There are so many great stories to tell and present in video games. Titles designed for small children to a mature audience. If you're looking for a game featuring a life of crime or a protagonist looking to solve a case, we've got you covered. Here are some of the best video games featuring a crime plot on PlayStation 4. It's hard to really rank these games, so rather than looking at one game better than the other, we suggest you check out this list of amazing games available. for the platform. That said, we want to know your favorite crime game on PlayStation 4.
#20 It's the police
This Is The Police is a pretty unique game compared to the other titles on this list. Players are put in the shoes of a police chief in this narrative strategy game. As you approach retirement, your goal is to make as much money as possible before you are done. Hoping to earn at least $500 before retirement, players will send their officers to help with a variety of areas such as emergency calls or alarms. By looking at the city map, you will be able to see how many units have been shipped and to where. Of course, to earn some money, you can also take bribes from other organizations for not sending police to a certain call. It is difficult to keep the nose clean enough not to arouse suspicion while ensuring that citizens are safe from harm.
#19 Hidden Agenda
Supermassive Games is a pretty big development studio that released a killer horror adventure game. With the launch of Until Dawn, players were able to navigate a narrative tailored to the player's choices. During this time, the gameplay was mostly based on exploration, choices, and a series of quick events. This series of games continued with the developers releasing The Dark Pictures Anthology. Essentially, this collection of video game titles would come to market with the same general visual style and gameplay mechanics. The differences between the games would be the actual scenarios and settings in which these titles would take place.
Between the release of Until Dawn and the first installment of The Dark Pictures Anthology, Man of Medan, we saw Hidden Agenda. This is a game that again had similar gameplay mechanics, but the narrative immersed players in a dark crime thriller as players took on the role of a homicide detective on the hunt for a serial killer. . While The Dark Pictures Anthology and Until Dawn is mostly enjoyed as a single-player experience, Hidden Agenda offered players a way to connect with their smartphone and vote on certain decisions to be made in this game.
# 18 Mafia 3
In Mafia 3, you play as Lincoln Clay, a man who has returned from the Vietnam War and is looking for a place to belong. As a result, Lincoln reunites with his old crew and his mentor, although as you can imagine things don't line up very well, leaving our protagonist on a quest for revenge.
There is a lot to love about this game. This game also provides a crime documentary vibe as you will be pulled from the game and thrown into a clip from today. It's a way to set up the next plot point, but it's those little details that give the game a bit of charm. As mentioned, there's plenty to do outside of the campaign as the map is split into territories. You will have the ability to destroy these territories and claim them for yourself, in a sense. Really, these realms are dipped and given to different factions that you are aligned with. Of course, who you give places to control will matter in the game and it could cost you alliances, so you'll have to be careful how you anger certain characters with your decisions, as it can cost you safe zones or potential goods you would make. were able to harvest.
#17 Watch Dogs: Legion
Watch Dogs has been around for three times now, the last being Watch Dogs: Legion. This game acts much like previous installments in which players have to fight against a strict regime that invades citizens' privacy. While the first two installments put players in a single protagonist attached to a group of hackers known as DedSec, this game brings quite a drastic change. Before getting ahead of ourselves, Watch Dogs: Legion is set in the London area with DedSec seeking to free the citizens from a private military group controlled by tyranny.
To achieve your goal of liberating citizens, players will take on the role of a variety of characters rather than a single protagonist. A big part of this game is actively recruiting citizens to help you in your fight against regime control. Players can freely roam the world and hack information on any citizen to learn more about them, such as skills that might prove useful in combat. Next, you will need to convince the NPCs to join DedSec which, if successful, you can take control of the NPC on your journey. This objective of recruiting recruits will allow future missions to be completed in different ways rather than forcing players to go through this third-person action-adventure game.
#16 Empire of Sin
The 1920s marked the beginning of an era that allowed gangs to flourish. With the nation banned, there was a new way to make a lot of money. With bootleg booze and turf wars, cities like Chicago were a cutthroat area and a fight zone for gangs to take matters into their own hands. We've seen several video games take on the life of a crime as a gang member or even the leader of organized crime groups. Empire of Sin puts players in the role of a gang that is slowly trying to become the best dog in town.
