Cop Bastard launches on Steam on 29 October, according to the announcement from its developer, targim., with Retrovibe publishing. This retro FPS is set in early-nineties Japan and draws its mood from Hong Kong action films and late-nineties PC shooters. You play an especially brutal cop who decides to clean out a building full of criminals. I first got to know Cop Bastard through its demo before moving on to the final version, on PC. Its VHS-style art direction and hard-hitting guns won me over, but the fights lack depth and the formula ends up running out of steam.
At a glance
Cop Bastard sticks to a very direct formula: you walk into a room, take everyone out, grab the ammo and move on to the next one.
Its art direction, mixing grainy VHS footage with period polygons, is its biggest strength.
Shallow combat, a disappointing rage meter and an unconvincing take on Japan hold it back.
A brutal cop let loose in a building full of yakuza
At its heart, a cop at the end of his tether decides to wipe out the criminals in a building. In the release date announcement posted on Steam, the developer promises firefights across Osaka nightclubs, backstreets, apartment blocks and warehouses, and cites vintage cop thrillers and late-nineties PC shooters as influences.
Moment to moment, the gameplay loop follows that idea to the letter. I walk into a room, take out the enemies, pick up ammo and head for the next one. It’s punchy and uncomplicated, and the game clearly puts instant action ahead of any real thinking.
Hitbox has followed the project since its release window was announced, as covered in our piece on Cop Bastard, the retro yakuza shooter. On the Cop Bastard store page on Steam, the game sums up its own programme: corridors, enemies, and the chance to spit in their faces.
Four guns that hit hard, in fights that stay shallow
Four main weapons make up your arsenal: a pistol, a shotgun, an Uzi and a powerful revolver. They feel punchy enough, and the gunplay is genuinely satisfying. Emptying a magazine into a room is great fun, especially with the effects that come with every burst.
Where it falls short is everything around them. Combat comes down to aiming and shooting, with no tactical layer or skills to master, and that noticeably limits the variety of the encounters, which end up feeling much the same from one room to the next.
Cop Bastard also has a rage meter that fills up during fights. On paper, it’s a good idea. Once triggered, though, it’s a let-down: it gives you back a bit of health and has your cop spit at enemies, with no real effect. I’d have liked it to genuinely change the pace of the fights.
Grainy VHS visuals give the game its personality
It’s here that Cop Bastard won me over most. Its art direction blends grainy, analogue VHS-style footage with polygonal graphics that recall the shooters of the era. The result has a real identity, which is fairly rare in the current wave of retro FPS games.
Offices, corridors and destructible objects all react to gunfire, and the environments are particularly well done. On top of that, the game deliberately overdoes its visual effects. Muzzle flashes are blown out, and dust kicks up as soon as you empty your magazine.
Weirdness is part of the package too. Animations are deliberately odd, faces stay frozen and the voice acting sometimes sounds like an old, badly dubbed film. That offbeat identity has its charm, but it’s sometimes hard to tell the intentional quirks from genuine technical flaws.
A demo reworked for a year before launch
Cop Bastard hasn’t come out of nowhere. Its playable demo received a major overhaul in November 2025, adding a short tutorial to get you into the action faster, according to the developer’s Steam announcements. In June 2026, targim. said it had added new weapons and new enemy types, insisting that the final version would be significantly better than the demo of the time.
In September, a new demo was prepared for Boomstock 2026. The following patch added an option to turn off head bobbing, a handy setting if that kind of effect makes you feel queasy. As for languages, the Steam page lists English voices and French text.
A movie-style Japan that lacks authenticity
Cop Bastard is set in Japan, and that’s precisely where its atmosphere convinced me least. Its depiction of the country sometimes lacks authenticity, with very American guns, cartoonish accents and muddled film references.
Hong Kong influences meet a Japanese setting here, and the blend rarely finds its balance. For a game that leans so heavily on atmosphere, that’s a shame.
Cop Bastard is a retro blast with a strong identity
All told, I’m still intrigued by this mix of violence, absurd humour and retro aesthetics. Cop Bastard has real visual personality and guns that feel good to fire, which is enough for a good time over a few sessions.
Over time, though, the formula runs out of steam, for lack of depth in the fights and of mechanics to freshen up the action. If you’re after a short, no-nonsense retro FPS with a strong VHS vibe, it’s worth a look.
| What we like | What we like a lot less |
|---|---|
| Superb VHS and polygonal art direction | Fights that lack depth |
| Punchy guns and satisfying gunplay | No real tactical system or skills to master |
| Destructible environments that react to gunfire | A disappointing rage meter |
| A direct, punchy formula | A movie-style Japan that lacks authenticity |
| Absurd humour and an offbeat identity | Quirks that are hard to tell apart from technical flaws |
| What might make you buy itA retro blast with a one-of-a-kind VHS vibe | What might put you offA formula that runs out of steam quickly |
To see what’s landing over the next few weeks, the Hitbox release calendar lists every date with its official source.