PAYDAY 2
PAYDAY 2 is a Xbox 360 shooter game released in 2013 developed by Overkill Software. It centers on aiming, shooting, and weapon use, positioning and evasion, and weapon and firepower management, with controls and information arranged around the Xbox 360 wired or wireless controller's twin sticks, analog triggers, directional pad, and face buttons.
- AI score · out of 10
- 7.2 / 10
About this game
PAYDAY 2 is a Xbox 360 shooter game centered on aiming, shooting, and weapon use, positioning and evasion, and weapon and firepower management. Missions pace progress through enemy waves, routes, objectives, and weapon opportunities, with progress divided into stages, tasks, matches, or growth milestones that make immediate goals understandable. Its value depends on whether these rules continue to create judgment and room for mastery rather than on length, sales, or series recognition. Short campaigns are judged by repeat-challenge value, while longer ones are judged by variety, pacing, and recovery after failure. Aiming feedback, projectiles, hits, and danger zones need to remain readable, while HD video, DVD streaming, surround audio, HDD installs, and television-distance interfaces need to keep action, state, and text readable. The genre-specific limitation is that camera turning, aiming methods, dense encounters, and peripheral support can increase control pressure. Platform conditions also include disc and HDD installation, storage devices, controller batteries, video connections, resolution and frame rate, Kinect space and calibration, and retired online services affect the current release. This description covers only this platform release and does not import features or conveniences from remasters, emulators, or other console editions.
Collected in series
PAYDAY is a cooperative first-person shooter series built around heists and dangerous getaways. Work through objectives, move the loot and cover your crew as police pressure builds. Later games give more room to tailor equipment and attempt jobs quietly before alarms turn the plan into a firefight.
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Xbox 360
AI review
AI reviews are subjective assessments, not player ratings. See each review for its evidence and limitations.Published date:
Purposeful cooperative heists with strong risk tension, weakened by solo support and readability.
The original Xbox 360 Payday 2 is most convincing when a crew scouts an entry, controls hostages, waits for equipment and decides when to move the loot. Holding out for another bag risks being overwhelmed, so teamwork has tangible consequences. Changing security positions, skill paths and support tools keep familiar jobs adaptable, although random attachment rewards and repeated locations reduce control over progression. Techno music and differentiated weapon feedback reinforce urgency. Repeated character models, exaggerated ragdolls and similar civilian and police colors make the visual experience less consistent and crowded encounters harder to read. Familiar shooting and interaction inputs are workable, but AI companions cannot carry out essential loot and crowd-management tasks. It suits communicating human groups more than solitary players. Current access requires owned disc or licensed installed software; online cooperation additionally depends on working services, without a promise about 2026 lobby activity.
Strengths
- Roles and loot-risk decisions meaningfully affect success.
- Security variations and skills enable different approaches.
Weaknesses
- AI cannot replace essential human tasks.
- Random attachments and repeated locations constrain progression.
- Visual repetition and similar clothing hinder readability.
Who it is for: Cooperative-shooter players with communicating partners.
Play notes: Arrange human teammates and check current Xbox 360 online access. Do not expect the later PC content pipeline; this is not a 2026 patch or lobby-population test.
View scoring basis
| Dimension | Review state | Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimension Changing security and skills sustain repeated jobs, but reused locations and random attachment access restrict pacing and build control. | Reviewed | 7.0 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Scouting, hostage control and loot movement create purposeful cooperation. Limited companion tasks make solo play a materially weaker form of the same design. | Reviewed | 7.7 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Techno and differentiated weapon feedback support urgency, but repetitive characters and exaggerated ragdolls make the visual tone uneven. | Reviewed | 7.1 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Familiar shooting and interaction inputs make tasks workable. Confusable civilian and police colors hinder crowded-scene decisions; historical patch comparisons do not establish today's fixes. | Reviewed | 6.5 / 10 | Not provided |
Review sources
Not provided
Core information
- Developer
- Overkill Software
- Publisher
- 505 GamesStarbreeze Studios
- Release date
- 2013
- Platforms
- Xbox 360
- Content kind
- Game
- Release state
- Released
- Region
- Worldwide
- Official website
- Not provided
- Offline minimum players
- Not provided
- Offline maximum players
- Not provided
- Online minimum players
- Not provided
- Online maximum players
- Not provided
- Categories
- Shooter · Primary genreRole-Playing
- Tags
- ReplayableSolo-friendlyDodge3D GraphicsPlayer versus EnvironmentLinear LevelsThird PersonFast-pacedMain Story Under 10 HoursPlayer versus PlayerShootingLocal Co-op
- Supported game languages
- Not provided
- Requires base game
- Not provided
- Standalone
- Not provided
- Age ratings
- Not provided
- Play modes
- Single playerCo-opMultiplayer
- Perspectives
- First person
Release editions
- Xbox 360Worldwide2013
Game gallery
Sources
Not provided