Payday 2 Difficulty Inspired by Dark Souls

When you first look at Payday 2, the first-person crime title that asks up to four players to steal as many valuables as possible in a given scenario, From Software’s Dark Souls might not come to mind. One’s a shooter set right around modern times, while the other is an action title in an entirely different world that our own. However, developer Overkill software has plenty of specific influences when developing Payday 2, and when it comes to the game’s high level of difficulty, Dark Souls was what the team was looking to emulate.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Gameranx about the upcoming multiplayer title, sound designer and music composer on Overkill and Starbreeze, Simon Viklund, discussed which games he and the rest of the team kept in mind when developing this highly anticipated sequel.

“The influences come from all over the place. The CrimeNet mission delivery system is inspired by many strategy PC games from the ‘90s, such as UFO – Enemy Unknown,” Viklund said. “The skill system is inspired by Diablo 2. The difficulty of the game is inspired by Dark Souls…”

Comparing anything to the much beloved Dark Souls is a bit tricky, but when you crank the difficulty level up in Payday 2, you can at least see where Viklund’s coming from. If you’re currently having trouble making it out of specific situations in one piece within the beta, the developers have just released a new video that outlines the skills of each particular class in the game.