I think that both TouchGen (2.5/5) and AppSpy (4/5) are right. It just depends on what you're looking for. If you want a story-driven GTA-esque game with top-notch graphics, this one is not for you. If you want to go right into action for short bursts in GTA-style missions and you don't mind that graphics are simpler than those in GTA:CW, then this one is for you. I'm enjoying the game a lot. I was playing the rampage mode last night and I set my objective to $2m and no time limit. That's the mode which is most similar to GTA: answer phone calls and do missions for "The Boss" until you reach the objective. You can play this mode for short bursts too by setting the time limit to 5 minutes. The only thing which I prefer from Payback 1 is the behaviour of helicopters. In Payback 2 they behave as flying cars. When you get into one, you have a button to take off/land depending on if you're in the air or on the floor. There's no way to control the height. They move as cars, but in the air. In fact, if you turn very fast you can see particles coming out of the heli, as if it was skidding on the floor. In payback 1 the heli was more realistic. You could control the altitude at which you flew.
It's not intentional, it seems to be a bug that popped up with iOS 6 (on our game at least) - we'll fix it ASAP. Yeah, I think that was TouchGen's main complaint -they were expecting it to be more of a straight-up GTA clone, which it isn't (although all that stuff is still there, it's just not emphasised as much as in the first game). BTW, there's also a mini-review on Kotaku here: http://kotaku.com/payback-2/ Their behaviour hasn't changed between Payback 1 and 2. You can't control their height (except landed or airborne) because otherwise the extra controls would get a bit overcomplicated. James.
I'm enjoying this still, as everyone says dont think of it as an open world GTA game. Think of it as an all in one app for - A top down racing game with a lot of levels, a dual stick arena shoot em up and a few other types of mission. Enjoying the variety so far and also again, top marks to the dev for the small filesize
well, well... I actually like this GTA spin-off concept, seems it's like a casual GTA for short breaks. But I still don't know if I should buy it. I'm actually interested in just doing a short rampage through a city than a long story. Should I buy? Oh, and will there be a Lite version? Edit: And you can get into and out of cars as you want, don't you? Except races.
Had a good laugh at the review on Kotaku with the guy getting three stars and the message "You came first!" I wish I could get three stars for doing that
You can do a short rampage through a city perfectly, both as standalone missions or through the rampage mode, where you get missions through phone calls. Lite version: I don't know. And yes, you can get in and out of cars whenever you want except in races. I was also afraid of that when I watched the videos because neither Sanuku nor Der Kleine entered vehicles too much, but after playing I assure you that you can get in vehicles whenever you want. Should you buy? I don't know. Do you like what you see in Sanuku's / Der Kleine's videos? If you like it, then go ahead and buy it. What I'm sure about is that the game is giving me the "casual GTA" and quick missions that I was looking for. Oh, and the filesize is really appreciated. 43.5MB installed is just fantastic.
Hello James, I finally decided to buy Payback 2. First: I don't regret it, it is a good game. But it could be better, it has a huge potential. Similar to the guys at the TouchArcade forums, I think you could improve the following: 1) Camera movement This seems to be the most common problem people have here: the camera, which is always spinning around your character. The camera should always be BEHIND your character, and when you take a bend to the left with your car, THEN spin with you. 2) Camera angle Pleaaase make change the camera angle that we can look further, especially while driving. 3) Car Steering Another thing would be to make buttons to drive. On one side of the screen : <-- and --> and on the other side ones for accelerating and braking. Sooo... that would be it. All in all, it's a good game, but if this things would be fixed it would be a REALLY good one. I hope you'll fix these things in updates! Yours, Kablermo.
Grrrreat. I'm enjoying the game as it is, but I like Kablermo's suggestions. Specially the car steering one
James, another bug, this one more important than the "mute button" bug. When you use rc cars from the truck, the touch controls for steering don't work. You can only steer the rc car with tilt controls. Please fix it, thanks.
Thanks, good to know I'm not the only one And I think we also can say that the developers did a great job. They Payback 2 to me is a big turn in the right direction apart from Payback 1 ( which also wasn't too bad ). The devs are active in the forums, try to fix every bug and fulfil every wish to the game. AND they don't annoy me with these stupid IAP's. That's not usual. Good work.
I bought this yesterday. I agree with Kablermo's suggestion about improving the touch controls, but other than that this is exactly what I was expecting. It's perfect for short bursts of play, and the classic Payback gameplay is still there in Rampage mode. Love the weapons too Great job, James.
James, aside from fixing the controls and sound bugs, I have one request if possible: some kind of autoaiming. In the harder levels it's extremely difficult to hit the enemy with the guns. And of course, they hit you 100% of the times. I feel as Heidi against a bunch of Terminators...
Absolutely right. Same here. But I wouldn't do a completely automatic aiming scheme, but some kind of "lock-on to the faced target"-thing. Oh, and another one: One should be able to hit people properly, not just pushing them away. I'd love to see them flattened or flying over my car's roof And it should cause serious damage to them. I would also appreciate if there were more people on the streets ------> more interaction (and gunfodder )
Have you noticed the attention to detail in the cities? Even though graphics are simple, there are many things to explore and discover. For example in Destra City, there are many underground passageways, rooftops to walk on and even a church which you can enter. There are many things to be found in just 43.5MB! What I would appreciate is that the weather was truly random, not city dependant. Also, are there any plans of including more cities (for example the ones in Payback 1) in the game? The more the better
Game Impressions I played all the way through Payback and enjoyed it a lot. This slightly different take on things is going well so far. Once reactions on here had sorted themselves out to show there was indeed a story/mission mode, I bit ... and just progressed through the "crook" scenarios over lunch lol. Good times, definitely. Two attempts max to get 3 stars, and the gang war / brawl scenarios do look like they would be fun multiplayer. I thought the old control system was a bit easier, with buttons that were slightly bigger targets, but with the different schemes for walking/shooting, driving, racing, etc. it works well. Looking forward to exploring the big cities, and indeed, whatever further content comes our way! Filling the iPhone 5 display is a really nice touch.
By any chance, has anyone given this a play on the iPad 1 yet? I generally prefer to game on my iPad's big screen, but I'm wondering if it will perform well graphically. Gangstar: Rio did all right, most of the time Was definitely prettier on my 4S, though.
