METAL DOGS

81%
Game Brain Score Based on 80 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • music
METAL DOGS Game Cover
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"Metal Dogs" is a casual top-down shooting action game featuring a fighting dog as the main character. With simple controls, players can enjoy shooting various weapons and battling monsters across changing dungeons. Customize your load-out with a wide range of weapons in three categories: machine guns, cannons, and special equipment, and strategize according to your play style.

  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Windows
  • Play​Station
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

81%
Audience ScoreBased on 80 reviews
music7 positive mentions
grinding3 negative mentions
  • Metal Dogs offers a fun and unique gameplay experience, combining action and dungeon crawling mechanics with adorable canine characters.
  • The game features enjoyable combat with a variety of weapons and the ability to upgrade them, providing a satisfying progression system.
  • The charming graphics and memorable music contribute to an overall delightful atmosphere, making it a great choice for casual gaming.
  • The game suffers from a lack of content and variety, leading to repetitive gameplay and a feeling of being barebones.
  • Controls are not well-optimized for keyboard and mouse, making the game more enjoyable with a controller, which can be frustrating for some players.
  • The English localization is often awkward and poorly translated, detracting from the overall experience.
  • story25 mentions

    The game's story is minimal and often confusing, lacking meaningful character interactions and agency for the player. Players navigate through repetitive missions with a basic plot involving a dog searching for its owner amidst a backdrop of bizarre enemies and environments. Overall, the narrative feels disjointed and serves primarily as a backdrop for the gameplay rather than a compelling experience.

    • “All in all, this game is much like Hades but minus the memorable character interactions, story, and dialogue; but it's also much more approachable to those not confident in their skills when it comes to this type of genre.”
    • “Progress through the story isn't terribly difficult, but the recently added postgame EX missions have challenging boss enemies you may need to grind gear for.”
    • “The plot so far seems like you're a pup looking for its owner or heading to its family after some weird bio-mechanical mutation happened to humanity?”
    • “The mission structure is even more basic and repetitive than the random level generation, as almost all missions simply send you to complete 3-8 'floors' of randomly generated levels.”
    • “Confusing unlocks and storytelling.”
    • “Mechanically it doesn't interfere with the game, but what little story the game has is reduced to nonsense.”
  • gameplay22 mentions

    The gameplay of Metal Dogs is a blend of action and dungeon crawling, featuring cute canine characters and a mix of mechanics that can be both fun and repetitive. While the core loop is engaging and ramps up in difficulty, issues like slow weapon handling and auto-aim detract from the experience, particularly in boss battles. Overall, it offers a casual, stress-relieving experience with potential for customization, though it requires further refinement to justify its price.

    • “Metal Dogs is a very interesting and fun action and dungeon crawling game, which combines many gameplay mechanics with very cute canine characters, resulting in a combination of success.”
    • “The main gameplay loop is pretty fun and causes all the right 'number go up' good brain juices.”
    • “A good game for non-committal stress relief that's easy to get into and learn, combined with a cute theme and an easy gameplay cycle.”
    • “Your weapons turn too slowly, combined with poor accuracy of the awful auto-aim mechanic (yes, you can't manually aim), it made the first boss impossible to beat and now I'm stuck on the fourth mission.”
    • “The core gameplay is easy and highly repetitive.”
    • “Just about every stage halts for a tutorial, and the gameplay ramps up so slowly that I worried the game was flatly going to be bad.”
  • music7 mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its quality and memorability, with many reviewers noting its fitting integration into gameplay and nostalgic ties to previous titles in the series. While some players find it occasionally overshadowed by sound effects, the overall consensus is that the soundtrack enhances the gaming experience, contributing to the fun and engaging atmosphere.

    • “The music slaps harder than a Karen trying to keep her purse from being stolen, and the controls are as smooth and fluid as a refreshing shower.”
    • “Very creative enemy designs and excellent music.”
    • “Epic game, good music, and smooth gameplay; I am really enjoying myself.”
  • grinding4 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious and lacking in excitement, comparing it unfavorably to other titles like Diablo or Path of Exile due to the absence of strategic build decisions. The need to farm materials and currency can feel disheartening, especially as the game progresses and the challenge increases, making the grind feel more like a chore than an engaging experience.

    • “Farming materials and cash to dump on a downgrade is kind of sad, but I guess you could reload if you really care about it.”
    • “The grinding parts of any Diablo or Path of Exile clone feel tedious, especially without compelling build decisions or a need to strategize.”
    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
  • graphics4 mentions

    The graphics in the game are described as clean but limited, with only two graphic settings and a lack of 4K resolution support, leading to a blurry experience on higher resolution displays. Users express frustration over the minimal options available, especially given the game's visual quality.

    • “Graphics are clean, like a pressure-washed surface.”
    • “There are only 2 graphic settings, resolution options, and fullscreen or window mode.”
    • “I can't understand why, with these graphics, they wouldn't add 4K resolution. My screen is native 4K, and at 1920x1080, it's a blurry mess.”
    • “Graphics are clean, but they feel overly simplistic and lack detail.”
  • humor3 mentions

    The humor in the game is initially entertaining, particularly due to the novelty of a dog wielding a gun, but it quickly loses its charm as players realize there is little depth beyond this gimmick. While the concept is cute and amusing at first, it ultimately lacks sustained comedic value.

    • “I got this solely because attaching a gun to a dog looked funny.”
    • “So cute, so funny.”
  • replayability2 mentions

    The game offers strong replayability through the ability to unlock additional dogs and revisit previous areas for upgrades. Players can experiment with different loadouts and dog combinations without needing to restart, enhancing the overall replay value despite being in early access.

    • “The replayability is there as you gain the other two dogs later in the game and revisit old areas to build them up.”
    • “Even though it's early access, the game does have an ending, and I reckon the replay value could be high if you want to try different loadouts or different dogs, which you can do without starting a new game.”
  • stability1 mentions

    The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches, leading users to describe it as a "big terrarium" for stability issues.

    • “The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs and glitches.”
    • “I constantly experience crashes that ruin my gameplay.”
    • “The frequent lag and instability make it nearly unplayable.”
  • atmosphere1 mentions

    The atmosphere is negatively impacted by poorly executed sound effects, with users noting that the machine gun sounds resemble a quietly closing door and explosions lack depth. Additionally, the hub/base theme clashes with the overall ambiance, detracting from the immersive experience.

    • “A lot of the sound effects are pretty bad or poorly implemented - the machine gun sounds like a door being quietly shut in rapid succession, the explosions stack instead of layer, and the hub/base theme feels like it clashes with the atmosphere.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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