Having burned myself out on highly (or not so highly) realistic futuristic airship simulators, I was in the market for something simpler, some nice slop, if you will. Luckily, esteemed HaQmaster and RPG Codex fifth columnist @Jenkem recommended me Anger Foot by Afrikaner studio Free Lives, published by known indie dev publisher Devolver Digital. Big thanks to him!
The feet are angrier than they look.
What's the Deal with Anger Foot?
Anger Foot is what happens when a group of Dark Messiah fans get together and ask themselves, "What if the entire game revolved around the kick? And what if there were GUNS? Hey, have you heard of Hotline Miami?" And thus they created this game. You play the role of the titular Anger Foot, green skinned reprobate and the world's least unstable sneakerhead. A resident of the crime infested Shit City, Mr. Foot is an avid collector and thief of rare and valuable sneakers. However, on movie night with his DUMMY thicc girlfriend, gang members break into his home and steal his four precious Preemo Sneakers right back. You are tasked with going after them and retrieving your shoes. Now it will be YOU who breaks into THEIR homes!
It's shit.
What's the Gameplay Like?
The game itself is quite simple. It is structured into five worlds, each about a dozen levels long, in which you are tasked with kicking and shooting your way through several hallways. Your kick is your main weapon, and you'll be using it against most everything, especially closed doors. In fact, there is not a single door you open normally: they're all locked and you're gonna kick 'em all to splinters whether you like it or not. There are also several guns at your disposal, including a flamethrower and a grenade launcher.Don't mistake this game for a shooter, though. While the gunplay feels rather good, with good sound design and animations, it is clearly not the game's selling point. All enemies die in one bullet and the only difference between guns is their ammo capacity and rate of fire. Most of your enjoyment hinges on how funny you think it is to kick ragdolls around. If you're anything like me, then you'll agree that that shit's cash.
In each level you can earn up to 3 stars: one for completion and an additional two for doing specific challenges like speedrunning the level in a certain time, only using your kicks to kill people, or not killing anyone at all. These stars unlock new sneakers, granting you new abilities. Sadly, most of these aren't worth getting, being gimmicks at best and mere flavor at worst. That's not to say that it isn't funny to walk around in clown shoes that squeak when you run, make cartoon sound effects when you kick someone, and send killed goons flying like balloons you let the air out of. However, it would've been nice if the devs had made an attempt to have the unlocks make you approach the game differently, warranting several playthroughs or something in that direction. As it stands, the system is fine, but I can't help but feel there's some missed potential here.
A shrine to the average forum user's taste in cRPGs, I see.
In addition, many of the game's extra challenges don't cater to the game's strengths at all. Doing a pacifist run is entirely unappealing because kicking things is where 90% of the fun lies, not in the movement or navigation. Speedruns also waste a whole lot of the game's potential. Every level was clearly crafted with great attention to detail, and you'll find little Easter eggs in every little corner; however, in a speedrun, you won't have the time to explore, of course.
Speaking of level design, it is very, very good. It is astounding how the devs manage to do so much with so little. There isn't an incredible amount of enemy variety, but their mechanics and placement make their presence worth more than the sum of their parts. The game is thus a decent challenge, and even somewhat hard at times.
And What About the Presentation?
While I usually wouldn't make a separate section for this, the game's presentation, art style, and soundtrack deserve special mention. As with any action game, its visual and sound are an essential part of what makes it engaging. First of all, Anger Foot has a heckin' chonker of a soundtrack, using eardrum pulverizing beats characteristic of the hardstyle genre. It's use in-game is dynamic, escalating respectively to the current action. It's very well used, I think, and really puts you in the shoes of a crazed killer on a rampage―no pun intended. Have a listen:As harsh as the soundtrack is on the ears (in a good way), so is the artstyle (also in a good way). Imagine if Gumby did crack or Sesame Street took place in Baltimore. That's what everyone looks like. Shit City is populated by weird looking Play-Doh fent heads and anthro animal people. The obvious contrast between the childish visuals and the game's gritty, if intentionally childish, over-the-top presentation and crass humor is part of the game's dark humor that's injected into every pore of Anger Foot. In total, the game is very stylish and unique in that way. More games should be like this.
Rate my gf.
