Wolfhound is an interesting mix and more of a throwback to the NES era than most games today often provide. It has the difficulty you remember, and the large pixel sprites that would shape the characters who have lasted for decades. It's also a Metroidvania, but one that also feels like it is pulling elements from games like Metal Gear or Contra.
The story follows the adventures of Capt. Chuck “Wolfhound” Rosetti as he discovers a Nazi base hidden within the Bermuda Triangle. The story has some dark moments, but Chuck does flavor the dialogue with a bit of humor as well to balance it out. It is here where you will attempt to stop the evil Dr. Steiner from advancing his tech across the base and subsequently, the world.
If I was to describe Wolfhound, as I allude to in the opening paragraph, its equal parts Metroid, Metal Gear, and Contra, all mixing quite well and offering a challenge to boot. It also provides other elements from a variety of classic games, such as zombies that rise from the ground, to spiders that attack out of nowhere. And speaking of Spiders, there is a rather large one that serves as a great boss fight, even despite lacking the proper arsenal to truly deal with it.
Wolfhound leans on the NES era in a lot of ways, and its challenge is certainly that of the era, where short experiences were lengthened with an abrasive difficulty that has you banging your head against the wall trying to tackle a gauntlet of foes or a deadly boss. While the final length of Wolfhound isn't known, as we were only treated to preview the demo, the game still packs a punch and really drives its fist in hard.
While enemies and bosses will take their turns pummeling you into paste, it is the deadly traps and harsh environments that will really dish out the pain. Spikes, landmines, and deadly pits are plentiful, with fall damage serving as a constant presence around you. Wolfhound is deadly, and it wants to sink its fangs into you.
Like any good Metroidvania, traversing, level design, and your core abilities are going to be front and center, providing a very meticulous design philosophy in every pixelated inch. This is especially apparent once you unlock the climbing gloves as it opens up platforming tremendously. You'll find upgrades, ammo, health, new equipment, and a variety of secrets should you really explore the map, with countless shortcuts that loop around in typical fashion.
Due to the location you're in, you'll have vines that you can use to swing to neighbouring platforms, and for the most part, they are serviceable. You'll need to press up on the D-Pad to hang on, but you cannot move up or down the vine, meaning you don't also get the swing trajectory you require. It's a small annoyance but can be avoided if you just time your jumps correctly.
While you'll find new weapons, your pistol is one you'll return to quite often, due to it having unlimited ammo, albeit still having the need to reload each clip. That said, the range of your pistol is frustratingly minimal, meaning you need to get fairly close for your bullets to hit.
Other weapons have a limited ammo supply, but killing enemies will reward you with additional ammo. It sure is oddly convenient that this spider had the exact ammo I needed, but I just won't ask questions and be glad they had it.
Weapons can be upgraded as you find resource packs, which are found through deep exploration. These upgrades are absolutely worth it as they affect your damage, fire rate, and how many bullets they can hold. And, given some guns have a pretty low capacity as is, these can feel crucial at times. You'll also be upgrading your soldier, as new mobility moves help in accessing new areas, like the aforementioned climbing gloves.
Gunplay, rolling, and the basic combat encounters are pretty impressive and feels both part of the era it is pulling from, but with the smoothness of today's games. It's a solid mix of old and new without losing anything in translation. This is especially noticeable during boss encounters that look to help you understand and learn the mechanics, such as the spider showing you the best ways to use your roll.
Visually, Wolfhound checks all the boxes for emulating both the 8bit and 16bit eras, and even into some of the color depth and range of the 32bit era. New locations have distinct color choices that really separate the environments. Combine that with some wonderfully designed and animated enemies, ranging all over the spectrum, and you find yourself with an old school NES game that looks how you remember them.
Even as a demo, a small slice of what's to come, Wolfhound is shaping up to be a really great throwback to an iconic era. Its enemies are deadly, but the environments are a far more threatening force, filled with dangers that can feel like you are running the gauntlet. Still, from mulching down zombies, pink blobs, red spikey wall-crallers, and giant rats, Wolfhound is solid to play, and has more depth than you'd likely think. This small slice offers a great look at what could be the next big Metroidvania.