Den of Wolves: A Unique Fusion of Payday, Cyberpunk, and Heat That Reinforces the Cool Factor of Co-op Heist Games

Things certainly took a turn for the worse. We had thought we had everything methodically planned out. In those days leading up to the heist, my crew and I were knee-deep in preparation: checking every angle of the futuristic bank, gathering exactly the right gear to shatter the windows and make our getaway, even setting up a swarm of lethal drones to help us slip into the target zone under the guise of courier services. We’d poured days into making it utterly flawless. But, as with any heist worth its salt, trouble found us anyway.

It was all about greed. Isn’t it always? We had already secured our main objective — the data locked away in the mind of a super-wealthy CEO, lying dormant in some high-tech cocoon. We’d hacked directly into the executive’s brain, swiped the crucial plans we needed, and sheduled our exit. “Why not hit the other vaults after all?” threw out one colleague — a real member of the 10 Chambers dev team, if you can believe it.

Why not, indeed? We had our escape plan ironed out — a dive off the top floor of a skyscraper towering over the city. Picking up a few more loads of cash couldn’t hurt. But as we dispersed ourselves around the mezzanine, suddenly, a relentless wave of security droids and hired muscle surged in, unleashing chaos with bullets and barricades. One of our team got ambushed down on the lobby floor. A dev crew member covering the right side was caught off guard by a grenade. I was at the rear, ready for the exit, when some hooligan with a DMR picked me off from across the hallway. Just like that, it was over. Our heist had come apart at the seams.

But make no mistake, this game’s heist mechanics really shine. I can appreciate how things can go completely awry. “I haven’t seen that many goons show up that fast before,” remarked one of the devs. “It proves anything can happen!” And that’s precisely the charm of Den of Wolves when compared to its rivals. In Payday and Payday 2, heists kick off without much planning. You might have one team member sneaking into the vault, another charging in guns blazing, with someone else just spinning in circles doing their own thing.

Den of Wolves, though, is all about preparation. It demands planning. Imagine Ocean’s 11, with one of you as a George Clooney in charge of the operation, another laid-back Brad Pitt going with the flow, and someone else as a risk-taker like Matt Damon trying to prove something. You get the picture.

The game costs more to Heat-style, as 10 Chambers co-founder and narrative director Simon Viklund pointed out during a post-mission chat. “Think about it, right? In Heat, the crew sets up by acquiring explosives and hijacking an ambulance. Preparation is central, and you see them doing it.” This is the essence of Den of Wolves, drawing inspiration from the iconic heist film. Before tackling a heavily narrative-driven mission, it’s all about gearing up, finding an escape strategy, and stacking the odds in your favor.

Take our pre-heist, for instance. Before attempting the major job (which can last a good 40 minutes), we first went through a quick 10-minute prep. We covertly entered a heavily guarded facility to ‘borrow’ an assault drone. This clever little machine tucked into a package cleared the way into the vault once unleashed, allowing us to proceed with little resistance. From there, it was full steam ahead.

“This game’s grittier and more intense than anything from the Ocean’s series,” chuckled Viklund. “Plus, it brings players more choices. You see a mission and think, ‘Fantastic! I’ll run with stealth, snipe, or go full assault,’ depending on your prep work.” Maybe that’s where I missed the mark. I love my role as a sharpshooter — give me a battle rifle or a DMR, and I’m good to go. Yet, had I anticipated the influx of armed obstacles toward the mission’s end, I might’ve opted for an SMG or incendiary gear. Food for thought as I muse on our downfall.

Den of Wolves builds upon the Payday concept, delivering a richer, more intentional experience with greater room for mishaps—skills 10 Chambers has honed through their challenging co-op shooter, GTFO. Yet, despite this intensity, the game remains accessible and player-friendly. The undoing of our heist boiled down to greed and overconfidence.

The cyberpunk realm elevates the action, with gameplay that’s responsive, energetic, and gripping. DMR shots carry the punch they should, and even the handguns — more like a Desert Eagle than any ordinary sidearm — pack a wallop that sends foes flying and droids crumbling. Slipping under a loot bag’s literal weight mimics real-life physics, as does using energy shields, proving effective with each futile bullet attempt stopped in its path.

Mind you, this game hasn’t even touched early access yet. I’ve been diving into a very early stage build, and still, the experience is already fulfilling. The cycle of planning, prepping, infiltrating, looting, and starting anew gets increasingly captivating the deeper you delve, expanding with more weapon choices and strategies. It revitalizes the magic that made Payday groundbreaking in 2011, dialing it up to new heights. During the preview, 10 Chambers shared that PayDay’s mastermind Ulf Andersson toyed with the idea of a sci-fi heist well before the original title. Den of Wolves is the culmination of that long-simmered vision, almost 15 years in the making.

And it shows. This game is intelligent, expertly crafted, and it presents gameplay as its focal point — a point that perhaps Payday 3 stumbled upon. 10 Chambers seems to grasp the market’s craving for a player-driven co-op heist shooter and pours everything into ensuring that Den of Wolves brilliantly fills this niche. With its clever approach to monetization and deep understanding of the heist-shooter genre, Den of Wolves is poised to stand out as the most intriguing entry in the field since it first emerged. Fingers crossed, 10 Chambers delivers on this promise.

Den of Wolves is gearing up for an Early Access release soon, kicking things off for PC gamers, though we don’t have an exact release window just yet.