21 Best PS5 Crime Games That You Can’t Refuse

We’ve seen some superb takes on the crime underbelly in film and television, but the world never really celebrates video game crime titles in the same way. Well they’re there, and they’re excellent, so join us as we recount the top 20 crime games that are available on the PS5

#21 RoboCop: Rogue City

Platform: PC PS5 XSX|S
Release Date: November 02, 2023

Steam | PlayStation | Xbox

Alex J. Murphy didn’t ask to be the legendary Robocop. But now, he has sworn to protect Detroit from crime and ensure that the people are safe, no matter what! In RoboCop: Rogue City, you’ll continue that mission in your own way, having fun as the legendary defender of justice as you clean up the streets one crime at a time.

A new threat is coming, and many other factions within the city are anxious for their arrival. Search for clues, defeat enemies, and fulfill your prime directives! But how you do so is up to you. Remember, you’re not just Robocop; you’re Alex Murphy, and that’s a huge difference.

#20 Hidden Agenda

• Developer: Supermassive Games
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Oct 2017

Supermassive Games had been keen to build on the momentum established with the launch of PS4 exclusive Until Dawn, but the follow-up titles were incapable of hitting in the same way, and this was exemplified by Hidden Agenda. The bulk of the game was a QTE littered affair that tried to take advantage of the PlayLink initiative that PlayStation had gotten going. Phones allowed players to make key decisions when they arose but there simply wasn’t enough of them, nor was the story engaging enough, to keep people invested. 

#19 Serial Cleaner

• Developer: Curve Digital
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Jul 2017

Want more Hotline Miami, but with a more stealthy edge? Perhaps Serial Cleaner might be for you. An exciting top-down, hilariously gory title that doesn’t do anything especially new, but what it does, it does well. The 1970’s stylings are fantastic, and coupled with solid gameplay systems and a great personality, Serial Cleaner becomes an entertaining game for fans of all ages and stages. 

#18 Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition

• Developer: Rockstar Studios
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Nov 2021

While Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy Definitive Edition launched with its issues last year. It was quite egregious the state that the game was in upon launch. Thankfully, 99% of those issues have been cleared up and we can go back to looking at the games as what they are, exceptional open worlds rife with opportunity. Whether it’s the streets of Liberty City, Vice City, or even San Andreas, there’s potential around every corner, good or bad. The games were classics on their original platforms, and are just as exceptional all these years on.

#17 Empire of Sin

• Developer: Romero Games
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Dec 2020

A lot of mob games tend to see you fighting back against the mob, in the case of Empire Of Sin, you’re assuming the role of a mob boss, and delegate jobs for your cronies to do during the Prohibition era of Chicago. Build out your influence and suppress the influences of others in the area, from other bosses to law enforcement figures in an enticing world filled with the best and worst of society

#16 Mafia Definitive Edition

• Developer: Illusion Softworks
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Sep 2020

2K is looking to reinvigorate the Mafia franchise currently, and the first step in that revitalisation is the remaking of the original title. Of course, pretty visuals and other improvements in presentation are nice, but it cannot hide the fact that it’s still a PS2-era game at the end of the day. The world is still fascinating to explore but it feels dated in the gameplay realm as bigger and better open worlds from within the Mafia franchise, and outside of it have all come since.

#15 Sherlock Holmes Chapter One

• Developer: Frogwares
• Platform: PS4, PS5
• Release Date: Nov 2021

We’ve seen numerous takes on Sherlock Holmes over the years, across numerous artistic mediums, however it’s Frogwares’ Sherlock Holmes Chapter One that is amongst the best of the best. An origin story of sorts, players have the opportunity to explore Sherlock Holmes’ “consulting detective” phase that evolves after his mother’s death that prompts him to head back to his childhood home in Cordona, a town that he soon realises is falling apart under the weight of crime. He needs to fix that, and it’s an incredible ride worth experiencing by all.

#14 Mafia 3

• Developer: Hangar 13
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Oct 2016

The open–world of Mafia 3 was absolutely the game’s weakest element, with fairly repetitive gameplay and mission structure plaguing the lengthy title, however it is the game’s narrative, characterisation and darker tones that make the game shine. Those elements are so exceptional that they will keep players invested, even when the moment-to-moment seeks to push you away.

#13 Saints Row: The Third Remastered

• Developer: Volition
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: May 2022

Looked upon by fans as the franchise’s best entry, Saints Row: The Third was a title that many were very happy to see remastered back in 2020. The loud, proud and bombastic action and personality has never shone brighter, while the GTA inspirations in the gameplay realm continued to impress, and were again built upon in ways that only Saints Row titles can achieve.

#12 L.A. Noire

• Developer: Team Bondi
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Nov 2017

L.A. Noire was such an incredibly fascinating title when it first launched in 2011, leaning heavily upon its facial capture to immerse players in the narrative and assist in the decision making moments that your protagonist, Cole Phelps must make. Study the evidence, poke holes in the stories of those you interrogate, and tear down a crime syndicate in one of the most interesting and well executed crime-busting titles you’ll ever find. 