It is a strategy game in which players assume the role of a gang leader and work their skills in the hope of becoming the leader of an underground criminal empire. This means managing your group, defending your turf, expanding your casinos, speakeasy, and either seducing or intimidating anyone who tries to stop your hustle. That said, there are plenty of times when things can get physical, like another gang not respecting your territory boundaries. As a result, the game would play out like a tactical strategy game with players setting up their characters around the level and deciding how best to take out targets, whether it's raw firepower or self-defense. close in for hand-to-hand combat.
#15 Payday 2
If you're into heist games, it doesn't get much better than Payday 2. Although the title might be a bit older at this point, it's still a solid game that's enjoyed by veterans and new alike. arrivals. It also helps developers release new updates to give players more content to browse. Overall, it's a game that's best played with friends as you take on four-player heists in different locations. Before you go on this crime spree to make a quick buck, there's a lot of planning to do. After all, you'll want to have an overview of what you're getting into so everyone is aware of their job and every heist is not only transparent, but free from law enforcement.
Payday 2 was released in 2022, but it found a launch on the PlayStation 4 in 2022. However, if you want to try this FPS heist game either again on the PlayStation 4, or for the first time, then it's worth a shot. to look at the Payday 2: Crimewave Edition which brings overall improvements to the game. Again, this game is full of DLC packs which add more heists and in-game weapons to use. That said, we do know that a third installment is in development, but at this time we don't know exactly when the game should hit the market.
#14 Series Cleaner
Criminals only escape if they keep their wits about them and make sure all their bases are covered. If a job gets tough, that's where a cleaner steps in and makes sure everything is removed from the crime scene to make sure law enforcement hasn't left anything out. Instead of diving into the game as a criminal mastermind looking to score a score or take down the competition, you're instead the guy tasked with cleaning up the mess left behind.
Set in the 1970s, players will go through this stealth game with a top-down perspective. Overall, players control the protagonist around the map and collect any evidence left behind, including bodies. However, among the crime scene, police officers look around and mark items to tag and bag. You'll need to maneuver carefully around the area and stay out of the policeman's line of sight while grabbing items to eliminate. It's a simple game to understand but the levels will keep getting harder.
#13 Saints Row: The Third Remastered
Saints Row video games are generally considered Grand Theft Auto clones. However, they are far more wacky and over the top with their gameplay mechanics and narrative. We haven't seen a new main installment in quite a while for this franchise, but one of the titles that proved to entertain fans was Saints: Row The Third. It is a third-person action title set five years after the events of Saints Row 2.
In this game, players will follow the Saints street gang which has become a worldwide known phenomenon. This street gang offers serious merchandise and entertainment media for fans to enjoy. While promoting their next movie, the Saints end up suffering a bank robbery gone wrong that puts the gang behind bars. Now, not only are the Saints breaking, but they have to face new law enforcement who seek to end this street gang once and for all. Again, it's much like the Grand Theft Auto franchise, but the narrative is loose with more comedic events or parodies.
# 12 Mafia: Trilogy
The Mafia franchise has already been mentioned earlier with the third installment of the Mafia IP, but it is also worth adding this collection of installments. If you've never played any of the Mafia games, you might find Mafia: Trilogy to be the best deal. You get all three installments that are remastered for modern platforms today. These remastered editions are pretty well handled, but the first installment is what will show just how much work has gone into these improvements. Players get a big revamp of the classic 1930s mob tale that follows a city taxi driver who gets caught up in the life of crime when the money proves too good to pass up.
There's also Mafia II available which is set in the mid-1940s with another criminal who needs money and uses his wits and street smarts to run some ugly business. Then, of course, you have the third installment that we covered earlier in this list. Either way, all three games are played in third-person perspective with missions that involve high-speed chases to brutal gunfights.
# 11 Hotline Miami
Hotline Miami was one of the indie titles to be released in 2022. This top-down shooter was an intense and brutal action game set in Miami in 1989. Players step into the role of a protagonist who receives messages without interruption on his answering machine. him to go out and commit massacres with targets aimed at different members of the Russian mafia. From there, it's a nonstop action title full of destruction and death. With the game designed to look like an old school retro title with a neon twist, Hotline Miami stands out, and the multitude of weapons you'll pick up along the way make the game feel a bit chaotic.
