Crime Boss: Rockay City Reviews
Crime Boss: Rockay City isn't a complete disaster. The idea of fusing together managerial duties with action-oriented shooting works well on paper since the gameplay styles complement each other. However, neither aspect plays out that well, and when you combine it with a lackluster story and worse than mediocre performances, the experience doesn't improve as you get further into it. Unless you're hard up for a crime-based game, there's little reason to give this title a shot.
B-movie style 1990s-infused star-studded FPS roguelite
Crime Boss: Rockay City is a pleasant surprise considering all of the aspects that make its foundations usually crumble from the weight. Just get ready to die, try and die again until you take the throne.
Crime Boss wants to be majestic, but the game doesn't do it very well. It's not exactly bad, but despite all the effort to be pompous, it feels very cheap. The idea is good, but the execution is poor. On the other hand, the game is suitable for beginners in the cooperative action genre.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Here's why your summer vacation in Rockay City is a bad idea. Or maybe a good one, depending on how you feel about street wars with '90s rappers.
While there are better games within the genre, Crime Boss' roguelite approach may appeal to those looking for a different, nostalgia-laden experience.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
If Rockay City was more than its references, its gameplay could shine, but what remains are uninteresting modes and a failed attempt to inject some novelty into the roguelike genre.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Crime Boss: Rockay City didn't live up to its potential. There are a lot of flaws in the game, and a lot of elements feel unpolished. Still, it will find its fans.
Review in Czech | Read full review
Crime Boss: Rockay City is a has-been roguelike mashed together with a has-been FPS that's mostly filled with has-been movie stars.
There is fun to be found in "Crime Boss," but its issues bog down the experience enough to keep it from keeping you invested for very long.
The good news, I guess, is that Crime Boss: Rockay City isn’t a disaster. It’s competently made, and I’ve played far, far worse games. The bad news? That still doesn’t mean it’s any good.
There's no denying that "Crime Boss: Rockay City" is, at its core, a brazen copy of Overkill's "Payday 2." The supposedly dark gangster story about the "charismatic" Travis Baker is more in the wake of the trashiest B-movies of the 1990s. Whether intentional or not, "Crime Boss: Rockay City" has a certain charm and can inspire over a longer period of time thanks to a solid solo campaign. The game is certainly not for everyone, but it also shows that first impressions can be deceiving.
Review in German | Read full review
Crime Boss: Rockay City is still an enjoyable game to play. It could certainly be frustrating if you've progressed much far in the game and died at that point without having to get your crew members or army back, but this is exactly what players want from roguelike games. The game is not flawless by any stretch of the imagination; in point of fact, the mechanisms for shooting and stealth aren't really that remarkable, but they can be enhanced with a few regular upgrades since the overall concept is fun.
Despite some of the glaring weaknesses, Crime Boss: Rockay City has praiseworthy content, thoroughly had a good time playing, and it was better than anticipated. Lastly, Crime Boss: Rockay City will have more to come with DLCs throughout the year. And with Payday 3 arriving in September – one would hope that the updates bring a lot more to the table with different sets of missions, weapons, characters, improvements and more to keep their audience.
Crime Boss: Rockay City is a game with big ambitions, but it fails to deliver on most fronts
Crime Boss: Rockay City has some potential but lack of polish across the board combined with repetitive gameplay does more harm than its poorly included celebrity cast could ever help.
Crime Boss: Rockay City is a reminder of a bygone era when every game studio attempted to ride the coattails of Vice City. It takes everything one loves about crime films and games to present a fun experience.
Crime Boss: Rockay City is exactly what we thought it would be. A turgid waste of a solid central idea with a cast stacked with actors who sound like they’d rather be anywhere else or are just purely hateful. There’s a little delight in falling into b-movie nostalgia, but it’s few and far between. There’s very little here to recommend because very little of it works, if anything at all. Well, the title is fun to say at least.
Luckily for it, nothing about its graphics, performance, or controls is bad enough to relegate it to echelon of historically bad failures, but maybe that’s also one of its biggest issues. It’s a bland game that just so happens to have a nonsensically star-studded cast, and one not crappy enough to warrant an ironic playthrough.
Crime Boss: Rockay City is an enterprising game that jokes about some iconic movie genres (such as the early 90s action movie) while accurately and timely depicting those same feelings.
Review in Italian | Read full review