If I was to pitch you a game about anthropomorphic canines who are sent down to a planet's surface to mine away at precious, and sometimes volatile, resources, all while using heavy artillery and jet packs to decimate hordes of aliens, I would likely be laughed out of the room. However, that bizarre concept aside, Gravhounds is some of the most fun I've had with a multiplayer game this year. Now, who wants belly rubs?
Developed by Octopus Panic, Gravhounds is their debut game. This is a studio with industry veterans who have worked on the likes of Star Wars: Battlefront, Battlefield, and Halo. While we’ve seen similar boasting from ex-studio devs making their mark elsewhere fall flat on their heads, Gravhounds is one of the few titles in recent memory that had me hooked in under a minute. It simply feels amazing to play.
Gravhounds, despite this well-earned praise, isn't wholly original. This is very much the same breed as something like Deep Rock Galactic, or even Helldivers, as mining resources and shooting hordes of monsters is this game's bread and butter. However, where Gravhounds differs is through the use of its turret defense options.
At the start of each mission, you'll land on the planet's surface with your ship, the Collector. Each corner of the ship has a powerline that you can expand. You can adjust and move this line how you see fit, surrounding your base, or extending it outward to resources far off in the distance. You can then mount turrets or other equipment at each node that connects the line. Ideally, you want to defend the Collector while you are out doing your tasks, from checking out Points of Interest, to harvesting minerals or biomass.
Turrets come in all sorts of flavors, from guns, lasers, rockets, or mortar shells. Turrets can then be leveled up, increasing their effectiveness. And, as you continue to work through your skill trees, you'll find more options, and even encounter random turrets as you explore, many of which you may not even have unlocked yet.
As you collect resources, you'll earn capital that you can then put back into your base to buy more turrets, or extend out your power line. Now, how you manipulate this line, equip turrets, and mine away at resources is through your gravity mining laser. This multifaceted tool can be used in all manner of ways. You'll harvest stones and then chuck them back at your base, just make sure your aim is true. Hell, if your ally is downed, you can pick them up and chuck them too. You can also send resources down the powerline as well, it'll just get back to your Collector a bit later than a direct toss.
Your mining laser can also repair your turrets, and using it to plunker down your turrets is as easy as pressing X to mount it, and RT to secure it. It even slides the turret into place, making it easy to handle even when enemy forces have rolled up and are decimating your defenses.
Every few minutes, you'll have enemy waves attack your Collector. If your Collector dies, or your whole team, your mission fails, but you maintain any earned experience or challenges, so dying isn't a total loss. Still, waves will start off pretty basic and evolve into swarms of a hundred or so threats, all without a single drop in performance.
And, as you level up mid-run, you'll earn upgrades, all decked out based on your skill deck that you adjust back at base. You can have 11 total skills/perks that will then rotate through supply drops you earn as you level up. These supply drops can also be used as a weapon as their landing can kill almost anything they hit, including you. You'll have the choice between three options, and these upgrades can range anywhere from having a faster reload, dealing more damage via your critical shots, or even free turrets. And, with a massive skill tree, you'll likely find it hard to choose between just 11 perks or skills to take with you. I do hope that Octopus Panic adds in loadouts for each of the puppers.
Each mission takes place on its own planet in a variety of systems. You have a set area where you land, but building the fabricator, which is how you build things, is up to you on placement, as are how you'll apply the powerlines. Right now, there is a set limit of locations in Early Access, but this isn't a game you're just beating over a weekend, as missions get progressively harder as you venture deeper into space.
Your cast of Gravhounds currently consists of five dogs, with more breeds to follow the game's official launch down the road. Still, the five dogs present are solid choices, even if the lack of a true Corgi means I can't take my dog into space. That said, I do know a Shibu Inu down the street named Micah that will earn that glory for now.
The cast consists of some solid choices, as well as a few breeds people likely have seen, but maybe don't know the breed name. Dozer, is your traditional Bulldog, and is the tank of the group. He has the highest HP of the crew and is a solid choice for those wanting to be in the thick of it. Dozer can dig into the group to set bomb traps for your foes. Selene is a Weimaraner, a breed I know well, as I used to walk one for a friend for quite some time. She is the all-rounder and very mobile part of the group, complete with a get out of dodge teleport for distancing her from the fight. And that teleport? Well, you throw a frisbee and she leaps to snag it.
Finn fills in the Shiba Inu role here and is a bit of a glass cannon, given his low health but solid stats elsewhere. His play dead ability heals him while trapping enemies in a dome that slows their movement while he heals. Sadly, his dome doesn't heal anyone else, so don’t look to Finn as a support class. Zane, the Doberman is a very tall, and close-quarters pupper who is built for handling hordes of creatures. He can create a defensive shockwave with a series of barks, making him a good lead into battle. Lastly, is Luna, the Samoyed, a breed also known as the Sammy. We had one on our block for years, before they moved, and had a smile I'll never forget. Luna is a speedy gal and her boost can also affect her teammates, keeping them up to her speed.
Overall, the selection here for Early Access is solid, with more breeds on the way. Each breed has varying stats in HP, boost, mining, and more, making you factor in your playstyle and then pick accordingly.
Personally, I love the character art for the squad, but I do hope the character models see a boost in personality and detail, as they all feel a tad bland, especially Finn, whose head feels more like a recycled Racoon asset from another game. The game does lean into a bit of a cartoon vibe, so hopefully we see some DreamWorks panache injected here. Honestly, their models are the only visually disappointing aspect of the game.
The planets you explore are varied in their style and have select points of interest scattered around your landing zone. Some of these are interactive; like races or a very bizarre trivia game, while others have switches that hide things, like a cat robot that serves coffee, but is mad at you for getting in their way.
Each planet has a variety of resources. Some will have one in particular, or a combination of a few. Some resources are used in your skill tree, such as Biomass, making a regular stop to the likes of those planets to be essential. The topography is varied as well, but a lot of the design of the game is built with open areas more so than claustrophobic caves or underground areas. The game is built so you can see the hordes coming, instead of just relying on radar. Thankfully, you are shown the directions enemies will generally attack from.
While Gravhounds can be enjoyed solo, It's not an experience I recommend doing so past the first few planets, largely since the difficulty can ramp up considerably during the final few waves and one player would just be completely overwhelmed. Gravhounds supports up to four players, and this gives each player something to do. One can set up defenses at the Collector, with others on gathering resources or checking out Points of Interests for blueprints. It really comes alive as a co-op experience, even just with one other player.
While playing solo, you do have several lives before the mission is a failure, whereas in co-op, you can continue the mission as long as one teammate is alive. What I love about coming back from the dead is that you'll have the cone of shame around your neck for a few minutes, and I can't tell you how hard I laughed when I first saw it.
Gravhounds is shaping up to be something very cool, and the developer has made a clear roadmap leading up to release with adding new weapons, jobs, and new puppers for us to play around with. Now, they just need to add a tri-color Corgi and we’re looking at Game of the Year right there.
Gravhounds is currently in Early Access on Steam, and Game Preview on Xbox and Xbox Game Pass.