Crime Boss: Rockay City Review: A Heist Loop That Wears Thin

Crime Boss: Rockay City asks you to become the King of Rockay City one crime at a time. It rarely feels like a crown worth taking.

Developed by Ingame Studios and published by 505 Games, the cooperative first-person shooter launched on Windows through the Epic Games Store on 28 March 2023. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions followed on 15 June 2023. A Steam release arrived on 18 June 2024. OpenCritic puts the game at 5.4/10, and that number holds up.

Trailer, via IGN.

Travis Baker and the Empty Throne

The setup is simple. The previous crime boss is dead, and the throne sits open. You play Travis Baker, a man with his sights set on the crown. But you are not the only one fighting for it.

You assemble a crew of criminals and send them on missions to infiltrate, steal and defeat enemies. Choose your crew based on their skills and expertise, then execute the heist. Walk away with the cash, the turf and, ultimately, the crown.

Michael Madsen and Chuck Norris in Final Roles

The cast is the game’s loudest selling point. Michael Madsen and Chuck Norris both appear in their final performances for a video game. Danny Trejo, Danny Glover, Michael Rooker, Kim Basinger, Vanilla Ice and Damion Poitier round out the lineup.

That is a remarkable roster for any project, let alone a debut shooter from a small studio. It is also where the trouble starts. A famous face in a cutscene does not fix a mission that runs out of ideas.

Four Criminals, One Getaway

Missions put four criminals on a target. You control one and cooperate with other players or AI teammates in first person. Banks, trucks and jewelry stores are the usual marks.

Collect enough loot and you can leave. Take too long and police reinforcements get likelier. The comparison to the Payday series is unavoidable, and Crime Boss does not escape it.

Urban Legends and the Roguelike Campaign

There are quick play one-offs for players who want a single job. There are six mini-campaigns called “Urban Legends,” each three missions chained in a row with a loose connecting story.

Then there is the single-player campaign, built with roguelike elements. You expand territory across Rockay City after the previous underground leader dies. You allocate gang members to turf wars, buy new weapons and run missions to take new ground. Die in a mission and the run is over. Hired crew members lost on a job are gone from your roster for good.

A Florida That Looks Like Miami Vice

Rockay City sits in a Florida styled after Miami Vice. The game wears its influences openly. It imitates 1990s crime movies such as Heat on purpose.

That imitation is the whole problem. The game knows what it wants to feel like. It never quite gets there.

The Heist Loop Wears Thin

The tension loop is legible: grab loot, watch the clock, brace for reinforcements. It works the first few times. Then the seams show. AI teammates make poor partners. The roguelike campaign punishes a single death by erasing hours, which reads as stakes but plays as frustration.

The cast deserved a better frame around them. Madsen and Norris signing off on this is a strange note to end on.

Release Schedule

What Crime Boss Gets Right

The premise is not the failure. A crew-based crime shooter with a roguelike campaign and a Miami Vice backdrop is a good pitch. The turf war system gives the single-player mode a shape that quick play lacks.

But shape is not substance. Crime Boss: Rockay City borrows Heat and Payday and adds Hollywood names, and the result is a game that never becomes its own thing. The 5.4/10 is fair.

505 Games · co-op shooter · Crime Boss: Rockay City · game review · heist games · roguelike