Octopus Panic's upcoming PvE extraction shooter Gravhounds gave players their first hands-on taste during an open playtest this past weekend, ahead of its planned early access release later this fall. The game distinguishes itself from genre peers with two core twists: playable human-canine hybrids and a pipeline system that automates resource gathering.
In Gravhounds, squads of up to four players drop onto alien planets to complete missions and collect resources before returning to their orbiting ship. The longer a team stays on the surface, the tougher the enemy waves become, creating a push-your-luck dynamic where players must decide whether to chase rare resources or evacuate early. Each player controls a Gravhound—a genetic hybrid of human and dog—with four characters available during the playtest: Zane the Doberman, Finn the Shiba Inu, Selene the Weimaraner, and Dozer the Bulldog. Each has slightly different stats and a unique special move. As missions are completed, players can upgrade their hounds, unlock new tricks, and access a surprising amount of tech and defensive turret upgrades across multiple skill trees.
The pipeline system stands out as the most innovative feature. Extending outward from the collector ship, a network of pipes can be expanded by the team. Each segment ends in a node, and additional parts can be dragged from any node. Tossing resources onto the pipe automatically tows them toward the ship, eliminating tedious back-and-forth runs. At each node, players can also build turrets and other structures to defend against incoming hordes or assist with collection. The pipes double as grind rails, allowing rapid traversal across the map—a crucial advantage given the game's focus on fast movement. Boosting and dashing are primary navigation methods, and when the launch countdown begins, players have only 30 seconds to get back to the ship or be left behind.
Combat and progression borrow from roguelike design. Killing enemies and completing objectives fills a bar that, once maxed, calls down a reward pod offering three mod choices from a pool unlocked in the research lab. These mods can combine into satisfying builds; one favorite paired a gravity ball that lifts enemies into the air with homing rockets, both triggering on critical hits. However, shooting lacked punch, and tougher enemies felt like damage sponges—issues that will hopefully be tweaked before release. Despite this, the overall experience was enjoyable.
Visually, Gravhounds adopts a stylized, whimsical aesthetic with slightly cartoonish planets and environments. The hounds themselves were inspired by Daft Punk's «Da Funk» music video from the mid-1990s: human bodies with dog heads. The dog heads are more stylized than those in the recent Star Fox game but more realistic than the rest of the game's look, largely capturing each breed's appearance. The design may remind some of viral videos from the 2010s where dogs wore suits with their heads poking through collars. For fans of Deep Rock Galactic, Gravhounds offers a faster-paced, movement-focused alternative with its own identity. The open playtest provided a promising glimpse of what Octopus Panic hopes to deliver when early access begins this fall.