PAYDAY: The Heist

PAYDAY: The Heist is a first-person shooter developed by Overkill Software and published by Sony Online Entertainment. It was originally set to be released on October 4, 2011, but due to development issues, it was pushed back to October 18. The game was released in North America on that date via the PlayStation Network, and on November 2, 2011, in Europe. It was released worldwide for PC on October 21, 2011, via Steam. The game will be available as a free download during the CrimeFest 3 year anniversary event on October 18, 2014.

PAYDAY: The Heist features dynamic environments and enemy spawns. Teamwork is the key to this game, as players will have to work together and assume different roles. Players can play online, alongside up to three teammates; or offline, with or without AI-controlled teammates. While players go by their screen names online, the player characters do have names: Dallas, Hoxton, Wolf, and Chains.

The game's successor, PAYDAY 2, has been released on 13th August, 2013.

Heists

• First World Bank
• Heat Street
• Panic Room
• Green Bridge
• Diamond Heist
• Slaughterhouse
• Undercover (DLC)
• Counterfeit (DLC)
• No Mercy (PC only)

Gameplay

In each heist, players are required to complete objectives, usually in an effort to steal cash or valuables. The police will attempt to stop them, but players are expected to fight through them with firearms, except in the case of Diamond Heist, where players can slip past guards unnoticed and acquire diamonds to complete the mission.

Shout

The player character shouting at civilians

A shout is a multipurpose action that both players and AI teammates can perform. It is done by pressing F on the PC or R2 on the PS3, the same button used for interactions. It is used for:

• Calling out to a teammate
• Ordering civilians to stay down
• Prodding escort targets forward
• Attempting to intimidate non-special law enforcers so that they become hostages
• Pointing out special enemies
• Revealing the positions of patrolling security guards on stealth missions
• Interrogating certain NPCs (Taxman)

Intimidation

In order to intimidate a law enforcer, you must shout at him three times. The first shout will make him put his hands up and drop his weapon, the second will make him kneel, and the third will make him handcuff himself. A target will only surrender if he is alone and wounded (unless he is a security guard or, to some extent, a police officer, in which case, he will still surrender in the presence of allies, as long as he is injured enough). If the target is able to see other law enforcers, he will be less likely to surrender.

Gangsters and special units cannot be intimidated, and law enforcers will not surrender during an assault wave.

Strategies

• Order your potential hostage to surrender between shots, and give him time to respond rather than shooting him again immediately; otherwise, you may accidentally kill him.
• When you are about to attempt to intimidate a law enforcer, check the number of hostages at the bottom of the screen. If the hostage number goes up when you shout at him, it is guaranteed that he will surrender or move into a position where he can surrender (due to AI pathfinding).
• You will only be able to make a law enforcer surrender in between assaults, so the moments between assaults should be used as an opportunity to gain more hostages because of this. Note that in between assaults, FBIs will be more active, and they will try to release hostage if given a chance, although themselves are also good targets for intimidation.

Hostages

A cop who has been taken hostage

A Heavy SWAT hostage

A hostage is a civilian who has been restrained with cable ties or a law enforcer who has surrendered and handcuffed himself. They are a means of rescuing crew members from police custody. While it is possible to wait 210 seconds (3.5 minutes) for a crewmate to respawn on Normal difficulty or lower, a hostage exchange is significantly faster.

Once a crew member is taken into custody, Bain will automatically attempt to negotiate with the police. However, he cannot negotiate during a police assault, including the never-ending assault of a heist's "escape" phase. The amount of time required for negotiations is 5 seconds plus 10 for each civilian whom the crewmate has killed, and is indicated by the timer next to the crew member's name at the bottom-left corner of the HUD. If multiple crew members are in custody at once, then each of their timers will decrement independently.

Once negotiations are complete, the crew must trade a hostage. If a hostage already exists, then they will be highlighted in orange; if not, then the crew must either tie down a civilian or successfully intimidate a law enforcer. Once a hostage is highlighted, they will remain tradable even during an assault.

If a civilian hostage's cable ties are removed, they will attempt to flee; however, a player with more cable ties can recapture them. If a security guard or law enforcer is uncuffed, then he cannot be taken hostage again and will resume attacking the crew.

Gangsters and special units cannot be taken hostage.

VIP

A VIP is a character who must be escorted to a particular location.

