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Although the title evokes visions of poodles with popguns, in Dogs Of War you (and an optional partner) are mercenaries.

Choose your mission from an international dozen. Before the fighting starts, both players have several thousand credits to spend in the armoury. Weapons include various pistols, rifles, machine guns, rocket launchers, grenades and even a flamethrower. You can buy more than one weapon (and switch between them during play) but you'll need to buy plenty of appropriate ammo.

The action itself is shown from overhead, the play area first scrolling upwards then left, up, right, etc. Enemy soldiers swarm in, firing machine guns and throwing grenades while additional hazards include mines, jeeps and gun turrets.

Dogs Of War is essentially an Ikari Warriors variant, improving on that game with the superb range of weapons and multi-directional scrolling.

Although hardly innovative, the simple shoot-'em-up gameplay is very addictive and (as always) more fun with two players. The trouble is, all the missions play much the same, and the action eventually gets repetitive.

I really liked this one, lots of violence and mega-hard weapons. The bullet-spitting mini-gun is great fun, as are the rocket launchers for taking out gun turrets and tanks.

It could get a bit boring on your own, just inching up the screen against a relentless enemy onslaught, but I liked it. A sort of Leatherneck II by the same programmer, Steve Bak, this is great mindless fun.

Presentation 80%
Good weapons selection screen.

Graphics 72%
Effective sprites and varied backgrounds.

Sound 63%
Banal tune livened up with screams and gunfire.

Hookability 76%
Tough to start off with, but very simple...

Lastability 81%
...a dozen missions provide some variety.

Overall 77%
Straight-forward military massacring from the comfort of your favourite armchair.