COP BASTARD

What Is COP BASTARD?

COP BASTARD is a retro first-person shooter from solo developer targim., published by Retrovibe, and it released on October 29, 2026 for PC on Steam and GOG. You play Katashi, a disgruntled detective walking through early 90s Osaka, and the game's entire design philosophy fits in its own Steam description: no puzzles, no perks, no upgrades, no aiming down sights. Corridors, yakuza, and a fat stack of ammunition.

The pitch is deliberate regression. Where most modern shooters pile on builds and loadouts, COP BASTARD strips back to late-90s PC shooter fundamentals. Tight corridors, room clears, enemies that shoot on sight, and a scoring system that rewards you for being ruthless with corpses. Built in a modern engine with retro sensibilities, it runs on nearly anything: the minimum spec asks for 1 GB of RAM and a GPU capable of Shader Model 2.0.

PC Gamer covered it before launch with a piece calling it exactly what it says on the tin, and the launch landed alongside a 10 percent discount that drops the price from $12.99 to $11.69.

COP BASTARD Details

Getting Started: How the Game Plays

COP BASTARD is a corridor shooter in the purest sense. Levels channel you through tight interior spaces, enemies spawn in waves and rush you, and survival comes from quick reflexes, clean tracking, and knowing when to backpedal. There are no side objectives, no keycard hunts, no shops. You move, you shoot, you spit, you score.

Two systems give the game its identity beyond pure nostalgia, and both reward aggression.

The charge meter. Killing enemies builds up a charge meter, and spending it forces a constant tactical decision. You can spit on fallen yakuza to restore health, or dump the charge into slow motion for cinematic room clears. Health or style, never both. Learning when to bank charge and when to spend it is the real skill ceiling of the game.

The corpse tax. Emptying extra rounds into already-dead targets pumps your score. The game openly rewards ruthless aggression over ammo conservation, so the optimal way to play is also the most disrespectful way to play. It is funny, and it is mechanically sound: players who commit to the bit score higher.

The Arsenal

The street-issued arsenal is small and punchy, and each weapon has a job.

Beretta. Your trusty sidearm and the workhorse. Fast handling, decent damage, and the weapon you fall back on when everything else runs dry. Aim for heads, keep moving, and do not let it force you into long-range duels it cannot win.

Double-barrel shotgun. The room-clearing tool. Two shells, devastating up close, and the correct answer to any group of goons funneling through a doorway. Treat every shell as precious and every trigger pull as a commitment; reloading mid-firefight is how runs end.

Heavy magnum revolver. The precision hammer. It hits hard enough to delete priority targets, and it rewards the calmest hands in your inventory. When a room has one dangerous enemy behind a crowd, the magnum is what you draw.

Smoke, flying lead, and gore fill the screen in every firefight, and the pounding soundtrack keeps pace. The game runs on classic shooter logic: enemies telegraph, corridors favor the defender, and aggression beats caution when you manage your health pool.

Tips: Charge Meter Strategy, Spit or Slo-Mo

Every kill feeds the meter, and every spend is a bet. Here is how to think about it.

Default to health when low, always. Spit heals are the only sustain in the game. If you are below half health with charge banked, spend it on a corpse and get your hit points back. A stylish slow-motion death scores nothing.

Save slo-mo for crowded rooms. Slow motion shines when multiple enemies converge and you need time to line up doubles with the shotgun or pick targets in sequence. Triggering it in a one-on-one hallway wastes the meter's best use case.

Chain clears to rebuild. Kills rebuild charge, so a well-spent slo-mo room clear often pays for itself. The meter rewards momentum: aggressive players who keep killing keep earning, while passive poke-and-cover play starves the meter.

Pre-charge before hard rooms. If you can hear the next wave, bank charge first. Entering a tough room at full health with a full meter gives you both survival and style options; entering with neither is where runs die.

Scoring and the Ruthlessness Bonus

Steam leaderboards are live, and the scoring system has one big lever: extra rounds into downed enemies multiply your points. The practical loop is kill, confirm with contempt, move on. It costs ammo, and the game gives you enough of it that ammo is not really the constraint. Score chasers should treat every corpse as a punching bag and every room as a leaderboard attempt.

Leaderboard climbing also rewards speed. Fewer hits taken, faster room clears, and uninterrupted aggression all push your numbers up. The game is short and built for replays, so leaderboard runs are the natural endgame after the credits.

What It Runs On

The minimum requirements are almost a joke, which is part of the charm.

The GOG version is DRM-free with an offline installer, and achievements plus cloud saves sync through Galaxy if you want them. Full controller support is listed on Steam, and Steam Cloud and leaderboards are included. There is no macOS or Linux build.

Is It Worth $11.69?

If you know what a boomer shooter is and you like the idea of one stripped to studs, yes. COP BASTARD asks about three hours of your time, charges less than a movie ticket for it, and delivers exactly the loop it advertises. The charge meter spit-or-slo-mo choice is a real mechanic, not a gimmick, and the corpse-desecration scoring gives score chasers a reason to replay.

Who should skip it: players who need progression systems, story depth, or level variety. This is a pure corridor shooter, and it will not apologize for that. The 10 percent launch discount makes the first week the right time to grab it.

FAQ

When did COP BASTARD release? October 29, 2026, on Steam and GOG for Windows PC.

How much does it cost? $12.99 base price, with a 10 percent launch discount bringing it to $11.69.

Is there a demo? Yes, a free COP BASTARD demo is on Steam.

Does it have multiplayer? No. It is a single-player game with Steam leaderboards for score comparison.

What are the system requirements? Extremely low: 1 GB of RAM and a Shader Model 2.0-capable GPU meet the minimum. Almost any PC from the last 15 years runs it.

Is it on consoles? Not currently. Steam and GOG on Windows are the only platforms.

Is the GOG version DRM-free? Yes, with a fully offline installer available.

Community Links

• COP BASTARD on Steam
• COP BASTARD on GOG
• Launch trailer
• Retrovibe on Steam

Final Verdict

COP BASTARD is a confident little game that knows its genre's rules and refuses to add a single one. The Osaka setting gives the yakuza-splattering a fresh coat of paint, the charge meter keeps every firefight a decision, and the scoring system rewards exactly the kind of ruthless nonsense the title promises. For the price of lunch you get a tight retro shooter that runs on a potato. Buy it on GOG if you want it forever, buy it on Steam if you want the leaderboards, and spit on something in the first five minutes.