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Payday 2 Nintendo Switch Review

When I was growing up there is no way in the world that a game like Payday 2 would ever be released on a “family friendly” Nintendo console. Robbing banks? Killing police officers? No way that content would ever see the light of day. Not in Nintendo’s world of talking pink blobs and perpetually smiling green dinosaurs.

How times have changed. Their fans have matured and that they need to appeal to a wide-variety of gamers to be successful. Nintendo’s current library for the Switch is diverse and that is a very good thing for all gamers. Payday 2 is another entry in that more varied library.

In Payday 2 you are part of a criminal crew robbing banks, jewelry stores and the like for big payoffs. Some of the jobs are more stealth-based while others are the guns blazing kinda deal. Crime does pay as the more missions you successfully complete, the more money you make, the more cool equipment and weapons you can buy.

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I must confess, Hitman is one of my favourite series of all time, so The Payday franchise appealed to me on many levels. I have never played the original renditions though. Why? I am not a fan of multiplayer or co-op only games. I am more of a campaign guy and to be honest; relying on other people to succeed in a game is just not my thing. I would rather handle business myself which is why I was thrilled when a Payday 2 for the Switch included a healthy offline mode.

Because of all this, I come to the Nintendo Switch edition of Payday 2 without any previous experience, bias or expectations. Many might decry the addition of an offline mode in this installment. Someone like myself rather appreciated it and will continue playing Payday 2 because of it.

The online co-op mode functioned fine; however, its greatest failing is there is no voice communication. In a game that requires you to co-ordinate complicated heists, not being able to speak to your partners in crime not only takes something away from the experience but it also shackles the gameplay itself. For some, that can be a deal breaker. For me, the co-op worked fine. In the groups I was with people took on the roles they needed to, worked together quite well. Maybe I was just lucky.

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The A.I. functions great offline. They do their job without getting in your way and without horning in on all the fun. I was just as pleased to play with them as I was real players.

The Nintendo Switch edition comes with about 50 of the DLC packs that were available on the PC. You can play as John Wick and have access to all sorts of weapons and missions. It’s a great deal all on its own. Exclusive to the Nintendo Switch players is the new character Joy. She is a Japanese computer genius with a cool LED mask and her own gadgets, weapons.

Nintendo finally coming of age and including more mature titles like Doom, Resident Evil: Revelations, Skryrim, L.A. Noire and Payday 2 is a step in the right direction for the Switch. In this day and age, the Switch and actually any console or gaming device needs to be versatile and appeal to more than the Mario and Zelda crowd; those hard-core gamers who also want adult games with adult content. While it may not be the perfect experience for veteran Payday players, the port brought that unrestrained intensity and uncensored mayhem I was looking for.

Want to see for yourself? Grab your copy Here.

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