There’s no better tool in video games than the grappling hook, and 2022’s Grapple Dog knew that when it made it a staple of its platforming game. That ability returns in the sequel Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines , out today, although there’s now a second character to play as for those fools who’d rather shoot than grapple.
Pablo, the protagonist from the first game, returns with novel powers, including a fire run, but players can also switch to a secondary pup, Luna, on the fly. Luna seems to be the Shadow to Sonic Pablo: a nervous antihero with an arsenal of weapons who may be better suited to certain enemies or challenges.
Otherwise, it seems to follow the formula of the first game closely. That won’t please everyone. Matt Cox found the original quite frustrating in his review of Grapple Dog, as it killed him repeatedly with enormous gaps between checkpoints.
“Requiring mastery through repetition can work well in platform games, but only when done carefully and thoughtfully, where you don’t have to trudge through long, trivial sections before trying again for a difficult part. Grappling here seems good when you can build momentum, but too many levels are more geared towards killing it,” he wrote.
It’s pretty negative, and Grapple Dog never appealed to me in the low time I played it. Still, I watch every trailer for the first game and this sequel and think to myself, yeah, this looks like a good thing. I want to be good at this.
Here’s the news about the sequel. I’ll give it another try. Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines is out now and is currently £12/$14.39/€13.99 with a 20% launch discount on Steam.
