Door Kickers Lite

Sometimes, small games can be more complex and engaging that some triple-A releases, especially if the mechanics are fluid and the gameplay is innovative in some way. Thus, Minecraft made history using nothing but 8-bit blocks and pixelated pickaxes, while games with enormous budgets and entire development teams fail to provide the players with an adequate experience.

Door Kickers is all about gameplay and the ability to let the players choose how to enjoy the experience, since you are basically free to approach the missions in any way you see fit. Thus, you control a team of SWAT officers and you must clear out various buildings and locations, while keeping the friendly deaths to a minimum and rescuing any hostages that might be involved.

The idea in itself is quite simple and definitely not original, but the way the developers put it into practice is brilliant and it deserves the recognition it receives. In essence, you have an overview on the entire map and you must use the officers to kick in doors, throw flashbangs and eliminate hostiles in a calculated manner. However, the turn-based mechanics allow you to carefully plan every move and the route of each one of your units, in order to make sure that they check their corners and avoid blind spots as much as possible.

You can pause the action at any point and rethink your approach, in case the plan does not go as you hoped. Although the interface seems barren and devoid of any functions, a simple right-click can reveal a lot of interesting possibilities, such as the fact that you can create custom teams, plant explosives on doors, or throw flashbangs before you enter a room. All these options can be easily reached and put into practice, which makes the gameplay incredibly intuitive and fun.

From a technical point of view, the top-down perspective does not leave any room for impressive graphics, but that doesn’t mean the game looks bad either. A lot of detail went into the level design and the lighting effects are quite good, not to mention the gore that ensues after the first door gets kicked in and the teams make their entrance in style.

Door Kickers may not be your usual kind of game, but it certainly looks and feels nice, not to mention the fact that it can become incredibly addictive from the first few minutes. Moreover, there are plenty of levels to beat and almost endless tactics to put into practice, since no two runs are ever the same.