We'd be doing you a disservice if we didn't mention the sequel, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. This game follows the same top-down shooter mechanics, with the title taking place before the events of the first game and after. If you enjoyed the first installment, chances are you'll find a lot to like with the sequel.
#10 LA Noire
Chances are you've played LA Noire before if you like crime titles. This game takes players back to the late 1940s where you play as a detective named Agent Cole who slowly makes his way through the various divisions of the Los Angeles Police Department. Throughout the game, players will follow Cole through a series of criminal cases where you will have to explore the area, question witnesses, collect evidence, and slowly solve the crime. Gameplay is similar to the Grand Theft Auto franchise where players are in a third-person perspective and can freely roam the open world.
An interesting aspect of the LA Noire franchise is the fact that the developers were able to use technology capable of capturing the motion expressions of the actors. It is through this technology that players could tell if a person is lying and withholding the truth. By searching for clues about the actor's performance, players would be able to navigate through questions or bring up evidence that would shatter the suspect's guilt, forcing them to confess.
#9 Sleeping Dogs
Sleeping Dogs is a game that didn't take off much but still had a good following with newcomers discovering the IP today. It was a game that acted similarly to the Grand Theft Auto franchise, but here players stepped into the role of law enforcement trying to invade a criminal organization. It is a game that takes place in an open-world Hong Kong city environment with melee combat. There is even a Definitive Edition available that improves gameplay and audio for fans who want to enjoy this game on the PlayStation 4 platform.
#8 Judgment
Judgment is a game that takes place in the same universe as the Yakuza series, so if you're familiar with the franchise, you can get an idea of some of the gameplay mechanics you'll find in this game. story of a lawyer most struck off. To rise to the top and gain redemption, our protagonist Takayuki Yagami begins private detective work to investigate Kamurocho's corrupt Red Light Distract. As you can imagine, from the developers of Yakuza, this game not only features an over-the-top storyline, but beat 'em up style gameplay when you're forced to throw fists at a thug who gets in the way. your way. That said, this is still a game about solving crimes rather than committing them.
#7 Watch Dogs 2
Ubisoft released Watch Dogs 2 in 2022 to provide a new experience featuring hacking group DedSec. This time around, you play as Marcus Holloway in San Francisco Bay. The game is a way to really enhance the foundations of Ubisoft presented with the original title. That said, this game is definitely not the title where you can just walk in and be a badass. You will really have to rely on stealth and hacking various devices.
This game is also very challenging, it's less about going out and defeating enemies with brute force, and more about using your tools and gadgets to explore areas, plan and execute in a way that attracts little or no attention. There's also a large open world for players to explore with activities to check off, though we'll likely see this further enhanced with the upcoming Watch Dogs Legion. For now, if you haven't dabbled in the franchise yet, Watch Dogs 2 could be a great place to start.
#6 Grand Theft Auto Online
Grand Theft Auto V was a video game behemoth and it's a game we'll dive into in more detail below. However, we felt that the online component of Grand Theft Auto V deserved a spot on our list. With Grand Theft Auto Online, players can once again explore Los Santos freely. However, there's a whole new set of missions, heists, and troubles to tackle with friends or again on your own. This game mode is full of content and the developers kept adding more content to this game from missions, game items to different events. Everything you'd expect from a Grand Theft Auto game is present, but there's plenty more chaotic gameplay to be had here with other players logging into the mix.
#5 Yakuza: Like a Dragon
The Yakuza series is well known as an over-the-top brawler series. However, things have made a big change with Yakuza: Like A Dragon. The development studio opted to give players a new protagonist, storyline, and even combat mechanics this time around than what the IP series was known for. In this episode, players entered another criminal role. Players will take on the role of Ichiban Kasuga, a low-ranking yakuza family member who ends up taking the fall for a crime he didn't commit.
From there, our protagonist is thrown in prison where he is forced to live an 18-year sentence. After his release from prison, Ichiban finds no one waiting for him and his yakuza family has been destroyed, prompting him to find out what happened. As mentioned, the series was known for being a third-person brawler, but in Yakuza: Like a Dragon players are instead given a classic turn-based RPG that has proven to be just as popular and well worth watching. traveled.
