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Choose Door Kickers 2: Task Force North if you want to plan and command a squad from a top-down view, pausing the action to revise your approach. Choose Door Kickers: Action Squad if you want a fast-moving, retro side-scroller, short nonlinear missions, and the option to play locally with someone else. Despite sharing a series name and tactical subject matter, they are fundamentally different kinds of games—not two versions of the same experience.
The key question is not which title is the more tactical one: both use tactical ideas, but they put them in different places. Door Kickers 2 centers on planning a team’s operation; Action Squad asks you to handle a trooper’s movement and combat directly. Your preferred perspective, pace, and co-op setup matter more than the shared franchise name.
At a glance: how the games differ
| Factor | Door Kickers 2: Task Force North | Door Kickers: Action Squad |
|---|---|---|
| Genre and view | Top-down squad tactics | 2D side-scrolling action |
| How play unfolds | Real time with pause; no turns, hexes, or action points | Hands-on movement and combat, with recoil, reload timing, cover, and in-level abilities to manage |
| Fictional setting | Nowheraki, in the Middle East | Nowhere City USA |
| Co-op listed on Steam | Online co-op for up to four players; each player brings a squad | Online and shared/split-screen co-op |
| Content highlighted by the publisher on Steam | More than 90 handcrafted missions; handcrafted and generated campaigns; a random mission generator; an editor; and Steam Workshop content | 84 nonlinear levels, six playable characters, 60 weapons and gear items, more than 20 enemy types, four mission objectives, and a zombie mode |
| Release | Full release: February 10, 2025; Steam lists Early Access from November 3, 2020 | Steam release: September 10, 2018 |
| US Steam price snapshot, checked October 13, 2026 | $24.99 | $13.99 |
| Steam English review snapshot, checked October 13, 2026 | 96% positive from 8,043 reviews | 93% positive from 2,000 reviews |
Prices and review totals are snapshots, not fixed specifications. Steam also showed a War On Doors Collection containing Door Kickers, Action Squad, and Door Kickers 2 for $53.07 on October 13, 2026. Check the live listing for your region, final price, and bundle contents before buying. The review percentages are Steam aggregates, not a controlled comparison of quality or a guarantee that either game will suit you.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchThose content counts are not a direct measure of which game offers “more.” Door Kickers 2 counts missions and highlights tools for creating or generating more; Action Squad counts side-scrolling levels and emphasizes characters, equipment, enemies, and objectives. They describe different kinds of replay, so use them to identify the format you want rather than to rank the games by a single number.
#1 Best Overall
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Which game fits the way you want to play?
Choose Door Kickers 2 for deliberate squad command
Door Kickers 2 is the better fit if the appeal of a tactical game is deciding how a team should approach a mission, coordinating its members, and adjusting the plan as events unfold. Its real-time-with-pause structure lets you stop the action to think, rethink, and then resume. It is not turn-based: the pace remains real time when unpaused, so decisions and execution happen within an ongoing mission rather than a sequence of turns.
That distinction helps answer a common question: is Door Kickers 2 a turn-based tactics game? No. KillHouse Games describes it on its Steam page as “Top-down tactics with Real Time gameplay but pause-at-will allows you to think, rethink, and still bite your nails as the action happens.” You can pause to consider an approach, but the game does not divide play into turns, hexes, or action-point budgets. If you like a deliberate planning phase but still want operations to unfold in real time, that is the central appeal.
The top-down view supports this command-oriented approach. You are managing a squad’s actions and approach rather than directly steering a lone trooper through a side-scrolling level. That distinction matters if you enjoy experimenting with plans and watching a coordinated operation play out. It is less suitable if you mainly want immediate, continuous movement and combat.
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The game offers Rangers, CIA Special Activities Division operators, and Nowheraki SWAT, which the store describes as units with distinct doctrines and abilities. This gives the tactical player different unit identities to consider when choosing how to approach the game. The available information does not establish a detailed unit-by-unit stat comparison, so it is better to treat these as distinct play styles and capabilities than to assume one is universally superior.
