When Payday 3 released, it was players who felt robbed. The co-op heist game by
Starbreeze Studios flopped hard, squandering much of the goodwill that its excellent predecessor had earned. From performance issues and long queue times to underbaked mechanics and predatory pricing, most things that could go wrong with Payday 2 did. Well, if Ocean's 11 taught me anything, it's that you can't keep a ragtag team of thieves down for long. The developer behind Payday 2 and GTFO (10 Chambers) is back with Den of Wolves, and its Game Awards appearance has me counting the days until we go loud.
Ocean's 11 is actually the wrong comparison. Payday 2 was Heat plus a bit of The Town, an aggressive tale of expert robbers taking the world's financial instutitions by storm. You could rock silencers for stealth or go louder than Val Kilmer's Model 733 carving up the streets of LA. It was Robin Hood but with MAC-10's and iffier ethics. Based on its Game Awards trailer, I'd say Den of Wolves is cut from the same Kevlar. Despite obvious differences like the new sci-fi setting, Wolves has that old Overkill feel. Not convinced? Check the soundtrack.
10 Chambers cut the Den of Wolves trailer to composer Simon Viklund's "Takeover." It's a thundering EDM beat that's the perfect compliment to the game's "hands where I can see them" energy. Of course, even when a trailer features actual gameplay, it's tough to judge the quality of what's to come. That said, 10 Chambers has worked a rare magic, winning me over despite the rocky road behind us. While Perfect Heist 2, GTA 5, and other thievery games have done their best, there's one wolf I'm expecting to lead the pack whenever Den of Wolves finally gets a release date.