All VIPs are highlighted in orange when it is time to escort them, much like other mission objectives. They will get down and refuse to move if a law enforcer is nearby and within their field of view. For this reason, it can be difficult escorting them during assault waves especially when the VIP is near an enemy spawn. For the player's benefit, all VIPs are invincible so they cannot be harmed by the police or the players, although their profile is still too small to act as good cover. All VIPs will also never attempt to escape even when no crew members are present, or when they are surrounded by police.

When not moving, the VIP will crouch, wasting several more seconds, as he must get up again before continuing to move.

Character	Heist
CFO	5 !Diamond Heist
Chinese prisoner	4 !Green Bridge
Matt	2 !Heat Street
Ralph	5 !Diamond Heist
Taxman	5 !Undercover

Security cameras

Two security cameras watching the vault in Diamond Heist

Security cameras are found throughout various heists, often hidden away in corners and relatively incognito locations. There are usually no more than two in a room, but there are exceptions for especially large rooms or secure areas. Destroying the cameras will "reduce police intel" on your team, which will make it harder for the police to group up and find your team, as they are forced to spread out and search for you. More often than not, the police will close in on your position much faster when you are in a working camera's view.

Bain will notify the team when half of the cameras in an area have been destroyed, and again when all of the cameras in an area have been destroyed. Destroying all the cameras in an area does not necessarily mean you have destroyed all the cameras in the heist.

Destroying cameras can make things significantly easier, as you will often encounter smaller groups of police, less frequently than you would otherwise. Most of the outdoor maps either do not have security cameras, or have them extremely well hidden, which makes things very difficult as police will always know exactly where you are. While this happens rarely, the police may sometimes shoot out a camera by sheer accident if you're close to a camera.

There are four heists that have security cameras:

• First World Bank
• Diamond Heist
• Slaughterhouse
• No Mercy

Assault waves

The symbol displayed at the bottom of the screen during assault waves

An assault wave is a period of time in which law enforcers spawn at a higher rate and are more aggressive. Bain will inform the players whenever an assault wave will start in 30, 20 or 10 seconds, enemies will also spawn more frequently so they can start charging right when the assault wave starts. Each wave's duration is several minutes long, and varies according to the difficulty level. The music will also change 30 seconds before an assault starts, and when the assault starts. Once the assault wave is finished, Bain will also inform the player, and the remaining law enforcers will withdraw back and regroup to prepare for the next attack.

Law enforcers will not surrender during an assault, and negotiations for a teammate's release will not occur during an assault wave; however, players can still make a hostage trade if it was triggered before the assault, and below Hard difficulty, the release timer will continue to run, which means the teammates in custody will usually be released before other players can trade them.

During the escape objective of each heist (aside from Heat Street), a never-ending assault wave will persist, which makes some heists significantly more difficult. In hard difficulty or above, this also means that all teammates who are in custody when this phase starts will be out of the game during the rest of the heist.

"I ain't afraid no more" is a trophy/challenge unlocked for leveling up on the assault tree during an assault.

Reception

The game have received mixed to positive reviews. Aggregating review websites of Gamerankings and Metacritic given the PC version 76.67% and 76/100 and the Playstation 3 version 70.61% and 70/100

Both Gamespot and IGN have given PAYDAY: The Heist the score of 7.5/10

Despite the the mixed reviews, the game have sold over 700,000 copies, making it a financial success. 

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Simon Viklund and released on October 18, 2012. It is available for purchase on Steam and on Bandcamp for US$5. In-game Soundtrack masks are included with the Steam purchase.

Track listing

1. Breaking News – 2:04
2. Gun Metal Grey (theme from First World Bank) – 4:18
3. Double Cross (theme from Heat Street) – 3:35
4. Home Invasion (theme from Counterfeit) – 3:36
5. Busted (heist failed) – 3:07
6. Stone Cold (theme from Green Bridge) – 5:00
7. Three Way Deal (theme from Undercover) – 4:12
8. Phoney Money (theme from Panic Room part 1) – 2:28
9. The Take (theme from Panic Room part 2) – 3:47
10. See You at the Safe House (heist successful) – 2:15
11. Code Silver (theme from No Mercy) – 4:49
12. Crime Wave (theme from Slaughterhouse) – 3:22
13. Breach of Security (theme from Diamond Heist) – 4:09
14. Criminal Intent (theme from the main menu) – 3:15
15. Preparations (theme from the load-out menu) – 2:51
16. I Will Give You My All – 2:56
17. Shawn Davis and band – Payday for You and Me – 2:49

External links

• Official website
• Official SOE website
• Overkill Software
• Official forums

Video

Payday The Heist SOUNDTRACK (official)