For players who like testing alternatives, the combination of handcrafted missions, generated campaigns, a random mission generator, and a mission/level editor is more important than the raw mission count alone. You can work through authored content, use generated content for variation, or take an interest in building and modifying missions. Door Kickers 2 also had more than 7,000 Steam Workshop missions displayed on KillHouse Games’ product page on October 13, 2026. That is a changing publisher-provided storefront figure, not a promise that every item is included in the base game or a count of official missions.
Choose Action Squad for direct, arcade-style action
Action Squad puts you in control of a SWAT trooper in a 2D side-scrolling game. Instead of planning and directing an entire squad from above, you move through levels and handle combat directly. Its systems ask you to manage recoil, reload timing, distance, and cover while also using limited-use strategic abilities during the action. The tactical element is therefore present, but it is folded into hands-on play rather than a command-and-pause loop.
KillHouse Games describes it on Steam as “a crazy old school side-scroller action game” in which you play a SWAT trooper dealing with threats in Nowhere City USA. That official description is a useful shorthand for the contrast: Action Squad’s action happens at the level of the character you control, not through top-down commands to a squad. If your idea of a tactical game includes choosing when to reload, how to use cover, or when to call on an ability while moving, Action Squad offers that kind of decision-making.
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Rank #2
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Its 84 nonlinear levels and four mission objectives point to a defined level-based structure, while the roster of six characters and 60 weapons and gear items offers variety inside that structure. The listing also highlights more than 20 enemy types and a zombie mode. These are useful reasons to choose Action Squad if you want to replay levels with different characters or equipment, but they do not imply procedural campaigns or a mission editor like the tools highlighted for Door Kickers 2.
Does Action Squad play like Door Kickers 2?
Not in the moment-to-moment sense. Both games share a tactical theme and the Door Kickers name, but Action Squad is a side-scrolling action game and Door Kickers 2 is top-down real-time-with-pause squad tactics. Action Squad does not ask you to command a full squad from an overhead view; Door Kickers 2 is not a direct-action side-scroller. If you are choosing between them, decide whether you want to control a trooper directly or plan a squad’s operation.
How co-op changes the choice
For playing on one screen, lean toward Action Squad
Action Squad’s Steam listing includes shared/split-screen co-op, making it the clear choice between these two if your priority is playing locally with another person. That is different from online co-op: check the game’s current listing and platform details for the setup available to you.
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This makes Action Squad the more straightforward fit for a couch session. It is still a side-scrolling action game, so choose it because that format sounds enjoyable for both players—not just because it has local co-op. Its online option is also listed, but the important contrast for a local group is that shared/split-screen play appears on Action Squad’s listing.
For online squad play, consider Door Kickers 2
Door Kickers 2 lists online co-op for up to four players, with each player bringing a squad. This is a different cooperative format from simply sharing control of one on-screen trooper. If your group wants to coordinate squad-level plans online, it aligns more closely with that goal. The listing does not establish local shared-screen co-op for Door Kickers 2, so do not buy it expecting couch play based on Action Squad’s feature set.
Before buying for a group, match the feature to the way you intend to connect: online squad play for Door Kickers 2, or local shared/split-screen play as well as online co-op for Action Squad. Do not treat “co-op” as one interchangeable feature. The store listings specify different modes, and the available information does not establish that the games share the same player roles or cooperative structure.
What the content counts mean in practice
Door Kickers 2 offers structured missions and tools for replay
KillHouse Games’ Steam listing describes more than 90 handcrafted missions, handcrafted and generated campaigns, a random mission generator, and a full mission/level editor. It also displayed more than 7,000 Steam Workshop missions when checked on October 13, 2026. That Workshop total is publisher-provided storefront copy and can change; it is not a fixed count of missions bundled with the game.
