GRAVHOUNDS holds four players, and Octopus Panic put it into Early Access on Monday. It is on Steam, in Game Preview on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox PC, and on Game Pass from day one. It costs $19.99, and Steam has it at $14.99 through the 25% launch discount.
The store page lists online co-op but says nothing about dedicated servers, crossplay or LAN. That is the first thing I would ask the studio, because a Game Pass player and a Steam player in the same group is the normal case now. Solo works too. The store page calls the game “already fully playable solo or in co-op with up to four players,” so nobody has to wait for a full lobby.
You play bio-engineered dogs, blue-collar workers in the studio’s own words, sent to hostile planets to gather resources and build defences while alien swarms come at you. There are 25 planets across seven solar systems, 21 turret and defence designs, and pipelines you run across the map to power the base and move materials. The Grav Beam is the headline tool. It flings objects and enemies across the field and turns the scenery into a weapon.
"Intense alone, chaotic with a crew," the announcement says. That is the right order for a horde game, and the five playable hounds are built for the crew half. Dozer throws bone bombs, Zane has a shockwave bark, and each hound has special abilities to combine with the others. The announcement also warns that "transporting volatile materials may result in unforeseen loss of Gravhounds," which is how every base our server has ever built ended at least once.
Octopus Panic is a small Seattle studio founded by veterans of 343 Industries and DICE, and GRAVHOUNDS is its first game. Development is led by co-founder Josh Holmes, the creative director of Halo 4 and a former head of Halo Studios.
Octopus Panic expects "roughly six months, potentially longer" of Early Access. It plans more Gravhounds, jobs, worlds, enemies, weapons, upgrades and progression, and expects the price to rise as the game nears 1.0. Right now there are 60 mods to unlock, 12 of them Showstopper mods, and a Mod Deck that decides which upgrades turn up on later expeditions. Early Access also brings the Juggernaut, a new boss fight.
If your group has Game Pass, trying it costs nothing extra. If you are buying on Steam, the launch discount beats the price the studio says is coming. Either way, it goes on the Friday poll.
