Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 300 sampled Steam reviews (276 positive / 24 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Difficulty & balance5% mention it
- Progression & loot5% mention it
- Multiplayer & servers5% mention it
- Story & writing5% mention it
- Music & audio5% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Multiplayer & servers17% mention it
- Story & writing13% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
87%
104 reviews
5-15h
95%
82 reviews
15-40h
92%
52 reviews
40-100h
95%
38 reviews
100h+
100%
24 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (Metacritic) | – | 70 | 6 |
| Creator reviews (1 tracked) | – | 80 | 0 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 93% | 88 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 67 | 3 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 90% | 84 | 26 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 73 reviews sampled · 69 total reviews in window · weighted 44.8 up / 4.8 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (30)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 70
“There just isn't enough here to occupy a solo player thanks to spotty AI partners. One of the more original ideas for a shooter just slightly stumbles to find its way, but if you meet the right criteria, you will undoubtedly have a blast. ”
read full review ↗ - 42
“More specific classes, skills, and specializations would have been nice. Matchmaking is sporadic at best, which stinks because the game is almost useless as a single player exercise. The ally AI won't touch any of the mission-specific objectives, which means you've got to babysit that drill by yourself.”
read full review ↗ - 77
“Payday: The Heist offers a great atmosphere, a well-done coop mode, a must-use feature due to a lacking AI, and fast paced action.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Payday: The Heist is an ambitious game that doesn't quite manage to nail down the little things. Of course, as any good career criminal will tell you, the devil is in the details, and Payday's failure here is the difference in making off with the cash and getting gunned down in the street. The pieces were all in place, but this just fails to deliver in any meaningful way.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Creepy masks and intense bank-robbing action make Payday: The Heist a thoroughly entertaining shooter.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“If you have a small group of friends with whom you usually buddy up to play shooters, PayDay is definitely worth looking into. Despite only having six playable missions, there's a ton of depth when you consider the titanic ranking system and numerous difficulty settings. On the flipside, if you're the sort who likes to ruck up with AI partners then caution is advised; going solo is considerably more time-consuming and almost impossible if playing on Overkill difficulty.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“A good idea only moderately well implemented, with the novelty of playing cops and robbers lasting only a relatively short time.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Working together to get the loot and the insanity of trying to get out alive are tense, enjoyable experiences. Issues like the clipping and generally "blah" presentation keep PayDay from being an amazing experience, but they don't stop it from being a good time.”
read full review ↗ - 55
“At the end of the day, Payday is a game that doesn't live up to the sum of its parts.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“If you do have friends who can't get enough of heists, then Payday is a fine choice and an arguable target for a lawsuit from Michael Mann.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“In spite of its few faults and a curious lack of a competitive multiplayer element, Payday: The Heist manages a fun and fresh cooperative experience that duly pays tribute to a genre rarely seen in games.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“PAYDAY: The Heist is a classic example of a diamond in the rough, a game that is just too enjoyable at its core for any of its issues to remain unforgivable.”
read full review ↗
ZTGD
Worth Playing
GameSpot
TheSixthAxis
Metro GameCentral
IGN
Game Chronicles
GameTrailers
Destructoid…and 18 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
No patch announcements found on Steam yet.