Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines is out now, adding a shooty new character to the original’s tricky platforming

There’s no greater tool in video games than a grappling hook. 2022’s Grapple Dog knew that, making it the core ability of its platforming. The ability returns in sequel Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines, out today, although there’s now a second character to play as for those fools who favour shooting over hooking.

Pablo, the protagonist from the first game, returns with some new powers including fire-dashing, but players can also switch on the fly to a secondary pup, Luna. Luna seems to be Shadow to Pablo’s Sonic: an edgy anti-hero with an arsenal of guns that might be better suited to certain enemies or challenges.

Otherwise it seems to closely follow the formula of the first game. That won’t please everyone. Matt Cox found the original pretty frustrating in his Grapple Dog review, as it killed him over and over with big gaps between checkpoints.

“Demanding mastery through repetition can work for platformers, but only if it’s done carefully and thoughtfully, where you don’t have to go slug through long trivial stretches before you get another go at the hard bit. The grappling here feels good when you’re allowed to build momentum, but too many levels are more interested in killing it,” he wrote.

That’s pretty negative, and Grapple Dog never clicked with me either in the short time I played. Still, I watch every trailer of the first game and of this sequel and think, yeah, that looks like good stuff. I want to be good at that.

So here’s news of the sequel. I’ll try getting into it again. Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines is out now and currently costs £12/$14.39/€13.99 with the 20% launch discount over on Steam.