This combination gives Door Kickers 2 two different reasons to return: work through designed missions and campaigns, or use generated and user-created content to vary what you play. The editor is especially relevant if creating or modifying missions is part of the appeal. If you simply want a finished set of authored levels and do not plan to use an editor, the feature list alone does not mean you will use all of its replay tools.
Rank #3
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There are several distinct content terms here. “Handcrafted missions” refers to the authored mission count highlighted by the publisher; generated campaigns and the random mission generator describe ways to vary play; the editor is a creation tool; and Steam Workshop is the channel for user-created content. They should not be collapsed into one total. In particular, the Workshop figure is not the same thing as the number of official handcrafted missions.
Action Squad emphasizes a defined action-game roster
The Steam listing highlights 84 nonlinear levels, six playable characters, 60 weapons and gear items, more than 20 enemy types, four mission objectives, and a zombie mode. These counts describe the scale and variety the publisher advertises, but they do not make the levels directly comparable to Door Kickers 2’s mission count: the games use different formats, and a side-scrolling level is not the same unit of content as a tactical mission.
For Action Squad, the practical draw is variety within its direct-action loop: character choice, equipment, enemies, objectives, and a separate zombie mode. For Door Kickers 2, the stronger content distinction is the mix of authored and generated missions plus editing and Workshop support. Choose based on which kind of replay you actually want rather than comparing the headline numbers as if they measured equal amounts of play.
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Price, release history, and what the ratings tell you
In the US Steam listings checked October 13, 2026, Action Squad was $13.99 and Door Kickers 2 was $24.99. Action Squad was therefore the lower listed-price entry point on that date. These are regional, time-sensitive storefront prices; discounts, taxes, currency, and bundle terms may change what you pay.
Steam showed a War On Doors Collection at $53.07 on the same date, containing Door Kickers, Action Squad, and Door Kickers 2. That may be worth checking if you are interested in all three, but compare the current bundle contents and price against the individual games in your region. A bundle is not automatically the better deal for someone who only wants one of these two titles.
Door Kickers 2 reached full release on February 10, 2025, after Steam’s listed Early Access start date of November 3, 2020. Action Squad’s Steam release date is September 10, 2018. The dates help distinguish the games’ release histories, but they do not tell you which game has the play style you want.
On October 13, 2026, Steam showed 96% positive English reviews from 8,043 reviews for Door Kickers 2 and 93% positive from 2,000 reviews for Action Squad. Those aggregates reflect Steam user reviews in English at that point in time. They are not independent review studies, and the percentages should not be read as a head-to-head score: audiences may differ, and the two games aim at different experiences. Review totals and ratios can also change as new reviews arrive.
Rank #4
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Use the ratings as broad storefront context, not as a substitute for matching the game to your preferences. A higher percentage does not mean Door Kickers 2 will be more fun if you want a couch-friendly side-scroller, just as a lower price does not make Action Squad a cheaper version of the same tactical format. The genre and co-op distinctions are more useful decision points.
PC requirements and purchase checks
Check your input device for Door Kickers 2
Door Kickers 2’s Windows requirements specify a three-button mouse with a scroll wheel. Its listed minimums are Windows 10, a quad-core processor, 4 GB of RAM, and 2 GB of storage. If your current mouse has the required buttons and wheel, the listing does not establish that you need to buy a new one.
The mouse detail is the unusual purchase check worth noticing before checkout, especially if you use a basic or compact mouse. Count the buttons and confirm that there is a scroll wheel; do not assume you need a particular model or upgrade if your current device already meets the stated requirement. If you do need a replacement, treat a compatible three-button mouse with a scroll wheel as an optional practical accessory and verify any specific product’s current listing yourself.
The listed Windows minimums are modest on paper—Windows 10, a quad-core processor, 4 GB RAM, and 2 GB storage—but they are the store’s minimum specifications, not a promise about every configuration or performance expectation. Check your own system against the current Steam page rather than relying only on the headline numbers in a comparison.
