Crime Boss: Rockay City

I got this game on the big sale from when it came to Steam. I didn't think I would play it all that much.
Almost 50 hours later, I've willingly purchased more DLC packs for this game. You should get this on a deep discount, when the Cagnali's Order and Gold Heist DLC's are added alongside it, but if you're the kind of person who likes silly 80's and 90's action movies, I think you would enjoy the vibe of this game. The game is being actively developed and the content they're adding is clearly adding on things they've done before.
My criticism is this: I would not call this a "good game," in the way that Payday 2 is a good game. There's a lot of individual details you can probably recognize just from looking at gameplay and comparing the two. This game has about 50% of the pure *stuff* that Payday 2 has - characters are mostly an appearance, a primary-secondary-melee weapon, an equipment, and three perks. This is in service to the roguelite gameplay mode, but it can feel limiting to someone who's played a game with more mechanics at a baseline, and if that was reason alone for you to disregard this game and just go back to that copy of Payday 2 you already own, I would never judge.
HOWEVER, I do believe that this game taps into a feeling that Payday 2 never gave me. The highlight for this is any time I get a Jewelry store mission - there's a certain feeling to trying stealth, taking out guards, sniping a camera that spots you, disabling the security room camera station, getting spotted by a civilian, and smoothly transitioning into a Loud mission where you start smashing everything around and stuffing it into bags before the cops arrive. The conceit of Payday is that you are international heisters going on international escapades; the conceit of Crime Boss: Rockay City is that you're a local operation, scrappy, scrounging for everything you can grab and stealing every advantage you get. I have genuinely been hyperfixated on this game specifically because I have significantly more of an opinion about my time with Rockay City than I do having played an equivalent amount of Payday.
If I can give at least one piece of genuine, unironic praise: The voice acting is actually rather impressive. The mid-level characters you play as are genuinely very charming, Nasara is voiced by Damion Potier who you might recognize as Chains, and Danny Trejo and Vanilla Ice actually give pretty damn good performances in my opinion. Even the sillier performances like Chuck Norris or the dearly departed Michael Madsen's have their own charm BECAUSE of that silliness, it lends itself to that "B movie" quality. Also, the music choice is actually kind of inspired, I think the devs have a great grip on the general vibe.
TL;DR I played about as much of this game as I did Payday 2. Payday 2 is a "better game", but I like this one significantly more. And Crime Boss: Rockay City is a very fun title to say.

A hidden gem... for discount
This game is pure chill. I hop in a few times a week after work. Throw bricks, neak around, shoot stuff, rob a few places. The vibe is great, the gameplay is simple, missions shuffle just enough to keep things fresh. It's no masterpiece, but as a casual criminal roguelite its absolutely hits the spot. I dont know if its worth buying at full price. Maybe not. But I grabbed it with a 90% discount, and for that price, it's totally worth it.

Crime Boss is the alternative to Payday 3, and honestly, I find it so entertaining~

Crime Boss: Rockay City is a crime simulator much akin to the Payday series, hell, it's even published by 505 Games, the same people that published Payday 2. The big difference is that Crime Boss is a roguelike. Yes, a roguelike.
You take on the role of Travis Baker who is portrayed by the late Michael Madsen, as he starts his criminal enterprise in the sunny, Miami-inspired Rockay City. The game is chalked full of a star-studded, 80's inspired cast. Along side Madsen there is Kim Basinger, Danny Glover, Michael Rooker, Vanilla Ice, Danny Trejo and even the legend himself, Chuck Norris.

The roguelike gameplay consists of you starting a game with Rockay City split up into a bunch of zones/territories divided between you and 4 other rival gangs. You start with only one territory under your control, a small sum of cash and a randomized mix of associates to help you get started.
Where you start is random, as well as the territories the other gangs control.
You branch out, hiring people to fight for you and take control, but to do that you need money. The best way to get money? Steal it!
Every in-game day new heist are randomized all over the map. From bank heist, to warehouse robbery all the way up to some big scores and art heists. You assemble your team of heisters, between 1 to 4 people and set out to get the job done. Like Payday a lot of the heists can be completed loud with guns blazing, or silently stealthed. Some mission require you to handle it one way or the other, but for the most part you play as you like.

Shops, banks, warehouses, etc. are randomized each time you start a new heist. The amount of camera's and guard reflects your heat with the police or how strong the rival gang is. Low heat? Less guards and little to no cameras. High Heat? Expect tight patrols and hugging walls to avoid cameras.
Layouts also change, though not by much. A vaults door might be towards the back wall one run or be completely tucked in the middle the next. A rival gang meet up might have stashed cash or jewelry near by or none at all. RNG that is very reminiscent of Payday 2's RNG layouts.

Once heists are done you can spend your hard earned cashed to hire more soldiers or heisters, buy new weapons and gear, upgrade your heisters or buy stuff for Bakers every growing criminal enterprise.
As you play, your Boss level will rise. This allows you to unlock new perks for Baker and your gang in your current run and all runs after, and your going to need them. Baker is the Boss and if the Boss dies during a mission, that's it, runs over. Same thing with any of your other hired heisters. If they die or run out of revives during a mission, then you lose them for the rest of the run. So looking at each heisters perks and planning accordingly is the key to a successful run.

As far as negatives go, there is not a lot. People complain about the bad voice lines and "lousy" readings. Personally, I find them charming and reminds me of campy 80's action/crime movies. My main issue does come from the bugs and glitches.
I get audio bugs whenever I start up a new run. Music goes in and out but normally fixes itself after a little bit of play. The other bugs are a bit sporadic. I get visual bugs more often then not, van doors looked closed but are actually open, characters floating, and textures not loading in till a few mins after the heist has started. One kinda frustrating bug I have bumped into twice was during the territory take over missions, were the final enemy was spawned but fallen under the map or trapped inside of a building texture.
Though it does look like Ingame Studios listens to the players and works hard on fixing the issues when they can, so I hold out for hope!

My final thoughts, Crime Boss: Rockay City was a game I didn't know I wanted until I finally played it. I will support Ingame Studios and 505 as long as they keep adding to this banger of a game!
While I understand the roguelike elements might be off putting to some people, I think it's a great alternative to whatever Starbreeze is trying to pass off as a game and truly stand in it's own.
What can I say? Payday 3 was a flop and a failure and I really wanted something to scratch that itch and Crime Boss does it best!
It is disheartening that the game will continue without Madsen due to his passing, I personally think this is a very fun and entertaining way to keep him alive for us.

Rest in Peace, Madsen.

It's better than Payday 3 and it's just pure fun for the sake of it.
EDIT: Please help me

Chuck Norris was so strong when he did push ups he would push the Earth down.
Rest In Peace Chuck Norris and Michael Madsen as well. May you live on forever in this game.

Crime Boss: Rockay City is the best Crime Boss game this side of Rockay City!
5/5 voice acting, not afraid to be goofy. If you like Payday 2 you'll like this. Way better than Payday 3.

It's Payday for 30+ gamers. Nothing fancy but the roguelite mode is fun if you just want to relax.