Last month, we went hands-on with the upcoming heist shooter "Payday 3" and found that, in broad strokes, it does not deviate much from its predecessor. Four characters from the previous game appear, each with unique skills, and there is one playable heist called "No Rest for the Wicked." All difficulty levels are playable in the beta, but character progression is capped. Gameplay from the beta can be captured and streamed, but some rough edges are probably to be expected; Starbreeze emphasizes in its FAQ that this is a "technical test" and that "our priority is to achieve our technical goals rather than to have people try the game" .

"The main goal of this beta is to test the stability of our servers and the gaming experience," Starbreeze stated.

According to Executive Editor Tyler Wilde's recent tale of heist woes, "Payday 3" still needs work, but it also looks like fun. While it's great to see everyone work together in a cooperative game to demonstrate their abilities and professionalism, in my opinion, the real magic happens when everything goes wrong and you're forced to scramble. Maybe it recovers, maybe it doesn't, maybe everyone gets mad and quits.

To participate in the "Payday 3" beta, go to the Steam page and click the "Request Access" button, or if you like Xbox, go to the Xbox Insider Hub, open the preview menu and select "Payday 3". Participants will be chosen at random and notified by email when access is granted. Just to be clear, pre-ordering the Silver, Gold, or Collector's Edition of the game does not guarantee access.