Crime Simulator: Prologue
- May 10, 2024
- CookieDev
- 14h median play time
Get on SteamTired of barely living? No work in sight, let alone fun? Well, look no further. Become a criminal and make money in various ways - there's always a job waiting, if you're willing to accept it. Play up to 4 people, complete jobs, steal, fight and take over hideouts in free-roam areas. Take on unique tasks with special requirements. Buy cars, craft new weapons and ammunition. Nothing can stop you a…
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game is very fun and entertaining, especially when played with friends.
- It has a cool concept that combines elements from Thief Simulator and Drug Dealer Simulator, making it an enjoyable experience.
- The graphics are decent, and the gameplay runs smoothly, providing a good foundation for future updates.
- The game suffers from significant bugs and optimization issues, leading to lag and crashes during gameplay.
- Combat mechanics are unbalanced, with enemies dealing excessive damage and often feeling unfair.
- Many players feel that the game is a cash grab, lacking enough unique content to justify its existence as a standalone title.
- story22 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The game's story is minimal and often described as lacking depth, with players noting that it feels more like a series of missions rather than a cohesive narrative. While some enjoy the humorous and chaotic nature of the missions, others express frustration with the lack of a clear storyline and the difficulty of certain tasks. Overall, the focus seems to be on gameplay mechanics and multiplayer fun rather than a strong narrative experience.
“First mission: 'Your neighbor is spewing out some weird stuff online; he believes in some crazy conspiracy stuff.'”
“It's so funny - the wacky animations and the funny missions - had so many great laughs jumping people with my friend. You really feel like you're in the hood; you get jumped by local gangsters and you get to rob people and stuff. It's hilarious.”
“This is a prologue/demo, not a full release. There are three reasons a dev releases a game as a demo: one being that the game is shortened into a little story to make you want to buy the game, two being the devs are wanting a fresh pair of eyes to see the game and report bugs they couldn't or make quality of life changes to make the game better, and three to show off a passion project and see how it does.”
“☐ no story”
“For a simulator game based on crime, it is too story driven for my liking.”
“No clear story guideline / annoying that only host can talk.”
- gameplay18 mentions
- 22 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The gameplay is generally considered fun, especially when played with friends, but it suffers from a lack of variety and polish, drawing heavily from the mechanics of Thief Simulator. While the core gameplay loop of robbing houses is engaging, it can become tedious due to repetitive tasks and unfinished elements. Overall, players find potential in the game but note that it requires significant improvements to enhance the experience.
“Pretty fun game while playing with a friend, even though there was only about an hour of gameplay in this prologue.”
“The gameplay is quite fun but there are a lot of things to be improved.”
“I think it could use some polish with the graphics, and the dialogue for characters is--like in TS2--lame, but the core gameplay is fun.”
“Could use some refining on the mechanics and such.”
“As much as I like games by Cookiedev despite feeling unfinished, this game just uses Thief Simulator and adds a couple of mechanics on top to push out another game.”
“In its current state, the gameplay is a bit bland.”
- monetization13 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy for the "crime simulator" is heavily criticized as it primarily serves as an advertisement for an unreleased game, misleadingly presented as a full product. Reviewers express concern that this approach detracts from genuine game development and harms the gaming community by occupying valuable marketing space with what they perceive as a cash grab. Overall, the sentiment reflects disappointment in the developers' focus on quick profits rather than delivering quality content.
“This is only free in the same way that adverts on YouTube and banner ads in your browser are.”
“While it might seem like an innocuous mistake, publishing demos and advertisements as if they are full games is misleading and in some ways harmful.”
“Often developers may choose to incorrectly publish demo/advertisements as separate games as a cheap way to bypass paying Valve for marketing presence on the Steam front page, which may seem clever to them, but it's harmful behavior and it's not good for gamers.”
- humor13 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised, with players enjoying its goofy animations, funny missions, and wacky interactions that lead to many laughs, especially when playing with friends. The comedic elements, including high-pitched voices and absurd scenarios, contribute to a lighthearted and entertaining experience, making it a fun choice for those looking to goof off together. Overall, the game is described as hilariously enjoyable, despite some minor flaws.
“It's so funny - the wacky animations and the funny missions - had so many great laughs jumping people with my friend. You really feel like you're in the hood; you get jumped by local gangsters and you get to rob people and stuff. It's hilarious.”
“I'm crazy, but this game is actually fun with friends. I like the emotes and the funny hits in the game. 10/10, I'm crazy!”
“I played this game with 2 other friends; it's a very funny game, and we laughed a lot.”
- optimization8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed feedback, with many users noting significant performance issues such as low frame rates and lag spikes, even on high-end PCs. While some players see potential for improvement, they agree that the game requires further optimization to enhance the overall experience.
“Game could use more optimizations, but I did get what I asked for, and man, this game is fire.”
“There were some small performance issues that could be ironed out, but that's the only thing I didn't completely love.”
“The game has the potential to become great; it just needs a little work on the combat system, the stealth system, and the lockpick system, as well as optimization that will come naturally with development.”
“At first, I thought maybe it just wasn't optimized for my PC, but I had two other friends try on their high-end gaming PCs, and they had the same problem.”
“Poor optimization: 4 FPS on the main screen but 50-60 in the game, a lot of lag spikes, completely unplayable.”
- stability6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability has received mixed feedback, with many users noting it is "kinda buggy" and experiencing various glitches. Despite these issues, some players still find the game enjoyable and believe it shows promise, especially as a demo seeking player feedback for improvements. Overall, while stability concerns are prevalent, they do not overshadow the game's potential fun factor.
“Kinda buggy in parts.”
“Games are so buggy, to be honest, and it's a thief sim rip-off with a gun and fighting, and that's it. 5/10 is my thought on this.”
“It's a good game, but there are some glitches; overall, it's good.”
- graphics5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are highly praised for their quality, but this comes at the cost of performance, with some players experiencing significant frame rate drops even on low settings. While the visuals enhance the overall experience, there are calls for more refined settings options and additional polish to improve the graphical presentation.
“The graphics are great and the missions are amazing.”
“The biggest crime this game commits is making the graphics so good it runs at 5 fps on lowest settings.”
“I think it could use some polish with the graphics, and the dialogue for characters is, like in TS2, lame, but the core gameplay is fun.”
“Another thing is game settings, too basic which sometimes would be better to have less options and fancy stuff but here we need borderless windows and other options to adjust graphics, sounds, etc.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, as it involves repetitive tasks like robbing houses and waiting for loot to respawn, leading to a lack of variation in gameplay. However, some users are willing to overlook this due to the game's demo status.
“You'll need a second life for grinding.”
“The gameplay loop of robbing houses, waiting for loot to respawn, and robbing the house again with little variation in where things spawned did get tedious, but due to the demo nature of the game, I couldn't complain too much about it.”
