“Dogs of war” was one of those classic games of my youth. My dad held out the floppy disk like a prize and I quickly slotted it into the drive (no need for dos emulators back in my 486 days). What first struck me as terrific about this game was the range of weapons and power-ups that you could purchase before you entered the next stage. This included great weapons like the flamethrower, high-powered blaster weapons and various other detonating projectile shooters in the armoury at the cost of credits earned by killing enemies, collecting items, and weapons and completing levels.
Your character in Dogs of War is slightly customizable, being that you can choose a bald man, a man with some hair and a man with sunglasses. Game-play is enjoyable, if not somewhat repetitive as the game progresses to the higher levels, as you hunt through mazelike office collecting certain key items so that you may exit. Here the map is very useful for finding key items and the exit which you could otherwise be searching for over many hours!
The enemies also tend to surprise you and I remember jolting when new enemies appeared who would become more nimble and equipped with more powerful weaponry as the levels went on. Some of the sound effects will be recognized by gamers as doom effects
such as the death SFX, giving it a nostalgic tone in itself. Otherwise there is no musical score which may have added a little more atmosphere, but considering the size of the download users might like to choose their own fast paced heavy metal or violent rap music!
Another excellent aspect of this cute little game is the multiplayer aspect. A game with limited playability such as this can have its lifespan increased significantly with the fun of murdering little men with a buddy! If you remain within eyesight of each other you share a screen. However, you are not limited by each other and if you choose to pursue different areas of the maze then you may wander around freely with the luxury of split screen (wanting in other co-op games such as Diablo on the PS for those who remember).
As mentioned the graphics are somewhat cartoony and the detail is not huge. However, the levels are interesting with a lot of destructible terrain. Overall, for anyone who is a fan of the birds eye shooter with an interesting range of weapons and a nice multiplayer add-on, Dogs of War is certainly worth another look!
