It seems fitting that my hour-long hands-on with Payday 3 matched my memories of playing Payday 2: chaos, screaming, and an endless hail of bullets from hordes of cops apparently coming out of the walls. The road to this self-made hell was paved with all the best intentions of stealth but, with a random team of press all taking their first baby steps on new maps, a massively armed response was rarely further away than harmlessly wondering, 'can I do this without setting off the ala… No. Sorry, that was me'. Chaos, screaming, bullets.
All the shooting was fun though, don't get me wrong. Those 'trapped in the bank by gunfire, trying to work out how to escape' moments feel instantly familiar if you played the previous games. It's just that with all the talk of expanded 'mask off' and stealth gameplay letting you case the joint, prepare, and perform more of the heist before the shooting, was something I really wanted to see more of.
