Payday 3's second beta test is live now and open to all via Steam

Co-op heist 'em up Payday 3 is due for release later this month, but if you can't wait there's a second beta test underway now. It runs through the weekend until September 11th and is designed to stress test the servers ahead of launch.

If you're interested in participating, you can head to the Payday 3 Steam page and request access to the technical test. It's an open beta, so everyone who wants it should be able to get access. Developers Starbreeze Studios are asking players to help out by all logging on during particular hours, to really put the servers through their paces.

Ed spent some time playing Payday 3 at Gamescom last month, and found it a lot like previous Paydays. That's no bad thing, however.

The heists themselves always kick off with a stealth phase where you can wander about maskless and survey the area. Then it's masks on, which signals go-time. Aside from the usual tying up civvies and looting cash, it seems Payday 3 opts for greater variety in its heists. One had us scan a host of shipping crates to decipher those that contained the goods, before we had to fill up zones scattered about as cops poured in over fences. Another had us chucking loads of thermite on a vault-cracker as it buzzed a wall open, all the while snipers set themselves up along the skyline in the distance.

I'm looking forward to Payday 3. It's not as flashy as the galactic blockbuster of early September, or the onslaught of new games arriving in October, but the previous Paydays were breezy japery and I fancy a bit more of that with a pal or two when it releases on September 21st.