Anger Foot [Review]
Kick ass and never take names in Anger Foot.
Anger Foot. Credit: Free Lives / Devolver Digital
Would you kill to get your hands on some rare collector’s sneakers? Boy, have I got the game for you. Anger Foot is challenging, addictive, and so much fun. You’ll play as the titular Anger Foot, a guy with a serious problem: he’s incapable of opening doors, so he must kick them off their hinges.
Welcome to Shit City, where the only rule is that crime is the law. Every resident is a criminal that belongs to one of four major gangs: the Violence Gang, the Pollution Gang, the Business Gang, and the Debauchery Gang. They’ve stolen Anger Foot’s prized sneaker collection, and he’s pissed. He’ll kick and shoot his way through the city, killing his way to the top to get his shoes back.
Anger Foot. Credit: Free Lives / Devolver Digital
The best way to describe Anger Foot is that it’s a 3D first person shooter that plays like Hotline Miami with an added kicking mechanic—a kicking mechanic that feels great. You’ll kick open doors, sending them flying into rooms and killing any enemy unlucky enough to be in the door’s way. You’ll insta-kill guys by kicking them and take their gun if they’re holding one. Is your clip empty? Who needs to reload when you can kick another dude in the face for a fresh gun? Throw your empty gun at him to stun him, then do a flying kick into his face.
You won’t die from a single hit like in Hotline Miami, but bullets will still do you in very quickly if you don’t hang back to recover. The best strategy turns out to be shooting or kicking guys before they can shoot at you, which leads to some very fast-paced gameplay. As you die, you’ll find yourself memorizing enemy locations so you can come out blazing on your next run. An alternative is waiting around a corner to kick guys as they come, but you’ll never be able to complete any of the timed challenges like that.
Anger Foot. Credit: Free Lives / Devolver Digital
Each level has three stars to earn. The first, you’ll get just for finishing the level. The next two are challenges that can range from finishing within a time limit, to using only your kicks, getting a certain number of headshots, and many other difficult propositions. Many of these are very, very hard, but the rewards are worth it—every five stars will unlock a new pair of sneakers.
There are 23 sneakers to earn in Anger Foot. You’ll get four of them by beating bosses; the rest you’ll need to unlock with stars. Every shoe changes how the game plays, adding a ton of depth to it. My favorite pair makes doors explode after you kick them in. Others will affect gravity, give you charged kicks, make enemies’ heads big, turn every gun into a shotgun, and much more. Sneakers could make the game easier, harder, or just different.
Anger Foot. Credit: Free Lives / Devolver Digital
Not just the challenges are hard. By the end of the game, I was having a really tough time just finishing many levels. The game takes a lot of practice and patience, but it rewards you with just how good it feels to kick and shoot everything around you. There will be plenty of surprises in the game’s 60+ levels, with new enemy types and weapons as well as creative level designs that all ensure the game always feels fresh. I always wanted to see what would come at me next.
Anger Foot is 3D, with a cartoony look. Enemies are varied and look goofy, with blue skin, animal heads, and more. Some of my favorites are giant tentacles wielding knives or guns. The toonish look contrasts with the fountains of bright blood that’ll explode out of enemies when you shoot them and the piles of bodies you’ll leave behind. Your gunshots and kicks will send debris flying; the effects make the chaotic world of Shit City feel alive as you wantonly destroy it. I had to turn down graphics settings and play at 1280x720 to get my Steam Deck running the game at a playable framerate on my TV.
Anger Foot. Credit: Free Lives / Devolver Digital
I enjoyed the game’s soundtrack. The bass and beats kick in hard when there’s danger around, which is a nice touch. It helps create an ebb and flow to the action, peaks and valleys.
Anger Foot also has some notable accessibility options. The game only has one difficulty, but an Assist Mode lets you select options such as easier enemies, easier bosses, easier everything, and never die. You can also customize auto aim and change weapon highlight effects to make them easier to spot. I admit I had to lean on some Assist Mode settings at times to make sure I could finish the game in a reasonable amount of time for this review.
It’s nice to see games like Anger Foot that are fast paced, arcade style FPS games that aren’t boomer shooters. We’ve seen the evolution of ultra realistic shooters, and it feels like now we’re getting creative arcade shooters with the release of games like Mullet Madjack and this one. With Anger Foot, Free Lives and Devolver Digital have made a real asskicker.
Anger Foot is available for PC on Steam.
Overall Score: 9/10
Played on: Steam Deck
