Recently I have started dabbling into photography using an old point and shoot digicam. Obviously taking pictures with high fidelity modern cameras feel great, but there's something about the images being captured by my obsolete tool that appeal to me. The visibly higher amount of grain, somewhat inaccurate colors, the general lack of sharpness, and so on. I don't use these for capturing life as it is, but instead, to obtain an different kind of view, something my eyes will never hope to produce on its own non-pathologic mechanism. It's a grimy, but electrifying aesthetic that leaves some room to the imagination, even in its most photorealistic form.
In comes Dog Days, an unhinged, raw and violent shooter that tries to take advantage of said digicam mannerisms to heighten its artistic value. Outside of the one time the game acknowledges it, an invisible cameraman follows our titular characters as they unknowingly start a war against a corrupt politician, putting everyone who stands between the guns-for-hire and these scumbag protagonists in danger. The lo-fi camera will only make things seem much more chaotic, as it constantly pixelates and glitches in reaction to your movements and actions, and heavily shake when you're running. At one point it seems like the video bitrate can't handle all the scattered particles and glasses shattering, which is highly entertaining for me. I also love how the camera falls to the floor when you die in gameplay, the overexposure of the sky in daylight, the mozaic censorship of enemy heads when you get a close headshot, and the icons on the UI that seem to emulate the style of a video player. It's an art style that is absolutely not for everybody, I know a lot of people would be uncomfortable with it, whether its due to motion sickness, epilepsy tendencies, or just being too violent (almost like a snuff film at a certain short period), but it's an incredibly engaging take on portraying realism.
Gameplay wise, it's a pretty average but enjoyable third person cover shooter. If you played one of these from the PS3-360 era then you'll be very familiar with this. There's basically three tiers of enemies: gang members, police, and military forces. At first you'll be mostly seeing gang members, which is the least enjoyable point of the gunplay since the guns you get from their dead bodies are mostly inaccurate peashooter, but higher tiers will have better guns, and once you get to use them, it starts to become a decent experience. There's decent weapon variety, although the enemy variety is basically non-existent in terms of their mechanics. There's some extra mechanics like being able to throw explosive objects or holding an enemy as a human shield, but these are mostly situational actions that isn't necessary to exploit.
The enemy AI is nothing too special, but I do like how aggressive they are. It always seems like they know that they have the numbers advantage, and will keep pressing on if you stay in one place for too long. Not to mention there's a lot of destrutible covers around, which makes for a faster pace of gunplay. I just wish that the level design takes more advantage of it, there's a lot of arenas with empty spaces (especially in the middle act) that makes your viable options of attack feel very limited. Also, shoutout to the companion AI, they're actually pretty helpful at saving my ass many times.
What I like most of Dog Days, other than the art style, is how it presents the story. Plot points and character moments happen in a quick manner, as if it's edited by somebody who only wants to show the "good parts". It doesn't make for a great story, but it does feel like it's targeted to somebody who isn't playing this for the story. It's as if we're just curious people who stumbled upon this mysterious violent video of two dudes mowing down hundreds of people, getting brutally tortured in the middle, and keep fucking up everything they touch. It all leads into this feeling of playing something you shouldn't play; an illegal act.
Something I wished Dog Days did more of is having levels set in the actual streets where you can see all the beautiful neon lights and crowds of people in. Maybe a prestige game would nail this, but this game ain't one of those sadly. With this art style, it would just be a one heck of an audiovisual experience. A lot of the levels are set in monotone industrial locations like the docks and a train railyard that aren't exactly pleasing to be in in the first place.
At times, Dog Days can feel rushed and not well-done enough, but many of its qualities are still unique even today, and thus it dodges the all too common fate of being a title that isn't worth remembering. Like how one character describes Shanghai, It's a shit hole. But it's perfect for freaks.
In comes Dog Days, an unhinged, raw and violent shooter that tries to take advantage of said digicam mannerisms to heighten its artistic value. Outside of the one time the game acknowledges it, an invisible cameraman follows our titular characters as they unknowingly start a war against a corrupt politician, putting everyone who stands between the guns-for-hire and these scumbag protagonists in danger. The lo-fi camera will only make things seem much more chaotic, as it constantly pixelates and glitches in reaction to your movements and actions, and heavily shake when you're running. At one point it seems like the video bitrate can't handle all the scattered particles and glasses shattering, which is highly entertaining for me. I also love how the camera falls to the floor when you die in gameplay, the overexposure of the sky in daylight, the mozaic censorship of enemy heads when you get a close headshot, and the icons on the UI that seem to emulate the style of a video player. It's an art style that is absolutely not for everybody, I know a lot of people would be uncomfortable with it, whether its due to motion sickness, epilepsy tendencies, or just being too violent (almost like a snuff film at a certain short period), but it's an incredibly engaging take on portraying realism.
Gameplay wise, it's a pretty average but enjoyable third person cover shooter. If you played one of these from the PS3-360 era then you'll be very familiar with this. There's basically three tiers of enemies: gang members, police, and military forces. At first you'll be mostly seeing gang members, which is the least enjoyable point of the gunplay since the guns you get from their dead bodies are mostly inaccurate peashooter, but higher tiers will have better guns, and once you get to use them, it starts to become a decent experience. There's decent weapon variety, although the enemy variety is basically non-existent in terms of their mechanics. There's some extra mechanics like being able to throw explosive objects or holding an enemy as a human shield, but these are mostly situational actions that isn't necessary to exploit.
The enemy AI is nothing too special, but I do like how aggressive they are. It always seems like they know that they have the numbers advantage, and will keep pressing on if you stay in one place for too long. Not to mention there's a lot of destrutible covers around, which makes for a faster pace of gunplay. I just wish that the level design takes more advantage of it, there's a lot of arenas with empty spaces (especially in the middle act) that makes your viable options of attack feel very limited. Also, shoutout to the companion AI, they're actually pretty helpful at saving my ass many times.
What I like most of Dog Days, other than the art style, is how it presents the story. Plot points and character moments happen in a quick manner, as if it's edited by somebody who only wants to show the "good parts". It doesn't make for a great story, but it does feel like it's targeted to somebody who isn't playing this for the story. It's as if we're just curious people who stumbled upon this mysterious violent video of two dudes mowing down hundreds of people, getting brutally tortured in the middle, and keep fucking up everything they touch. It all leads into this feeling of playing something you shouldn't play; an illegal act.
Something I wished Dog Days did more of is having levels set in the actual streets where you can see all the beautiful neon lights and crowds of people in. Maybe a prestige game would nail this, but this game ain't one of those sadly. With this art style, it would just be a one heck of an audiovisual experience. A lot of the levels are set in monotone industrial locations like the docks and a train railyard that aren't exactly pleasing to be in in the first place.
At times, Dog Days can feel rushed and not well-done enough, but many of its qualities are still unique even today, and thus it dodges the all too common fate of being a title that isn't worth remembering. Like how one character describes Shanghai, It's a shit hole. But it's perfect for freaks.