Payday: The Heist

Payday: The Heist (stylized as PAYDAY: The Heist) is a four-player cooperative FPS game released by Overkill Software in 2011, based around classic bank robbery movies such as Heat. Players take control of four career criminals, Dallas, Hoxton, Wolf, and Chains, as they commit various heists orchestrated by their contact, known as Bain. Players face a variety of law enforcement enemies and objectives, such as using portable saws to literally separate a room from a building before taking it out of there with them, or sneaking around the building of a gem company to break into its vault.
Of note is that there are three (four with the Wolf Pack DLC) different 'skill trees' for players to progress in. These can be toggled at any time in-mission and whichever tree is selected will award the player with a new item or upgrade on their next level up. These trees are: Assault, which is focused on heavier weaponry, Sharpshooter, which is focused on accurate weapons and extra endurance, Support, which is based around powerful supporting weapons and healing, and the DLC tree Technician, which is focused around gadgets like automated sentry guns.
Take note that all of the cosmetic additions to weapons earned with upgrades, such as the dual magazine for the MP5 or the bipod for the HK-21 are all entirely optional and can be enabled or disabled at will by the player in the Upgrades tab on the main menu.
The game received a sequel, Payday 2.
The following weapons appear in the video game Payday: The Heist
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=Handguns=
==Beretta 92FS==
The Beretta 92FS appears in-game as the "B9-S" and is fitted with a suppressor. It is the default sidearm, always being available. It is also one of two weapons to be suppressed in the game. Levelling up in the Assault tree will award extended magazine capacities, while the Sharpshooter tree will award a barrel extension and the Support tree will give accuracy increases. While having a higher magazine size than most of the other pistols, the B9-S has extremely low damage. The Shield special unit uses a fully-automatic variant (acting much like the in-game Glock), while normal versions are used by the FBI Hostage Rescue Team enemies. The third-person model is solid black while the first-person model has a chrome slide and frame, with black grips. The gun appears to operate in DAO.
==Colt M1911A1==
The Chromed or Nickeled Colt M1911A1 appears in-game as the "Crosskill .45", or "C45" for short.It should be noted that the gun also incorrectly operates in DAO. It is unlocked at level 13 in the Assault skill tree and possesses a good balance of power and magazine size. More levels in the Assault tree will give out a recoil compensator (similar to the above B9-S) in addition to magazine extensions and increased damage. The C45 is also commonly used by security guards as well as police officers. 
==Glock 18C==
The Glock 18C appears in-game as the "STRYK" (the name of the gun means "to beating" in Swedish) in the Wolf Pack DLC. It is notably always spun when drawn and is unlocked at level 2 of the Technician skill tree (DLC only). The STRYK pistol is the only fully-automatic handgun in the game with the largest magazine capacity and rate of fire. However, it suffers from low single-shot damage, high recoil, low accuracy, and even lower ammunition reserve for its magazine size. Thus, firing the weapon in short, accurate bursts is a must to get the most out of it. 
Further levels will increase the magazine capacity (which turns the STRYK's standard 17 round magazine into a high-capacity 33 round magazine.), as well as decreasing the recoil, boosting the accuracy, as well as the low damage. The B9-S used by the Shield special units acts much like this weapon.
Despite the STRYK being depicted as matte black in upgrade images and other media, it is actually olive-drab/desert colored, best observed in well-lit heists such as Counterfeit. This may suggest that the STRYK is a illegally-modified semi-auto pistol, as colored Glock frames are only marketed for civilian models, while the Glock 18s are available in black finish only (the colored frame could also be just a custom finish, however).
==Taurus Raging Bull==
The Taurus Raging Bull appears in-game as the "Bronco .44". It is unlocked at level 6 in the Support skill tree and is the most powerful sidearm, taking far less hits to kill enemies than the others. On the other hand, it fires more slowly and holds less ammunition than the other sidearms and has a longer reload time. Further levels in the Support tree will decrease the reload time, in addition to improving the accuracy (which will also give a full-length barrel) and increases to its already-high damage. It is worth noting that the final damage increase upgrade visually alters the bullets to be hollow-point rounds, which would actually be less effective against most of the enemies due to their body armor. Chains can be briefly seen holding the revolver during the game intro and on a menu background.
