Quick-paced first-person shooters could also be a dime a dozen as of late, however Anger Foot has a novel gameplay hook that is actually kicking the door down on your consideration. This vibrant and fully chaotic shooter from the makers of Broforce is like a first-person tackle the compelling, room-clearing carnage of Hotline Miami, with an emphasis on utilizing your left foot of fury to violently smash a path by locked doorways, obstacles, and gangs of anthropomorphic animal enemies. It’s a shoot and boot ‘em up that seems like John Wick with some additional kick, and I loved the 2 hours I spent taking part in an early construct of Anger Foot each skull-stomping step of the best way.
There are weapons too, after all, however the pistol in your hand is merely a assist act to the scale 12 snuffer of life on the finish of your left leg. There’s no ammunition to choose up and reload, as a substitute when you’ve run out of rounds to chamber you simply throw your empty gun at an enemy to stun them, jump-kick them into subsequent week, and catch their freshly dropped uzi or shotgun earlier than carrying in your merry, murderous method. Enemies might be booted straight into their buddies behind them like dim-witted dominoes, and there’s by no means any scarcity of explosive gasoline canisters or oil barrels to be present in every gang den you crash by, permitting for spectacular chain response kills – or your individual instantaneous demise do you have to accidently shoot them at shut quarters.
In actual fact, I’ve died quite a bit in the course of the two-dozen ranges I’ve performed to date, because you’re each bit as weak to one-shotted deaths because the enemies round you. A frequently shuffling roster of enemy sorts and mixtures meant that Anger Foot persistently stored me on my anger toes, forcing me to search out new methods to most effectively deal with every new risk. When riot gear clad birds arrived I began firing off a spherical to make them reflexively increase their shields in order that I may run in and boot their bulletproof boundaries straight again into their beaks. In the meantime I used to be delighted to search out that the grenades thrown by puffer jacket-clad goons could possibly be volleyed again at them with a well-timed kick, forcing them to look at their very own bomb blow up of their faces like they have been the producers of the Madame Internet film.
Surviving all the best way to every stage exit earns you a star, however there are an extra two stars to say per stage for non-obligatory challenges resembling finishing a stage inside a stricter time restrict, or killing a sure variety of enemies utilizing solely your foot. Some of those extra targets appear severely difficult, and though every stage solely takes a few minutes to finish I can see myself spending hours attempting to earn all the celebrities within the completed sport – though I don’t understand how I’m purported to beat a stage in below 30 seconds once I hold getting distracted by the playable Broforce arcade machines discovered alongside the best way.
The extra stars you earn, the extra particular sneakers you possibly can unlock and lace up, with every pair of kicks granting you a novel gameplay buff not in contrast to the animal masks from Hotline Miami. You would possibly strap on a pair of excessive tops that earns you a treasured spherical of ammo for each unhealthy man you boot within the face, or slip right into a pair of sneakers that prompts an enormous head mode to make it simpler to headshot enemies from lengthy vary. I additionally discovered footwear that would cost up kicks into room-clearing sprint assaults, in addition to one other pair that permit me come again from the lifeless as soon as per stage. Discuss a sole revival!
I additionally unlocked a barely embarrassing pair of socks with sandals that allowed me to deal additional harm throughout boss fights, though this did imply that I used to be in a position to simply stomp out Anger Foot’s first main boss prefer it was a home spider below a piece boot. Given how difficult the degrees that preceded it have been, together with one towards an unseen sniper that immediately snuffed out my sprints between cowl, it appeared barely disappointing to dispatch the chief of the Violence Gang with a mere handful of half-hearted highkicks. Hopefully there’ll be some heavier head honchos to contend with within the three different gangs to take down in Anger Foot – particularly the Air pollution Gang discovered within the sewers, the Enterprise Gang discovered within the excessive rises, and the Debauchery Gang present in… I don’t know, one in every of P. Diddy’s mansions, most likely.
Primary boss fights apart, Anger Foot’s evolving fight and cartoonish appeal stored a goofy grin on my face throughout my playtime, and its rousing, bass-heavy techno groove had me tapping my toes whereas I used to be capping my foes – from rooftop shootouts with heavily-armed gangbangers to subterranean stoushes with snakes and big squid tentacles within the sewers under. It stays to be seen if the immediately gratifying motion of Anger Foot may have the anger legs to go the gap within the completed sport, however primarily based on what I’ve performed to date it looks like this is one frantic first-person shooter that’s actually placing its finest foot ahead.
Tristan Ogilvie is a Senior Video Editor in IGN’s Sydney workplace. He likes to put on sneakers… for sneaking. Comply with him here.