I’ve been playing first-person shooters for as long as I can remember but none were as unique as Anger Foot, a game where kicking down your enemies is as effective as shooting them. Is the game worth it in the long run? Let’s kick in that open door.
Not my sneakers
In the game, you take control of Anger Foot who has a severe case of angry foot and does everything with his feet, from pushing buttons to talking on the phone. Right from the start this absurd humor and style sucks you into the mysterious world of Anger Foot. It can best be described as an adult animation type of game where the jokes never overstay their welcome. The developers found the right balance in delivering jokes while creating an interesting new world to wander around. A lot of the humor can be found in details like locations called ‘Shit City or enemies named ‘The Crime Minister’ or in the fact that our protagonist is a true sneakerhead, which makes sense since his entire life revolves around his feet. The story kicks off with his precious collection being stolen, setting you up for a rampage run to reclaim your treasured collection. The story is there in the background and there are a couple of interactions with other characters to keep it flowing but the real selling point of Anger Foot is its gameplay loop.
Flow like water
The gameplay is where Anger Foot really shines and even brings back memories of the older times of gaming. This isn’t a massive open-world shooter where you need to reclaim radio towers or have to spend countless hours in the menus, no Anger Foot is all about fast-paced encounters in tiny rooms. The main objective of the levels is to survive, easier said than done because one hit will kill you. By kicking in doors and enemies, you easily take them down as they also just need one hit. There are guns in the game but the main attraction is your foot. Kicking enemies is extremely satisfying and although a lot of other games tried it before, none are as satisfying as this one. Your foot can really deliver some massive damage and the way your enemies take the hit is just addictive. Now and then, however, you’ll get access to a gun which opens up new ways of tackling the levels. Shooting down enemies or killing them by throwing your gun at them while kicking down others is just one example of how a level could proceed. It’s all about flow and rhythm here since you never know how many enemies are behind a door. Each level feels like a labyrinth filled with doors that need to be kicked in, once kicked in, you’ll enter a small room where enemies are probably waiting on you. When you kick in a door, you’ll often take down an enemy who was standing behind it as well, instant gratification there.
According to the developers, Hotline Miami was a huge inspiration for this game and it really tells. Although this is far more than Hotline Miami goes 3D, it does follow the same flow of gunning and kicking down enemies in close-quarters combat which certainly is a big plus for the game. Once you get in the zone and the gameplay just flows is without a doubt one of the best feelings you can have in any game. This fast-paced gameplay is accompanied by Dutch-inspired hardstyle music so you get an idea of the flow. It’s just so much fun and challenging at the same time. Anger Foot is a harder game but it’s always fair and it doesn’t take long to restart the level. Died? Try again now that you know where the enemies are hiding in a certain room. To make things a bit more interesting, you can gather upgrades (new shoes) throughout your adventure which will give you some extra power. Be careful, however, some new shoes also come with downsides like making your bullets non-lethal. It’s a fun deeper layer to experiment with and if you want to reach all the goals to clear the game 100%, you’ll need to master those upgrades for sure. That’s what I also like about the game, advancing is rather straightforward but if you’re looking for a true challenge there are a couple of non-mandatory goals you can reach, ranging from finishing under a certain time or headshotting a number of enemies. The extra challenges get crazier the more you advance but it’s worth replaying the levels for.
Conclusion:
Anger Foot is one of the most unique and addictive first-person shooters I’ve played in years. I had a lot of fun with it and highly recommend it for everyone!
