Disclaimer: Note that Dog Duty is still in early access. Due to this, the features mentioned here may or may not change in the final product.

The world is under the ominous threat of total and complete annihilation by the evil Octopus Commander and his army. However, due to a fluke in their prison security, you find yourself free from your cage. You’ll need to rescue more capable fighters along the way and assemble a squad of three misfit heroes. Defeat all of the Octopus Commander’s lieutenants so you can finally, breach the commander’s fortress, Octopia, and save the world from the commander’s tyranny.

All of this set the scene for the unique world in the early access, arcade shooter game, Dog Duty; a world where you’ll get to explore and, if you encounter any enemy bases or outposts, recapture. Though I’ve got to say, the villains here sound a lot like Hydra from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. … you know, the evil octopus and its many “agents”?

Anyway, the gameplay here comes in two forms – the “open-world format” where you control the vehicle your squad is on rather than the squad itself, and of course, the arcade shooter component in which you’ll get to control individual team members as you go about completing your mission and/or liberating squid-controlled locations.

The “open-world format” gameplay is truly fantastic here. Battles that take place on top of your vehicle are quite interesting, especially when bombs are involved. You’ll need to move your people around the limited space just so they can still shoot at the enemy without taking the brunt of the bomb damage.

Moving your vehicle around is really intuitive as well – you just need to click and drag your cursor around, after all. Plus, it’s insanely fun to do donuts while crushing all the enemy pursuers that congregate around your vehicle into dust. There is also a nice selection of vehicles you’ll get to “drive” here, ranging from a massive military truck to a hovercraft.

The more tactical and slower-paced arcade shooter aspect of the game is also insanely fun. Now, Dog Duty is not your usual, run-and-gun arcade shooter. The game is incredibly tactical, forcing you to really plan ahead and make full use of the environment, such as explosive barrels, turrets, and sandbag barriers, as well as consumable items, like bulletproof vests and Molotovs, which can be looted from crates.

For instance, taking cover is a must if you want to drastically lower the damage your team receives while planning routes and avoiding patrols are crucial especially when you want to sneakily take out an enemy turret before they could use it on you! Going Rambo, on the other hand, will only guarantee a complete team wipe. This is especially true when it comes to boss fights!

I also really like that the game allows you to revive fallen teammates with around half of his health bar intact and no other penalties because, despite my best efforts, my squad still dies pretty often. However, since the game’s still in early access, there are some bugs at the moment which may cause your characters to get stuck in certain parts of the map or make your characters temporarily unresponsive to your clicks. The camera controls can be a tad bit wonky from time to time too.

In terms of the graphics and the sound, the game has unique pixel-like visuals that seem to fit the game like a glove. The music and sound effects also both work in tandem with the explosive animations and graphics to create an immersive gameplay experience. However, I do notice that the default volume for sound in this game is rather deafening. If you do plan on buying and playing this game, make sure to lower the volume before you do anything. Your ears will thank you for it!

All in all, Dog Duty is a tactical arcade shooter that tries very hard to differentiate itself from other similar games within the genre… and in that respect, the game did really well. The gameplay is both entertaining and not-too-difficult to play, at least for the first playthrough, but once you complete the game, you should be able to replay the game at a much higher difficulty.

Dog Duty is definitely a game worth keeping an eye on at the very least, but if you’re eager to give the game a shot, you can dive right into the early access right now by buying Dog Duty on Steam!