What Door Kickers: Action Squad is
Door Kickers: Action Squad is a side-scrolling action game with pixel graphics and old school sensibilities. You play as a SWAT trooper sent into Nowhere City USA to deal with the bad guys. Missions ask you to rescue hostages, disarm bombs and complete other objectives, with 84 non linear levels to work through. Before each run you pick your gear from a pool of 60 weapons and gear items, then kick the doors down and react to whatever is waiting on the other side. There are 6 playable characters, each with its own gameplay and level up options, and more than 20 enemy types to learn. A zombie invasion mode lets you play through the game again in a different way.
Playing it with friends
Bring a friend along when a level gets too hard. The game supports couch cooperative multiplayer and online cooperative multiplayer, so you can sit on the same sofa or team up over the internet. In co-op you share the same rooms and corridors, which matters for decisions like whether a team-mate is worth saving or whether you spend your Points on something else. Coordination comes down to who covers which angle, when you push through a door, and how you split the work between shooting, rescuing and disarming.
How a run actually plays
Combat rewards timing and positioning over spray-and-pray. Master weapon recoil, time your reloads, and use distance and cover to stay alive. The Strategic Abilities system puts healthpacks, gear refills and similar decisions in your hands rather than handing them out on a timer, so you choose when to spend them. Points earned during a level can be saved up and spent on an Ultimate to push through a tough final room. Levels are non linear, so there is usually more than one way to approach a space, and restarting is part of the loop: die, restart, rethink the plan and go again. Expect retro graphics, retro sensibilities and a difficulty that asks you to adapt by the seat of your pants.