head to head

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots cover artvsPayday 3 cover art

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the PatriotsvsPayday 3

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Payday 3 leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).

EXECUTION5 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE2 /10OPTIMIZATION6 /10
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the PatriotsPayday 3

Axis by axis

Execution5 vs 5

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads0 vs 0

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance2 vs 3

Payday 3 leans harder on variance: Guard patrols, camera spots and loot locations shuffle per run

Optimization6 vs 7

Payday 3 leans harder on optimization: Heist routes, stealth sequencing and builds are the real game

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

full breakdown

Payday 3