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Payday 2 on PS4 & PS5: Is the Crimewave Edition Still Worth It?

Last Updated: November 6, 2025

The Payday gang wearing masks planning their next heist in Payday 2 Crimewave Edition.

Even with its successor on the scene, Starbreeze Studios' iconic co-op shooter, Payday 2, remains a hot topic, frequently appearing in deep discount sales on the PlayStation Store. For a game that has defined a generation of cooperative action, a crucial question arises for both curious newcomers and returning veterans: Is the Payday 2: Crimewave Edition still a score worth taking on PlayStation 4 and PS5 today?

The answer is a complex but resounding "yes," provided you know exactly what you're getting into. While the price is often too good to pass up, understanding the state of this specific console version is key to managing expectations and getting the most out of this legendary heist experience.

The Ultimate Heist Simulator: A Co-op Classic

At its core, Payday 2 remains a masterclass in cooperative game design. It’s more than just a shooter; it's a "heist simulator" that expertly blends frantic first-person action with deep RPG progression and tactical planning. You and up to three crewmates don the iconic masks of career criminals, tasked with executing a staggering array of heists. Missions range from classic bank vaults and jewelry store smash-and-grabs to complex, multi-day operations involving drug trafficking, art theft, and political espionage.

The gameplay loop is timelessly addictive. A heist begins with casing the joint, spotting cameras, and planning an approach. It can then unfold in two ways: with tense, coordinated stealth or in a blaze of glory when alarms are tripped and an escalating assault of law enforcement descends on your position. Success requires communication, coordination, and specialized roles to manage objectives, control civilians, and secure the loot.

A huge part of its lasting appeal is the incredibly deep customization and progression system. Completing heists earns you cash and experience, which you funnel into several pillars:

  • Skill Trees: Invest points into distinct skill trees—Mastermind, Enforcer, Technician, Ghost, and Fugitive—to create specialized builds. Become a smooth-talking crowd controller, a heavily-armored tank with a portable saw, a gadget-savvy saboteur, or a silent, stealthy infiltrator.
  • Weapon Customization: Nearly every weapon can be heavily modified with a vast array of sights, suppressors, stocks, and gadgets, allowing you to tailor your arsenal to a specific role or playstyle.
  • Perk Decks & Masks: Equip unique Perk Decks for powerful passive abilities that define your character's role, and collect, customize, and craft hundreds of unique masks to make your heister truly your own.

The Crimewave Edition: A Treasure Trove Frozen in Time

The version available on PlayStation is the Payday 2: Crimewave Edition. When it launched in 2015, it was a fantastic package, bundling the base game with a large amount of the DLC that had been released on PC up to that point. This means that even today, new players get a massive amount of content right out of the box, including a huge roster of heists, characters, weapons, and masks—offering hundreds of hours of potential gameplay.

However, this is the most critical fact for any prospective PlayStation player: console development for Payday 2 officially ended in 2019.

While the PC version continued to receive years of significant content updates—including new heists, characters like H3H3 and Scarface, and countless weapon packs—the Crimewave Edition on PS4 and PS5 is a complete, but static, version of the game. It is a feature-rich time capsule of what Payday 2 was in its prime, but it is not the complete and definitive version of the game that exists on PC. For those looking for the absolute full story, PC remains the platform of choice.

A Worthy Alternative to Payday 3?

With Payday 3 now available, many wonder why they should look back. While its successor offers modern mechanics and improved gunplay, Payday 2: Crimewave Edition still holds a major advantage in one key area: sheer content volume.

For a fraction of the price of a new game, the Crimewave Edition offers a colossal, mature, and feature-complete package. Players who found Payday 3's launch offerings to be lean will find an almost overwhelming amount of missions and build variety here. The game runs excellently on both PS4 and PS5 (via backward compatibility), with the latter benefiting from significantly faster loading times.

It serves as a perfect, low-risk entry point for those new to the series, allowing them to experience the foundational mechanics and lore that made the franchise a phenomenon. For veterans, it's a chance to relive classic heists or introduce the game to friends who missed it the first time around.

The Verdict: Get in the Van

For its common sale price, which often drops to just a few dollars, Payday 2: Crimewave Edition is one of the best value propositions in cooperative gaming on the PlayStation Store. It offers an immense and replayable experience that stands tall today, delivering a satisfying loop of planning, execution, and progression.

While it lacks years of content from its PC counterpart, the treasure trove that is included remains an absolute blast. You are buying a piece of gaming history—a title that defined a genre and built a legacy on deep mechanics and thrilling, player-driven moments. As long as you understand you're purchasing a finished, final chapter of the game's console journey, you won't be disappointed. Don't let this score get away—mask up and get paid.