DOGENSTEIN: Doom with a dog? Yes, and that is already an excellent reason to bite

Let us ask the question that matters: is DOGENSTEIN just Doom with a dog instead of the Doom Slayer, or is there more to it? The honest answer is that yes, it is essentially classic boomer shooter dressed up as a canine adventure, and no, it does not reinvent anything. But when the formula is this well executed, this sharp and this funny, you find yourself not asking for more. Sometimes, a good dog that shoots is more than enough.

The context

DOGENSTEIN is a boomer shooter developed by Marc Leclerc, available on PC via Steam with full controller support and camera comfort options. It is a lightning-fast retro FPS, an owned homage to the golden age of 1990s shooters, in which the legendary dog DOGENSTEIN fights back across thirteen action-packed levels. Each is riddled with unique gags, chaotic set pieces, hidden secrets and memorable moments. The pitch is as simple as it is effective: speed, fun and a dog that blasts monsters, unpretentious and with no dead time.

The gameplay

The heart of the game is the pure pleasure of the boomer shooter, and DOGENSTEIN renders it faithfully. You run fast, shoot relentlessly, dodge through labyrinthine levels in search of secrets, in that sharp, legible frenzy that made the original Doom and Wolfenstein legends. It is that immediate sensation, that frantic rhythm where you never stop moving, that gives the experience all its zest, and the game serves it with a remarkable sense of tempo. For anyone who grew up with 90s FPS games, it is a jubilant return to the roots.

What gives DOGENSTEIN its personality, beyond the canine gimmick, is its sense of humour and level design. The thirteen levels do not just chain corridors filled with enemies: they teem with gags, scripted chaotic set pieces and hidden secrets that reward exploration and break the routine of shooting. That generosity in small memorable moments lifts the game above a simple clone: you play not only to kill, but to discover the next absurd idea or the next wink. It is that spirit, that desire to make you smile as much as shoot, that answers the opening question: yes, there is a bit more than Doom with a dog.

You must nonetheless stay clear-eyed about the game's scale. DOGENSTEIN is a competent, fun boomer shooter, but it stays faithful to the formula without shaking it up, and genre purists will find familiar mechanics rather than a revolution. Thirteen levels is an honest length for this type of game, but this is an experience built for sharp sessions more than for a dozens-of-hours marathon. It is a concentrated, effective pleasure, not a genre behemoth, and you have to approach it with that horizon of expectation.

The other reservation is the repetitiveness inherent to the boomer shooter. Well-paced as it is, the game rests on a run-and-gun loop that, over the long haul, can tire if you are not already won over by the genre. The humour and the level-design variety largely compensate, but DOGENSTEIN stays a targeted proposition, which will speak first to retro-FPS fans and 90s nostalgics. For them, it is a treat; for others, a likeable but dispensable pleasure.

The tech

Technically, DOGENSTEIN owns its retro aesthetic coherently and effectively. The action stays perfectly legible even in the heat of the moment, a vital condition for such a fast FPS, and the frantic rhythm suffers no dead time. The full controller support and the camera comfort options testify to appreciable care for accessibility, a detail far from systematic in the genre. The game responds instantly, which is the essential thing for this type of experience.

The technical reservations are minimal and on the scale of the project. A bit more visual variety between some levels would have been welcome, but the whole effectively serves its retro, sharp subject, without betraying its ambition through an annoying technical flaw. Marc Leclerc delivers a clean, smooth game designed for immediate pleasure, in the image of what a good boomer shooter promises. Smoothness comes first, and it is there.

The verdict

DOGENSTEIN is an excellent little boomer shooter, which answers its opening question with a smile: yes, it is Doom with a dog, but a Doom with a dog packed with humour, secrets and memorable moments. Its faithfulness to the sharp pleasure of the retro FPS, its level design generous in gags and its frantic rhythm make it a jubilant return to the roots, served by a clean finish and a real concern for fun. For genre fans, it is a treat to devour.

Its limits are those of its owned ambition: it does not revolutionise the formula, its length is concentrated, and its retro loop will speak mostly to 90s FPS enthusiasts. But in its register, that of the fun, unpretentious boomer shooter, DOGENSTEIN does exactly what it promises, and it does so with flair and good humour. A good dog that shoots fast and makes you laugh: sometimes, that is all it takes.

A sharp, funny retro boomer shooter, proving that a Doom with a dog can be more than a simple gimmick.

Score: 7/10

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Reviewed on the PC version.