So I managed to get a hold of Payday 2 today, after countless visits to Game, HMV and any other retailer I could think of, all thanks to the wonders of Xbox Live Marketplace. So my very first impression of Payday 2 was stressful, to say the least. After purchasing Payday 2 online on Xbox.com, I eagerly awaited arriving home from work to hold up some banks and do some real damage.

After being thrown into my first game with friends without any warning, my initial thoughts of strolling through the bank and dominating were soon tarnished as I was recieving sniper bullets to the face and assault rifle fire to the ass. On arrival to the bank we would be holding up, I felt confident, I was ready to take anyone, but as I approached the front door I was ordered to stop by my experienced friend. This instantly threw me off and I didn’t know what to think, can’t I just walk into the bank like a civilian? No. Is there more theory to this than I first imagined? Yes.

I was allowed to waltz into the bank as I had no armor and was level 1, instructions were being screamed into my ear from my buddy and I was beginning to feel the pressure. “Try and sneak past that security guard without being seen, take the keycard from the office and get to the vault. But don’t get caught!”, Oh no. As soon as I walked past the guard a red exclamation mark came up on my screen and I knew I was in trouble, there was enough time for me to hear “aw shit” in my headset before the bullets were flying. Within seconds, all out carnage had ensued, my 3 team members had came storming in, security guards were dead, people were being tied up on the floor and phrases like “Police assault” were darting across my screen. What do I do? Where do I go?!

This game is no walk in the park and after being downed my fair share of times, I was well aware of this, Payday 2 is not a shoot ’em up style game, it takes precision, theory and practice to really make a heist work. You could go as far to say it is a crime simulator. You can’t take a full magazine of ammo into the chest then walk it off like other shooters, you can’t just pick up ammo off the floor, like other shooters and you most certainly can’t go in, guns blazing, like other shooters, because the fact of the matter is, Payday 2 is not like any other shooter!

I still need to get hands on with the game so I’m not going to tell you to go out and spend your hard earned cash on it just yet, but I definitely look forward to spending my weekend honing my skills and getting a full review written soon. The changes that 505 Games have made to the series are brilliant and you can spot a little difference in every mission. Watch this space for a full review soon!

Rab