=Submachine Guns=
==Heckler and Koch MP5A2==
The Heckler and Koch MP5A2 appears in-game as the "Compact-5". It is unlocked at level 21 of the Support skill tree, and is the most accurate of the secondary weapons. It fires slower than the Mark 11 and holds less in its magazine, but is far more precise and is an effective weapon at medium and even long ranges with good aim and firing discipline, even being an excellent weapon to dispatch SWAT Snipers. Upgrades later in the Support tree will decrease the time it takes to zoom in and out of its sights, as well as lower its reload duration (which will change the magazine to a straight magazine, and later a double magazine) and recoil. Rather than magazine extensions, the Compact-5 gets upgrades to its already high accuracy, which eventually changes the handguard into a heat shield. It is also worth noting that two MP5s with their stocks removed are used as the weapon part of the deployable Sentry Gun (which is available with the Wolf Pack DLC), which appears to feed from an internal box, similar to the ammo boxes used in machine guns, instead of magazines. The MP5 is also used by the Cloaker special units. The MP5 is also seen in the menu background for the Support tree, being carried by Chains.
==Ingram MAC-10==
The Ingram MAC-10, fitted with a suppressor, appears in-game as the "Mark 11" (indicative of the MAC-11, but the in-game stats specifically state it is a .45 ACP weapon). It is unlocked at level 5 of the Assault tree and is a popular secondary weapon, given its rather large magazine capacity and its high rate of fire, though its power is somewhat low and its recoil can be hard to manage. It is the only weapon in the game aside from the B9-S that comes with a suppressor, making it useful for missions where stealth would be required (such as shooting out security cameras at the start of the No Mercy DLC heist). Further level-ups in the Assault tree will reduce the time it takes to zoom in and out from the sights, as well as increase the magazine size (which visibly changes) and lower the recoil (which will change the suppressor to a large flash hider on the final upgrade, oddly enough). The MAC-10 is also used (again, with the suppressor) by the enemy gangsters in the Panic Room heist. The menu background for the Assault tree also shows Dallas carrying this weapon.
Oddly enough, the upgrade tree description of the "Mark 11" claims it was illegally modified to support auto-fire, suggesting that this weapon is a post-op SWD/Cobray M10 dressed up to look the part instead.
=Rifles=
==Colt M4A1==
The Colt M4A1 appears in-game as the AMCAR-4. It is the default primary weapon, being fairly accurate and powerful with a high rate of fire. As with the B9-S, the three different skill trees (not counting the Wolf Pack DLC, as the Technician tree does not affect either starting weapon) will upgrade different aspects of the weapon. The Assault tree increase the AMCAR's power, while the Sharpshooter tree increases its accuracy (adding a different flash hider and later an EOTech sight), and the Support tree enhances its magazine capacity. The M4A1 is also used by a majority of the SWAT enemies, notably the Taser. Bizarrely, the shock from the taser appears to come from the barrel of their M4A1s. The SWAT Sniper enemies also use them semi-automatically and with red tracer rounds, though this can only be seen on Counterfeit where the snipers are much closer than in other maps. Many menu backgrounds also depict the crew holding this weapon.
==Izhmash AK-74==
The AK-74 appears in-game as simply the AK in the Wolf Pack DLC. It is unlocked at level 9 in the Technician skill tree and has more power and a higher rate of fire than the AMCAR-4, but at the same time, has a longer reload time and much higher recoil. Upgrades later in the tree will decrease the recoil, and increase the accuracy (which results in adding a reflex sight, which seems to be a lower Weaver rail-mounted BSA SP-4), magazine size, and power. One of the later recoil dampener upgrades will change the rifle's frame by replacing the wooden handguard with a synthetic black RIS handguard and the wooden fixed stock replaced with a metal folding stock typically found on skladnoy AK variants.
Noteworthy is that the game seems somewhat confused on exactly what variation of the AK is present. Its in-game description notes that it uses the standard 7.62x39mm rounds of the original AK and AKM, and its higher in-game power (almost 50% more damaging per-shot than the 5.56mm M4) is in line with this. Physically, however, it most closely resembles an AK-74, as noted by its distinctive muzzle brake (although there are aftermarket muzzle brakes in that style for 7.62mm AKs, for what it's worth) and the shape of its gas block, though incorrectly fitted with the 5.56x45mm magazines of the Norinco Type 84S.