Verify the current platform listing for Action Squad
Action Squad’s listing describes much lighter legacy PC requirements, but Steam has required its client to run on Windows 10 or later since January 1, 2024. That client requirement is separate from a game’s own historical system-requirements description. Before purchasing, check the current listing and confirm that your operating system and hardware meet the requirements that apply to your setup.
This distinction matters if an older game page lists legacy requirements: the game’s historical specification and the platform client’s present operating-system requirement are not the same thing. Avoid assuming that “lighter requirements” means every older PC or operating system will work with the current Steam setup. Verify the current store and client requirements for the machine you plan to use.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A quick decision checklist
- Pick Door Kickers 2 if you want a top-down view, squad coordination, real-time play you can pause, and room to experiment with mission approaches.
- Pick Action Squad if you want a retro side-scroller where you control a trooper directly and manage combat timing as you move.
- For local shared-screen co-op, the listed option is Action Squad; for online co-op with up to four players each bringing a squad, the listed option is Door Kickers 2.
- If mission creation, generated campaigns, or Workshop content matters most, Door Kickers 2 has the more directly relevant listed tools.
- If a lower US Steam list price is the deciding factor, Action Squad was cheaper in the October 13, 2026 snapshot; verify the current price and any bundle before purchasing.
- Before choosing Door Kickers 2 on PC, confirm your mouse has three buttons and a scroll wheel, along with the listed Windows minimums.
- If you want to replay through characters, weapons, gear, enemy types, objectives, and a zombie mode, Action Squad’s advertised variety is the more relevant content profile.
Verdict
These games share a tactical theme, but their moment-to-moment play is different enough that choosing by franchise name alone can lead to the wrong purchase. Door Kickers 2 is the stronger match for players who want to plan and command a special-operations squad, while Action Squad suits players who prefer direct side-scrolling action and want the option of local co-op. Decide first whether you want to command a squad or control a trooper; that is the most important difference between them.
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Best Value
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which Door Kickers game should I play?
Choose Door Kickers 2: Task Force North for top-down squad tactics with real-time play you can pause, authored and generated missions, and online co-op for up to four players. Choose Door Kickers: Action Squad for direct 2D side-scrolling action, nonlinear levels, and shared/split-screen co-op.
Does Action Squad play like Door Kickers 2?
No. Action Squad is a side-scrolling action game in which you control a SWAT trooper and manage combat timing, recoil, distance, cover, and abilities. Door Kickers 2 is a top-down real-time-with-pause tactics game focused on planning and commanding a squad.
Which one has local co-op?
Action Squad’s Steam listing includes shared/split-screen co-op as well as online co-op. Door Kickers 2 lists online co-op for up to four players, each bringing a squad; its listing does not establish local shared-screen co-op.
Which game is cheaper?
In the US Steam price snapshot checked October 13, 2026, Action Squad was $13.99 and Door Kickers 2 was $24.99. Prices, discounts, regions, and bundle terms can change, so check the live listing before purchase.
What PC requirements should I check for Door Kickers 2?
The Windows listing specifies a three-button mouse with a scroll wheel, Windows 10, a quad-core processor, 4 GB RAM, and 2 GB storage as minimums. You do not need a new mouse if your current one already has the required buttons and wheel.
Does Door Kickers 2 have more missions than Action Squad?
The store listings use different content measures: Door Kickers 2 highlights more than 90 handcrafted missions plus generated campaigns, a random mission generator, an editor, and Workshop content; Action Squad lists 84 nonlinear levels. A mission and a side-scrolling level are not directly comparable units.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: Door Kickers 2 is for pausing, planning, and commanding a squad; Action Squad is for controlling a trooper directly in a retro side-scroller. Choose by the play style and co-op setup you want, then check current Steam prices and PC compatibility before buying.
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Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
