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Payday 2's novel heist-based gameplay is still worth checking out for those interested in a refreshing cooperative experience. For veteran criminal masterminds, however, the return of easily fixable problems and lack of account migration make it hard to justify the jump from previous versions.
Though it doesn’t exactly put the added power of the PS4 and Xbox One to full use, Payday 2: Crimewave Edition is the best-looking console version of Payday 2 you can get, and the best value on any platform for obtaining its wealth of downloadable content. It’s mildly disappointing to see the framerate capped, and that bots are still in the same state after all this time, but Payday 2’s deep mechanics and purity of vision still make it one of the best, yet most overlooked multiplayer games you can play today.
Payday 2: Crimewave Edition isn’t broken to the point of being unplayable, but it has just enough issues to make it annoying. While the dynamic, exciting gameplay that Payday fans have come to expect is certainly here, this port would have wound up better with a bit more polish and testing.
Look past the unimpressive graphics, shoddy team AI and connection issues, and Payday 2 is as exciting a co-op shooter as it was last year. In fact, bar a 1080p resolution and a smoother frame-rate, it’s the same co-op shooter that it was last year, though there’s enough additional content and bundled former DLC to make it a tempting package.
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