, but one that bothers me personally.
