Door Kickers is a top-down tactical simulation game focused on managing a SWAT unit through a variety of scenarios. The game focuses on going into a location, such as a ship or a supermarket, with a team of up to 4 operatives and clearing it. Missions include a variety of unique objectives such as freeing hostages or defusing bombs.
Before you start a mission, you have to decide what class/weapons your operatives use. In-game, you do this through a profile page for each operative. The profile page details their class and the equipment they are currently using. You can choose their equipment, including guns, armour, shields, and more. You can also unlock various items, each with its own stats. For example, certain guns, such as the MP5SD, are quieter than the MP5A3-SD variant. But the MP5SD isn’t as accurate or damaging as the MP5A3-SD. Other weapons also have pros and cons, but you can switch if you’re on a mission that requires accuracy or in a close-quarters environment.
I don’t like the equipment options because they’re too basic. My first criticism is that the guns in-game are only the variants you can have. For example, as a point man, you can have the P226 handgun, but it’s only available in silenced/standard versions. This works and it seems OK to use. I would have preferred a system that allowed customisation. For example, you could have the P226 as the base option for a weapon. From there on it would have been preferred if I could then customise it with a variety of attachments. Also, each part would have its own benefits, like increased accuracy and reduced noise. Then you could name each variant for a given purpose. This is good if you wanted an entire unit to use one variant for a mission. Whilst having the option to then switch to another for a different mission.
In this game, all your weapons have unlimited ammo, so you don’t need to worry about whether your team is trigger-happy. This is good for players who don’t mind wasting ammo. But if you want a realistic game, it is bad because you can fire as many rounds as you like.
My other criticism of the game’s equipment is that most of it is lethal. The only exception is the taser, which is only usable in close quarters. There is no less-than-lethal options such as a pepperball or bean bag gun. The lack of this is strange, since the entire point of SWAT teams is to save lives (even if it’s the bad guys).
After you decide what equipment your team will use, you have to draw a line each member will follow. For example, you can have your team enter a building and then have each team member clear a room. You can also amend this in-game if you need to change routes or if a team member is injured. The fact that you can change it at a moment’s notice is good. Since you can get someone to clear a room, you can also escort a hostage after clearing it if you want to.
But planning in this game is also more complex. This game offers you various devices that are usable while breaching a door, like flash bangs to disorient attackers or a magic wand to see where enemies are in a room during a mission. This makes the game smarter, since you have to plan how you enter a room and what you’ll use. You also don’t know where assailants are, so you have to consider everything before drawing a path on the map senselessly.
This game also lines enemies up and has them camping outside a building entrance; at times, you can split up your team so they can attack from another direction. Some missions only allow one entry into a building, and it is a dangerous entry point. But it is RNG, so enemies aren’t always in the same position. This also applies to everything else, including accuracy and how many hits people can take.
Overall, I can recommend this game if you want a top-down tactical police squad simulation. For those seeking a game that is intelligent and in-depth, I wouldn’t recommend this as you will be disappointed.