# 4 Kiwami Yakuza
The Yakuza franchise has been around for years, and there are multiple installments available. Skipping at one point might not be the most appealing thing for newcomers and certainly going back to the original installments can feel quite dated. Luckily, the franchise received remakes mostly with the Kiwami series. Yakuza Kiwami is the first installment in the Yakuza franchise, giving players the chance to experience this series for the first time or allowing veterans to dive back into the fun with a fresh coat of paint and mechanics.
Overall, this franchise follows different Yakuza family organizations and players take on the role of Kazuma Kiryu. After being falsely accused of killing a high-ranking Yakuza member, Kiryu is stripped of his family and sent to prison. After serving his sentence, Kiryu begins a new quest to find out the member responsible who killed the high-ranking member. It's a game full of investigations and brawls with a variety of thugs. Speaking of brawling, combat is an over-the-top action that you'll be doing a lot, whether it's on game missions or just encountering thugs while exploring the city. It's a perfect jumping off point for the franchise.
#3 An exit
A Way Out is a fairly well-known video game title, although it could still be considered a smaller version. The game comes from development studio Hazelight Studios, which is probably best known for being helmed by director and screenwriter Josef Fares. This game is focused on cooperative play as it requires two players to enjoy the game, so it's best to have one player two available if you want to dive into the campaign.
Overall, the game is a story that follows two prisoners on their daring escape from prison. When the two prisoners strike up a mutual friendship, they work together as they escape, but breaking out of prison proves to be a cake walk in the emotional journey that will present itself when the pair emerge from behind bars. It's a narrative-driven story that will give players enough content to immerse themselves in for a weekend. If you have six hours to kill, you can push through this intense co-op prison escape and redemption storyline with a vengeance.
# 2 Red Dead Redemption 2
Upon the release of their Grand Theft Auto V release, Rockstar Games treated fans to a new installment in the Red Dead Redemption franchise. While the game would indicate its sequel by title name alone, this installment is actually a prequel. Players are thrown into the boots of Arthur Morgan, a tough and tough outlaw who rides the infamous Dutch Van Der Linde gang. With a cast of unique characters and even familiar faces such as John Marston, players follow this strange group that is constantly on the run from the government after a heist in the south.
Much like the original installment of the game Red Dead Redemption, players are thrown into a massive open world in the old land filled with areas to explore. As a result, when not completing the main missions, players are free to explore the open world which could include landmarks, random towns, villages, mines and outlaw gang hideouts. . One of the cool things about this game is that players are able to build their own reputation. Although the main storyline focuses on the players being outlaws, what you do outside of the storyline will give you a positive or negative reputation. With so many unique characters seeking help, how you handle situations or just roam freely will tip the yardstick towards a noble person or a ruthless outlaw and that will ultimately determine the end of this Game.
Much like Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2 also has an online component that will once again allow players to live out their life of crime with other players. Become an infamous outlaw, run a moonlight business, or try to do some good by cashing out any bounties that come your way. In any case, you will easily get lost in this game if you give it a chance.
# 1 Grand Theft Auto V
Come on, you knew this one was going to be on the list. The Grand Theft Auto franchise always features a criminal and do a barrage of missions that break the law or go outright against it. The series continues to attract huge success with each episode, but for the most part, the latest episode remains at the top of the series. Rockstar Games really outdid themselves with the creation of Grand Theft Auto V. You have a massive open world that feels lived in with a wide variety of activities. Outside of the campaign, you can participate in races, triathlons, help out random strangers who need a helping hand, own a business, acquire vehicles, buy properties, or even wage your mayhem online with other active players going about their business.
However, for this point in the list, we are focusing on the crime aspect of which there is a lot in Grand Theft Auto V. This time around, players have three main characters to take on and each storyline intertwines . As the trio try to get a big score, they are forced to complete a series of heists to help a variety of characters or agencies. Whether it's robbing a jewelry store, breaking an individual out of the control of federal agents, or even taking down rival drug empires, the life of crime is a never-ending journey. As mentioned, there is also an online component which again offers unique missions and tasks. There doesn't seem to be any slowdown from Grand Theft Auto V, in fact, years after its release, Epic Games offered the title for free on the PC platform, which resulted in their servers crashing due to the influx of players claiming their free game. .
