Rating: 4.6/5
Within all of the spec-op mil/SWAT-sims that I’ve played, they’ve all been in 3D. Whether it’s Ready or Not, Ground Branch, Operator or Zero Hour, they’ve all aimed to use their dimensions to craft a serious, sometimes dark, overtone for the player to immerse themselves in. Door Kickers does the exact opposite with its limited 2 dimensions…And it works. Released in 2018, the game is oddly reminiscent of an older generation of platforming shooters whether it’s through the (pretty rough)voice dialogues, UI design, and action-packed gameplay. The premise is simple, you play as a SWAT team member either solo or co-op with 6 different classes to choose from each with their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, the Breacher has a shotgun that is capable of annihilating everything, but it’s difficult to not kill hostages in the process and The Recon is great at collecting information of the next room but struggles against groups of enemies. There are also more balanced characters like the Assulter and Off Duty Guy who are capable of most tasks…You get the idea. There is no explicit storytelling, so the core gameplay loop is really just the levels that the player picks as he progresses through each chapter; as the player beats each level, they’re given a star rating based on (1) if they completed a mission or not (if you complete the mission with at least 1 hostage saved, you get 1 star), (2) if the player never dies (applicable only in multiplayer or if the solo player uses the Extra Live tactical gear), and (3) not a single hostage dies (whether by the player or enemies.) With each star you gain on levels, the player can then spend them on buying new weapons and gear for their characters. The cycle repeats.
I would like to first commemorate the sheer creativity of the game through its full and complete use of its 2D environment to build a casual-friendly but also complex gameplay. This is because in the genre of SWAT sims, it is easy to make the game punishing to simulate the real-life stakes of counter terrorist operations(such as RoN), and even for other 2.5D games like Door Kickers 2: Task Force North, we can see a tendency to create serious tension for the player. However, Action Squad utilizes its dimensions in a way that captures both tension of SWAT sims as well as an arcade shooter through its simple mechanics, and it is the composition of all of them mixed and matched together that gives it an approachable gameplay loop that also gradually builds the player up for the later hard-core missions.
Some of these mechanics:
Simple one-trick enemies: you have the basic shooters, the melee, the tanks and you also have the more complex enemies: The hostage takers, who use them as shields; the crazy ones that will execute hostages if alerted, or the bomb terrorists that detonate explosive vests. Each enemy can be countered in one way or another with their own weaknesses, and with enough experience they are challenging but fun at the same time.
Doors: Yes, as the title suggests, 90% of this game is composed of moving into unknown rooms locked behind doors. Intel is limited in uncharted areas, and as such, doors create tension and stakes for the player and once it is opened, the player must react to whatever is behind it.
Objectives: Bomb missions create looming urgency for the player as they are pushed to play aggressively, hostage missions make the player carefully consider their loadout and playstyle to try to neutralize enemies without harming hostages.
Gears, Skills and Equipment: Characters level up as the player progresses, unlocking more passive skills as well as stars to buy weapons and gears such as grenades, flashbangs, or smoke grenades. These items compliment the character and make up for their weaknesses. Defeating enemies and saving hostages also gives strategic points to the player, allowing them to deploy all kinds of supporting items ranging from med-kits to their ultimate skill, usually an extra powerful weapon.
Those are only some of the many aspects of the game, and when they amalgamate together, that’s what elevates this game from a platformer shooter into a real action packed but serious SWAT sim.
All in all, Action Squad’s beauty lies in its unconventional pursuit of the “tactical simulation” and creative optimization within its boundaries. As such, it is able to avoid many issues(bugs, performance, or development time) that conventional SWAT sims faces, and though some might consider it a completely different experience, I believe the uniqueness only plays more into the games favor in creating an unforgettable experience.
Great game, an excellent demonstration of how gameplay and creativity triumphs above all.