Crime Boss: Rockay City is the next big gangster game in which you organize crimes, fight for your territory and conquer the fictional metropolis “Rockay City” from the first-person perspective. Not only can you play through a “boss campaign” as Michael Madsen on your own, but you can also team up with friends. You can expect allies like Michael Rooker, Kim Basinger, Danny Glover or Damion Poitier, other gang bosses like Danny Trejo and Vanilla Ice, or the Sheriff Chuck Norris himself. A fairly prominent cast that might appeal to 90s action movie fans in particular. One of them spoke to us about his involvement in the game. You can see it in the video above Damion Poitier in the interview.
Crime Boss is currently being developed by Ingame Studios. Publisher 505 Games enabled us to have an exchange with Damion, who not only portrays his own character but also co-writes the game. With his first written contribution to a video game, he was able to offer us an exciting perspective on working behind and in front of the camera at the same time. Last but not least, the actor also worked on Payday 2. He definitely distinguishes Crime Boss: Rockay City from other games: “Crime Boss can easily stand on its own two feet” and is a unique game that would not allow two identical runs.
We want to know what exactly we are in March 2023 expected. main developer Jarek Kolář from Ingame Studios answers some additional questions that an author simply cannot know. This way we can get a better overall picture and know how distinct Crime Boss: Rockay City really is compared to other games in the genre.
The first trailer that appeared at the Game Awards 2022 and the images that followed gave us an impression that we dictate between GTA and Payday. But Jarek tells us that we’re not dealing with an open world here and Damion also mentions that “the only thing that Payday 2 and Crime Boss have in common is the first-person shooter”. Jarek adds: “There is no travel, no exploration. The game is level-based. Each mission is selected from a map and represents an area in the big city. The options, jobs or raids are available in the ‘Boss Campaign’ with or without bots. Missions in other modes can also be played solo, with bots, or in multiplayer.”
In previous interviews, it was often emphasized that gameplay and film sequences are in balance, because such a prominent cast naturally doesn’t want to be just an accessory. According to Jarek, these film sequences will mainly come into their own in the single player. The multiplayer has a mode called Crime Stories. “Here mini-campaigns are offered, which include short meetings before a heist. The scenes are broadcast simultaneously for all players, but can be skipped at will,” the developer explains to us. The mode Quick Heist for example, does not contain any film sequences at all.
The tone that Crime Boss strikes is already effective in the first trailer. The atmosphere is reminiscent of light-hearted action movies and brings with it the quirky wit that only video games can do with heists and criminals. Shrill outfits, gang wars and violence, but all with a pinch of self-mockery and self-references. Jarek adds: “Some characters are actually very serious, others less serious and a few could be perceived as funny. It’s just like a 90’s B-movie. Everything is so serious and at the same time so exaggerated that you just have to laugh about it. When we reimagined the characters of the stars of the time, we had to deal with what made them so popular at the time, and we were also able to give the celebrities younger bodies for Rockay City thanks to the Unreal Engine, so there’s a lot of fun to come at around.”
Sounds funny, but with so much silliness, how does the necessary discipline for a tactical heist with friends or even strangers work in multiplayer? After all, you should be allowed to sneak and be tactical. Jarek explained to us whether mechanics were established in the game in order to still create a suitable atmosphere:
“Sneaking is optional. Sometimes it won’t even be possible to hide, but it might help to be quiet when exploring the room, taking on tricky jobs, or just to get a better overall rating. Co-ops will vary wildly Sometimes easy teamwork is required, other times you can call out danger (this is especially useful when working with strangers), but it can also become complex to create the right team for a mission, to plan your first steps or tactics during one to concoct a shootout.”
Sounds to me like no extra steps were taken to ensure disciplined coordination between strangers in multiplayer, but maybe I’m wrong and the action works well without collusion, after all it’s still an FPS. Also, I think Sheriff Chuck Norris is intimidating enough to make people sneak.
The question that remains to be answered is how Crime Boss wants to set itself apart from other gangster games? “In single player, it’s all about rising to power. Do small cases, earn money, plan bigger raids and slowly secure control of the whole city. There are no checkpoints and no way to repeat levels, so your own decisions always have consequences of it. But, don’t worry, because failure is definitely an option. Members of the crew may die, but the story continues as long as the boss is alive. Strategy and management are required, like in games, like Defender of the Crown – there’s even a bit of XCOM in it,” is how the developer draws the flow of the main story.
“This is all about criminals. The economy and choices players have to make increase the pressure to get good results in the FPS missions (on specific cases or jobs). I directed the development on Vietcong (2003), on that are based on FPS sequences. Raids can be fatal because they can (and will!) hit you. You can’t just run around. Take cover, stay alive, stay out of the line of fire and take as much loot as you can only possible. These shootings will be quite dramatic. It will be life-threatening to get out of the raids,” adds Jarek.
Of course, to bring the video full circle, I not only wanted to hear from Damion what it was like to work on a video game as an actor, but also from the developer what it was like to work with an actor as a writer. “Damion takes on the role of the planner in the game who communicates with the group through radio comms. He is supposed to set the atmosphere in the FPS part. Damion and the writing team wrote the dialogue for 30 different characters, bringing the Hollywood feel to the game Each of these characters gets their own unique dialogue on a mission. Since Damion has the knowledge of the jargon and the different dialects, he really helped us a lot,” enthuses Jarek.
Damion and Jarek both share how it can be liberating to step into a virtual role that you might not want to play in real life. With Crime Boss: Rockay City you can expect on March 28, 2023 Slip into the role of gangster Travis Baker on the PC, Xbox Series X/S or PlayStation 5 and indulge in the fantasy of a powerful criminal.
We would like to thank 505 Games, Ingame Studios, Jarek Kolář and of course Damion Poitier for the opportunity to talk about the game ahead of time.