==Springfield Armory M1A SOCOM 16==
The Springfield Armory M1A SOCOM 16 appears in-game as the M308. It is unlocked at level 17 in the Sharpshooter skill tree and features a dark digital camouflage finish in first-person (though oddly, the third-person is black instead). Upgrades later in the tree will decrease the high recoil and increase the magazine capacity and damage, in addition to the accuracy (which will add a reflex sight later on). The menu background for the Sharpshooter tree also shows Hoxton wielding this rifle.
=Shotguns=
==Benelli M1 Entry==
A variant of the Benelli M1 Entry appears in-game as the Reinbeck 880. It is unlocked at level 13 in the Support skill tree and is a popular primary weapon due to its high damage, and because it hits from much further away than most shotguns in video games can. When reloading from empty, the gun will occasionally be pumped after the last shell is loaded, but sometimes instead after the first shell. The high power makes it easy to stun enemies that aren't killed outright. Upgrades will increase the magazine capacity and power, as well as lower the recoil (which comes with a heat shield on the barrel at a late level). Some enemies use this as well, mostly the higher-level SWAT team. It is also used by the Bulldozer special unit, having extreme power in his hands and is usually able to incapacitate a player in a single blast if their armor was already low or gone. Oddly enough, the third-person model of the Reinbeck is that of a Mossberg 500 series shotgun with a heat shield and an M4-style stock and pistol grip.
==Serbu Super Shorty==
The Serbu Super Shorty appears in-game as the Locomotive 12G. It is unlocked at level 7 in the Sharpshooter skill tree and is infamous among the community for its low magazine capacity, accuracy, and power. Unusually, ammo pickups from enemies will sometimes not function for this weapon. The Locomotive's main advantages are its somewhat faster rate of fire and its slightly faster reload speed than the Reinbeck. Later levels in the Sharpshooter tree will decrease the recoil and reload time, in addition to enhancing its small magazine (very slightly) and increasing its fire rate, which eventually adds a barrel extension and a foregrip.
=Machine Guns=
==Heckler & Koch HK21==
The Heckler & Koch HK21 appears in-game as the Brenner 21. It has been modified with a magazine feed adapter (with a very fictionalized appearance), shortened barrel and foreend, and a custom stock.
It is unlocked at level 22 of the Assault tree and is a popular weapon due to its very high power and its large magazines. Upgrades are given at later levels that boost its already-high damage and magazine size, and decrease its recoil (which will add an unusable bipod and a reflex sight). The last magazine upgrade will change the magazine to a detachable box (with a red-tinted ammo window) instead of the normal drum. The Brenner 21's main flaws are its very low accuracy, its slow reload times, and its somewhat low rate of fire.
=Launchers=
==M79 Grenade Launcher==
The M79 Grenade Launcher appears in-game as the GL40 in the Wolf Pack DLC. It is unlocked at level 21 of the Technician skill tree. It can decimate a fairly large group of enemies in a single hit, and is powerful, though its slow reload time, low reserve ammunition capacity, and the fact that it can cause self-damage (and potentially hit civilians or hostages) require its users to be careful and conservative. An upgrade later in the tree will increase the radius of the explosions (and add a range finder), while others will increase the damage (and reskin the grenades to "High Explosive" rounds) and the number of extra grenades that can be carried. In particular, the GL40 is an effective weapon on the Shield special units, as firing one grenade behind their bulletproof shield will usually kill them instantly (and any enemies next to them).
=Grenades=
==M18 smoke grenade==
The M18 smoke grenade is a tactical grenade exclusive to the police. It is usually thrown whenever the SWAT team goes in during a police assault. It obscures player vision, but the police seem to be totally unaffected by it and are capable of accurately shooting you down through the smoke cloud. Supposedly because of thermal sights according to the heisters, despite the fact that apart from the Cloaker, no officer is seen wearing or using any kind of electronic goggles or scopes.
=See Also=
Category:Video Game
Category:First-Person Shooter
Category:Crime
Category:Swedish Produced/Filmed