#11 A Way Out

• Developer: Hazelight Studios
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Mar 2018

When many think of Hazelight Studios they think of three things, Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons, 2021’s multi-Game Of The Year winning It Takes Two, and Joseph Fares’ crazy antics. Many forget the superb A Way Out though, an incredibly fascinating two-player, couch-co-op prison-break title that subverts expectations regularly and forces difficult decisions from the duo of players that will break hearts at times. A Way out is a story not to be missed, and gameplay that continually enthralls.

#10 Yakuza Kiwami 2

• Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Aug 2018

The PS2-era Yakuza games had all seen better days, none more than the original title, Yakuza, and so, as the franchise began to boom in the west, Sega decided to give the early games a remake. Yakuza Kiwami 2 got the equivalent level of tender love and care that the original Kiwami game got, but was even more exceptional, with much-needed improvements to the original’s combat implemented and narrative tweaks introduced to modernise the game in all of the right ways. 

#9 Hotline Miami

• Developer: Dennaton Games
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Aug 2014

Bloody and bad-ass is about all you need to say to describe Hotline Miami. It’s arrival took the gaming world by storm thanks to it’s incredibly brutal nature, a surprisingly engaging narrative, richly explored themes, an unrelenting beat, and tightly refined gameplay systems. Of course, the neon lights of the 1980s setting also catches eyes, and makes the bloody brutality pop even more. It’s one of the greatest indies ever made, and not to be missed.

#8 Payday 2

• Developer: Overkill Software
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Jun 2015

Being a live-service, Payday 2 suffered from the same things that plague most new live-service titles – a lack of content. Payday 2 started thinly, and was lacking in a few other areas too such as visual fidelity, but it found a community, and so that guaranteed additional support and additional content. Today, Payday 2 is one of the most beloved online multiplayer titles in the world and the amount of content is something fans continue to praise.

#7 Watch Dogs 2

• Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Nov 2016

The original Watch Dogs promised so much but largely failed to deliver. The hack your way through the world concept was great but failed to deliver, however, Watch Dogs 2 turned things around. The original was especially serious and it’s protagonist Aiden Pearce sucked, but Watch Dogs 2 turned all of that around. The flip in tone, and protagonist Marcus Holloway were much more engaging, the gameplay options were more plentiful, while all gameplay styles were tailored to, better than the original ever did. To date, Watch Dogs 2 is the franchise’s pinnacle.

#6 Judgment

• Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Jun 2019

The growing success of the Yakuza franchise led to serious growth, as spin-offs such as Judgment emerged. You assume the role of a private detective in the Judgment universe, Takayuki Yagami, as you explore the exploits of a serial killer who has been murdering Yakuza members in the Kamurocho region. It gets dark, creepy, but Judgment ticks all boxes and is the perfect complement to the tone of the core Yakuza franchise.

#5 Lost Judgment

• Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
• Platform: PS4, PS5
• Release Date: Sep 2021

Building upon the fantastic foundation of the original Judgment, Lost Judgment is a safe, but superb follow-up that delivers another impactful and engaging narrative, one that shifts between lighter and darker tones to change the pace better than the original ever did. The varied side-quests also gave the game more life, and reduced some of the occasional moments of monotony found in the original.

#4 Sleeping Dogs

• Developer: United Front Games
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Oct 2014

Oh Sleeping Dogs, what could have been. Sleeping Dogs was once destined to be a part of True Crime franchise, before Activision nipped it in the bud. Thankfully in came Square-Enix, scooping up the franchise rights and saving the day because Sleeping Dogs wound up becoming one of the best open world titles of the generation, one of the most fascinating plots, and one of the coolest crime games around.

#3 Yakuza Like A Dragon

• Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
• Platform: PS4, PS5
• Release Date: Nov 2020

The seventh core Yakuza entry, Yakuza Like A Dragon was a major turning point for the franchise as the franchise’s makeup changed from real-time brawling, to Dragon Quest inspired turn-based combat. Combine this move with the richly vibrant world of prior Yakuza games, some of the best side-quests the IP has seen, and a phenomenal cast of new characters, and more, and suddenly Yakuza Like A Dragon sets a new franchise benchmark.

#2 Grand Theft Auto V

• Developer: Rockstar Studios
• Platform: PS4, PS5
• Release Date: Nov 2014

Rockstar have long been the kings and queens of the open-world genre, and it shows just how incredible GTA V is that it has managed to transition from PS3 to PS4, and now PS5 and still be the multi-million per year seller that it’s always been. There’s nothing that can be said here, that hasn’t been said by millions, but there’s nothing that GTA hasn’t done, after nearly a decade, its legacy continues to grow.

#1 Red Dead Redemption 2

• Developer: Rockstar Studios
• Platform: PS4
• Release Date: Oct 2018

Similarly to how the original Red Dead Redemption built upon the learnings of GTA IV and enhanced things further, despite the limitations that come from the older, Western setting, Red Dead Redemption 2 did the same thing following on from GTA V. The number of fascinating things to do in the west is impressive, especially considering that each of them are richly detailed enough to be their own games. Everything Red Dead Redemption 2 does, it does spectacularly, ensuring that it will go down as one of the consoles greatest games